FF301 - Rockfish/Lingcod Seminar

Fly fishing off of the rocks in the Pacific Northwest can be very exciting, and it is a totally untapped fishery for the fly fisher seeking out an alternative to the standard trout/steelhead/salmon game. You can hook fish after fish at times, and you will often be the only person out there. Some locations offer fishing where you have no idea what fish may bite your fly next. It may be a Black Rockfish, a Quillback Rockfish, a Lingcod, etc...

Checking out a Black Rockfish caught off of a jetty

You may be wondering how do I even start to target any of those fish on my fly rod? Well this FF301 is designed to show you how to fly fish for "bottom fish" in the Pacific Northwest. It is a class, and not a guided fishing trip; so make sure before you sign up that you understand that we are not going on a guided fishing trip in the saltwater. This will be a class with 5 students, and we will be out there in waders learning how to bottom fish on our own for future outings. We will be learning how to fish for these rockfish and lingcod with our fly rods, and catching them will only be a byproduct of the demonstrations, and people learning the techniques properly. We will be fishing a lot in the class, and fish should be caught, but the point of this class is to be able to target these fish species with the right fly lines, flies, and techniques all on your own.
 -My goal is to have the class participants to be able to tell me how they are successfully catching "bottom fish" on their own after they have taken the class.

Date:  Saturday March 16th  (alternate date Saturday April 6th 7:30am-12pm - If really severe weather strikes for original scheduled date)

Time:  2:15pm-6:45pm

Location: Tillamook Bay area or Netarts Bay area (to be determined according to conditions when class date arrives) - Both are similar in driving time.

Cost:   $75 per person - 5 people will be in the class

Equipment Needed:
The Basics:  Waders and Sturdy wading shoes with studs, polarized sunglasses, raingear for the elements, Oregon fishing License
Rod/Reel: A saltwater 7wt at the minimum all the way to a 10wt saltwater rod will work with a saltwater reel to match the rod. Fly lines for the class and future rockfishing trips are specialized shooting heads; so inquire about what you will need if you are serious about taking the class, and plan on doing saltwater rockfishing in the future. The same fly lines can be used for tidewater salmon fly fishing; so there are more uses for the shooting heads than just rockfish and lingcod.
-I do have some extra gear; so inquire if you are interested but lack the rod/reel to take the class. Switch rods will work for this fishing too. Ask again if you are interested, and have equipment questions. 
Flies:  The class will include several flies per person, but you may also want to pick up some flies for your own experimentation as well. If you are interested in tying up some flies for the class, or buying any to try out, then email me, and I can provide a list of some options to try out.


If you are interested in taking the class; email me at fish@mckenzieangler.com or call (541)-232-6360. 

A nice hefty Black Rockfish caught on the first cast of the day.....

Pacfic Fishery Management Council (PFMC) released its Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP)

The Pacfic Fishery Management Council (PFMC) finally released its Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP) and accompanying appendix of concrete ecosystem initiatives late 2-14-2013. There is a web feature with Pew's video animation on their website, which just went live today. It’s also on their YouTube page here. Pew will release an action alert today calling on people to ask the council to adopt the plan in April and move expeditiously to its first initiative -- extending management protection to vulnerable species of forage fish

Please get involved with this issue!! The basis of all food chains in the marine ecosystems are aquatic plants and forage fish, and with declining populations of forage fish; you can only imagine what is going to be the end effect of the predatory fish that rely on these forage fish.

Please get involved by at least spreading the word. A little thing you can do is to copy and paste the codes below into your favorite social media networking websites like Facebook or Twitter, and word can spread like wildfire. 

SOCIAL MEDIA SUGGESTIONS:

For the video:

Tweet: ANIMATION: Little #forage fish are a big deal. Learn why we need to protect these small creatures to ensure ecosystem health. http://bit.ly/VZBJG0

Facebook: It’s time to take a minute to think about the bottom of the food chain. Learn about the little fish that iconic creatures like whales and tuna depend on for survival, and why it’s so important to protect them.  http://bit.ly/VZBJG0

For the action alert:

Tweet: #CA, #OR, #WA & #ID residents: Take action to protect the #forage fish of the Pacific Ocean! http://bit.ly/ZwogXu

Facebook: If you live in California, Oregon, Washington, or Idaho, you can make a difference to the Pacific marine ecosystem. Take action today to protect forage fish! http://bit.ly/ZwogXu

Winter Steelhead Action Close to PDX

Normally I tend to do my winter steelheading towards the coast, and I just prefer to fish over there. Here and there you have the days where you are at home taking care of errands, but you are itching to get out and at least wet a line. I was fortunate enough yesterday (2-6-13) to squeak out for a little while to try out a new Skagit Switch head I got for a 7wt rod. I worked a nice run from about the halfway point towards the tailout, and then the line came tight. After a long intense battle with several blistering runs, and one long upstream run the bright bodied steelhead yielded itself toward the bank. The fish was caught with 10' of T-14 sinking tip, and a black and blue creation I whipped up at the tying bench.

Keeping cozy in the rain....

Go Ducks!! Always a sucker for that green helmet!

Lets tango with blue and black

Nice deep bodied male winter steelhead

Tight Lines!!!

Winter Steelheading Two Hand Casting Pics

Tailout fading into rapids

Working a probable run

That little mark on the water shows the anchor point of the cast

Little one salt steelhead

Moss,Water, and Sun.....

Sending off a cast

The aftermath of the "Snap-T"

Setting up the two handed cast

Pausing for the "D-Loop"

Casting in a chaos of scenic branches

Understandable why you can call it roll casting....

The results of working the water

Running it through a slot like run in the river