Orvis Crew Gets Together to Pursue Some Chrome

Recently we had a cool "get together" with a bunch of guys who affiliate in one way or another with Orvis, and people came from all over the country. Adam McNamara, store manager at Orvis Portland decided months back it would be a wonderful idea to invite some people from Orvis to partake in a Pacific Steelhead Outing. He invited a bunch of guys from the company, and it evolved into a trip where people came from Vermont, Louisiana, California, Washington, and nearby Bend, Oregon. As the steelhead gods work, this winter had been magical for steelheading, and as luck would have it,  the conditions would change. When they all showed up for this trip it hadn't rained for weeks, and it was like spring out in northwestern Oregon from Valentine's day on. The crew showed up March 4th to fish March 5th through March 8th. We were planning on fishing regardless of how low the water was, and now matter how long it had been since it rained. It turns out we ended up having fair fishing, and the fish we got into were really nice. Below is a bunch of photos, and these are mainly my pictures from the guys I was out fishing with. There were more rivers and more fish that were experienced by everyone else involved with the trip, but here is what I snapped pictures of.....

Lucas Bissett, Orvis Endorsed Guide (Low Tide Charters) from Louisiana, never waded or attempted to cast with a Spey rod before this trip. He took his fishiness to the next level as he hooked in a wild little chromer on his wade out to the spot.

Lucas landing his first winter steelhead in the first spot I took him to.

Not bad for a Louisiana Redfish Guide fishing the first spot ever in Oregon for steelhead.....

Lucas admiring his catch before sending it off.....

Lucas is thinking "adios winter steelhead"!

Lucas hadn't seen a scene like this where he fishes at home......

Working a probable run for winter steelhead

Anticipating the tug.....

False alarm for the steelhead, but another fish Lucas hasn't seen in Louisiana.

Checking out an incidental catch of a coastal cutty.....

Gorgeous dots speckle the Coastal Cutthroat Trout

The underside of the gill has a faint cutty slash

Sweet winter steelhead water

Back to swinging for the target species - winter steelhead

Lucas only fished one handed rods on Louisiana, and now he knows how to spey cast too.

Working the run step by step.....

Lots and lots of agates littered around the gravel and cobbles....

A little hidden drop off deep in the downstream end of a run

A little different than getting from spot to spot in the redfish marshes.....

Lucas experienced everything from cobblestone runs to bedrock ledges to fish from.

Swinging through a likely bucket above a constricted set of rapids

The random here and there Salmonfly you see in March and April on the west side of Oregon rivers.

Lucas was able to have areal casts across the entire river. I was impressed by how fast he picked up enough two handed casting ability to be able to fish effectively on his first day out for winter steelhead. 

After Lucas fished through this tailout, a driftboat passed through and said they saw a nice fish holding in it. Too bad that fish didn't want to tussle with Lucas.

Another great cast.....

Right when Lucas and I decided to see how Tom Evenson was doing, a winter steelhead decided it was time to play.

Bombs away! This fish took the air too many times to count!

Tom getting the fish in closer.....

A few last charges for the fish before it yielded to Tom. Lucas, Tom, and I were so stoked at this moment!!

Tom tailing this fine winter steelhead

Wowsers!! What a fine snowbellied chromer! A nice winter steelhead specimen!

The Black & Blue wet fly couldn't be left alone by this sea lice ridden fine winter steelhead.

As good as it gets!

Lucas had to wade out there and see if any other fish were willing to play after Tom landed that amazing acrobatic fish. Especially after a drift boat went through and let us know they saw a couple more steelhead laying in the run.

Airing out another nice cast.

Sending a cast off to prepare for another swing across the run.

You can see the fly (anchor) pulling free from the water in this picture.

One last swing for the day before we called it quits and had to get back to meet up with the rest of the group.

Lucas and Tom reminiscing about the fun day we just experienced.

Charlie Robinton sending off a beautiful tight looped two handed cast.

Jacob Gorman swinging with a switch rod in the Pacific Northwest for the first time.

A little bank-side scenery

Charlie scrambling down the bank while hooked up with a fish.

Rob Tibbett tails Charlie's fish. Woo hoo! Success in the first spot on day two!

Rob passing off this fine fish for Charlie to Admire.

Chrome as a dime - Winter Steelhead

Charlie Robinton admiring this winter steelhead.

This chromer fell for the black and red "Nightmare" wet fly.

"Nightmare" wet fly pinned in the grill

Fish like this bring big smiles!

Charlie and Alex chilling and enjoying the sunshine

I saved this bumble bee from the river and let it dry and warm up on the safety of this rock.

Jacob working a likely winter steelhead holding spot

Jacob waiting for the line to tense up and feel that grab.....

Rob working a spot that had fish rolling in it; revealing their presence to us.

Sunny warm weather March is the opposite of the cold and snow Rob has been experiencing in Vermont before he showed up for this trip.

Rob sending a cast off to prepare for a swing across this probable tailout feature.

There is some serious bend in this rod! Prepare for liftoff!

Rob working the water cast by cast....

Rob fishes a sweet run near a major tributary of the river we had been fishing.

Alex Beene walks through the moss to get to another fishing spot.

Rob swinging through likely steelhead holding lies

Alex working a nice run

A highly probable tailout of the run before it spills over into the next pool down.....

Alex sending a cast off into a likely submerged boulder garden

Rob and Alex about to head downriver for more fishing, and I am heading back to the PDX metro area.

Come By Orvis Portland Wednesday March 4th

This Wednesday March 4th at 7pm Lucas Bissett of Low Tide Charters will be at Orvis Portland to discuss the Louisiana saltwater flats/marsh fly fishing. The species he keys on are redfish, black drum, sheepshead, big jacks, and gar. The Louisiana fly fishing scene is one of the best saltwater fisheries available, and you need to experience it. Lucas will be at the shop to talk about the fishery he experiences and guides on.

Lucas Bissett with a toad Black Drum

This August 27th-31st I will be hosting a trip at Louisiana to fish with Lucas and 3 other guides he works closely with. The trip is something you cannot miss out on! Come by Orvis Portland Wednesday at 7pm to learn more about this trip.

Adam McNamara with a standard nice Louisiana Redfish

Redfish have some large mouths that can inhale some larger flies

Rob and Lucas with another fine redfish

Gar pounce on flies and can go bonkers when hooked...

Black Drum can get big in the marshes of Louisiana

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT LUCAS BISSET'S BLOG

Steelhead Fishing With Pictures

This season has been a fun winter to experience, and it epitomizes why I live in Oregon. Winters when the steelhead runs are robust are really enjoyable because you can get stoked during the time when most people are dreaming of the summer, and you can also learn to appreciate the seasons even more. I have been fishing long enough for winter steelhead where you see the subtle things happen like the new shoots popping out of the ground of stinging nettles in February, and that tells you spring is around the corner. You see the early mayflies, and once in a while a cutthroat slurping one on a warmer calm cloudy day. The moss carpets anywhere it can cling onto, and its green starts to become much brighter than that of the earlier part of the winter. The other day there were so many of this one type of mushroom all over the place, and three days later there was not one to be seen. Conversely, weeks back, and even a few weeks ago you could smell the partial remnants of decaying salmon far from the rivers where animals dragged the fish into the woods. A fishing session nowadays doesn't pass without some major raptor; whether it be a bald eagle or some type of a hawk swooshing down through whatever river valley I have been visiting for the given day.

Sometimes you look down and see a perfect little disc rock.

This bug hooked up with a fish that went totally bonkers before heading over a falls.

Signs of how high the water was on the very last high water event.

This rough skinned newt was quite entertaining to observe.

The newt's choice of water isn't bad either.....

The deformed right front hand made me wonder what all of the possible reasons would be.....? Amphibians are the true tell tail responders to things being messed up in the environment. With all of the beautiful water and amazing green mossy forests out there, things are hidden right in front of our eyes.

From here down are pictures from this past Valentine's Day. I was lucky and got to go fishing with my wife Nikki. We more or less had the river to ourselves minus seeing a couple we know that were leaving when we arrived. Later we saw another two people I know, but we didn't interfere with each others water anyhow. Gorgeous weather and good fishing!

The head of the head is looking rather fishy....

Fish on the swing in the first spot of the day we decided to fish!

This colored up buck decided to chomp on the black and blue swung wet.

Working a run......

Waiting for the tug.....

Mending up the Thingamabobber

Fish on and pulling hard in very heavy water. It seems like it is going to be a really nice steelhead.

Every time I could budge it into the shallows, it would sprint back off into the mysterious green depths.

 This winter steelhead is a gorgeous two toned chromer !

They don't get much brighter than this!

How much joy it was to spend time with you, but you must go back and complete your mission.

The little tributary picture was taken by my wife Nikki - she's got skills!

Working "the upstream areas" is a nice advantage of dead drifting under an indicator

Focusing hard on the presentation after the cast for those elusive steelhead.

The anchor is releasing from the water in this pic. Good timing on the pic Niki!

Nikki has great photography skills, and in this pic she caught the line in the air all the way across.

Cast is landing and getting ready to start lazily swinging across....

Nikki scoping out the run....

I always love this big mossy tree

Working the top of a nice productive run

Mushrooms are super cool!

Nikki was playing around with some of the filter functions, and this one looked nice and green!

"Green Clover" - Steelhead fishing needs a little luck added into the equation....

Acrobatic Oregon Coastal Winter Steelhead Video

Often the debate comes up between hatchery and wild steelhead, and many in opposition argue that wild and hatchery steelhead are not that different from each other. You can see the argument being legit as far as chromosomes go, and I would imagine they are the same creatures more or less. When it comes to dealing with these animals first hand there is a really large difference when you have experienced catching lots and lots of them. Then and only then can you really compare. I know people are also going to hammer on me (the hatchery fish proponents), but this entry is not to argue about the politics or anything like that. It is to just mention the power, vigor, beauty, splendor, and magic of wild steelhead, and you can also watch the video for first hand visuals of my point. 

This double striper wild buck tore me up catching many air & not wanting to yield

Personally I have had one of the meanest battles ever on a chromer hatchery 9-10 pound range winter steelhead on the lower Siuslaw River while fishing with my friend Ethan; so I know hatchery steelhead can kick your butt in simple angling fights. One huge difference is that on a scale of many fish (talking 100's of a theoretical sampling pool), when it comes to landing fish, wild fish freak out much harder than hatchery fish do. They simply do not want to yield to us! The next main point I have seen over a large enough sampling pool to see the statistics mount up, is that hatchery fish go down the drain fast in regards to "in the river" time. Likely a good thing; so they lessen the odds of successfully spawning, but they still intermingle with wild fish and also spawn with each other; so we can only guess what that is doing to the gene pools.

This fish has a really large tail to help its propulsion

Conversely, wild steelhead that portray the rainbow trout paint job fight like bandits. They crack airs and make runs better than most chrome bright hatchery fish do. They stay hard bodied, and don't get that gross funky look that many hatchery fish get when they have been in the river for more than the time of being chrome. Many hatchery fish out of this theoretical sampling pool just shake their heads, and make some runs, but the runs don't compare with the speed, torque, force, and assertion to their wild counterparts.

Oregon coastal rivers have been fishing well this winter so far.....

Again this is not an entry talking about politics of hatchery vs. wild, but my personal observations of how they feel on the end of the rod, and how they look compared to each other. You can tell when you have caught lots of them. The wild ones feed my addiction of steelheading. The hatchery ones are another story; where they are fun to catch, but not nearly as special to me. I guess if I liked eating hatchery winter steelhead more, I may have another feeling about them.....

Click Here To View Acrobatic Oregon Winter Steelhead

The one really impressive thing is to think about is that a wild steelhead was born from an egg in the river. The egg was not eaten by anything before it hatched into the fry. That fry made it by all of the hungry critters to become a smolt. The smolt made it by all of the hungry cutthroat trout that may have eaten it. The birds did not get it on the way out to the ocean. It made it by all of the hungry fish in the ocean, and you can imagine the predators that would hunt a steelhead that is over several pounds. Then the fish is headed up to do its spawning run, and it already dodged the sea lions, and was scratched by a seal. It came through the bombardment of bobbers, eggs, jigs, flies, etc; only to intercept your offering. The fight is on, you land it, look it at, and send it off to keep up its run upstream to create the cycle all again.

 Wild Steelhead are amazing creatures!

March Brown Softhackled Wet Fly - Fly Tying Video

Here is a really easy fly to tie that also catches lots of trout on the lower McKenzie and Upper Willamette Rivers for much or March, April, and ending in early May. You can give this fly the classic wet fly swing, or you can fish off of a dry fly (dry and dropper). It is typically much more productive for fish catching compared to the dry fly patterns that mimic this large spring hatching mayfly.

Materials List:

Hook: Orvis 1641 Size 12 or 14

Thread: Orvis Tan 6/0

Rib: Copper Medium Ultra Wire

Body: Tan Ice Dubbing

Collar Hackle: Partridge feather - natural

March Brown Softhackled Wet Fly

Fly Tying 201 Class This Friday - Spots open - FT201

This Friday 2/6/15 there will be a Fly Tying 201 Class at the Orvis Portland Store from 7-9pm. Cost of the class is $25 at the door, but you must stop by the store or call (503)598-7680 to sign up for the class prior to the class starting time (to avoid overfilling and having tying stations set up). We will provide everything for you during the class (unless you want to use your own tools/vise). We will tie several standard flies (trout style) that will give you the basis to tie many other patterns with the techniques you will use.

Catching fish like this on your own tied flies is super rewarding.

Short Video of a Winter Steelhead Cast, Swing, Grab, and Run

Here was a fun fish I tied into on the first spot of the day fishing this past Friday 1/30/15. I made a short little video of the cast, swing, grab, and starting run from the fish. It was a small fish, but any steelhead on the swing is a great one. I had some more action in another spot also, but my factory welded loop on my sinking tip was looking old and about to budge. I was lazy and never repaired it with a couple of nail knots or a braided loop, and it cost me my second fish. The fish grabbed super hard, and then it ran off. Suddenly my Skagit Head flew back at me, with no piece of T-11 with my black and blue wet fly looped off of it anymore. Poor fish was left with 8' of T-11 sinking tip and a wet fly in its lip. This day I only fished a three spots, and hooked up with two fish swinging. Makes me wonder what it could have been like if I had fished really hard that day. Fishing has been very good this winter on many of Oregon's coastal rivers this season so far. Enjoy the little film clip. I suggest watching the video on Full Screen Mode, and adjust the resolution on YouTube to the highest HD setting possible for your computer. That way you can see the fly line tighten up for the "grab" better. I hope it pumps you up to get out there and enjoy the river!

Click Here to View Short Video Clip

Short Winter Steelheading Video

Here is a quick short video from a fish I tied into this past Tuesday January 27th. Enjoy!

Click Here To Watch Video

Tying a Marabou Wet Fly Streamer (Winter Steelhead Version)

Here is a simple fly tying video demonstrating how to tie a productive winter steelhead fly pattern for doing wet fly swing presentations. You can change the colors, change from a shanked hook to a tube fly, or an articulated stinger hook. You can make it sparser (with less turns of marabou) or bulkier (with more turns of marabou) depending on what you want to do with it, and you can use two or three colors to make it really interesting. Just leave enough room for more than one feather if you are seeking that "Popsicle" look, or try the famous "Winter Hope" colors to really have some fun with it.


Happy Tying!!

Click Here to View Video

Materials List

Hook:  Orvis 1645 #2 (or size you prefer)

Thread: Black 3/0 (or color preferred) 

Weight: (optional): Dumbell Eyes

Tail: (optional): Blue Ostrich (or color you prefer)

Body Material: Several Strands of New Age Holo Flash

Ribbing: Medium Red Copper Wire (or color you prefer)

Hackle: Black Strung Marabou

Flash: New Age Holo Flash and Blue Flashabou (or color you prefer)

Collar Hackle: Blue Guinea Hackle (or color you prefer)

Winter Steelhead Update

Well this season we have good runs of winter steelhead in many of the coastal and inland PDX area rivers, and I have also heard that runs are looking good on rivers like the Siuslaw and Umpqua systems as well. The challenge I have had this season is lining up the river levels on my days off. So far I have only fished swollen high water and skinny clear low water, but I have not been out on a day where the conditions were "spot on" to my liking. Yet when you have a day to fish, you should go fishing because you can't catch steelhead sitting on the couch speculating when you should go.

Below is a little photo essay on some recent winter steelhead outings:

Brian Morris tight to a high water winter steelhead

Brian Morris with a colored up buck that fought rather well before yielding to his hand for a quick pic. 

Swinging a run fading into a tailout

Nikki running an egg pattern through a slot between the bedrock boulders

Swollen water and fading into steelhead green; just the conditions I like!

Stereotypical Oregon scenery

This tailout didn't produce a fish on this day, but it has pumped out winter steelhead in the past.

Admiring the rod on the moss while having a sandwich break.

One of the fish that I caught on my last outing. Luckily a guy passing asked me if I wanted a pic while I was landing it.