This week, before I stumble into the fishing report, I would like to share part of an email I received from my dear friend, Frank Moore, down on the North Umpqua. His message is an important one, so listen up, Campers...
 
Joel,
Please impress on people that they must be very careful where they fish this time of year to avoid fishing over spawning fish.  There are many pools here on the North Umpqua where they can fish for Steelhead that are not paired up and spawning. We need to leave those spawning fish alone. Please pass the word!
All the best, Frank & Jeanne

This is not a new problem, nor is it confined to the North Umpqua. Many of our rivers have overlapping winter and summer runs of Steelhead, with many anglers plying those waters.  All of us need to do our part to educate other anglers about identifying and protecting spawning areas. This fragile resource is ours to enjoy, and protect. 

Here in the local area, fresh fish are coming in with every drop of rain or snow melt that trickles down the river. Winter fish are starting to be replaced with a fair number of feisty summer runs that are more than happy to grab your feathery creations. I attempted to get reports from my regular suspects, but most were out fishing or had nothing to report. As I have never been one to let lack of a intel get in the way of a newsletter deadline, I headed out with Rob Crandall yesterday morning for a little fishing report research. The Clackamas River is in great shape and should remain that way through the weekend barring a spring monsoon. Rob and I each brought a nice bright fish to hand under ideal water conditions and I still managed to make it back to the shop before they missed me.  Maybe I should have fished longer...Rob does have a few open spots this coming week if you're interested, call him.

Camera shy or shameless plug?

Reports from the coast have been mixed and relatively few. Without the snow melt that bumped our local rivers, the coast is in need of a shot of rain. There should still be fresh fish moving into most coastal systems if we get it that promised precipitation.

The Sandy River was not as generous this past week as one would have hoped. Anglers are still hooking fish and there's always the chance that a Springer will be the willing grabber when the line pulls tight. Keep casting and keep believing.

Continuing on with the subject of casting, my personal Willamette River fly caught Springer quest has not yet bared fruit, but it's not due to lack of trying. If Steelhead are the fish of a thousand casts, Springers on the Willy are probably up around ten grand. It's a good thing I love to cast a 10 weight. Stay tuned.

As long as we're talking about the Willamette, Carp chasers have been doing back flips lately as higher water temps have the bronze bruisers heading into the shallows far ahead of their normal spring schedule. Cooler weather through next week may put the action right on it's lips until things warm again, but there is always Trout fishing.

Although this coming week may not be warm enough for Carp, it will be just right for some spring Trouting.  Cloudy skies should produce better Mayfly hatches mid-day than those crazy 80 degree days we had last week, as long as it's not too cold. Worst case scenario is you do a little nymphing, big deal, it won't kill you. Last week's tip about a March Brown hopper/dropper could change your life. The bugs are there, the fish are there, figure it out. Royal Treatment regular, Chad Brown, cracked the code on the Metolius this past weekend and was still smiling when he stopped in on Wednesday. Chad reported plenty of Caddis and misc. small Mayflies flitting about, but the action was mostly subsurface.

The Deschutes is also a great option for those wishing to knock the rust off their Trout tackle. Brian Silvey sent me this on-the-spot report and lovely Trout portrait. "It was a beautiful day on the Deschutes here in Maupin with about 70 degrees and a perfect overcast sky. We had an ok hatch of Mayflies, but not a lot of fish rising, so we mainly nymphed. The best nymphs were Silvey's Super Sinker in black #18, either fished light with no weight in the shallow riffles, or fished with split shot in the deeper water. From 9:00am -12:00pm we caught 1 fish, then from 12:30pm to 3:30pm we landed about 20 and had a lot more on. So, mid-day is still the best time to fish until there are more hatches. It was nice to get out and fish for something other than steelhead."

One other thing, Mr. Silvey, you don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to go trout fishing. It looks like I need to add that pattern to the fly bins!

Tastes Like Skunk

For this edition of Trailer Trash Thursday we turn once again to the award winning team from Outside Bend Productions and their film "Tastes Like Skunk." No spawning fish were harassed in the making of this film. In fact, no fish were harassed at all. Keep up the good work guys!

Only 8,427 to go

 Cheers,