Category Archives: Flies

Getting Out Fishing Today With Our Bamboo Rods!

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I was able to get out fly fishing today with my good friend, Joe, on Whychus Creek, the small creek in the canyon below my house.  Whychus creek is one of my favorite spots here in Central Oregon…beautiful water and no other anglers around.  I took out my 6′  8″  3 wt. Fast Action Series Bamboo Rod and Joe took out his 7′  0″  4 wt bamboo rod he built with me in my workshop.  After a bug sampling that showed a lot of stonefly nymphs, I started with a #10 black rubber legged black stonefly nymph.  Joe started with a #16 Tan X-Caddis pattern.  We both were successful and caught several nice rainbows.  After an hour, I wanted some dry fly action so I changed over to a #12 Yellow Stimulator pattern…Joe stayed with his X-Caddis.  For the next 2 hours, we both raised a lot of feisty native rainbows, and by the end of the day, we each caught about 15 fish.  What a fun day with our bamboo rods on one of our small creeks here.

A Big, Black Stonefly Nymph

6′ 8 3 wt rod

Joe with a great Bow And Arrow cast.

One of the beautiful native rainbows we caught.

Date Night…An Evening Out….

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Mary Ann and I had to get out of the house for a few hours and managed to sneak out to the Metolius River yesterday evening for two hours. It was an incredibly peaceful evening away from the crowds down on the lower river. We both took out our 7′ 9″ 4 wt bamboo rods for the evening. A few BWOs starting showing up about 5:00 PM and then some PMDs about 30 minutes later. No fish seemed to want to come to the surface but we did well swinging PMD soft hackles…Thanks John Kreft for your great PMD Soft Hackle Pattern.

waiting for the evening hatch….
Mary Ann working a nice riffle.
A Nicely Colored Rainbow
John Kreft’s #16 PMD Soft Hackle

Costs of Fly Fishing Gear in 1925

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I came across an interesting add in an old archived edition of a Central Oregon Newspaper (The Brownsville Times) this week.  In 1925, a Bamboo Fishing Rod was only $3.25, Leaders (the expensive ones) were 20 cents, and flies were 15 cents each.  Interestingly, Fly Books (the good ones) were $1.90.  Here is a look:

1925 Brownsville Times

More on Dave Hughes’ Wet Fly Techniques

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I’ve been reading Dave Hughes’ book “Wet Flies” recently, and it’s caused me to think a lot more about how I fly fish.  On a brief outing to the Middle Deschutes River last week, I took my 8′  0″  5 wt slow action rod to swing some of Dave’s recommended patterns for the local browns.  The “Silver Invicta” in a size 14 proved to be a great fly to swing through shallower riffles, and it brought many feisty browns in the 7″ to 12″ range to the net.  I think I’ll be using Dave’s wet fly techniques a lot more in my fishing outings, especially on smaller water.  Check it out:

Wet Flies by Dave Hughes

The Silver Invicta

The browns in the middle Deschutes River couldn’t resist a swung fly.