Category Archives: fishing bamboo

Bamboo on the Metolius

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I got the chance to get out with my friend, Tony, recently on the Metolius River. Tony had just picked out his second bamboo fly rod from me, a very nice medium action 7′ 9″ 4 wt Spring Creek Series Rod to compliment an 8′ 0″ 5 wt rod he got from me several years ago. I took out my medium-fast action 7′ 9″ 4 wt Freestone Series Rod and we hit the water for a few hours. Fortunately, we found some very cooperative risers in the afternoon and picked up several nice rainbows on BWOs, Green Drakes, and Golden Stonefly dries. Tony out-fished me for the day, including landing a very nice 17″ rainbow that took his drake. Here are a couple of photos of our day.

Dave and Tony on the Metolius River
Tony working on a good drift.
A nice rainbow that took a golden stonefly dry.

Browns and Rainbows on the Middle Deschutes River

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I finally got out to fly fish yesterday on the Middle Deschutes River here in Central Oregon. The river is pretty spectacular, with a brief hike down into the canyon to the river. It’s small water down there, with some great nymphing opportunities. I took out my 9′ 0″ 3 wt EuroNymphing Bamboo Fly Rod for the day and wasn’t disappointed. The Salmon Fly hatch was over about 2 weeks ago but the fish were happy to take Golden Stonefly Nymphs. For the day, I caught about 15 whitefish, along with 6 rainbows and 9 brown trout. Here are a few photos from my day.

The Beautiful Middle Deschutes River
A nice Brown Trout
A feisty Rainbow
Another 12″ Brown Trout

Molly Semenik Casting Bamboo

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I built a bamboo rod for a dear friend, Molly Sememik, last year and she sent me a photo of her fishing it last week. Molly is a world-class fly casting instructor and she certainly demonstrates how to throw a nice loop with her new rod. I couldn’t help posting this photo here in my blog, as well as an older photo of her fishing her rod with me on the Metolius River last year. And thanks to Heather Hodson for the great casting photo of Molly. Enjoy.

Molly Casting her new bamboo fly rod.

Fun video of floating the Salmon River in Idaho

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When Mary Ann was guiding the Salmon River in Idaho a few years ago, there was one particular stretch of river she called “The Gnarly Zee’s” because of all the rocks in the river. The current flow wasn’t fast, but the rocks required some tricky navigation of the drift boat to get through without hanging up or hitting the rocks. Here is a fun video of Mary Ann rowing us through that section.

Bamboo EuroNymphing on the Middle Deschutes River

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I finally got back out recently on the Middle Deschutes River about 25 minutes from my house with a couple of good fishing friends. The river is fairly small in this area due to water being pulled off for irrigation…but that makes for some great fly fishing water. The salmon fly hatch from two weeks previous was over so I expected that fish would be holding close to the bottom…sounded like a good opportunity to try some Bamboo EuroNymphying. I took out my 9′ 0″ 3 wt Bamboo EuroNymphing rod for the day and wasn’t disappointed. The rainbows, browns, and whitefish were happy to take small nymphs, but the majority were less than 12″ long. But, I was lucky to pick up one very nice brown on a #20 two-bit hooker pattern. Here are a few photos of my day.

The Middle Deschutes River
Fishing with my buddies Bill, Vince, and Lynn.
A nice little rainbow
A beautiful big brown that took a #20 two bit hooker pattern.