I just put the finishing touches on a batch of beautiful figured English Walnut reel seats for my bamboo fly rods. You never quite know how they will look from the starting blocks of walnut when you turn them down on the lathe and then apply the finish. Here is the “before” and “after” look.
Figured English Walnut Blanks Ready to be Turned on the Lathe
And the finished product
Mary Ann and I took advantage of the great weather this week and hit the Crooked River yesterday for some November Fly Fishing…yep, here in central Oregon we get to fly fish year around! She took out her 8′ 0″ 5 wt Spring Creek Series rod and I choose a 7′ 6″ 5 wt Freestone Series rod for the day. The white fish are spawning in the river now so small orange egg patterns were the go-to fly for the day. We caught an equal ratio of whitefish to rainbows, and lost track of how many fish came to the net. Here are a couple of photos of our day.
A couple of anglers happy to get on the river with our bamboo fly rods.
Fish On! A 14 inch rainbow.
A nice 12 inch rainbow that came to my net.
Mary Ann and I got the chance to fish the Rogue River in Southern Oregon last week for a few days. We had a great time at Morrison’s Lodge where they have a great fly fishing operation…and a wonderful lodge also. We got out with one of their great guides, Stuart Warren, one day and threw for half pounders with our 10′ 6″ bamboo trout spey rods. Here is a little of our action:
Casting my bamboo trout spey rod.
Fish On!
A nice half pounder with my guide, Stuart.
We had a break in the weather yesterday and Mary Ann and I got the chance to fish Whychus Creek, a small local creek where some great restoration efforts have been going to help bring back the salmon and steelhead runs from years ago. The water was a little high and off-colored from recent rains, but still very fishable. A quick bug sampling showed a mix of small mayfly nymphs, a few caddis, and stoneflies. Mary Ann and I both took our 7′ 0″ 4 wt bamboo rods, perfect for this little stream. While we didn’t catch a lot of fish, we picked up a few on nymphs, including a nice 11″ native rainbow that took a #16 red serendipity. Here are a few photos from our afternoon.
A view of Whychus Creek from the bluff above.
Off-Color water but still very fishable.
Some of the bugs we sampled from the creek
A nice 11″ native rainbow I picked up
Mary Ann and I got out on the Deschutes River this week searching for trout and steelhead. I targeted trout with small #18 nymphs and was very successful, with several nice 15″ to 18″ fish to the net. Mary Ann took out my 10′ 6″ 5 wt Micro Spey in search of steelhead, and although she didn’t find any, she still hooked a few nice rainbows and whitefish. A very nice day on the river.
A nice rainbow that took a #18 Pheasant Tail nymph.
This guy was happy to take a #18 tan caddis pupa fished on the bottom.
A monster +20″ whitefish putting a big bend in Mary Ann’s 10′ 6″ bamboo Micro Spey.