A monthly newsletter serving the southern Willamette Valley NOVEMBER 2019 ANNUAL AUCTION IS NOV. 18 Prez sez By Jim Rhoten This time in November around Thanksgiving is a good time to look back and reflect on the past year. I feel blessed. I have my health, a loving family and friends, a roof over my head, and enough money to do the things I enjoy. It has been a busy summer, camping, hiking and fishing with friends and family. I always look forward to the fall. It is my favorite time of the year. It is such a beautiful time to be out with nature, whether on a river or going for a walk in the woods. It is also my favorite time to fish. The fish seem more aggressive, willing to come up for a dry fly all day instead of like the summer, when they tend to come up just in the evenings. The fish don’t hesitate to take nymphs or even attack a streamer willingly. Even the steelhead are more active and easier to catch and are always a thrill. And what’s more amazing, there are a lot fewer fishermen on the river this time of the year. I think a lot of people are watching football, hunting or at school activities. I also feel lucky that I found this club. It is a group of dedicated fly fishers, with a ton of knowledge, and a great a desire to help others. And what a beautiful fall we have had! The weather has been exceptional. I am one lucky man so let’s get out there and catch some fish. This newsletter will be coming out a few days before our annual Auction on Nov. 18 at Willie’s Restaurant. Please attend and contribute by helping and participating so we can continue to support the activities we enjoy as a club. We also have a holiday party coming up Dec. 15 at Willie’s. Tom Faura has been working hard to organize the party. Please help Tom by signing up early for the dinner. — Jim ([email protected]) McKenzie Flyfishers 1 AUCTION UPDATE The November meeting will be our auction Monday, Nov. 18, at Willie’s Restaurant in Spring:ield. Silent auction begins at 5:30 pm, :irst auction table closes at 6:30, live auction begins at 8:30, checkout runs until 9:30. We all need to be out by 10. Nobody needs to show up early to help this year since volunteers are already lined up, says Greg Williams, but help might be needed at the end for cleanup. Preview auction items at www.auctria.com/auction/
Transcript
A monthly newsletter serving the southern Willamette Valley NOVEMBER 2019
ANNUAL AUCTION IS NOV. 18
Prez sezBy Jim Rhoten
This time in November around Thanksgiving is a good time to look back and reflect on the past year.
I feel blessed. I have my health, a loving family and friends, a roof over my head, and enough money to do the things I enjoy.
It has been a busy summer, camping, hiking and fishing with friends and family. I always look forward to the fall. It is my favorite time of the year. It is such a beautiful time to be out with nature, whether on a river or going for a walk in the woods.
It is also my favorite time to fish. The fish seem more aggressive, willing to come up for a dry fly all day instead of like the summer, when they tend to come up just in the evenings. The fish don’t hesitate to take nymphs or even attack a streamer willingly. Even the steelhead are more active and easier to catch and are always a thrill. And what’s more amazing, there are a
lot fewer fishermen on the river this time of the year. I think a lot of people are watching football, hunting or at school activities.
I also feel lucky that I found this club. It is a group of dedicated fly fishers, with a ton of knowledge, and a great a desire to help others.
And what a beautiful fall we have had! The weather has been exceptional. I am one lucky man so let’s get out there and catch some fish.
This newsletter will be coming out a few days before our annual Auction on Nov. 18 at Willie’s Restaurant. Please attend and
contribute by helping and participating so we can continue to support the activities we enjoy as a club.
We also have a holiday party coming up Dec. 15 at Willie’s. Tom Faura has been working hard to organize the party. Please help Tom by signing up early for the dinner.
A monthly newsletter serving the southern Willamette Valley NOVEMBER 2019
McKenzie Flyfishers 2
Dry fly fishing is over-rated A fishy tale of an auction trip
By Al Eckerdt This article is about
an auction fishing trip hosted by Walt Petty with Peggy Roga and me, Al Eckerdt, being the lucky auction winners. I’ll start by saying that a day on a river, in this case the lower McKenzie, with Walt is always amazing and this trip was no exception.
I have become a committed Euro-nymph fly fisher and have found that I always catch more fish that way than when dry fly fishing. I admit that fishing with dries can be more fun, but I like the excitement of catching fish even more. To quote Greg Williams while together on the Owyhee: “We were in an absolutely perfect place to catch some big browns but experienced no catching with our Euro setups.” Greg finally said “Al, it is more fun to not catch fish on dry flies than with nymphs, so let’s go switch and at least enjoy the moment a bit more.”
So, on the river I set up my Euro rod with the typical two nymphs and intended to show Peggy and Walt how to catch fish, I waded into a perfect trough
that was very “fishy.” Peggy was in the boat to do only dry flies.
After about ten casts, I hear Peg’s voice in the background “Oh – I have a fish on.” Followed by “I just landed it.” I ignored her comments, intent on at least catching the biggest, if not the first fish. After about 10 more fruitless casts, I decided to change
A monthly newsletter serving the southern Willamette Valley NOVEMBER 2019
nymphs but heard Peg’s voice again: “Oh – I have another one on.” Followed by, “and I just landed this one too.” Hmmm, I’m thinking, maybe she’s just being lucky. There is no match for the mighty Euro rod.
After changing my nymphs to something more delectable, I started the process again in this very fishy place when Walt said, “Things have slowed down – let’s move on.” Well – things hadn’t slowed down for me – they hadn’t even started yet! And I know I was almost on to something big, but climbed into the boat and we moved on.
Peg very kindly didn’t point out that the score was Peg - 2, Al - 0. However, undaunted I proceeded to wade into the next spot, very confident that a “come from behind” was about to happen. I had put on my magic nymph setup that never fails, when I heard again from Peg – “Wow – I have another one on” “Oh – I just landed it.” Score
is now Peg - 3, Al - 0. Hmmm! But who is counting? Certainly not me!
There comes a time to admit defeat, get in the boat and start throwing dry flies. And the fishing was amazing all day long. Walt is an experienced guide, saying frequently that “Hey, I think this is a good spot.” And it was – over and over again.
We started out in short sleeves and wondering why we had brought our rain gear, until the wind picked up, the sky blackened and it began to pour, as it does in Oregon. Undaunted, we continued to catch fish right up to the take-out. It was another fantastic auction trip and thank you Walt for doing a great job for both Peg and me.
And in summary, there is nothing more fun than fishing and occasionally catching fish on the mighty dry fly!
A monthly newsletter serving the southern Willamette Valley NOVEMBER 2019
McKenzie Flyfishers 4
MFF hits the Oregon Trail By Bob Howell
In mid-September, a small band of hardy fly fishers from the club ventured away from our home waters for the second annual Owyhee River outing. A couple of new faces: Mike Layne, Steve Hackett, Clint Brumitt and Greg Williams joined some of the original crew from last year: Terry Willis (fishmaster), Al Eckerdt, Dick Barnhart, Phil McNett and me, to share tips, tales, food, and fun. Phil, our token Arizona club member, had excelled in netting fish last year and as a result, endured much disparagement about his sneaky tactics, miscounting, and use of treble hooks and dynamite. He actually appeared to be more human this year due to a high-water event in June which disrupted the fish and the bugs, resulting in fewer hatches and fewer rising fish. Regardless of the challenging conditions, everyone caught fish and enjoyed the whole experience. Having two easy-access furnished cabins to share right next to the dam and in the fishier section of the river enhanced our trip.
Of course, even Terry’s best-laid plans were dashed when he started unloading his truck and realized that he had left his waders and boots at home. Oh, no! But fortunately, several others had brought back-ups and he was able to fish in spite of the oversight. A call to his wife and Clint Brumitt, who got a late start meeting us at the river, resulted in arrival of his gear the next day.
Terry had pre-arranged two guides, Andrew and another fellow of Dreams on the Fly, to accompany each of us for afternoon wading in their favorite spots. This helped give us a head start on valuable fly selection and dry/wet strategies. There were also safety lessons about what to do if you fall in the river. Several participants got a chance to practice these valuable lessons during the trip. For example, Terry and Al were watching a big fish rising in
the Corral Hole as Dick, walking on the road overlooking the river above them saw “Al’s” fish and exclaimed "Holy smokes — look at that gigantic fish." Al quietly told him that he was stalking it and he politely backed off. Then Mike walked up in the same spot, and Al stopped him by telling him the same thing. He insisted, however, that he would be very quiet. As he moved carefully down the bank, he suddenly slipped and fell with a huge splash into the frigid water. He came up sputtering, shouting, shivering, jumping about wildly, and then instinctively started slapping the water with his hands. After getting Mike to shore, restoring some dignity and helping with waders, Dick and Al returned to the river. Dick looked into the spot and calmly said "Al, I think your fish is gone."
A monthly newsletter serving the southern Willamette Valley NOVEMBER 2019
McKenzie Flyfishers 5
L
A similar thing happened to Phil and I, in what came to be known as “Phil’s Hole,” just downriver from the cabin. I hooked into one of the biggest rainbows I had ever seen and was battling him tooth and hook. Phil, fishing on the other side and below me, heard “BIG fish!!” started wading upriver as fast as he could, only to realize that the river was slightly higher than usual, and tricky to cross easily. Knowing he must record this historic catch as I got it to the net, he waded with reckless abandon on his treacherous path through the trough — only to fall face-down into the rushing current just a few feet from me. Soaked and shaking, but with the determination of a Labrador retriever with a stick, he found his camera and was about to click the photo— when the big fish squirmed out of my hands back into the river. That fish of a lifetime is just a sweet memory now, but I have the memory of Phil’s face as he clamored to his feet that day. Ahh ...
Terry, also our social events director, scheduled post-dinner activities each evening, including beer and burgers the first night, followed by a bourbon, steak and joke night, naturally filled with laughter and groans, but more moderately enjoyed than last year’s guzzling event. Night three — fish and wine night (but almost no fish though due to Al's offer of tofu, everyone went out and caught enough rainbows for the dinner). We even managed to stay awake for two nights to watch some DVDs. Of course, the ever-present wild turkeys and deer kept us entertained with their antics each evening.
We also got a fascinating guided tour of the inside of the historic dam, built originally in 1928, by Robert McLay, the current dam superintendent. He later opened the wonderful old museum of artifacts and photos for us to get
the full picture of what it was like in the construction phase. It was fascinating to hear the process they used to plan, engineer and build the dam, then later to enhance and maintain the operation, providing scarce water resources to the surrounding farms and ranches in both Oregon and Idaho. The stories of locals rolling tractor tires and bowling balls down the spillway, and the resultant water explosions, plus Darwin Award candidates being held by their ankles over the huge intake during high water, were
pretty funny. We also had the opportunity to meet young
Jeremy Sanders, a student at Boise State University. He tries to fish the Owyhee at least 100 days a year, and fishes the rivers in southern Idaho the rest of the time. He was pretty successful using a San Juan worm, finding, like the rest of us, that the fish weren’t hitting anything very consistently.
After our week of fishing fun with the gang, Phil and I went up to the head and tailwaters of the South Fork of the Boise, Silver Creek, and up the Magic Valley on the Big Wood River for another week or so, already reminiscing about our Owyhee adventures with the MFF. A cold front moved in with rain, clouds and even snow a couple of days. We still managed to catch fish, big ones on the South Fork and lots of smaller ones on the beautiful Wood River.
A monthly newsletter serving the southern Willamette Valley NOVEMBER 2019
McKenzie Flyfishers 6
Our club’s Life Members • Jim Boyd • Bob Bumstead • Jim Dougher
• Skip Hosfield • Bill Laing • Hal Legard • Glen Love • Frank Moore • Peter Patricelli
• Bob Rasmussen • Mike Starr • Dave Thomas
INVITATION TO JOIN You do not have to be an expert fly fisher to join the McKenzie Flyfishers. Our monthly meetings are an excellent opportunity to meet other area anglers, to have the best of regional experts on subjects dear to the hearts of fly fishers — and our outings and classes are wonderful ways to hone skills and lead local waters first-hand. Interested? Just curious? Contact Dick Barnhart, (541) 501-1774.
Have stories and photos for the newsletter? Email Ted Taylor at [email protected]
Holiday party reminder The McKenzie Flyfishers annual holiday party will be from 5:30 to 8:30 pm Sunday, Dec. 15, at Willie’s Northwest Cuisine, 400 International Way, Springfield. Prior to the November meeting, I will email another holiday party announcement through MFF google groups. The easiest way to register and select your dinner choice is to make a copy, fill it out and bring it to the November meeting. Please note the cost savings incentive for registering in advance rather than at the door. We look forward to another festive Holiday celebration in 2019. — Tom Fauria
Steelies are back Jim Rhoten sent in this photo of a bright and feisty steelhead he caught Nov. 7 at Armitage Park on the lower McKenzie. He was trout fishing with a 3-weight Euro rod and 5X tippet. His fly was a black salmon fly nymph, size 8 with a tungsten bead. Took him 20 minutes to land without a net.
