7KH HQWUDOUHJRQO\ILVKHU + "Vol. 33, Number 5, May 2010 CONTENTS RANDOM CAST General Meeting Before writing this column, I review what we’ve done over the past month and events that 2 Nymph shing streams and rivers are coming up. I’m always impressed by what this club accomplishes, as well as the number of members who volunteer their time and energy to staff our many activities. This time is no Outings exception. 2 Outings calendar 2 Davis Lake large mouth bass I’ll start by thanking our Banquet committee for organizing a splendid COF banquet, 2 Ana River Outing held this year at the Broken Top Club for the first time. Also, thanks to all those who donated 3 Warm Springs to Trout Creek prizes for the raffles and auctions (both sponsors and members), and all of you who attended, 4 Little Cultus Lake and you who bid on these great prizes at our primary fundraiser of the year. It was nice fellow- 4 Prineville Reservoir ship opportunity and a huge financial success. 5 Carp shing in Malheur At this banquet, we accomplished another first. We presented awards to four key corpo- National Wildlife Refuge rate sponsors to recognize the major support they’ve provided to COF over the past two years. 5 Upper Williamson River This year’s award recipients were: Fly & Field, Deep Canyon Outfitters, Spirit Rive, and The 5 British Columbia Fly Fisher’s Place. They’ve been awfully good to us, so please patronize them, as well as the Education others listed on page 7. 5 Fly shing for beginners There has been lots of recent action in Kokanee Karnival. The Eggs to Fry, Angler Educa- 5 Beginning casting tion, Fish Dissection, and Spring Angling Clinic programs have been in full swing, and the 5 Intermediate casting Angling clinic continues May 2 and 3. Thanks to everyone involved in the Kokanee Karnival 5 Youth y-shing camp 6 Aquatic macroinvertebrates events. There’s so much going on in our Outings, Conservation and Education programs – far too Wild Women of the Water much to cover here – so browse the schedule (page 9), read the trip descriptions, and contact 6 Ladies y-shing clinic the leaders. Add trips to your calendar and contact the leaders ASAP. Other News We have some crucial openings we must fill. We need a new Membership Chairperson to 6 Pelton sh-transfer facility replace Craig Dennis at year-end, when his term expires. Please contact Craig or me if you’re tour 6 Annual banquet a success interested. We also must replace Donna Hathaway as Raffles chairperson immediately. She and Don Morgan just moved to Arizona to be near to her ailing mother. (I’ll miss their smil- Conservation ing faces, but Mom needs them.) We also need a volunteer to make coffee before the monthly 7 2010 Volunteer opportunities general meetings. Please see me if you want to help. Finally, I won the banquet silent auction for a trip to “Three Lakes Fly Fishing” in north- Kokanee Karnival east Washington. My son-in-law and I fished there yesterday, and we caught about 40 rainbow 10 Spring activities and brook trout up to 23 inches. We had Horseshoe Lake and the lodge all to ourselves, a gor- Tyers Corner geous place well worth the winning bid. Too bad we only had the time to fish one day! 8 Ugly duckling – Dick Olson 9 Membership 9 Classied 9 Up-Stream Events 2010 COF members tour the Pelton-Round Butte Dam Fish Transfer Facility. Photos: Bob & Jackie Cooper GeneRal meetinG Outings 2010 May 19 | 6:30 p.m. | Bend Senior Center, 1600 S.E. Reed Market Month Day Leader Destination Road, Bend May 1 Dave Semich Davis Lake (bass) May 6 Harry Harbin Ana River Nymph fishing streams and rivers May 13 Mike Tripp Lower Deschutes float The May program will feature Rick Hafele, noted fly- trip (Warm Springs to Trout Creek) fisher, entomologist, and author/co-author of several books and many magazine articles. His books include: Western May 22 Yancy Lind Little Cultus Lake Mayfly Hatches; The Complete Book of Western Hatches; An An- Jun 5-6 Bob Mullong Prineville Crappie Mara- glers Guide to Aquatic Insects and Their Imitations; and Nymph thon Fishing Streams and Rivers. With a Masters degree in aquatic Jun 10-11 John Anderson Diamond Lake entomology and minor in fisheries biology, Rick is among Jun 17-25 Dave Dunahay British Columbia the most knowledgeable of fly fishers in the Northwest. His Jun 18 Yancy Lind Malheur Wildlife Refuge specific topic for our meeting will be Nymph Fishing Streams Jun 29-30 Mike Tripp Upper Williamson River and Rivers, with an emphasis on what goes on below the sur- face of a stream and how to catch trout with nymphs. Among Jul 24-25 Bob Mullong Cow Camp Dry Fly Chal- lenge other things you will learn about are types of equipment, fly patterns, and different tactics – all from a master nymph Aug TBA Gordon Chan- East Lake fisher. dler – John Anderson Aug 27-29 Yancy Lind Lower Williamson/Wood River Sep 9 Jerry Criss Fall River outinGs Oct 7-10 Eric Steele Deschutes steelhead Outings for 2010 Nov 20 Bill Seitz Crooked River Cleanup & Outing Let me know if there is a trip that you would like to lead. Outings require a minimal amount of organizing, and I can give you some tips on how to make things go smoothly. leader shy, and I can rip my flies out of the reeds with a heavy - Yancy Lind, Outings Coordinator leader. A seven-foot leader tapered to 15 pound will be fine. [email protected] or 788-5514 Flies – Weedless flies are extremely helpful. I use the following (in order of preference): poppers (black, yellow, frog); rabbit Davis Lake large mouth bass strips (black, purple, olive green) four to five inches long with May 1 | Meet at Lava Flow Campground at 8:00 a.m. barbell eyes; dragonfly nymphs; Dahlburg divers Net – Davis Lake is located on the west side of the Cascade You don’t need one. You just get ‘em by sticking your thumb in their mouth and grabbing their lower jaw. Lakes Hwy, about three miles south of Wickiup Reservoir Stringer – and just south of where the lava flow comes next to the road. Bass are good to eat and they are an illegally intro- duced species in Davis. Keep as many as you catch. Meet at the Lava Flow Campground at the NE corner of the RSVP – lake at 8:00 a.m. We’ll discuss where to fish, what flies to use, Please send me an email (flyfshndave@webformixair. and how to fish them. Bring your lunch and a two-way radio. com) if you plan to go. We won’t come back to shore for lunch, but we will keep in – Dave Semich touch with the radios. Ana River Outing What to bring Thursday, May 6 | 8:00 a.m. depart from WalMart Floating device – boat/motor, float tube, pontoon boat, kayak, or pram – Davis Lake is nearly impossible to fish from the I am always searching for good dry-fly fishing in the shore. spring. The Ana River is one of those strange little gems of Rod – STOUT! Some of the bass are over six pounds. I use my Oregon geography that almost always provides good fishing 9 ½ foot, eight-weight steelhead rod. in March (sometimes in February too), but last year when I Lines – Floating for the shallow, weedy areas and fast sink for arranged an outing in March, the wind was blowing so hard around the dam that I could hardly stand up, and it simply blew the hatch Leader – NO NONSENSE! I use three feet of 40-pound and away. We will try it in gentler weather this year. three feet of 20-pound monofilament. These fish are not continued on page 3 The Central Oregon Flyfisher 2 May 2010 Located on Highway 31 about 100 miles from Bend, Warm Springs to Trout Creek float trip between Silver Lake and Summer Lake, the river arises at May 13 springs in the bottom of Ana Reservoir, a very small but deep If you are unfamiliar with the nine-mile stretch of the reservoir known for its hybrid bass. The state hybrid record Deschutes River from Warm Springs to Trout Creek, this was caught here (18.5 pounds, the last of five records caught outing is for you. Several club members have volunteered to here!), but it is pretty much bottom fishing that doesn’t lend take you in their drift boats or accompany you in your pon- itself to fly fishing. The overflow from the lake ignominiously toon boat. Numbers will be limited. (If you fish this stretch flows through two big pipes through the earthen dam, and of river regularly, let me know if you’d like to take another voila’ – the Ana River. The river flows through a fairly deep member through the float.) earthen canyon for about three miles before it flows into the I have been fishing this stretch of river for over 25 years; Summer Lake Wildlife Refuge and disappears in the desert. it is still one of my favorites, and I learn something new each The water starts out very clear, with a year-round temperature year. This year, the Lake Billy Chinook regulating tower may of about 52 degrees Fahrenheit. Farther downstream, it picks change hatches significantly. (See the March newsletter.) up some color from the soil and eventually becomes very al- This water offers great variety.