Oregon Steelhead 4; California boys 0

[Rick J]

Well Bruce and I headed up to Tillamook last Wed and fished with Scott O'Donnell for 3 days and fished a bit on our own on the forth day coming home - all to no avail!! Bruce had one head shake on our first day.

But I would still call it a successful trip - just steelheading. Some incredible water - our first float was on the north fork of the Nehalem and was hands down the most beautiful float I have ever done - 27 water falls and 4 sets of class 3 rapids

Here is a photo of Bruce

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Oregon-Feb2008017.jpg

and another shot coming up to a waterfall

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Oregon-Feb2008018.jpg

Floated the Trask a couple of times and a short float on the Wilson. The water was just coming into shape but there were alot of boats - the long weekend brought droves of folks - many of the launch sites were just packed with trailers though we were able to get on water with not alot of competition - some of the floats you would not take a hard boat down which limited the competition.

This was my first opportunity to play around with a switch rod - Scott had the Sage 11' 7 wt rigged with a Skagit 650 cut back to 23 feet with a 7.5' T-14 tip - this thing was amazing!! Alot of fun ot cast. Here is video clip of Scott at lunch time fishing the rod

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/th_Oregon-Feb2008025.jpg (http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/?action=view&current=Oregon-Feb2008025.flv)

All in all even without hooking up - it was an incredible experience and just alot of fun with Scott - he teaches me something every time I am around him. Until next year!!

[Jasonh]

Great report and pics Rick. My dad and I are headed up this weekend to fish with Mike McCune for a couple of days. I cant wait. I love those rivers up there around Tillamook!

I have been playing around with the 8 weight version switch rod with a 650 skagit cut to 23' per Scott's recommendation. It is an absolute canon. I got it to fish on the coastal river and used it this past weekend on the sf eel and mattole. Not much to show for it but the weather was great!

[TMS]

Nice report Rick...The water you're fishing looks rugged! What kind of flies were you using? Thanks for the report.

Good luck Jason...sounds like a fun trip with your father.

Later...

Thom

[Rick J]

Hi Thom- the runs we were fishing were some of the most incredible steelhead water I have fished - every cast felt like it could be a fish (Well, not every cast as every 5th cast or so was up in a tree or messed up in some fashion :cry: )

We were using our Scott 1287's and Anderson 13'3" 7 and 8 wt rods with Skagit 550's and 650's and T-14 tips ranging from 6' to 15' rigged on various rods. Flies were tubes ranging from unweighted to heavily weighted from 2" to 5" long leaning towards pink but including purple, red/orange and blues.

[Don Powell]

Thanks Rick,

I have been a "pupil" of Scott's since the Skagit days in the mid-90's...you are dead on, he always teaches you something new.

Mike and Scott have chosen to live and guide in "Paradise" fishing those waters in the spring. (well, it's "Paradise" for us when we hook up!)

Best Luck to Jason and Gary, sooner or later some of us Nor Cals are going to score up there...all steelheaders know it's just a matter of time!

Don

[thedryflyguy]

The video looks as if was taken across from the boat launch on the Trask. Looks as if you hit all the water when it was just about perfect. Keep coming up north and you'll intercept one of these elusive fish.

[Rick J]

Yes - that is Upper Peninsula - we acutally floated on down through Canopener and took out at Lower Penisula. And we are already booked for next year and we will be coming back - we got rained out last year but have been fishing with Scott for around 5 years now and though we don't always catch fish, we always have a great time!!

We went though the Nehalem falls one year with him which was a real eye opener - thought I had some photos of lining the raft though the falls but can't find them - will post later if I can come up with them

[bigtj]

Nehalem falls...yikes! Would like to see those photos..that is some serious water.

I used to guide with Scott in Alaska and although we have had our differences, he is one heck of a fishy guy. I can see why you would want to keep going back...those are some great rivers.

Scott's wife Stephanie is a real sweetheart, we had a lot of fun working together.

Cheers,

-John

[Rick J]

Hi John,
I have fished the Grande Ronde with Scott and Mike a couple of times and you are right Stef is a kick and can she cook!!! Our last trip was when I went with Bill and we did a float of the canyon - that was the year Scott was bit by a rattlesnake chasing his dog Willow the week previous and could not join us

Here are a few photos of the Nehalem falls adventure in 2005:

Falls from road side
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/march2005trip016.jpg

falls ahead sign:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/march2005trip039.jpg

Checking out the falls:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/march2005trip041.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/march2005trip043.jpg

Lining the raft through:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/march2005trip050-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/march2005trip052.jpg

All in great fun though we got the rope stuck for a bit and thought we might be stuck on the wrong side of the river!!

[trinity]

That raft trip looks awesome! Pretty tricky water. I floated the South Fork of the Eel last month in pontoon boats with Jason Hartwick and flipped my boat real early in the float. We went through a rapid with some boulders scattered throughout and I didn't manuever them very well, next thing I knew I was under water and trying to get to shore. Luckily everything was tied down, except the pizza and beer. I was wearing a wool Pendleton and that saved my butt for the rest of the day. Having experience with rowing is crucial, understanding your limits with rapids even more crucial, and definitely error on the cuatious side, especially in winter. My boat was too small for the water, better for smooth water, and my rowing skills were minimal, I hadn't done it for four years. I guess you could say I was pretty stupid and lucky. Winter steelhead fly fishing is a pretty crazy thing though and can drive you to do things that you wouldn't normally consider, I think that is one of the great things about it. Thanks for those cool pictures Rick.
I went to the South Fork of the Smith yesterday and fished high up. Found some nice swing water, which was a chore! That river is tough for swinging flies, but when I found spots, they were super primo. No fish to show, but next time won't be so tough.

[wjorg]

That just looked fun! Thanks for sharing.

[Notch]

Just curious why there's a fish ladder on those falls? It doesn't look like anything a steelhead or salmon couldn't handle.

[Rick J]

Not sure why the fish ladder though at low flows it is possible that it may be more of a barrier