The North Umpqua River is happening now......

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Here is an email I got from Doug Duncan who was recently up there skating Muddler Minnows.

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Hi Bill,

Here is a picture of the fish I skated up on the Ump. I landed one, lost one and boiled another. Water conditions were excellent and not very crowded.

I also caught several trout on skaters as well.

Doug

[Rick J]

Way to go Doug!!!! Hope to get up that way in a week or so....
Rick

[Blueracer]

Bill - thanks for the nice post. Way to go Doug! How long was the trip for??

Rick, how long will your trip be for? Are you going with anyone, or a solo trip?

[Rick J]

I am likley going solo I went up about 4 weeks ago with Mike McCune who had not fished up there in 20 years - we had no takes that time around but he and Whitney were up for a few days later and did OK. I will take off a day and try to get 2 full days in plus a morning - plan to mainly skate but will see how things go

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

If there is any "weather" in the fall it can make the fish go crazy...

Old Joe Shirshac use to fish the NU and he was there once in the early fall and it rained making the fish eat everything he threw at them on top. He was using a big bushy caddis or stonefly dry......

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Mike McCune use to go to the NU when he was young and camp for 6 weeks in a tent every fall.

He said he liked to fish early swinging dark winged flies on a floating line for a few hours, then go out at around 1pm after every was in for the day fishing deep, then he hit the water again in the evenings. Imagine doing this for 6 weeks....for years.

I made it up there once back then to see Mike and he help me catch a fish.

At noonish we waded out on top of a big rock ledge and cast a sinktip with a big black rubber legs nymphs to the big rock structure in the middle of the river in the "Camp Water".

On the second cast Mike corrected my line handling to get the fly to sink very deep on this side of the rock "hedge" where he said the fish liked to lay deep in the shade mid-day. My line tightended and I landed my first 8 pound NU steelhead.

Thanks Mike
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I have been very lucky to have been able to fish for years with very good fly fishers. Every time I get to go somewhere with someone who really knows how to fly fish an area I learn something. I ask questions and I listen well and I don't forget these details. My information here on this BB is mostly reporting back to everyone what I have learned from fishing in great places with excellent fly fishers and top guides. I have thought of my self as one of those top fly fishers that I so admire, but merely a good student.

We were talking the other day and concluded that most of us today did not really invent the sport, but it was advanced a lot by the "Great Generation" and they passed it on to us. We might be refining it a bit now but they pioneered it all for us. What a gift...........

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Daily we have fly fishers bring new folks into our store that we outfit and help get going. If these guys did not love the sport as we do and bring in friends to the sport it would not be the wonderful thing is is today. We had two of our customers each bring in a friends yesterday to get outfitted to go on trips which is a wonderful thing to do to someone.

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[speyfool]

I'll be on the NU tomorrow. Sadly, since moving up to the Portland area, I haven't been on this river but once. There are so many rivers around here with so little time to fish them. I sure am looking forward to this though. I'll report back on Friday.

Rick