Oregon Fly Fishing

The Great Northwest. This was my first time fishing the waters of Oregon. This wasn’t a fishing trip; it was a social trip, during which I would have very little time to fish. I planned to make the best of it.

With help of my friends Susan and Mario, whom I came to visit, I pinpointed two streams close to Portland: Salmon River and Bridal Veil Creek.

Salmon River 1999

The Salmon River were I fished it was a medium sized stream and a crisp 46 degrees in the sun. Susan and I hiked in for about half an hour to stay away from the crowds. The river wasn’t really crowded. It was a Thursday and we’d seen only one fisherman. Still, I wanted to make my way to where fewer fisherman would plan to begin their day.

As Susan and I made our way upstream, I noticed the lush, dense Oregon forest. It reminded me of the dense countryside found on the East Coast- something we rarely see in California. After some looking, we found a way down to the river. I dropped my thermometer and started turning over rocks. Nothing, not a single bug in sight. This was discouraging. I picked up my thermometer; it read 46 degrees. Yikes! Definitely not encouraging. I tied on a Prince Nymph and made my way upstream.

The cold hadn’t yet gotten to me. The air was warm and I was dressed in shorts, Seal Skins and boots. Seal Skins are waterproof, “breathable”, insulated socks that ride about mid-calf. Casting to likely spots, I made my way upstream. Soon I was reminded that this waterproof thing works both ways. I steeped into a fairly deep lie (relative to how deep I was willing to wade) and water seeped down my leg, underneath my Seal Skins. Undaunted, I continued upstream.

Around a corner, I found myself calf deep on the shallow side of some pocket water. “An unlikely place for fish in this cold water”, I thought. Once again I surveyed stream for bugs….”Caddis!”, I yelled as Susan sat, snapping pictures from shore. I waded over to show her the huge rock worm and small Grannom I found. “See how green it is?”, I remarked. She nodded and stepped back to snap close ups.

Buoyed by this new discovery and with only about 20 min of fishing time left, I put on my favorite dry fly- a size 16 Caddis Cripple. I worked the slower, shallower water near shore and soon hooked a small fish. I made a mid-stream release and soon started to work another. I was just starting to get in a groove when Susan shouted that it was time to go. Drat! Foiled again!

Bridal Veil Creek 1999
 

 

Bridal Veil Creek is a small creek at the base of a waterfall. I never quite saw the falls but did see hordes of tourists on their trek to this natural wonder. As a fly fisher I was an oddity. When we stopped in the parking lot I didn’t see any fishing signs. No pro-fishing signs and no con. Worried I was in the wrong place, I walked across the street to a local inn. They’d never seen anyone going down the trail with fishing rods, the innkeeper said in a “we don’t want hordes of fisherman around here” sort of way. Still, the fly shop in Portland said this is a stream that could be fished for small sea run Cutthroat Trout.
 
 I made my way down the falls trail and quickly arrived at the creek. It was a small tumbling stream. Maybe 15 feet across at it’s widest point and about 5 feet everywhere else. The trail crossed the stream and came to a fork. One fork was well worn and lead to the falls. The other was less worn and lead downstream. Soon I found myself surround by nettles on what seemed to be a rarely used deer trail. I continued on until the nettles started to draw blood and then made a bee line to the water.

Straight away, I knew I was in the right place. The obligatory red and white bait bobber lying next to a tree told me so. The creek was small and extremely brushy with sufficient water to hold fish. I performed the obligatory insect check, already knowing I was going to fish an E/C Caddis. I tied on and shot a bow and arrow cast to the far bank. I figured that fishing the near bank would be moot. In such a small stream, every fish on the bank would have seen me as I crashed through the nettles and down the small drop off to where I now knelt.

On the second drift I got a strike. I eventually hooked into a 5 inch sea run cutthroat trout. Rarely have a caught such a beautiful fish. Large black spots over a canvas of shimmering silver with an under current of reddish orange. I released the fish and continued to fish the bank.

Soon I became a tourist attraction myself. Tourist making their way up to the Bridal Veil Falls would stop on the bridge above me and watch. Some saw me catch fish others didn’t. All were entertained I’m sure.

As I made my way toward this bridge, I came to the section of the river that gave me the most pleasure. It was a shortish run (about 4 feet) against the far bank, heavily canopied by trees. The only way to fish it would be to get a cast far underneath the overhanging branches. In such a situation, most folks would throw a side arm cast.  Former PSU fly fishing instructor Joe Humphreys advocates applying the casting power stroke at the level of the object you wish to fish under. This forces the loop down under the structure you are fishing. I’d been practicing such a cast before my trip and was eager to give it a try.

Fishing the tail of the run first, I threw a curving back cast- the type the spey casters use. It doesn’t go straight back on the back cast, so it’s good for close quarters work, and allows the caster to employ a straight overhead forward cast. With a quick squeeze of the handle the line shot under the brush. The folks on the bridge didn’t know it but I was ecstatic. Drag set in almost immediately. I was lucky if I got a 12 inch drag free drift. Persistence paid off and I was eventually able to hook a fish far underneath the brush.

I landed fish consistently for the next hour and hurriedly made my way back to the parking where Vita and Susan where waiting. I thought they’d be annoyed at me for running over my allocated fishing time, in truth, they’d hadn’t even realized. They just chatted away as old friends tend to do.

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