Random Casts

The lakes are clearing up some after the usual "turn over" that the algae does with the warming water, lots of hatches have passed with lots more taking place and the results are as wide as there are numbers of people fishing. The fishing is always great, but sometimes the catching can be real slow. We all go fishing for the relaxation, but how would you like to have fun and help out ODF&W at the same time? Ted Wise, at the Bend office, has asked for a favor that costs nothing and can be very helpful. When you've been fishing Ted would like to know where you were and what you caught while there. This would provide them with "Creel counts" for their records, without requiring the time and cost of accomplishing this task. (With all of the State budget cuts this is self explanatory.) As an example, Ted asked for a count on East Lake for the number of Rainbows caught, and the number that had a clipped adipose, for the day of the Club outing. It was a simple phone call and gave them information on the "Cranebows" that have been planted in East Lake. It's easy to do the report. Give Ted a call at 388-6363 and give him the report or leave a voice mail message plus your name and number. If he needs more info he'll call you back.

If you aren't going to Canada, and would like to meet some folks from the Santiam Flycasters, mark your calendar for July 19, 20 & 21 for East Lake. That will be their outing for July and gives us a chance to meet folks from another Oregon Club while having fun. It will also give us a chance to thank them for helping out at Wizard Falls on "Free Fishing Day".

Since the Canada trip is the official Outing for July, and some of us can't make it, where do you want to do the "local" Outing for July? Send me your suggestions by email (othapus@hotmail.com) or call me (317-1075). This month it's scheduled for the 23rd so we can discuss your ideas at the meeting on the 17th.

Finally, I'll be hitting some of the higher lakes as the trails open up for travel and plan on giving some quick reports at the regulars meetings for the next few months. If you want to try out some of those lakes let me know and we can plan ahead.

See you on the water.

Phil @ COF

Upstream Events

July 6, Thursday 7 PM

Board Meeting at the Environmental Center

July 19, Wednesday

6:30 PM Social, 7 PM COF Meeting

July 23-26

John Day Camping Project for Steelhead Estimates. Contact Gene McMullen at 312-8939 or Tim Unterwegner John Day District Biologist at 541-575-1167

July 23 COF

Outing Upper Deschutes, contact Dan Driskill at 388-1572

July Program

Take the mystery out of lake fishing and get the answers to your questions. We will have a few members who have actually fished a lake. They will try to remember what happened when they fished and pass that information on to the rest of us. We are blessed to have some of the best fishing lakes in the United States within an hour's drive of Bend. Learn more about lake fishing at the July meeting.

Paulina Lake

By Doug Shockley

These are some of the INCIDENTS that have occurred during some of my visits;

1. Dad, Derald and I were trolling flies and caught 30 trout, just as fast as we could let our lines out! We had 3 fish on at the same time more than once. This was the BEST fishing day I have ever had, but we didn't quite get away without a scratch because a Thunderstorm blasted us just before we broke Camp!
2. My Wife and I stayed in a Tent Cabin, I was sick with a sinus infection and I fished in a snow storm! My boat had 3 inches of snow on it after I was done fishing.
3. My Wife and I were fishing from the shore and I hooked a BIG fish that proceeded to take ALL the line off my reel and break off!!
4. One day I drove 160 miles to Paulina and never saw a drop of rain until I arrived at the lake!!!! This is typical Paulina weather!!
5. One night it stormed for hours and I had to go out 3 times, in the pitch black night to bilge the water out of my boat!!
6. My Son and I were in my boat, near the Boat Dock and a hail storm came over Paulina Peak and blasted us!! That HURT!!!
7. My Son and I were trolling for brown trout and a Big brown grabbed my plug. Too bad I forgot to loosen my drag because the hook pulled out of it's mouth!!
8. My Dad, Grandma and I were staying at a Paulina log cabin and my sleep was interrupted by the NOISE of hundreds of BATS in the wall behind the fireplace!!! These bats were smoked out the next day and the hole was plugged on the outside of the cabin.
9. When I was a Kid, my Dad called Paulina lake Store and asked if they had any boats for rent?? "Sure we have plenty of boats for rent!". When we arrived at the Lake it was FROZEN!!!!
10. My Dad, Brothers and I had to smash the ice on the surface of the lake with our oars, to get to our favorite fishing spot.
11. My brother Gerald Video Taped One Day at Paulina and it is a CLASSIC! :-) From watching this movie I learned that fishing was secondary to the FUN we had.

1. If you see any Black Clouds in ANY direction, GET OFF THE LAKE!!!!!!
2. The weather can go crazy at any time, so don't take chances!
3. Always bring your Rain Suit! No matter what month!

COF Meeting Date and Location

The Central Oregon Flyfishers meet on the third Wednesday of the month at The Central Oregon Association of Realtors, 2112 N.E. 4th Street, Bend,Oregon.

The Monthly gatherings start at 6:30 PM and the program begins at 7:00PM.

Everyone is welcome to attend. Invite a neighbor or friend to join us at the next meeting.

Tips and Tricks

The tip in traveling is to be sure that you set up your rod the night before you plan to fish. This is necessary so that you don't start out with the leader and line still in a tight curl. Although it is easy enough to straighten out the leader by dragging it through the fold of your wallet, it is much better to hook your fly in the eye closest to the tip and pull a full rod length of leader and line around the reel. This way you will have three rod lengths of line straight in the morning. If the day or the water are cold those kinks can persist for some time.

Identify! Identify! Identify! If you will take a few minutes and place identification on your gear it may save a lot later. So far this summer lot's of lost gear has been found by others, but it can't be returned to the owner because of lack of information. A fly box found on the bank of the river or lake, waders left behind in a parking area or a vest left hanging on a tree are good examples of misplaced equipment. Take the time to write your name and phone number on your "stuff" and it greatly improves the chance of getting it back.

East Lake Outing

At 1:00 all returned to the campgrounds to report their successes which turn out to be a heated discussion on who caught the most Chubb. Steve Sheldon broke the group into laughter by asking, "what fly are you using to catch them Chubb?"

A delightful lunch was consumed under the shade of the pine trees marred only by slightly short hot dog buns and the lack of sufficient mustard. Things started to get nasty when Judy Shasek calmed the group with her ability to squeeze more mustard from previously opened packages and Tom Shuman pulled a package of hot dog buns out of his hat. Thanks to Judy and Tom, you saved the day.

Around 2:30 the thunder clouds and the wind became a little alarming for those who use graphite fly rods and don't like getting their hair curled by lightening.

Many who attended the outing had never fished East Lake or hadn't fished it in a long time. With the lake so close to Bend it is a great place to catch Browns, Rainbow, Kokanee and of course "Chubb."

Those attending the outing were Ed Hawley, Ed and Judy Shasek, Dennis O'Donnell, Earl Rettig, Truman Gantenbein, Larry Haas, Tom Shuman, Frank McKim, Steve Sheldon, Walt Hensey, R.J. Alldritt, John Anderson, Hank Sailor, Steve Williams. Hank Sailor who brought his super clean boat and by super clean I mean that even the two or three dirt spots were clean dirt, and your outing chair-person, Dan Driskill.

by Tom Walker

Central Oregon Flyfishers members Gene McMullen and Ron Anderson worked like busy beavers assisting Deschutes National Forest Fisheries Biologist Tom Walker collect willow cuttings at Wikiup Reservoir this spring. The cuttings were planted during the final phase of a riverbank restoration project on a short stretch of the Deschutes River below Wikiup Dam. The objectives of the project, known as the Deschutes River Bioengineering Project, were to deepen and narrow the channel and restore vegetation to the riverbanks. As a result of the project, less fine sediment will be washed into the river and more hiding places for trout will exist.

The project began with the placement of whole trees near the toe slope of the eroded riverbanks last October, during the low flow period. Some trees were angled to slow the current, creating slack water areas next to the riverbanks. Additional trees were placed parallel to the flow at the toe slope to provide a foundation for building up the riverbanks. Wraps of organic coconut matting filled with soil were placed on top of these trees. Large chunks of sedge mats were then placed on top of the organic matting resulting in an instant riverbank and small floodplain. The final step this spring was to plant spirea, ponderosa pine, bitterbrush, and willows, some of which were collected by COF volunteers.

Henderson Land Services LLC of Lake Oswego was contracted by the Forest Service to design and implement the project. There were several partners involved in this project, in addition to the volunteer help provided by COF. FishAmerica, Deschutes River Conservancy, Deschutes River Mitigation and Enhancement Program, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Deschutes River Stewardship Team all assisted the Deschutes National Forest in funding this project

Retirement Party

Wayne Bowers, the biologist for the Malheur Watershed District of the ODFW and Patty Bowers, STEP Biologist gave a retirement party in the Steens at Frenchglen OR on June 29th. Their friends came from all over the northwest to celebrate with them. Judy and Peter, a biologist with the Canadian Salmon Enhancement program even came from as far away as Canada!

The group of about 150 people honoring the Bowers were represented by various individuals and most of their names may be unfamiliar. However, Dave Dornan of the Bend office of the ODFW was there as was Ray Perkins of the Hines office; Alan Mauer was there from the Fish and Wildlife Service here in Bend. Patty's Mom and uncle were there and project volunteers and friends from the Sunriver Anglers were there in force. The friends and project volunteers from the Central Oregon Flyfishers who celebrated with Wayne and Patty were Jeff and Terri Grimm, Phil Hager, Gene McMullen, Frank and Nancy McKim, and Bob and Tommie Speik.

Patty and Wayne have not made any specific plans for the future but will probably be showing up as volunteers on projects as well as continuing to teach others. Hopefully they will find the time to do and enjoy all of the other things that they may have wanted to do.

Our first location proved to be poor for trout, at least on this day. A move upstream about a mile on to private property was more successful and allowed us a look at one of the irrigation dams thought to block migration. Several trout were caught in this section that were of sufficient size to implant transmitters safely. Transmitters are placed inside the fish and it takes a while for the fish to regain normal movement after the procedure but all of the fish we did this day recovered to good physical shape and swam away vigorously. A move further upstream to a section with very nice riparian vegetation and several good riffles proved to provide all the fish needed. Ron Anderson found the honey hole and took trout after trout using a bead head hare's ear, several in the 16" category.

GPS coordinates were logged where each fish was tagged and released and each fishes radio wave length was recorded. The ODFW will monitor these radio signals to determine if and to what location these fish migrate.

Eastern Oregon STEP Page is

http://www.dfw.state.or.us/odfwhtml/eostep/projects/

From Susan Halblom, FFF VP of Education

webcom.com/ernies/links.html - a website with lots of links

YourRiver - Educational and up to date information

YourRiver.com

Waterworkswonders - A Fish Species Reference of 188 fish gives information and drawings of each type. It includes descriptions and life cycles, where they live, what they eat and much more on each type of fish.

Waterworkswonders.com

Scott Cotter, a member of COF

www.geocities.com/scott_cotter/fishprojects.htm

COF Links:

WEBSITE is:
www.coflyfishers.org

BULLETIN BOARD is:
http://members2.boardhost.com/coflyfishers

E-MAIL is:
coflyfishers@hotmail.com

BEND:

• Deschutes River Outfitters, 61115 S. Hwy 97, 388-8191
• The Fly Box, 1293 NE 3rd St., 388-3330
• The Patient Angler, 55 NW Wall St., 389-6208
• Fly & Field Outfitters, 143 SW Century Dr, Suite A, 318-1616
• G.I. Joe’s, 63455 N. Hwy 97, 388-3773

CAMP SHERMAN:

• Camp Sherman Store, Camp Sherman, 595-6711

REDMOND:

• Cent Wise Sporting Goods, 498 SW 6th Street, 548-4422
• Central Oregon Outdoors, 1502 SW Odem, 504-0372

SISTERS:

• The Fly Fisher’s Place, 151 W. Main, 549-3474

SUNRIVER:

• The Hook Fly Shop, Sunriver Village Mall, Bldg. 21, 593-2358
• Sunriver Fly Shop, 56805 Venture Lane, 593-8814

MADRAS:

• Numb-Butt Fly Co., 380 N. Hwy 26, Madras, OR 97741, 325-5515

2002 COF Officers & Board Members

Officers

PRESIDENT - Phil Hager
VICE PRESIDENT - Dan Driskill
TREASURER - Viki Ramming
SECRETARY - Harry Harbin

Board Members

Art McEldowney
Ron Anderson
Bill Lundy
Gene McMullen
Tom Philiben
Harry Harbin
Dan Driskill
Vicki Ramming
Earl Rettig
Phil Hager
Hank Sailor
Mark Reisinger

COF Committees

AMBASSADORS - Doyle Goolsby
ANNUAL PICNIC - Bob Griffin
AWARDS - Rex Harrison, Don Johnston
BANQUET - Tom Philiben, Dennis McMahon
CONSERVATION - Tommie Speik
ENTOMOLOGY - John Anderson
FLY TYING EXPO - Bill Lundy, Dan Driskill
HISTORIAN - Rex Harrison
INSTRUCTION - Gordon Chandler
KOKANEE KARNIVAL YOUTH ED - Art McEldowney
LEGISLATIVE ACTIION - John Anderson
LIBRARIAN - Gordon Chandler
MEMBERSHIP - Phil Hager
NATIONAL FISHING DAY - T. Philiben, P. Hager
NEWSLETTER EDITOR - Tommie Speik
NEWSLETTER PUBLISHER - Tommie Speik
OREGON COUNCIL FFF - Dick Mayer
OUTINGS - Hank Sailor
PROGRAMS - Dave McNall, Gene McMullen
PUBLIC RELATIONS - Phil Hager, Harry Harbin
RAFFLES - Ken Stringer
WEBSITE - Gordon Chandler
WELCOME - Hank Sailor