There is a small creek here in the area that I live that supports a population of wild rainbow and cutthroat trout, mostly 8 to 10 inches. the best part is that it is close enough that i can hit it after work as often as i want. recently talking to someone that has fished it for a long time, i got a piece of information that i had been missing. instead of using small flies, the commom practice here on small streams and creeks, i threw a size 8 henryville dry at some feeding fish and promply hooked a nice 16 inch cutthroat, after releasing it, i then promply hooked another. since then, the same thinking ( bigger is better ) has worked on other waters. so, when all you are pulling is small fish, give them something bigger!

hey out there! haven't written lately, working on a project to get more protection and a longer season for a stream nearby and defrosting the well at home. in the teens here for the first time this season. have several trips lined up. just wiating for my fishing buds to get the time off. ( or the wifes permission ) the little descutes will be in the spring, but the metolius and the crooked rivers should be on the agenda for the next couple of weeks. hope to meet some other members of this site as the new season progresses.

 

 The weather has finally turned here in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. with the snow starrting in the higher elevations, the Metolius and Crooked Rivers will be picking up. the catch ratio for white fish and trout on the Crooked had been coming up nicely, almost 50 / 50 now. the Metolius will be good with it's "bankers hours" fishing. This river, really a large spring creek fishes best usually after 9 am. there can be BWO's and small dark caddis when the sun hits the water. the rest of the time nymphing is the way to go with FB PT , scuds and the usual assortment of stonefly nymphs and caddis pupa. Drift them through any foam line or break in the current. Tight line or indicator, whichever works best for you. the fish don't mutch seem to care one way or the other.

if you haven't fished these rivers, you should make plans to experience them. 

not all flyfishing takes place east of the rockies or the mississippi. 

 

In the central Willamette Valley in Oregon, where I live there is, 30 minutes from my front door a place called the Upper Calapooia River. it is really more of a small mountain stream supporting a population of rainbow and cutthroat trout.

it is painfully obvious that the Oregon Department of Fish and Game do not consider this much of a priority as a visit there on any day between the last day of May and the last weekend in October, ( the open season for this creek ) you will see small trout well below keeper size thrown up on the banks to die rather than being returned to the river, trash, beer containers, clothing and tangles of discarded fishing line left to polute the environment. ( i am sure that the waste and polution continue during the off-season as well ) This creek is a small jewel that deserves to be protected and preserved. One way would be to make it catch and release only, single hook barbless artificial flies and lures. This would go a long way towards helping maintian this fragile fishery. Also Keeping it open all year would help as those who practice catch and release are more likely to self-police the area and report violations.

That brings up another point. in all the time fishing there, i have yet to see a Fish and Game Officer anywhere in the area at any time. regular patrols would help stop some of the littering and waste of small fish here.

if you feel that same way, contact the Oregon Department of Fish and Game and make your concerns known.

 

Just looking to correspond with others who would prefer to cast to small wild trout rather than battle the hordes at the local "hot spot".