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Update - Links - What to Bring
2008 - 2007
June 20 - 2008
I took Ron Gomez and his wife Cindy down the Mckenzie from Deerhorn to Hendricks for some trout fishing. We used spinning rods and bait as requested. Here is a picture of Ron with a 8 pound steelhead we caught while drifting a nightcrawler for trout.
 Cindy also had good luck. Here she is with a large planted rainbow.
 And we also caught some good sized native rainbows ... my first time in over 4 years. We caught one 16 plus inches, one at 14 inches, and one at 12 inches. I believe the good sized native trout are back on the Mckenzie. Here is the picture of the 16 plus incher just before release ... my net hoop measures 16 inches.
 June 16
The rivers are becoming fishable and I teamed up with Jon Payne of "o2fish" for a company fishing trip. We had the Mckenzie trout fry lunch. Here is a picture of Jim frying up lots of trout that were caught during this trip.
 June 4
We had more snow this winter in over 60 years! This has meant very high water levels on all our local rivers. I was lucky to get out a few times in April when the snow was still frozen in the hills. May started the melting and the rivers have been impossible to fish correctly. It just rained a bit the last couple of days and the rivers are rising again. I had to cancel a few trips for this reason. I will be reporting as soon as our rivers become fishable.
April 27
We have been fishing the lower Mckenzie from Hayden Bridge to Armittage Park. Fishing is fair using wets and dries. If the river could drop a few more inches the fishing would be better. Here are some pics.
  This is Scott Javine with his lovely girlfriend Nicole
April 13
We floated from Hayden Bridge to Harvest Landing on the lower Mckenzie. We fished from 11 am to 3:30 pm and caught some wild trout (cutts and bows) and lots of summer steelhead smolts that were headed downriver. There were no March Browns on this stretch but the caddises were abundant. The fish took wet flies better than dries. I would rate this fishing as fair.
April 3
We floated from Deerhorn to Hendricks on the Mckenzie and the bugs were out! So were some wild trout. The day was clear but the March Browns came up in good numbers for a cloudless day. We caught some wild rainbows and some nice cutthroats. I was surprised to see some cutthroats in this section of the river. They are usually in this section later on in the year. The grey caddises that usually follow the March Browns were getting active around 4 pm when we were taking out. These caddises should be on the water in the next few days. Fishing has started!
March 14
The big news is that the salmon season for commercial salmon fishing might close south of Cape Blanco. What did they expect? Or any commercial salmon fisherman on the California, Oregon and Washington Coast. When farm raised salmon first come into the market it was precisely the same situation...salmon stocks in the wild were low. Farm raised salmon augmented the short supply of salmon on the west coast. Farm raised salmon helped tremendously as it kept salmon available for the general public. As more and more consumers bought farm raised salmon the wild stocks started seeing a rise in population. When the populations became stable enough to harvest the commercial salmon industry began a smear campaign against the salmon farming industry. After you get through all the bullshit it comes down to the commercial industry criticizing farm raised salmon as not "natural" or "wild" or full of chemicals .... Now the commercial industry faces the same problems it faced only a few year ago. A shortage of wild fish. What the commercial industry should have done is form a partnership with the farmers. They can still do this. I have been fishing for wild salmon in our rivers since 1969 in our rivers and I believe that farm raised salmon or any fish (aquiculture) is the solution to our future. It is the same as maintaining our forests, farm lands, hunting wildlife, building codes, and all the other restrictions that come from many people wanting a resource with limited capacity. Someone has to manage it or it will become extinct.
March 12
We have had some great weather lately but I haven't been out. I heard some March Browns are hatching. Some one call me! I have the March Brown special for $180.00 for two fly fishermen. Check out my rates. I finally got around to writing about the fishing in the Cottage Grove area. Check this out if you want some info about the fishing down in Cottage Grove. I'm sure I'll be out soon and I will keep you posted. I forgot, my son Eli got a couple of wild winter steelhead on the lower Umpqua last week...
February 8
The rivers are still too high to fish...
January 26 -- 2008! Can you believe it? Another year is history!
Ulla and I are in Kona, Hawaii with our friends Chuck ( Hooked Up Sportfishing) and Beverly Wigzell for a short vacation in winter. After Ulla took some sea-sickness pills she was happy to get a short nosed spearfish that is local in Hawaii waters. This fish is excellent tablefare and we took it. But we released a striped Marlin. And of course I had to let an unknown fish back into Kona waters.
  December 15
I personally have no fishing reports since I have been framing pictures and the people who have called me for fishing got rained out. But I do keep in touch with a few good fishermen who are young and the latest report is ... the lower Umpqua at Elkton has been red hot. It has been fishable for the last 3 days and people are catching Winter Steelhead. I have not heard about the Siuslaw or the Alsea. Crabbing in Coos Bay at Charleston has been very good. Rock fishing is also good in this bay. The heck with the Winter Steelhead ... I want to eat dungeness crab and white meated ocean fish! Back to the Umpqua at Elkton ... it is supposed to start raining and the river will rise ... so get out here now!
Nov. 6, 2007
We floated from Deerhorn to Hendricks on the Mckenzie on Nov. 4 and there were no trout to be seen or caught. As I have mentioned earlier this section of the Mckenzie has not rebounded from the silting several years ago. If there were some wild trout in this section we would have caught some trout. To prove my theory I floated from Jasper to Clearwater Park on the Middle Fork of the Willamette yesterday and caught lots of wild rainbows. This section of the Middle Fork is not planted with trout. It is not as good as the Mckenzie before the silting but 100 times better than she is today. After catching and releasing my wild rainbows I was thinking of another question ... "why were all the fish in this section of the Middle Fork all wild rainbows?" In the past 90 percent of the trout I catch on this stretch are Cutthroats! So here are the most recent pictures ...
 An 11 inch wild rainbow before release
 Henry watches
 This is a big rainbow but it gets away
 Ulla was on the oars today ...
Useful Links and What to Bring
The best value in a welded aluminum driftboat is at Doug Carmenzind's Diamond Back Boat.
The Register Guard is our local newspaper. It has the best tide tables I have found. Go to the weather page.
KEZI is a local television station with the latest weather and passcams that show our mountain passes in the winter.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has enough information to keep you busy for awhile.
When looking up river levels I go to Real-Time Data for Oregon
For the best deal on fishing flies click on this banner:
They are an Oregon company.And if you're ever planning to go the Kona, Hawaii my friend Chuck Wigzell fishes for the big ones at www.konacharterboat.com
My wife Ulla and I usually go a warmer climate for a winter vacation. We love Hawaii. Check out this link if you're ever planning that Hawaiin trip:
Here are some things to remember :
You will need a valid state fishing license for the day you plan to fish. You can purchase this at most sporting goods stores or department stores that sell fishing gear. Here is an example of some stores in my area - GI Joes, Wal-Mart, Bi-Mart and Fred Meyer.
Your cost: 1 day - $12.00, 2 day - $22.50, 3 day - $33.00, 4 day - $43.50, 7 day - $43.75.
A non-resident annual license is $61.50. These are fees for 2007.
If you like to take pictures bring a camera -- I usually have mine with me. Sun-glasses and hats are very useful. Sun screen is helpful on bright days.
Our weather is Pacific Northwest Marine and our prevailing winds come from the Northwest. This means that even on very warm days (80 to 90 degrees) our night time temperatures can drop to 55 degrees. In the Spring and Fall it is best to dress in layers of clothes. This is also the times of the year when you might need rain gear. I have emergency panchos if you are unable to bring rain gear.
I will provide all the tackle necessary for our trip including flies. If you have your favorite rods and reels let me know what they are and I will let you know if they will be suitable for our trip.
If you have any questions don't hesitate to call or write.
/ Home / Meet Tom / Some Photos / Updates - What to Bring - Links / Drift boat Lessons / Fly Fishing Lessons
Detailed Anadromous Fish Runs in Western Oregon / Fishing the Cottage Grove Area / Rates - Specials - Contact /
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