Oregon Fly Fishing Report – Small Stream Outfitters & Guides

It’s been a typical December with periods of rain, snow, wind and bitter cold. We had to reschedule lots of days to to weather, but we’re used to it. We’ve got over 100 days to start 2010 dedicated to chasing these Winter Steelhead and we’re looking forward to getting everyone out on the water.

We finished off the 2009 with a wonderful day of nymphing for Winter Steelhead on December 30th. I had decided to hit the upper river in the pontoon raft hoping to avoid some dirty rising water that was supposed to rise overnight and through the morning hours. Instead, all the rain came as snow and the river rose gradually to a near perfect level. We had 4 feet of visibility and steelhead green color, with a hint of glacial haze. Perfect. The early morning trip through the coast range was dicy and slow going, but I made it without issue. My guest beat me to the meeting spot, which I never like, but he was understanding of “Winter Storm 2009″.

Apparently “Winter Storm 2009″ kept the anglers away and I had the river to myself. Could this day get any better? Sure, as soon we started hooking steelhead. It was the first time steelhead fishing for JP of North Carolina and he made the most of it! He hooked and lost his first fish just 15 minutes into the day. JP got a little taste of the goodies there and then promptly landed his first steelhead a couple hours later. A beautiful thick, heavy wild fish that tail walked away from us the second it was hooked. It just doesn’t get any better than that. Just to make sure we didn’t get bored JP kindly hooked 2 more throughout the day.

Thanks to all the anglers who fished with us this year, making it our best year of guiding ever, even during our tough economic times. Your business and kind friendship means a lot to us. We look forward to fishing with all of you in 2010.

Congratulations to JP for his first steelhead on a fly! That always makes a guides’ day.

More fun steelhead pics and film to follow!

On April 25th, six intrepid anglers set off to fish the Situk River in Alaska for a week. As steelhead streams go, the Situk (located just outside of Yakutat, Alaska) has a reputation for having one of the greatest runs of steelhead in the United States, both in size and numbers. Before leaving, we did all the research, read all the articles and tied oogles of flies. All the reports we read claimed hookups per day numbering from 10-25 for experienced anglers. Numbers like that are simply hard to fathom in Oregon, where six hookups in a day on flies happens a handful of times each season at best. Needless to say, we were excited.

Upon stepping off the plane in Yakutat, I was greeted by sunny skies, a warm breeze and temperatures near 60. Not exactly typical April in SE Alaska… an omen for the week to come. Excited to hit the river, we quickly strung rods, jumped into waders and were walking upstream from tidewater by 3pm.

We were greeted by a few anglers along the trail, and then a few more and some more after that. We looked at each other… kinda like fishing at home isn’t it? We walked about a mile and a half and stopped at a pool that looked fishy and free of other anglers. I made a few casts, nothing. It was a deep pool and I wasn’t feeling the bottom. Removing the indicator from my fly rod, I started another pass. The line stopped, I lifted and was in to my first fish on the trip. A chrome bright fish of about 12 lbs. The trip was off to a good start! We crossed the river to the other side of the pool for a better drift and began working the pool. We hooked 4 more in the next 15 minutes and started to think our dreams of the steelhead trip of a lifetime was about to come true.

Ah wait, but these things don’t just happen. This is fishing and this is a fishing trip. When has everything gone perfectly? Never, and we like it that way. Those imperfections, in my humble opinion, add flavor, memories and laughs for years to come. This trip was to be no exception.

After that pool of brilliance, the next 3 days were a good/news bad news scenario. The good news was, we were all getting pretty tan, drifting the river in t-shirts in Alaskan April. The angling pressure lightened up some and we caught a few nice fish. The bad news was it wasn’t close to 10 hookups a day, in fact it was more like an average day in Oregon. Couple hookups here, a couple there. Nothing to write home about. We saw a couple boats doing really well and every other boat getting fish few and far between.

Slightly dejected, we chartered a boat for the bay, to reset moods and get in on the wiggle. We only caught one halibut, but boy was it a nice one and finished up the day with a bunch of black rock fish. Just like the fish I remember catching off the jetty in Newport when I was young, only these guys were substantially bigger. The bbq that night was spectacular and it prompted a plan and change of fishing styles for the next day of steelheading.

The general agreement was these fish were acting more like Summer steelhead than Winter Steelhead and why not fish them that way, when the sun was on the water. So when the orange fireball hit the water the following morning, we went small and dark… really small and dark. The first place we stopped we went 5 for 9 and the good fishing continued the until the end of the trip. We hooked and landed plenty of steelhead and finished the adventure on a high note.

The jury is still out on if I would go back. The only thing that would keep me from visiting the Situk and Yakutat again, would be angling pressure. Other than that the people are very friendly, as are the other anglers. The shuttle and river access is easy, there are nice places to stay, good food to eat and cold beer to drink. Aw, but I just answered my own question. If it’s that good, it’s been found…

Next trip I hope to need my map and compass!

-Jesse Sampson
Small Stream Outfitters

ps. During our trip we also shot some excellent film footage to be used in the next edition of The Headwater Chronicles. Stay tuned for pictures and a film preview in the upcoming months.

The trailer for our first fly fishing video project is ready for an advance preview! Take a sneak peak at the documentary film “Spring Steelhead – Oregon Coast Range”

Watch the Documentary Film Trailer!

The film footage was shot in March of 2007 on a remote stream in the Oregon Coast Range. The stream’s pristine remoteness and beauty are captured in this five minute trailer.

To fish some of Oregon’s last wild places; contact Small Stream Outfitters today!

Last week 5 anglers set out on exploratory mission to fish hard, see new water, experience new places and catch a few fish. We weren’t disappointed. Upon our arrival the rivers were relatively high and water conditions were marginal but we still managed to stick a few steelhead and unknown quantities of Dolly Varden, encouraging us for the week to come.

We found a rustic cabin on the banks of a tiny creek complete with spawning Coho and a few Dolly Varden. We heard rumors that the creek held a few steelhead but at a whopping 5 feet wide on average it looked like a lot of work and we had bigger fish to fry. We held strong to the big water, big fish motto and were willing to work for them. The cabin was well equipped and while a little cramped for five anglers, a couple dozens rods and loads of gear, it was warm and cozy. A pot belly stove kept us warm while we fried up a few dollies for supper and talked about strategy for the rest of the week.

Here to explore, no one really had a desire to fish the same section of river twice, so we broke up into two groups and each set out to fish a different section of water. We fished an average of two to three miles of river per day which made for lots of walking, but we covered these short streams quickly and effectively. I started the week with an indicator but by day two tossed it in place of a nymphing and swing combo rig allowing me to better cover the various type of water from deep pools and pockets to long open runs more condusive to swinging. We fished a variety of fly patterns but found by day two it was either glo-bugs or purple swing patterns. Poplular patterns for this trip included glo-bugs in peach, purple/fuscia and yellow as well as egg-sucking leeches, purple perils and articulated leeches.

As the week went on we became more in touch with the area and its many streams. The group had its’ first 20 fish hooked day on Tuesday and never looked back, hooking an impressive 36 steelhead on the last day of fishing. The fish weren’t massive averaging 8 lbs, but we did land several fish in the 10-12 pound class and a couple of monsters pushing 15 lbs. For those in the group that hadn’t really fly fished for steelhead before they got a chance to see some epic steelheading, beautiful rivers and amazing Fall colors. For the rest of us who consider steelheading a lifestyle it was unlike anything we had ever seen. Fast, cold, clean, short rivers with solid runs of bright, extremly bitey fish. Unpressured by other anglers, these fish showed unusual aggression. Twice we caught the same fish in the same run 15 mintues apart. I know that probably happens, but it hadn’t happened to this angler before. We just shook our heads and put another mark in the “epic day” column. Until we can travel North again, we hope the fish will wait and continue to enjoy the good life of a treasured wild steelhead.

To view many wonderful pictures from last week check out (just click on the thumbnails to enlarge the images):
Gallery One
Gallery Two

Tight Lines,
Small Stream Outfitters