CSF/Stonefly Maidens Central Oregon Cascades Fly-fishing Outing: Crane Prairie Campground See CSF Calendar for Official Dates

Transcription

1 CSF/Stonefly Maidens Central Oregon Cascades Fly-fishing Outing: Crane Prairie Campground See CSF Calendar for Official Dates CSF co-fish Masters Russ Flaskerud and Timothy Buckley This year treat Dad to what he really wants for Father s Day, a fishing outing! This year s joint club outing is again planned for a base Camp at Crane Prairie Campground, because of its central location to lakes and rivers, and availability of camp spots ( deemed the mother of all campgrounds ). This is always a fun weekend full of many varied fishing opportunities. Numerous beautiful lakes, and rivers are there to challenge you (and some are the stuff of fly-fishing legend). Only a few will be mentioned here, on the following pages - along with fly patterns that have been known to be successful in the past. Crane Prairie view from camp The Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway passes through a volcanic and glacial landscape of incredible diversity and tremendous significance. Visitors encounter such diverse landforms as stratovolcanoes, shield volcanoes, cinder cones, sheets of pumice and ash, sheets of ash-flow tuffs, maars, caves, and several kinds of lava flows and domes. For more information on the beauty of the drive and sights please see the following Oregon Scenic Byway website: Bring family, a friend, or even coordinate car-pooling (CSF members can use the CSF-Google Groups site). Scheduled events: 9am, Saturday Morning Gather for knowledge sharing, beginner instruction, and mentoring: Tentatively scheduled for Saturday morning at 8am this year beginners and members can bring their breakfast and informally meet to share success stories, tactics, recommended flies to use, tips, pointers, and gear assistance for beginners, and even try to coordinate a buddy system for fellowship and safety. Check in to let the group know what lake(s) and/or river(s) you intend to fish during the day. Radios - If you have one, it is recommended to bring a 2-way hand held radio. We can designate a group channel for members to use (for safety, and especially informing the group of a hatch, or what flies are working for you!) 7pm, Saturday Evening - Potluck Dinner There will be a potluck Saturday night, so please bring a side dish, dessert, or beverage to share as well as your fish tales, the CSF club will provide a main entre (TBD). RSVP Requested A head count of those planning on attending is always appreciated so the appropriate amount of food can be purchased. Please or call co Fish-Master Timothy Buckley at tbuckley@greenstonearchitecture.com please include the following subject: Central Oregon Cascade Outing RSVP, or call me at work at (360) Directions: The lake is about an hour Southwest of Bend. Passing Bend keep heading South on 97 to exit 153, head West on Nf-40, and at the round about take the second exit staying on Nf-40 (curving southwest out of the roundabout). Just after the road bends back to the west, take the very next left heading South on South Century Drive. Take the next major right to stay on South Century Drive 42. (You will cross the upper Deschutes and after a bit will begin to parallel the Fall River, be sure to pull in and check out the condition of the Fall River!). Eventually you will Take a right on Nf-4270 (if you cross the Upper Deschutes again, backtrack just a bit). Head North on Nf-4270 about 4 miles follows the signs to a left hand turn into Crane Prairie Campground. (Our camp target area is to the left). Map location link: I am thinking we should target the Green or Blue waterfront spots (91 103) for our group (on the Left side of the camp ground). Watch for the white CSF signs. GPS Info: (Latitude, Longitude): , For Camping information call :( 541) Or you can visit the recreation.gov website at: =NRSO&parkId=74097&topTabIndex=CampingSpot

2 (Note: There is a service charge when making reservations) but there should be plenty of camp spots at this time of year on a first come first serve basis, and a few of us will arrive early and we can share spots too. Other Accommodations: Not into roughin it? If tent or trailer camping is not you cup-o-tea they do have room for big RV's at Crane Prairie too. There are motels in La Pine and rentals in Sunriver. (Or if not everyone in your party is a fisher) there are a range of accommodations and day activities in the nearby resort town of Sun River too: Fishing Licenses Don t forget to get an Oregon Fishing License! On a budget? Consider a daily license (they offer them in 1,2,3,4 and 7 day licenses) THE LAKES (Information provided By CSF Member Russ Flaskerud, and some of my guide book research) See also the following web site for additional information, including many with insect hatch charts and fly pattern recommendations! Flies to use: Bring em all these lakes vary in elevation and seem to provide almost every related food source available to the fish, so bring a wide variety of fly patterns to match the hatch. Below are some patterns that have been productive in this area: -General Lake patterns Dry Patterns: comparaduns, mayflies, damsels, caddis, callibaetis, Pale Morning Duns, Adams, midges, and mosquitoes Wet Patterns: Prince, buggers, leeches, scuds, callibaetis, damsels, Hares Ears, flashback pheasant tail, zug-bugs, and chironomids CRANE PRAIRIE: elevation 4,445, 3,420 acres Rainbow, Brook Trout, Kokanee, Largemouth Bass. (The lake was formed from a meadow when the Deschutes River was dammed in 1922) Best fishing: 10am 5pm? A large shallow lake with great supportive weed beds and associated insect life to support fish. In fact this is considered to be one of the most productive rainbow fisheries in Oregon, and is home to an estimated ½ of all ospreys in Oregon. According to Russ: Personally, I have not spent a lot of time on this big water, there are many access points to launch tubes and pontoon boats. The damsel and dragon fly population has drastically dwindled and there is an increasing number of bass in the lake. It does hold some huge rainbows which will break off many a 4X tippet, especially with the abundance of debris in the water. Many people fish large black, red, green and gray Chironomids just off the bottom. This has been a difficult lake for Russ, but I have caught some steelhead size trout out of here and others love this lake! Timothy caught the two largest trout he has ever caught in this lake (hint: carey special) Little Lava: elev. 4,750, 110 acres Rainbow and Brook trout It is one of Russ Flaskerud s two favorite waters in Central Oregon. He says As you face the lake at the boat launch go to the north end, there is a little cove, fish the entrance to the cove and the cove itself, also fish

3 the north shoreline. Olive buggers, black buggers, marabou leeches, callibaetis nymphs, Hares Ears, and my best producer the flashback PT (flashback down the entire body). There can be good callibaetis hatches and I almost always use a comparaduns to match the color and size of the natural. I ve had the best result using a split tail on my callibaetis. The naturals are usually cream or gray and size #16-#18. Little Lava also will produce fish on chironomids, give them a try. This is a small gem of a lake below Mt. Bachelor so doesn t get as much wind as many others do. It is also the source of the Deschutes River. Big Lava: elev. 4,790, 350 acres Rainbow and Brook trout Also a very productive lake, with mountain views. This lake receives a large plant of fish and is fished heavily by the locals. It can be fun when the callibaetis are hatching. I usually fish the end of the lake by the resort and have done well on comparaduns and dry callibaetis to the left of the resort as you face the lake. Fish close to the shore and cast to rising fish. Match the color and size. For wets I use a cream colored callibaetis nymph or Hares Ear. Also use Flashback PT, and black or olive buggers. Watch the wind! Cultus: 4,650, 785 acres & Little Cultus: 4,750, 175 acres Mackinaw and Rainbow trout Rainbow and Brook trout, (generally receives little pressure) Curtis - Little Cultus - High lakes that Russ only fished a couple of times and got more mosquito bites than fish bites, I m told they hold a large population of brook trout. You need to talk to Kuni to get the skinny on this! Hosmer Lake: elev. 4,950, 160 acres Land-locked Atlantic Salmon, Brook Trout Fly-fishing only, this is another beautiful lake with stunning views of Mt. Bachelor. Russ has had some very good days here and some not so productive days, but it is always wonderful to watch the huge fish glide below your tube. He likes to fish the channels between the larger waters. It s great to cast to rising fish with mayflies, callibaetis, and comparaduns. Also try Adams, Caddis, and your favorite emerger. For wets you might try the Kokkanee Candy with lead eyes, plop it down in the mud in front of cruising fish and jerk it up and down and hold on! Also white leeches fished very fast can work. Fly anglers usually fish with long tapered leaders (15 ft. or more), fish in the channels only during low light conditions South Twin: This is pretty much a put and take lake with lots of local bait fisherman. It can be fun fishing almost any wet fly, especially the Hares Ear and buggers. Russ has had limited success with dries, even when they are rising, I ve thrown everything at them. You may have something that does the trick! There are some very large fish planted every year. Great for Kids! RIVERS: General River Fly patterns Dry Patterns: comparaduns, mayflies, callibaetis, caddis, Renegade, PMD, and tricos

4 Wet Patterns: buggers, leeches, zonkers, sculpins, scuds, zebras, midges, sparkle-pupa, muddlers, Hares Ear, Prince, PT, flashback pheasant tail, caddis, callibaetis, and soft hackle Upper Deschutes It flows out of Little Lava and holds many small brook and rainbow trout. A few years ago there was no limit on the numerous brookies! They will hit almost anything that floats. Fish streamers and look for huge browns all the way down to Crane. Just above Crane there are some huge bows that come up from the lake, this gets fished pretty heavily as the population has increased over the years. After flowing out of Crane the river flows toward Wickiup Reservoir. The section along Brown s crossing also holds large browns. Use zonkers, leeches, and buggers. Use the standard stuff for the bows. After flowing out of the dam at Wickiup it continues flowing toward Sunriver. There is a road that follows the river all the way down to the high way that comes up from high way 97 and goes to Crane. This stretch of the river for about 8 mi. can be good if the water is not too high. Russ likes it in late October and has had one of the most spectacular days of fishing I have ever had, catching fish for hours, large browns and bows on an orange serendipity that they took for an egg! At this time of year chances are the water level will be high and hard to fish. At this time of year fishing a dry with a nymph dropper, using the dry as a strike indicator often works (just don t bring it up to purist member Don who will mumble something about bobber fishing ). Also, at times during the day, you can cast to rising fish using the good old mayfly, comparadun or caddis Hares Ears and Pheasant Tails also will catch fish. There are some very large fish in this stretch! Fall River Absolutely beautiful spring fed river that flows about 10 mi. There are three spots that I enjoy fishing, but there are fish throughout the river. As you head up from Sunriver toward the hatchery there is an unmarked dirt road off to the left that goes to the falls. Ask someone where it is. I park at the bridge that crosses the river and fish downstream below the dam. I prefer to fish to rising fish just upstream from the bridge. It didn t used to get fished much and I can still sometimes find solitude in this stretch. I ve taken big browns using a weighted olive green sculpins. Also had luck on bows using small midges, Adams, PMDs, caddis and my standby, the comparadun. They say you have to use 15 to 18 leaders and 7X tippets, but Russ claims he can catch fish using 10 leaders and 5X tippets. Small flies for dries are the ticket, but I don t go smaller than size #20. Experiment with some of your favorite dry flies. The next spot is below and above the hatchery. Use the same methods throughout the river. The third spot and a favorite of Russ, is above the campground (only campground on the river) don t go into the campground, go to the headwaters, about a half mile up stream. Park at a small forest service building and start fishing downstream. I ve found rising fish and haven t had to move three feet for several hours The fishing hasn t been this good for several years, since they accidentally dropped fire retardant on the river, but the fishing is coming back.

5 This river is gorgeous and well worth the trip to enjoy the beauty of the pristine little river, even if like Russ, you get skunked often. Don t let it bother you; many people experience this, no matter how good a fly fisher they think they are! Closing By the way, the 2010 May/June issue of Northwest Fly Fishing magazine had a great article covering several of these trips locations (see pages 54-59)! Fishing/Default.aspx We hope you will find this useful information. I suggest that you take advantage of westfly and the local fly shops to get the latest information. Read the reader boards and talk to the owners, they re usually good about giving information. There are several fly shops in Bend, one on the north side of town on the right side of 97 called the Fly Box and one on the left side on the south side of town called the Patient Angler. There are also two shops in Sunriver. Feeling extra adventurous?...this one is a bit of a long ways away from camp, but is also a favorite lake for Russ: East Lake: elev. 6,380, 1,028 acres Rainbows, Browns, Kokanee, Atlantic salmon This lake is quite a long drive from Camp and drive in the mountains toward La Pine and east. Along with Little Lava, this is the other favorite lake of CSF member Russ Flaskerud s (he has fished it hundreds of times ). It is a bit of a drive from Crane Prairie as you must continue south toward La Pine on Hwy. 97 and then head east into the mountains for another 17 mi. or so. The lake holds rainbow, browns, kokanee, a large population of Atlantic salmon, I'm told brooks, and chubs. When the wind comes up, which it is known to do, the best way to fish is to wind drift a callibaetis nymph, hare s ear, or pheasant tail in a boat with a water anchor. When there is a rise, check the color of the callibaetis and match it. They are normally cream colored to white, and he has caught them on split-tailed callibaetis, mayflies, and comparaduns. For wets, use whatever color callibaetis they tell you is working at the time. Ask at the resort, they are usually very good at giving accurate information. Russ likes to fish from the first boat launch and campground you come to when coming up the mountain. There are fish to the west bank and fish to the east toward the next boat ramp. If you fish to the left (west), fish along the little cabin and all the way to the sand slide cliff. This is productive water, it is shallow by the cabin and he will usually fish just off the weed beds. Sometimes the fish will be rising in very shallow water right on the shoreline. I ve caught most of my fish in the area of the sand cliff. Fish all different depths and look for rising fish, usually they are within 50 yards of shore. Straight ahead off the first launch about 200 yds. is The Flats where the depth comes up to about 9-15 ft. This area holds lots of fish and is a great place to wind drift in a boat. The guides love this area, so if you see guides out there you ll find the shallows. It is also a wonderful place to catch rising fish. If you chose to go right from the first boat launch toward the resort, there is some good fishing all the way to the underwater spring (out front of the next boat launch, you can smell sulfur at times). The whole shoreline all the way to the resort holds lots of fish and there is another boat launch beyond the second launch for float tube fisherman so you don t have to kick so far. Russ says I ve camped in this area many times and have caught numerous fish just casting to rising fish while walking the shore, this is a kick! I ve used comparaduns, callibaetis, Adams, and peacock caddis to catch rising fish. I ve used the same wet flies that I have mentioned earlier, along with buggers and I ve caught many fish with the Prince Nymph (don t neglect this fly!)