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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (June 21, 2017)
A8 WEDNESDAY June 21, 2017 Local ‘Dragons’ rose to the occasion Wallowa crew gets fifth place By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain The “Dragons in the Wallowas” dragon boat team played its fi rst “away game” June 10-11, racing in the Portland Dragon Boat Races during Rose Festival. Approximately 63 teams com- peted on the Willamette River at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland. The Portland Race uses the big 1,760 pound Kaoh- siung-style boats for the international event, which is why the Wallowa team purchased a Kaohsiung-style boat “Wally” for practices earlier this spring. The Wallowa County Team came into the race with 16 of the normal 20 paddlers and relied on friendship with other teams to recruit volunteer pad- dlers, an experienced river tiller and a fl ag-catcher for the race. The traditional Kaohsiung boat races include a person who climbs out and lays belly-down on the head of the dragon, reaching forward beyond his nose to snatch a fl oating fi n- ish-line fl ag from a pole. If the fl ag- catcher misses the fl ag, the race time (or win) does not count. The Wallowa County team ended up paddling with four borrowed pad- dlers, referred to as “orphans:” Sally Flanigan of the Portland Golden Dragons, and Tessa Fennimore, Ruthie Fox and Patti Green, all of Salem, who paddle on the Unsinkable Cancer Survivor’s Team. All were excellent additions to the team as was 100-percent-accu- rate fl ag catcher Dawn Lewis of the Golden Dragons and expert tiller Kenny Brantz of Portland. The all-woman Wallowa team jumped out to a fi rst in Division Two in the fi rst heat on Saturday with a time of 3:05.60, but began to slip backward by seconds from there, rac- ing a 3:06.85 race just a few hours later. The squad was in fourth coming into the quarterfi nals on Sunday and posted a 3:14.15, enough to earn one more try. In the fi nal race, a few hundredths of a second were trimmed for a 3:14.09. Photos by Clinton Lions for the Chieftain The Wallowa County “Dragons in the Wallowas” dragon boat team heads out for thier one and only practice run on the Willamette before the Portland Dragon Boat Races on June 10. The Hawthorne Bridge over the Willamette River is behind them and they race from the Marquam Bridge back to the Hawthorne. It was an impressive rally, but the top three women’s teams in Division 2 turned in times three to nine sec- onds faster. Veteran Portland team Dragon Rose won with a 3:05.67. The Wallowa team fi nished fi fth overall in a class of 12. Nevertheless, the Wallowa County team was pleased with its fi rst out on a big river. Caller Amy Gulzow of Joseph car- ried tremendous weight given the fact that the team was without a regular coach this spring. Colleen and Rick McLaughlin, both coaches of the Golden Drag- ons, were able to come to Wallowa County for a coaching workshop ear- lier this spring and Colleen McLaugh- lin jumped back on the boat in Port- land on the Friday before the race for a quick refresher course. Both McLaughlins then followed the progress of the team throughout the Portland event and gave Gulzow their feedback. Caller/coach Amy Gulzow signals victory as the Dragons in the Wallowas celebrate their first fastest heat during the Portland Dragon Boat Races, June 10-11. Behind Gulzow are Kathy Greene Ward (left) and Julia Zeise. Gulzow adapted quickly to the feedback and the changing condi- tions on the river, pouring her trade- mark enthusiasm into calling the races. Her ability to keep her team ener- gized even as they began to fl ag in the fi nal two races and lift them to shave time was noteworthy. Tiller Brantz was impressed with the team on his fi rst and only prac- tice run with them, declaring them “very strong,” an opinion he kept throughout the race. McLaughlin declared herself astonished at the strength of the team and how well members had main- tained condition and technique over the Wallowa winter when the frozen lake prevented practices. “You have nothing to be ashamed of,” McLaughlin told the group after the fi fth-place fi nish. “You are con- tenders, and I expect to see you back next year.” Division One women’s team win- ner, Liquid Assets, fi nished with a time of 2:51.33. The leading team of the Division One mixed team of men and women, CCBA Dragon Boat Team, turned in a winning 2:44.93, while the Division 2 leading mixed team, Tsunami USA, turned in a 2:52:89. Wet a line: Singing the praises of stonefl ies gone E ach spring around Memo- rial Day, I have clients come to me and ask what the giant bugs covering their tents and cots are and more importantly, “do they bite?” The big bugs are golden stones, a hatch anticipated by both fi sh and fi sherman. Like a child anticipating Christmas morning, anglers dream about the day big stonefl ies come in late spring, spending countless eve- nings tying fl y patterns mimicking the insect and concocting new vari- ations of old fl y patterns that will surely fool every trout the fl y passes over. While some rivers have an abun- dance of the stonefl y commonly called a salmonfl y, northeast Oregon is blessed with a healthy population of Golden Stonefl ies. We have two species in abun- dance: H. pacifi ca and C. califor- nica. Both spend two to three years in the river as nymphs. H. pacifi ca is the larger and more abundant of the two. With its “salmon” colored head, orange to yellow underbelly and FISHING Grant Richie large size up to two inches, anglers often mistake it for a salmonfl y. C. californica is smaller with the largest closer to 1 1/2 inches long. Their heads are darker, not nearly as round, and the underbelly is yellow turning to dark gray or black. To confuse things further, we also have small half-inch to three-quarter inch long yellow stonefl ies. These smaller yellow stonefl ies are often labeled yellow sallies in the fi shing world, and although they hatch in large numbers a week or two before the golden stones, the hatches over- lap giving resident rainbows an abundance of stonefl ies to eat. Golden stones crawl to the bank just after dusk and hatch on rocks, trees and even your raft. Moss-cov- ered rock walls on the Grande Ronde are covered with hundreds and perhaps thousands of shucks after the hatch. An examination of nearby brush reveals stonefl ies stacked up mat- ing. Warm afternoon air triggers the females to take fl ight, and the huge bugs begin dive-bombing the water, trying to just touch the water in order to deposit their eggs. Inevi- tably, many golden stones end up in the water becoming trout food. Guiding both whitewater and fi shing trips weekly on the Wal- lowa and Grande Ronde, I have been lucky enough to witness these hatches each spring between Minam and Troy. The hatch normally begins around Memorial Day in the Troy area and progresses its way upriver hitting Minam mid-June on an aver- age year. The big stonefl ies live up to a week, and the hatch can be heavy for up to two weeks. Random individu- als pop up throughout the rest of the summer, and if you were completely obsessed with following the stone- fl y hatch, you could continue up in elevation on the Minam River, Wal- lowa River, Bear Creek and the Los- tine River following the hatches up into the wilderness area as summer progresses. The population does begin to dwindle as you get higher in the river systems. During the early days of the hatch anglers fi nd success with big dry fl ies late in the afternoon and into the evening when females are returning to the river to deposit eggs. If you fi sh enough, you will experi- ence some of the best dry fl y action of the year when big rainbows will- ingly come to the surface all day long. Although you can use fl y patterns as large as size 4, it is more produc- tive to fi sh medium-sized patterns in the 6-10 range with size 8s my favorite. Some of my favorite commer- cially tied patterns are Stimula- tors, Chubby Chernobyls, Parachute Madame X, Hedgehog and the Flut- tering Salmon Fly. Most important factors for fl y selection is orangish to yellow color, high buoyancy, easy visibility for you as an angler and the addition of rubber legs on any fl y pattern increases it’s fi sh catch- ing ability. To dramatically increase your catch, tie a second fl y imitating the nymph 16-inch below your dry fl y. This is commonly referred to as a “Hopper Dropper” setup, but in this case you will be imitating both the adult and nymph stage of the stone- fl ies life cycle. Grant Richie and his wife have been operating the Minam Store and Motel, offering raft rentals, shuttle service, and guiding fl oat and fi sh- ing trips since 2011. His grandpar- ents lived and worked in Hells Can- yon on the Oregon side for the fi rst half of the 20th century. He has been fi shing, hiking and fl oating the rivers and canyons of northeast Oregon for the past 20 years since attending col- lege at Walla Walla Community Col- lege and Whitman College in Walla Walla. Earn While You Learn Program Find out how to earn money for good grades! Ask at your local branch or visit us online. The annual program is available through July 31st. Joseph Enterprise Wallowa 609 N Main St 541-432-9050 300 NW 1st St 541-426-4511 202 N Storie St 541-886-9151 Local Money Working For Local People www.communitybanknet.com Member FDIC
