Outdoors
Rec
ELECTRIC
EXPERIENCE:
Flyfishing
for trout
Camp Chef/Contributed Photo
Releasing a cutthroat trout that fell for a deep-running swung fly.
B
Saturday, February 12, 2022
The Observer & Baker City Herald
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
Pilcher Creek Reservoir is on Tucker Flat
Road about 10 miles west of North Powder.
The reservoir, seen here on Feb. 6, 2022, is
a popular ice-fishing destination.
Fish for
free in
Oregon
Feb. 19-20
EO Media Group
GARY
LEWIS
ON THE TRAIL
R
ain had been steady for the last hour.
Soaked, I looked forward to climbing
back in the Mustang and turning up
the heater. I reeled up the loose coils of line
and clipped the fly off the line. The bug was
still serviceable after more than two dozen
trout caught and released.
Upstream from a two-lane bridge, the
river cut a channel through rock leaving a
pool deeper than a man’s head. In the winter,
an angler might catch a steelhead here; in the
spring it was chinook, but the river offered a
trout fishery too.
Today’s lipstick was a Muddler
Minnow tied on a No. 8 long-shank hook,
unweighted, with a turkey feather dorsal.
With no one else for company, it was easy
to start at the top of the run, shake out a bit
of line and stack-mend to get the fly to work
into the seam this side of the riffle.
Lengthening the line, making micro-
mends, the diminutive sculpin imitation
presented to the trout below, and rainbows
streaked up from the bottom to follow the
Muddler across its arcs. And the longer the
arc, the more likely the trout would grab.
After several trout I was startled to
realize I did not feel a single bite. Instead, at
best, it was a movement of the line, a 2-inch
indication, not even a tick that I responded
to. Now and then a trout would give itself
away with a flash below the surface. Trout
after trout bit. Almost every cast they
grabbed, but I only counted them when I
could fight them all the way to the bank.
As time passed, I stepped downstream,
roll-cast the same length of line each
time and teased trout out from beneath
the shadow of the bridge. When, properly
soaked from the rain, I saw another angler
headed toward me. He cast a glance toward
the fly I had just removed from my line.
Gary Lewis/Contributed Photo
See, Trout/Page B2
Trout flies for swinging and drifting in late winter and spring when the rivers run bank full
with snowmelt and runoff.
Gun shows never disappoint
TOM
CLAYCOMB
BASE CAMP
I love the show season. And
if you’ve been reading any
of my articles lately then you
know I’ve been flying around
the country hitting the Dallas
Safari Club Conv. & Expo, the
Safari Club International Conv.
and the mother of them all, the
SHOT Show.
Even though I love the big
shows, I have to admit — I’ve
been stretched out thin. Between
giving seminars at all of them
and working the shows from
daylight to dark, maybe flying in
late to one of them at 2:30 a.m.
and getting up some mornings at
4 to write articles covering them
I was drained by the time I flew
home from the last one on a Sat-
urday night at midnight. Only
to have to get up at 3:30 a.m. to
Tom Claycomb/Contributed Photo
I love discovering new local companies at gun shows. This young man that owns
Dakota Prairie Ammunition is trying to make it in the ammo world.
fly out again for 2½ weeks on a
Wednesday morning.
But now it’s time for some
more relaxing type of shows.
Gun shows! I don’t think that
I’ve ever been to a gun show
that it didn’t have something
that I couldn’t live without.
Gun shows have something
for everyone.
If you need a brand-new
rifle, shotgun or pistol have no
fear, you’ll find it there. Want an
old M1 Garand? Saw a collec-
tion of them today. What about
cowboy pistols? Yep, you’ll see
a plethora of them. Then there’s
always a few vendors with a ton
of old Army gear.
Then if you’re looking for
knives, you’ll find a ton of them.
A lot of old school leather handle
knives on up to some modern
ones that are good for. ... I just
don’t think their use has been
discovered as of yet. Knives that
fit into my hunting world, I usu-
ally don’t see too many of them
although today I did.
And who isn’t infatuated
with old lever actions? There are
always a few tables of them that
I have to stop and goggle over.
The old lever action has to be
the coolest rifle ever designed,
doesn’t it?
See, Shows/Page B2
Everyone can fish for free in
Oregon during Presidents Day
weekend, Saturday, Feb. 19, and
Sunday, Feb. 20.
Anglers, both Oregonians and
nonresidents, don’t need a license
or tags on those two days to fish,
crab or clam.
All other fishing regulations
apply, including closures, bag
limits and size restrictions. See the
Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations
for rules and remember to check for
any in season regulation changes,
especially for salmon and steelhead
fishing, at https://myodfw.com/
recreation-report/fishing-report/
The Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife’s weekly recreation
report — https://myodfw.com/rec-
reation-report — lists some of the
better places to fish.
The winter steelhead run usu-
ally peaks in mid-February, and
many reservoirs and lakes in North-
eastern Oregon have sufficient ice
for safe ice fishing.
Recent fishing reports from the
region:
• Grande Ronde River: Over the
past week, flows have remained
consistent, and some anglers have
been catching steelhead. It has fre-
quently warmed by mid-day. How-
ever, when the air temperature does
not warm enough, freezing condi-
tions can make fishing difficult.
• Kinney Lake: Ice fishing has
been good with anglers catching
12- to 16-inch rainbow trout. The
road is not plowed all the way to the
lake so anglers will need to walk
about half a mile to access the lake.
• Wallowa Lake: Ice has begun
to form recently, but it is very
thin, and recreationists should not
attempt to ice fish or venture out
onto Wallowa Lake until the ice on
the lake becomes thick enough to
be safe.
• Wallowa River: When the
weather warms enough to keep ice
from being problematic, anglers can
catch both rainbow trout and moun-
tain whitefish in the Wallowa River.
Fish with a slow presentation in
slow runs where fish can conserve
energy. Small nymph and egg pat-
terns may be effective for trout and
whitefish, and spinning gear such as
spinners or spoons, could be a good
option for targeting trout.
Some steelhead anglers have
been successful this winter on the
Wallowa River, and fishing for
hatchery steelhead should improve
throughout the next several months
as they make their way up the Wal-
lowa River to Big Canyon and Wal-
lowa hatcheries.
• Malheur Reservoir: Ice is cur-
rently at least 7 inches thick. Fishing
has been good for rainbow trout.
• Pilcher Creek Reservoir cur-
rently is frozen over and is slowly
filling. Anglers should use cau-
tion near the edge of the ice where
rising water levels leave a gap
between the shore and thicker ice
over the lake.
• Thief Valley Reservoir: Some
trout are available for anglers, and
there are reports that fishing can be
fairly good at times.