Why a Sinking Scandi?

Low Flow

The winter can be a productive, yet frustrating time for those of us that love to swing steelhead flies. The flows can fluctuate from outrageous to fickle all in a weeks time. Most swing fishermen know how to handle the high flows: just throw on a Skagit, Heavy Tip, and Toss half of a chicken, but what do you do when the flows subside and the water turns gin clear? The temps tell you, that you have to hug the bottom, but if you dared to huck wench cable in this type of water you would nuke every run you hit. What's left, throw a scandi and hope the sluggish fish will take a fly hi in the water column? Sure the scandi will present the fly like it was landing on a tempur-pedic , but it wont invoke the lazy take of a winter fish as they prefer the fly to be in their face. Most of us use to stay home when these conditions presented themselves, but if your like me that felt like giving up, so I searched hi and low for as solution. That solution took me to the Scandinavian Countries! Those guys had the answer--sinking scandis! These sinkers had light enough tips that I could present a fly snuggle soft, yet deep. There was one problem with these sinkers though, the swung like junk. The rear taper of the scandi contained the bulk of the heads weight, making a single density scandi  swing with the rear deeper than the fly. This was a huge problem and I swore that I would never use a sinking scandi again, that was until LTS sent me some Triple Density Heads. LTS built their heads so that the thin front taper was the fastest sinking portion of the line, and the least sinking portion was at the back: why didn't anyone else think of this? it was pure revelation. Now when I swing low and clear, I am able to make super soft cast that will put the fly near the bottom, at the winter fishes preferred level...Giving me no reason to hang my rod up when such levels exist. if you find yourself sitting on the couch due to conditions, jump out of the box and figure out what it takes to put a fly in front of a fish. come fish with us we will show you some of our out of the box winter methods .....tight lines  

Rogue Winter

Winter is as good as any time to get off the couch!

Swing it!

Conditions like these demand a Triple Density Scandis  

Any day fishing is better than.....

  

Micro-Speys or Switch Rods who cares

With all the great switch/micro-spey gear that is out there they should draw your attention. Not all water is spey water, but all water can be 2-handed water! See what Nate has to say about these cool little rods.

Do you know what to do with your running line?

I have been asked to share my "hook and grab" line management technique, so here it is!

September Steelhead! A Rogue River Report!

If you are waiting for the Rogue to start to fish well, don't. We were catching fresh fish as early as July, but it seems to have really turned on as of late.

Touvelle area always fishes well this time of year, but fish can really be found anywhere in the upper Rogue!

Swing October Caddis emergers, or my Halloween Fly. Switch to something bigger mid day when the fish are escaping the overhead sun and looking for deeper water.

Of course nymphs always work, I like to throw nymphs that look like Nymphs, but the otis bugs hook their share of fish every year.

My trailing fly in September  and October will always be a egg pattern of some sort. Lately I have been fishing pink, and doing well! I know, I know, I have be quoted as saying, "If your not fishing orange your not fishing the the Rogue!" Well, some chrome bullets have made me to eat those words lately!

Remember, pegged beads are illegal during the fly only season!

So if your looking for a time to fish the Rogue for Steelhead, the time is now!

Steely Bugs

Swinging 

Beautiful Cutt

Working the Run!

Beautiful Wild Hen!

Fish On!

The Release 

The RUN!

Where to fish in Southern Oregon? A Rogue, Williamson and Wood River Report!

Where should I fish in Southern Oregon right now? That is a question that is amazingly hard to answer right now...all the rivers are fishing extremely well!

The Rogue: We have been catching steel since June. Normally this is a real spotty prospect this time of year, but lately you could feel pretty confident that you'll at least touch one. We have been swing real buggy soft hackles with great success. They have been working for both Trout and Steelhead! Hold on once you hit a larger fish as they are silver bullets and have the full intention of tearing up your gear!

The Williamson: is stacked, but you had better bring your witts as they are deep and the river is clear. These conditions mean you had better get your swing down without lining these large trout. Once you figure it out they are more than willing to smack your offering. There are some BIG lake runners up as far as the county park. My epoxy leach and PTBFE have been producing well.

The Wood and Lake: Hunt for the cool water! Once you find it you'll find fish, and a ton of them! I'm doing well with small buggers!

Moby

The Basin is still a bit wild!

Klamath SHARK!!!!

Williamson "Steelhead"

The Lake Never Disappoints  

Williamson Fish loved the PTBFE

Rogue Trout Action was Hot during Andras Outfitters Kids Camp

Lets hope July will be as good as June was...a Williamson and Rogue River Report

The Williamson and Rogue have been fishing well. Have they been fishing well on nymphs? Have they been fishing well on drys? I couldn't tell ya, as all I have been doing is swinging. The trout spey action has been phenomenal, so much so it's been hard for me to do anything else. I have been fishing my Jefferson Rod Company 5126 almost exclusively on the Williamson, and let me tell you those fish can put a bend in that baby. I'm running a 380 Airflo Skagit intermediate with a 7 ft chunk of T7 on the little spey. The cool thing about the setup is that I can fish seams from over 60 ft away even if there is a seamless between us. Using mono running line, I can hold it off the water while the sinking head swings the far seam. This is an amazing advantage when as the river starts to clear.

Get out there and hit some Southern Oregon rivers with your trout speys, you'll be glad you did.

Not a bad problem to have ... a Rogue, Williamson, Wood rivers, and Klamath Lake Report.

#SouthernOregonFlyfishing

This time of year is a hard time of year for me as its hard to choose between the Rogue, Williamson, Wood Rivers and the Klamath Lake. I guess we could have worse problems.

The Rogue is the go to, when we are talking about new fishermen. With the prospects of catching a ton of fish on dries it's a great way to introduce people to the sport of flyfishing. if you are looking to get a wife or one of your children hooked, the Rogue is a great option

Rogue River Cutty!

The Williamson is fishing well, but the best is yet to come. All the fish we have been catching are clean as a whistle, meaning they don't have any of the license on them from the lake. This is a sure indicator that the big push of fish lake fish haven't hit the cool waters of the Williamson. As the lake warms expect more and more fish to show up. As it is we are catching quite a few fish a day.

Williamson River Redband

Williamson Slab!

The Wood is in the same boat as the Williamson, but fish are already moving into the estuary. Fish from the wetlands bridge down. Watch for fish early in the morning and late in the evenings. Swing soft hackles across rising fish.

The Tranquil Wood River


 

The Locals

The Klamath/Agency  is fishing amazingly  well. Look for fish staging at the cool water. With the heat they are going to start pushing up the rivers. Strip leaches and emergers across rolling fish. Look for the foam lines along the mixing of the warm and cool waters.

The Klamath/Agency Lake is a consistent producer!

There you have it! If Southern Oregon isn't on your bucket list it should be. It has the water to match whatever skill level, and gives you the potential to catch the largest, meanest trout of your life.