Swingin' Flies in the Pacific Northwest: Contrast of the Clackamas and Sandy

Apr 3, 2012

Contrast of the Clackamas and Sandy

I arrived at Milo McIver park around 8am. Drove to the upper boat launch and pushed my way through the brush. The water was high. Much higher than I anticipated. I decided to go to this river based on the water level prediction of the river dropping to a good level. Needless to say, it was much higher than they predicted. (I actually believe the level rose. Must of released extra water through the dam.) Now, today, when I retrieve the data from yesterday, it seems to be non existent. I'm not sure what happened, but something went wonky. I'm guessing it was at 14.5 feet when I was there.

Access	Clackamas - Milo McIver
Air Temp	Low 40, High 60
Water Temp/Visibility	~40F / 2 feet
Weather	Sunny
River Stage	~14.5 feet
Time in/out	8am / 11am
Leaders/Lines	Skagit
	11 feet of T11	All day
	15lb Maxima
Flies	Various large winter flies	-
Notes	Water high with funny business going on with stage readings. Okay clarity. Access difficult. Not good fly fishing conditions.

It looked completely different from last time. Clarity wasn't bad, maybe 2 foot of visibility, but the water was so high up the bank, finding a place to cast from was difficult. Stepping down a run was nearly impossible in most spots.

A few hours were spent here. Did a lot of exploring for spots to revisit when the water is lower. However, I knew it was a lost cause doing any actual fishing, so I headed over to the Sandy river.

The Sandy was a much different story. Water level seemed perfect. Clarity was surprisingly clear. I could see 6-8 feet easily. The water looked fishy.

Access	Sandy - Near Oxbow
Air Temp	60's
Water Temp/Visibility	~40F / 6 feet
Weather	Sunny
River Stage	11.5ft
Time in/out	12pm / 5pm
Leaders/Lines	Skagit
	11 feet of T11	All day
	15lb Maxima
Flies	Various large winter flies	-
Notes	Water was at a great level. Dropping into shape after heavy rains. Clarity was very clear with slight tint. A great day for fishing.

Unfortunately, I didn't catch anything. Other than a strong wind, the weather was nice. Sunny and 60 something degrees. Not bad! Despite the nice weather and beautiful fishing conditions, I wasn't really into it for some reason and actually left before 5pm. Hopefully this isn't a trend and just a temporary loss of interest. My mind was elsewhere.

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About Me

My interest in fly fishing began as a teenager in my home state of Missouri. After years of fishing rivers in and around the Ozarks, I moved to California in the early 90's. Life continued on, I happily drove hours around to various streams hunting trout. Then it happened. One rainy fall morning, I landed my first steelhead.

Game over. Buh bye trout. Hello steelhead!

Fast forward to 2011. My obsession with steelhead was out of control. I convinced my wife and family, that we needed to leave California and head to the Pacific Northwest.

Now, I'm able to happily fish for steelhead almost year around in both Washington and Oregon. My now home-water is a quick 10 minutes away. Within two hours, I can reach the Deschutes, Klickitat, Wilson, Sandy, Clackamas, Hood, Lewis, Cowlitz, Kalama, and dozens of others. Many of those are within a half hour. Paradise.

Although I started out with single handed rods all those years ago, I switched almost exclusively to 2-handed rods around 2005. I find them to be more efficient and less tiring over those long days. Initially reluctant to give them a try, I've rarely looked back.

This blog is my little spot on the internet to keep record of my trips, fly tying, and thoughts on fishing. Originally conceived as a personal journal to help myself remember where I went and what flies were productive- for whatever reason, I decided to make it public. Hopefully you will get something from it.