Fly Fishing Insider Newsletter featuring The Fly Fishing Shop

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(continued from 08/07 The Fly Fishing Shop Insider)
Journey to the Forbidden Land (Part-1)
A three part series about Kamchatka wilderness adventure -
by Mark Bachmann

In 1993 I was invited to assemble a group of fly fishermen to visit the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russian Siberia. At 140,000 square miles in area, Kamchatka is the size of the state of California, but largely an uninhabited sub-arctic wilderness. For 100 years it had been the most strategic eastern Russian military stronghold and been closed to outsiders. We would be some of the first Americans allowed to enter this very sensitive area.

As it turned out, we were on the first foreign aircraft to land at some of the towns we visited enroute to our destination. After growing up with years of cold war paranoia, we were a little apprehensive about how the Russians would treat us. They treated us with great hospitality and in some of the towns where we landed for refueling, we were greeted by dozens of school age children offering tokens of friendship. To Top

We land in Provedinia.

frozen coast, Siberia

Kamchatka offers the last true wilderness adventures for wild steelhead & rainbow trout. It is here where rainbow trout (steelhead) were first identified, and is why they have a Russian scientific name, Oncorhynchus Mykiss. In Kamchatka they are called Mykissia (pronounced Mick'-keesya). The natural range of the rainbow trout is the Pacific Rim from Kamchatka to Southern California. In most of their range the rainbow has suffered from hatchery

manipulation, habitat destruction and over harvest. I have fished for and studied rainbows most of my life, and Kamchatka offered an exceptional opportunity to study this specie in the raw. Our group of 13 anglers assembled in Anchorage, Alaska, May 4. The next morning we boarded a 19 passenger Beach Craft turbo-prop and flew to Nome where we picked up a Russian navigator. We crossed the Bering Sea and our port of entry was the tiny arctic town of Provideniya. After going through Russian Customs, we

MI-8 at Cedar Lodge

Zhuponova River

hop-scotched down the 900 mile long coast line and finally landed in Petropavlovsk, the largest city in Kamchatka. From there we flew by Russian MI-8 helicopter back north to our camp; Cedar Lodge on the Zhuponova River. What a ride. The flight was spectacular as is all of the landscape of Kamchatka. We flew over and were constantly surrounded by smoking volcanoes. Kamchatka is some of the most volcanic real estate on the planet.

It has around 200 volcanoes, of which 65 are still active. We landed at Cedar Lodge in the afternoon and one of the guys put together his spey rod and caught a seven pounder almost before the rotor blades quit turning. It was a fitting introduction to a river which proved to be one of the worlds finest.

(to be continued in 08/21 FFS Insider)

bright 30 incher

Click for more information.

"An organization "To understand and protect the wild steelhead, salmon and trout and their ecosystems along the Pacific Rim."
Fly fishermen doing research on Kamchatka steelhead.

The Zhuponova River concession is exclusive to The Wild Salmon Center.

*** Marabou Sculpin (Olive) Hook: Tiemco 9394, 4X, nickel, #2-#6 Thread: olive 3/0 Back Fin & Tail: (2) olive grizzly marabou feathers tied back to back, matucka style Rib: fine gold oval tinsel Body: olive tan Hare-tron Pectoral Fins: olive dyed grizzly marabou feathers Eyes: small lead eyes painted yellow with black pupil Head: olive Hare-tron, flattened	Marabou Sculpin (Sand) Hook: Tiemco 9394, 4X, nickel, #2-#6 Thread: tan 3/0 Back Fin & Tail: (2) sand colored grizzly marabou feathers tied back to back, Matuka style Rib: fine silver oval tinsel Body: tan Hare-tron Pectoral Fins: sand dyed grizzly marabou feathers Eyes: small lead eyes painted yellow with black pupil Head: tan Hare-tron, flattened
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If you would like to read a detailed Deschutes River Fishing Report, click here.

Up-to-Date INFORMATION on Local Lakes at a glance.
Scroll this table for instant information. Click the links for more information.
Our Lakes Information Section is constantly evolving. Be sure to check often for up-dates.
Want some lake fly fishing instruction? Try a Guided Pontoon Boat Trip!
The water in most lakes is getting warm.
Be careful to fully revive your trout when you release them.

Badger Lake	Last stocked 6/19, fishing good, Callibaetis, ants, caddis
Barnes Butte Lake	Very weedy, fish deep in the main channel.
Chickahominy Reservoir	Last stocked 5/29, many small fish, few large fish.
Clear Lake	Last stocked 5/29, some big trout, water getting low.
Crane Prairie Reservoir	Improving, fish scattered, damsels, Callibaetis, leeches etc.
Davis Lake	Great Callibaetis hatches, fishing good. Bass hit poppers.
East Lake	Last stocked 7/24, some large trout, many small trout, good.
Frog Lake	Last stocked 6/12, few brood trout, wooly buggers, ants, Callibaetis.
Grindstone Lakes	closed until the fall season
Harriet Lake	Last stocked 8/14, good hatches, cool water
Hosmer Lake	Last stocked 5/29, Caddis, Callibaetis & damsels, fishing good.
Laurence Lake	Road opened 08/04/00, fishing fair. To Top
Lost Lake	Last stocked 7/03, terrestrials, caddis, Callibaetis, Hex hatch.
Mann Lake	Midges & Callibaetis, water warm.;
Olallie Lake	Last stocked 7/17
Pine Hollow Reservoir	Last stocked 5/08, fishing fair, water warm.
Rock Creek Reservoir	Last stocked 6/12, trout & bass fishing fair, water low & warm.
Roslyn Lake	Last stocked 7/31, fishing fair. Hex hatch. water temp 72-74
Timothy Lake	Last stocked 6/05, fishing good, terrestrials, baetis.
Trillium Lake	Last stocked 7/31, fishing very good.
Wickiup Reservoir	some big Brown Trout on streamers, getting better, still spotty.

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These are tools for the fly tying artist.
You can buy every Renzetti Vise and Vise Accessory here.

**(continued from 08/07 The Fly Fishing Shop Insider)
Why We Love the Mount Hood Lakes (Through the lens of your mind)
A Lake Fly Fishing Guide lets you on the inside. To Top

The overhead sky is just beginning to take on a hint of the days color and the surface of the water seems as if it could be made of black obsidian. Almost. The "V" shaped ripple behind your pontoon boat brings you back to the reality that it is a liquid world here and the movement of the fish you've spotted cruising the surface quickens your pulse. There are no riffles here to mask a poor presentation and no swift current that forces your quarry to take the fly NOW or wait for another opportunity. There will be no chance of casting above your target in the hopes of mending the line and getting the fly into the correct drift and depth as it slides by a prime feeding station. Not today. And not in this particular piece of "God's Green Earth". You make that last back cast, pause, and begin to pull forward, recognizing the familiar feel of your rod as it begins to load and you accelerate the tip towards your target. Anyone who has handled a fly rod for any length of time would know this feels like a good cast. Unlike on a river, the power-caster is often at a disadvantage here. At this particular moment, that loop in the fly line needs the energy to unroll- only that- and no more. Your fly cannot land on the surface, it needs to settle like an airborne seed. Is it a good cast? You are beyond watching this mini-event unfold, you are living it. There are few surprises here. No hoped for...but sudden pull on your line. You watch through the lens of your mind, seeing the line and the fly and the wake of a cruising rainbow as if you were an unseen photographer on the shore...finger on the shutter, all motion suspended, waiting... This is not a surprise, you set this scene into motion yourself. And somehow, through some unknown capacity inside yourself, you know. You see that bulge of water touch your fly, and it hasn't happened yet...

...and the moment feels like it still might be a lifetime away, but you somehow know that he is going to swallow that fly and send a jolt through your line and you will reach out and touch him with the tip of your rod and make a real connection and you can feel the click of the shutter being released. You will never be able to truly convey the memory of that moment or show it to anyone and have them live it like you have. But it's yours and it's real.
Perhaps you should consider fishing in some of the most beautiful, peaceful and exciting settings in the Pacific Northwest.
Why? I could try to tell you what it's like, but it's one of those things that you need to see for yourself.

J. Morgan Jones To Top
(to be continued in 08/21 FFS Insider)

"An organization "To understand and protect the wild steelhead, salmon and trout and their ecosystems along the Pacific Rim." Fly fishermen doing research on Kamchatka steelhead.

"An organization "To understand and protect the wild steelhead, salmon and trout and their ecosystems along the Pacific Rim."
Fly fishermen doing research on Kamchatka steelhead.