Mt. Hood Fly Fishing Club

Mt. Hood Fly Fishing Club Forms

Meetings: Last Saturday of each month.
Next Meeting: 01/28/06
Place: Zig Zag Inn (down stairs)
Time: 5:00pm Wet Fly, Social Mixer
         6:00pm Dinner
         7:00pm Business Meeting
         7:30pm Special Program
         9:00pm Meeting Over.
This is our formative meeting.

Usually when you think about saltwater fishing, large fish, large flies and heavy rods come to mind.  Yup, that's what comes to my mind.  If you go to the Sea of Cortez or the Mexican Pacific coast and only take one rod, make it a twelve weight. There is the distinct possibility that you will encounter fish of over one hundred pounds. However, there are some days when the big ol' good 'uns just aren't around and if you want to fully capitalize on of every kind of fishing that might be available, take a full array of rods, reels and lines. A fully prepared angler will be armed with #6, #8, #10, and #12 weight gear.  There are a lot of fish in saltwater that

are the same size as the species that we commonly pursue in fresh water: trout, bass, steelhead and salmon.  Some of the these smaller saltwater fish are juveniles of fish that will get a lot bigger.  Others never get much larger than the fish we angle for in fresh water.  Three pound Lady Fish or Pargo Snappers aren't much of a pull on a 12-weight rod, but they are entertaining on an 8-weight and will out fight any comparable size trout on 6-weight gear.  If you don't believe it, throw a spool of 4X tippet in your saltwater tackle kit.  Doubtful you will use it much, unless you are after a light tippet world record. The same philosophy applies to your fly selection.  Whereas some of your billfish flies might be

12-inches long, many shoreline species feed on very small bait.  Just as trout in streams will feed on 2-inch long stoneflies or 3-inch long sculpins, they will also at time key in on #20 midges and no amount of coaxing with larger flies will entice them to bite.  When you head for the salt, be sure to throw in a box of flies that range down to size eight.  You might hope that all of the fish available will be too large to notice them, but if you don't take them, you might wish you had.

    Any time you have a casting problem you need look no farther than the LOOP. The LOOP tells all. I guess there are some that aren’t sure how the loop is supposed to look so this article is primarily directed toward them. A well-formed casting loop is narrow. The top and bottom strands should be about 2 feet apart and should be parallel and on the same plane. Anything other than that and there is something wrong with the cast. Remember, the forward and back casts should look the same. In other words, the loops should be narrow and well formed.

     When we talk about the casting loop, narrow verses wide, both the top and bottom strands are parallel, tailing loop and so on, we are talking about the very heart of the cast. To all in the animal world, none would live very long without a healthy heart. If the LOOP should fail in any way, the cast fails or dies. Maybe that’s not the best analogy, but to me it is as good as any. The fly fisher needs a good casting loop.

     Practice is the best remedy. It is the time to get all of the casting problems worked out. When you are alone and there is no one around to tell you what’s going on, you have to be able to analyze the cast. The best way I know of is the LOOP. What is going on in there will tell you almost everything you need to know. How you go about correcting the problem is another matter all together.

    Here are a few clues, some things to watch for and some cures. Let’s say you have wide loops, maybe 6 to 8 feet across. What do you think is going on? Well, I’ll give you a hint. Several problems are evident to me: first is a wide casting arc, much too long for the amount of line; second, you are probably flexing your wrist; and finally, you didn’t stop the rod properly. Lets break it down a bit and look at some cures. A casting arc that’s too wide leads to a domed cast (convex). Shorten your casting stroke a bit and keep the rod tip on a straight plane. Next, don’t bend your wrist. Keep it as firm as possible. Finally, STOP THE ROD.

     By utilizing these cures, you should end up with some well-formed narrow LOOPS. Don’t get discouraged! It will probably take some time to work through all of this. There is nothing that replaces practice. Remember this; you must force the rod to bend (LOAD). It is much easier when you don’t bend your wrist. You then need to bring the rod to a firm STOP. It is at this point that rod tip flexes in the opposite direction transferring the energy to the fly line. You’ll know when all is going well because you’ll see it in the LOOP.

The original intent was to chase tarpon in Florida, but Gwen wanted to see how it would hold up to sails. (Had I know her penchant for sailfishing, I probably would have purchased a 14 weight). She managed to catch and release ten on the Winston during the week. These photos are from the recent Presidential Challenge held in Guatemala. Your service was outstanding and we are most pleased. I will be calling the order shortly to order the 14 weight.
Gwen is Vice President of the

The CLA is an affordable hybrid large arbor fly reel that carries the name of one of Ross’ oldest and most popular series. However the CLA is a big departure from the original Cimarron design. It incorporates our newest generation drag mechanism that is extraordinarily smooth, heat resistant and provides incredible stopping power.  To us at The Fly Fishing Shop no reel is proven without many days on the water in our hands.  The CLA is brand new, but has created a lot of excitement around our store.  The CLA comes in (8)...yes, eight sizes.  Each size has been scaled to a specific task.  CLA's cost $160 to $280, and cover every application from spring creeks to saltwater & spey.  We got our first delivery week before last and have already re-ordered.  This USA made reel competes in value with anything we have seen that is made off shore.  Comes gray or black.
We feel this is THE fly reel series for 2006 !!!!!!!!!

Have You Been Snubbed?
Hey, we all collect things.  Some people are into stamps, others coins.  I'm into machined from bar stock fly reels.  My good friend Brian O'Keefe is a collector of beauty & truth with his camera.  His newest collection is certainly truth, but doubtful one could classify it as beauty.  He is enlisting the help of fellow anglers to add to his collection of fish with a deformation called the snub nose.  This deformation is more common than one might think.  I have seen several over the years, but never recorded them.  What causes the deformation is unknown.  It seems to occur in both hatchery and wild populations of trout and steelhead.  If you have a picture you would like to share to Brian, send it to: brian@brianokeefephotos.com .  If you are into photos of truth and beauty, check out: Brian O'Keefe Photos

More Letters From Customers (Keep 'em coming)

Hi Mark,
I just got back this past Tuesday from another awesome 4 days fishing Panama – we caught 2 Black Marlin one approximately 500 and the other around 650, 3 Blue Marlin, 6 Sailfish, 3 yellowfin tunas around 100lb each, 4 Dorado between 30 - 60LBs and missed way too many 
Stay well and my very best to you,
John Furman

*John caught the sailfish pictured with a G. Loomis FR9915-3 CC & Abel Super 14 outfit purchased at
 The Fly Fishing Shop.