On the 13th of this month about 30 members ventured down to the Lucky Labrador Public House for the evening; some were familiar faces and some were new. Jeff, Josh and Gill all made it out for the first time. Jeff has experienced a reintroduction to his fly fishing via the purchase of a new spey rod; he's looking to get some good use out if it. Josh and Gil are new members who came to introduce themselves! Good to meet you guys! Thanks for coming.
Jerry Lorang answered Erle's call for fishing stories...
- turns out Jerry was the sole attendee to the April TVTU Outing [that's a bummer] - Jerry calmly noted he had the lake to himself and brought 30 fish to hand in a bit over two hours. So it sounds like everyone else missed out! Jerry added - in taking Andy's place for the day - that the next outing to SOUTH TWIN LAKE in central Oregon is APRIL 29-MAY 1 and South Twin has some sizeable fish in it; following Twin on JUNE 24-26, the members will be assembling at TIMOTHY LAKE-North Arm Campground. Timothy is one of the more popular outings of the year and well attended by both TVTU and CRTU members.
BTW - Have you seen the 2016 OUTING SCHEDULE?
- turns out Jerry was the sole attendee to the April TVTU Outing [that's a bummer] - Jerry calmly noted he had the lake to himself and brought 30 fish to hand in a bit over two hours. So it sounds like everyone else missed out! Jerry added - in taking Andy's place for the day - that the next outing to SOUTH TWIN LAKE in central Oregon is APRIL 29-MAY 1 and South Twin has some sizeable fish in it; following Twin on JUNE 24-26, the members will be assembling at TIMOTHY LAKE-North Arm Campground. Timothy is one of the more popular outings of the year and well attended by both TVTU and CRTU members.
BTW - Have you seen the 2016 OUTING SCHEDULE?
Mike Gentry took the mic for a moment and asked that volunteers look for some upcoming May and June dates for tree placement on the Clackamas; the Chapter will be working with ODFW to place Christmas trees form this years CHRISTMAS for COHO collections. Contact TVTURESTORATION@GMAIL.COM.
Mark Rogers stood up and asked that anyone interested in working on the Tualatin Riverkeepers Kids Camp effort for TVTU to contact him - members take a day to introduce day campers to stream ecology and fishing.
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| 2015 TRK Kids Day Camp |
Bob Wolfe took control at this point and started to talk CHIRONOMIDS! Known as midges to most laymen, we trout oriented folks like the sound of saying CHIRONOMID....CHIRONOMID...has a great sound to it doesn't it? CHIRONOMID...beats out lowly midge any day! Bob certainly thinks so and though trout can't talk they sure know what tastes good - and to them CHIRONOMIDS are plentiful and tasty apparently. They make up 39% of the average diet of a trout - reaching 50% in the spring! Mayflies, caddis, damsels, salmonflies and all those other 'fancy' bugs may be more popular [and more easily seen] but the lowly midge is standard fare for trout.
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| Serendipity [on Westfly.com] |
Where do we find chironomids? Mostly still waters; especially those waters that are not annually drawn down for irrigation or other purposes. Midges are pretty much everywhere but to key in on them find waters that are packed with them - Diamond Lake is a good example. Hosmer. Crane Prairie. All are packed with chironos - never get drawn down. Settled water is good for fish and bugs alike. HINT: once at a good lake - find that silty/mucky bottom, especially near weed beds or reeds.
Why Chironomids? There are over 2000 varieties; THAT is a challenge for any tyer to be sure. How many can you fit in your box? In general though, they ae relatively alike - especially when it comes to size [small - like 14 to 28] and colors [red, red and black, black, olive]. the key component that everyone does have? White gills! This is why they tie them with white beads or CDC up top.
Fish them how? Under an indicator [i.e. bobbers]; and NEVER on a slack line. An indicator can be another fly [hopper/dropper me baby!]; a fluff/yarn ball; an actual bobber [like a thing-a-ma-bobber]. You see, the chironomid is a vertical riser - they orient vertically and move ever so slowly. Very little twitching and only slight lifting or movement is required. Fish literally swim along with open mouths and suck them in. Bobbers give you the best means of depth control and offer the slightest hint at the point a fish takes a chironomid - but you MUST fish a tight line because you have about 1 second after ANY slight movement to lift that barbless hook into the trouts lip. HINT: start at depths of around 5-feet and adjust deeper if you are not getting hit.
So get your chironomid on and get out there!
Next meeting: May 11 - Hal Gordon - Wyoming Cutthroat Trout! Hope to see you there!
