Bend Fishing

Meet the brothers Justin and Brandon Francis.  These two brothers profess that they are fly fishing fanatics.  Talking to them for a few minutes and you just know that they are very good at catching fish.  Catch and release for sure.  Their smart phones are just chock full of big fish pictures.  They are not species specific and their picture collection includes Steelhead, Bass, Bull Trout and everything with fins.  Their home water is the Deschutes but many other fishing opportunities are nearby.  Justin and Brandon believe that Bend, Oregon is the perfect location for fly fishing fanatics such as themselves.  Perfect for the variety of water and variety of large fish with wide shoulders.

Brandon with a nice Steelhead

Justin with a Deschutes Steelhead

CALIFORNIA TRIES GIANT WATER COOLERS TO SAVE FISH

BY ELLEN KNICKMEYER 
ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- State and federal wildlife officials are resorting to installing giant water chillers in some of California's fish hatcheries, as drought, over-allocation of water and climate change all combine this year to make temperatures too warm for some baby salmon and other fish to survive.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service workers installed the coolers at the Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery at the foot of northern California's Shasta Dam this summer when water temperatures hit the mid-60s - too tepid for the half-million winter-run baby salmon growing there, said Scott Hamelberg, a federal hatchery manager.  To continue reading click here.  http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CALIFORNIA_DROUGHT_FISH_COOLERS_CAOL-?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

ANGLER'S ELBOW

The Cause and The Cure

by Tom Dempsey, Mobile, Alabama, USA

Anglers, like all athletes, are subject to musculoskeletal injuries acquired in pursuit of their specific sport. Fly fishers have uniqueaches and pains that can make them uncomfortable. One of the most common problems seen in the fly fisher occurs from using the elbow repetitively to swing a rod and line.

Generically this was referred to as “tennis elbow,” an inflammation of the ligament insertion on the outside of the elbow which produces pain on flexion and extension of the elbow, i.e., during the casting stroke. It can be exquisitely tender to the touch.

To continue reading click here.  http://www.fedflyfishers.org/Portals/0/Documents/Casting/The%20Loop/TheLoopFall2014.pdf

Proceed down to pages 21, 22, and 23.

Hold Onto Your Bobbins

When you first see Dave Roberts at his tying bench in his own home, you know that tying flies is not just a passing fad.  One wouldn’t call him a hoarder of fly material but he is well supplied.  This is the result of a lifetime of fly tying emersion.  Add to that his Marine Corps background and you just know that his selection to be the Fly Tying Chair for the IFFF 2015 Fair was no happen-stance choice, and a darned good choice too.

Dave can be a practical joker but you can bet that when mid August rolls around, he will be all business.  We just have to tell one story.  Every New Years Day two of the fly fishing clubs in Southern Oregon have a chili feed at a local flies only area we call the Holy Water.  That particular day another angler was fishing so as to be the first to catch a fish in the New Year.  He hooked up and was trying to bring the fish to hand when Dave started throwing snowballs at the fisherman and encouraged all the others present to join in and they obliged.  Yep, that’s Dave.

When we see you in Bend, Oregon at the 2015 Fair in mid August just look for the guy in among all the tiers that has a hat with a Marine Corps pin on the side.  Just walk up and say, “you’re the guy” and then watch him get the look that says, “What did I do now”.