Rain, Rain, Go Away....

Yuck.  After a long week at work I was looking forward to riding the class II and III Sandy waves this morning - but not at 3400 cfs.  I've drifted the Dodge-Oxbow run now about a dozen times and feel relatively comfortable maneuvering this section which has claimed many a boat (and oarsmen) over the years.  There are two sections that are considered (I consider) class III - The "Pipeline" section which is just below the boat ramp at Dodge Park, and the "Blue Hole" which is about a third of the way through this 7 mile drift.


One of the main reasons I purchased the cataraft was to drift this section because for several years I've read how many terrific fly water runs it had.  I learned a walk-in route to one stretch of this section a few years ago that produced a couple of fish and now I can get there without having to go "off the beaten path".

Sandy River Water Gauge Below Bull Run

It's coming up on late May and there are less and less opportunities to hit the river due to quickly changing weather and a busy work schedule.  It rained hard the past couple of days which made the flows jump dramatically but the Sandy River is known to recover quickly so I'm holding out hope for tomorrow but only if the flows drop into the high 2000's.

Here are a couple of Metal Detector flies I recently tied.    

J and I took a guided trip a few years back with local guide Marty Shepherd (his Dad's company installed new windows in our house) and he gave me a couple of flies that I've since tied and they are my "go to" now.  I only tie them in dark blue/black and orange/red combinations.  Since returning to the sport, I've learned of another fly that I'd like to try called the Intruder which is made with Ostrich feathers and apparently was created by Ed Ward who invented the Skagit style of spey casting.

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Intruder Style Steelhead Fly

With the summer steelhead now in the river along with the Springer chinooks (I'm not fly fishing for these guys...bobber sandshrimp/roe setup), I'm looking forward to hitting the river with a few more opportunities before the summer run-off appears and the river becomes unfishable.