Active Advisory Winter Storm Warning Shipping

11.17 in active, advisory, Boat Plans, boating, grand, national, park, shipping, storm, tetons, warning, winter

Yes, we are open.

November 13th, 2014

From all of us here at the Gorge Fly Shop we hope you stay safe while driving. Hood River has an active Winter Storm Warning. Currently your online orders are being fulfilled, packaged and ready for shipping but we wanted to take this time and inform you there could be a delay with UPS or USPS picking up packages or getting out of the Gorge (surrounding area). So please stay safe and patient. As always if you have any questions or comments feel free to drop us a line.

Thank You,

The Gorge Fly Shop Team

541.386.6977

info@gorgeflyshop.com

www.gorgeflyshop.com

As always, for any of you bravehearts send us your Winter Fishing Photos.

"Fly Fish the World with Us"

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Keel and Skeg Stringers

10.18 in and, Boat Plans, epoxy, is, keel, making, sawdust, skeg, stressful, stringers

It most conventionally built wooden boats, the frames refer to what you might think of as the "ribs" of the boat running across ways (thats "athwartship," to you, matey!).  In the Glen-L Waterlodge, the framing members run longitudinally and are called stringers.

So building the boat frame means assembling the individual stringers and then tying them together with various cross beams. 

There were five stringers total.  Two side stringers, one keel stringer in the middle, and two "skeg stringers" between the keel and the side stringers. While the plans are relatively straightforward about building the stringers, there are lots of pesky details to consider, notches for cross beams, plywood reinforcement, butt blocks to make sure the plywood on the side stringers didnt leak, and a subtle curve to the deck that will sit on top of the stringers.

The keel stringer used big pieces of plywood to structurally reinforce the member and did not have overlapping two-by pieces.  The skeg stringers did have overlapping two-by pieces but no reinforcing plywood. The result will be two big storage bulkheads under the decks on either side of the boat.

The side stringers of course had plywood that covered the outside surface of the boat and no overlapping two-by pieces.  Well talk about these and their butt blocks in the next build day entry.

The notches for the cross beams were easy, though we still forgot a few and had to cut them out of the already assembled stringers.  The porch deck beam notches were not really dimensioned properly on the plans and so we had to do a little improvisation later. 

We built the stringers on the asphalt floor of the barn.  It was flatish and shaded, so we didnt bake as we fretted over the details of our new stringers.

One challenge we faced was making sure that each member we built matched all the others. The plans suggested literally building them one on top of another.  This didnt seem that practical, so we hit on a solution:  Using the plywood already cut to shape for the side stringers as a pattern for our other stringers.  That way wed know that all the angles would be correct and all the pieces of each member would be in the right place.

We used what we called temporary butt blocks just to hold the side plywood in place while we were using it as a pattern.

So in these photos, you can see the side plywood under our stringers as a pattern. 

From left to right: keel stringer, starboard skeg stringer, and port skeg stringer.

So for each stringer, the process was more or less:  Lay out the pieces for fit on our plywood pattern; put wax paper under anything we didnt want to be permanently adhered to anything below, temporarily screw down, as necessary; apply a thin coat of epoxy to both surfaces of every joint; apply a thickened coat of epoxy to one side of every joint; and finally fasten together all joints with stainless steel screws.

 

After the epoxy on the stringers sets, we could put the stringers on the building form. 

Exciting!  It is looking more boat-like every day. These incremental changes are probably pretty minor looking to other folks, and the progress may seem pretty slow.  But for us, it is crazy.  Look we had a pile of lumber!  Now we have this boat(ish) thing!  Amazing!

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initial hull sheathing

06.55 in Boat Plans, direction, hull, initial, new, sheathing

Once all the frames and the anterior keel are mounted and aligned on the strongback, the entire framework was then faired so that panels would lay flat instead of merely touching one edge of each frame. This provides more panel support and more bonding/nailing surface. Once faired, rosin paper patterns were made for each proposed panel of the hull sheathing. I was planning to make thin ply patterns but found that stiff paper was accurate enough in this case. I had to decide the order of panel placement and the position of junctions between panels. I wanted to place the panels which required the most bending first, and I wanted to join separate panels in places where hull curvature was at a minimum. On my previous boat I scarfed all the panels together before placement, but found that handling an 18+ long, narrow panel wet with epoxy resin, precisely placing it, and getting it securely fastened in place quickly was a difficult task. Fortunately, this hull has convenient panel juncture points where either a butt plate could be placed or a nearby frame could back an in-place scarf joint.

Those plywood panels which required significant bending, the bottom forefoot and stern side tumblehome, were submerged in a shallow basin of water for several hours and then quickly clamped on all edges into place of the frame and left to dry for a couple days. The panels were then removed, trimmed for a more exact fit, and bonded into place. As more panels were placed with adjoining edges, clamps could no longer be used on all edges. For these locations I used a nail gun with a 3/4" or 1" 18 gauge nail and scrap 1/4" ply placed under the head to facilitate later removal.

At this point, the entire hull is sheathed, and we can begin to see the full shape of the hull. I now want to cover the entire hull with a second layer; 6 mm. just isnt enough thickness for me. Sure, I could used multiple layers of resin and cloth, but that stuff is heavy and expensive. The strength-to-weight ratio for wood is excellent, so I will add about 4 mm. of thin wood planks; sand it as needed, and finish with a layer of resin and cloth. Ive had to research band saws and blades to get the right setup for "resawing", cutting a normal plank into 3-5 mm. thicknesses. The band saw I bought was missing an important set screw, and I was unable to properly adjust it until I figured out that the mechanism was not functioning properly. Looks like it is now properly set, and producing thin planks is my next task. I have picked cypress wood for the planks- available, relatively cheap, fairly light, and rot resistant.

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Columbia Gorge Fishing Report October 19th

05.57 in 19th, andrew, anglers, Boat Plans, by, columbia, fishing, gorge, october, perrault, report, scandi, scientific, taper, ultimate

Fishing Report

Last week was a bit tough early as water conditions were not ideal, but the fishing was great as it cleared up and fresh fish were moving around and on the bite.  Great reports from both the Deschutes and the Klickitat have us looking forward to fishing this week. 

I had a nice time this week chatting with a father and son from Californiathat were in town.  Bill and Quentin Cooper were supposed to fish with Travis Wallace of Western Waters Guides, but were rescheduled after the river muddied up last weekend.  They came in a couple of times to shoot the breeze.  Luckily, they ended up getting on the Klickitat with Travis on Friday.  My buddy Jon was swinging “Canoe in a Tree Run” when I saw Travis’ boat come around the corner above us.  Travis rowed over to say hello when Bill hooked a fish right in front of me while Travis was holding the boat chatting!  Jon had just put a half dozen casts through that spot…  It’s the power of the bead.

Western Water Guides: BIll and Travis

Here is Bill and Travis with their “Hollywood Steelhead”.  Travis has some openings for Late October and November.  The fishing is great in November and there are few guys on the river.  Give him a call if you want to get into some nice late steelhead on the Klickitat.  You can find him on our website under “guides” or at www.westernwatersguides.com

Chinook Salmon are now mostly dark and just start to get up on their redds.  The spawn seems to be a little later than it was last year.  Last fall we had more rain early on.  This helped to get fish up to their spawning areas, as they prefer to move during high water events.  They will wait until the tributaries fill with water after rains if they have to.  Last year on October 20, I fished a run on the Klickitat that was absolutely stuffed full of spawning fish.  This year on October 16, there were zero fish on beds in that run.  It will fill up, but we will likely need some more rain, or they will eventually hit a point where they have to make a move in low water.  Let’s hope for the former.   

In the meantime, please be aware of spawning fish and look for redds.  Please do not walk across, over or through them. 

Coho Salmon are still not showing up as predicted.  It looks like it’ll be one of the worst returns for Coho in many years after the run had been predicted to be outstanding.  There are some fish around, but nowhere near what they should be.  Look for them low in the systems in slow water.  They will eat a fly stripped slowly and steadily. 

Summer Steelhead are still the main attraction in the Columbia Basin.  The Grande Ronde, Clearwater, Salmon, Deschutesand Klickitat are all fishing really well right now.  Rivers were in mediocre condition most of last week.  On Wednesday clarity on the Klickitat was 16-18” and Fishboy Gabe had one of his most epic mornings swinging flies on a sink tip.  I went out on Thursday morning.  The clarity was about 2’.  I fished an unweighted fly on a light sink tip and landed one fish early and went home as is typical for me fishing from the road.  Friday we floated with about 2.5’ of visibility. We did not hook up any fish, but I did have quite a few plucks and grabs.  This shows how fish are hot right after (even a minor) high water and they start to settle down as the flow evens out and clears up. 

The Hood Riverhas been off color again.  There are not really any fish in there anyways.  It is typically an early and late summer run.  We will get fish once we get some steady rains and high flows.  One little spike of 500 cfs didn’t do much.  We need a week of rain and flows well over 1000 cfs to get fish into the river.  There is not much of a summer run historically, but we do get fish just like any other river in the Columbia Basin.   Steelheading is a game of numbers, as in you need to fish where the most fish are in order to have a shot at catching them.  It’s always worth a couple of hours to poke around if you’re in town and have limited time, but I personally would invest my little fishing time going to where there are more fish.

Trout fishing on the Hood closes on Oct 31.  This includes the East Fork of the Hood, which is not open for steelhead or salmon, so it closes completely on Halloween.  There have been reports of nice, small trout caught on the East Fork up off the campgrounds on HWY 35.  Get it in while you can. 

Targeting Chinook in the Hood River is prohibited after June 15.

Lost Lake and Laurence Lake are still fishing really well right now.  We do get very few reports from the lakes in the fall because most people are fishing for salmon or steelhead, but it can be wicked awesome this time of year with very little (no) pressure.  Laurence Lake closes on October 31, so get out while you can. 

"Its all good!"

Rosie and Sarah May went fishing up at Goose Lake a couple of times last week.  Rosie caught her first trout ever early in the week, and then proceeded to go back and put the smack down on them later on.  Sarah reportedly caught piles of them with Rosie Thursday as well.  It’s a great place to spend the day fishing this time of year.

Smallmouth Bass fishing has been good, I guess… Not one report in the last month?  Everyone forgets about bass once the steelhead show up, but this is a great time to get out if you have the chance.  They should be crushing big poppers if you can find them. 

As always, we are happy to talk fishing any time.  Give us a call if you have any specific questions on local rivers, gear, and tactics, or if you just want some encouragement to get out of the office.  

Andrew Perrault
Gorge Fly Shop | Product Specialist
541.386.6977

"Fly Fish the World with Us"

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Trout Spey Lines No Perfect Answer!

04.29 in and, answer, Boat Plans, fly, lines, nautilus, no, now, perfect, reels, spey, then, trout

I have put off writing this article for months now. Its not that I dont want to write it but I know as soon as I do some new switch line will hit the market and already this article will be old news. I know many of you are reaching out looking for this info so therefore I will wait no longer to publish what I know and well tackle the new when it gets here! For the purpose of this article I am focusing on trout size spey/switch rods.

Trout Spey/Switch Rods

What are they exactly? Baby spey rods...Small switch rods... Smaller versions of steelhead rods...Id like to point out that a switch rod cannot switch into anything! The rod itself cannot change! It is not a transformer! The action and power of any particular rod is fixed. To change what you do with a switch rod REQUIRES you to change the line to match the style of fishing you wish to do with it. With that out of the way lets now accept the fact that there is no one line that does it all, period! End of discussion! But heres the good news! With a little information, planning and practice you can tune your fishing conditions with various lines that will let you fish many different techniques with your switch rods.

Can you do it all with todays switch rods? The term "Switch Rod" implies that it is both a single hand rod and a spey rod but think of it in terms of the game of golf, thats like calling one golf club a switch club, same club that can drive your ball can putt your ball...Im sure Tiger Woods can beat me in golf with only one club BUT! He would never agree that there would ever only be one club to do it all! And I Agree! Now with that out of the way I do believe our modern trout spey rods are closer than ever to what we want in a trout rod action.

What line do I need?

To make this as simple as possible Ive decided to take it line by line and supply you the details of each including rods I have tried these lines on.

Airflo Switch Streamer

Airflo Switch Streamer

I put this line first simply because most anglers who are going to wield a two hand rod for trout are most likely going to swing or strip flies on sinking tips. This is your line! Were still waiting for this line to become available and it cant get here soon enough! My knowledge of it comes from fishing a prototype for almost a year. Tim Rajeff and Tom Larimer are the genius behind this line. The goal of the line is to appeal to trout anglers with shooting line integration and safely satisfy streamer angler needs with a line that is not afraid of T-Series sink tips. They nailed it plain and simple! Integrated with a Ridge running line the semi aggressive skagit style head handles T-7 and T-11 like a dream and if you need to lighten up it has enough finesse to behave friendly with polyleaders. Tom Larimer worked out the bugs of these lines to intentionally match them to perform perfect with the Winston BIIIx Microspeys although we have found they perform excellent on many different switch rods.
The Airflo Streamer Switch retails for $99.95 and comes with a Fast Sinking Polyleader to get you started. You will most likely want to go ahead and get an Airflo Custom Cut Single Sink Tip in the T-7 size.
Airflo Streamer Switch Specs -

Line Size	Color	Head Weight	Head Length	Sink Rate	Total Length
WF4	Pale Mint/Orange	300	18ft	Float	85ft
WF4.5	Pale Mint/Orange	330	18.5ft	Float	85ft
WF5	Pale Mint/Orange	360	18.5ft	Float	85ft
WF5.5	Pale Mint/Orange	390	20ft	Float	85ft
WF6	Pale Mint/Orange	420	20ft	Float	85ft

Current sizes give you a range from 300gr to 420gr. The 330gr is a great match on the Winston 4110 and equally as well for the sage ONE 4116. The Winston 5116 really likes the 390gr.

RIO Scandi Short VersiTip

RIO Scandi Short Versi-Tip

This short scandi taper line is an awesome switch rod line. I really like the tight loop casts it performs. It is a head system line so choose your shooting line. You can also buy this line as a head only and purchase the tips separately. The nice feature of the Versitip kit is it comes with the tip wallet and includes four matching tips. Floating, Intermediate, Type 3 and Type 6 sinking. Just as the name implies the kit gives you a ton of stream side versatility. Scandi tapers do a few things really well such as roll casting and overhead casting and of course spey casts great but Scandi Shorts do have some limitations to consider. They dont handle much more tip than the type 6 they are supplied with and they are limited to fly size. Where I have really liked this line is working with tandem soft hackle rigs. It presents well and the supplied tips lets you dial in just the depth you want to fish. While the Scandi Short works great in close I find the loop to loop to be a real pain for small water work. Ive submitted a request to RIO to make an integrated version of this line but I have no idea if that will come to light.

Specs -

SKU	Line Size	Head Weight	Head Length	Color	Sink Rate
6-20659	#4 275gr	275gr	33ft 10m	Straw	Flt w/ 4 tips
6-20660	#5 320gr	320gr	33ft 10m	Straw	Flt w/ 4 tips
6-20661	#6 370gr	370gr	33ft 10m	Straw	Flt w/ 4 tips
6-20662	#7 425gr	425gr	33ft 10m	Straw	Flt w/ 4 tips
6-20663	#8 485gr	485gr	33ft 10m	Straw	Flt w/ 4 tips
6-20664	#9 540gr	540gr	33ft 10m	Straw	Flt w/ 4 tips

Notice this chart gives you the actual head weight and tip weight separately

The Sage ONE 4116 really loves this line. The fast tip of the Sage really compliments the scandi taper but I also find the line to work great on the Winstons. The 275gr is a great match up for the Winston 3106. The 320gr is my go to for the Sage 4116 and equally excels with the Winston 4110. The 370gr is enough grains for the Winston 5116.

S/A Adapt

Scientific Anglers Adapt

Scientific Anglers you almost got this line right! So close! I liked this line and I wanted to really like this line! The Adapt (like the Airflo Streamer Switch) is an integrated line with a somewhat aggressive skagit head. The thin diameter running line really flies through the guides and the textured head stays on top of the water better than most others Ive fished. The problem is the front taper. Its fine if you are fishing tapered leaders but the problem starts when you add a sink tip. The line tapers down too small to retain enough mass to turn over a sinking tip. The result is struggling to turn over your casts. Polyleaders work decent with the Adapt line but forget fishing T-Series tips. I actually modified my line by cutting the tip back and welding a new loop to the end. The difference is huge. But who wants to chop their brand new $86.95 line. Im sure out of the box it would make a good nymph/indicator line.

Order #	Line Size	Head Length	Sink Rate	Total Length
120500	280gr	22ft	Float	100ft
120517	320gr	22ft	Float	100ft
120524	360gr	22ft	Float	100ft
120531	400gr	22ft	Float	100ft
120548	440gr	22ft	Float	100ft

The 320gr works well with the Sage 4116 and Winstons 4110. I also have the 360gr and thats the one I chopped the tip off the head. I took off 2.5 and that amount scale weighted 18gr so I ended up with a head weight of 342gr and T-Series sinking tips were no longer an issue after my modification.

A note to the manufacturers - As a line company yall need to decide if your switch line is made for leaders or tips. NOT BOTH! And please stop telling us they will do both! Ive been around the river long enough to know that the "MIDDLE GROUND" fly lines do not do anything good! There is no one line for all switch rod applications. In reference back to earlier in the article remember a switch rod cannot switch into anything. We must switch the line to match the technique desired from our switch rod. We have a serious need for technique specific switch lines.

RIO Switch Chucker

RIO Switch Chucker

I had high hopes for the Rio Switch Chucker and in some ways it delivered, others not so much! A full integrated head / shooting line was a welcome addition to the RIO lineup and received great attention upon its introduction. Unfortunately I feel like this line falls into the trap of "One line does it all." First the good about the Switch Chucker, its pretty easy casting provided you stay within some parameters. Tapered leaders or VersiLeaders (Polyleaders) are happy but T-Series not so much. Now when you get to larger sizes of this line it will carry some light T-Series like T-8. But when it comes to 4 and 5 weight trout sizes it no longer likes a sinking tip. Besides not carrying a sinking tip easily I have two other complaints with this line. 1) In low light its hard to see the color transition between the head and shooting line and 2) The incorporated handling section slows down shooting part of your cast. This handling section is 14 of thicker running line directly behind the head and is intended to make it easier to grip for cast and mend for nymphing. I guess if nymphing is your purpose for this line than you might find this to be a benefit. Stick to leaders, polyleaders or nymph/indicator rigs with the Switch Chucker and you will be happy!

RIO Switch Chucker

I tested the #4 325gr on both the Sage ONE 4116 and the Winston Microspey 4110 and the grain weight matched up with both rods really well.

RIO Switch Line
Im not going to spend any time with this line other than to say this is a great choice if you use a switch rod to nymph from a boat. Dont expect to enjoy spey casting this line! End of discussion!

Skagit Heads
RIO, Airflo and S/A all make skagit heads down to trout rod sizes. For big rivers, sink tips and full on swinging flies these skagits work great. The RIO Max Short comes in sizes all the way down to 200gr. S/A Skagit Extreme comes in sizes down to 280gr and although S/A does not designate these as short or switch heads these smaller sizes do have shorter lengths suited for the shorter rods.The Airflo Skagit Switch starts at 360gr which can help your 5 weight and up switch rods. I dont spend much time with these skagits. Yes they work but they are really just downsized steelhead skagits. Two hand trout anglers like myself are really looking for a line designed for my game and not just an adopted line that already exists.

Overhead casting lines

Many anglers have found great use with switch rods for making long casts from beaches or jetties.
Ive heard many accounts from east coast striper anglers to west coast sea run cutthroat anglers of the use of switch rods for overhead casting. Typically we find in most cas

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The Talented Mr Johnson

02.48 in and, Boat Plans, bolt, finish, holes, johnson, mr, skegs, talented, the, those, troublesome

For a while now, my cousin Brian has been wanting to introduce me to Mr. Johnson. Hes had Mr. Johnson living with him for a time and thinks hell be just the person to help get my shantyboat project going.

Id been thinking about powering this little craft, particularly as I put the finishing touches on the hull. There is a place in the plans where an outboard is drawn in dotted lines like a ghostly visitor in comics. I even started working on the motor well, the little box that gets attached to the stern of the boat where the motor attaches.

So I started asking acound, Anyone know of a good cheap outboard, just a little thing that might push my little barge boat around?

Cousin Brian was dying to introduce me to Mr. Johnson.  Here he is.  Hes a 9.5 HP outboard. I forget what year. Mid 70s, I think.

Brian thought he should come live with me. He demonstrated Mr. Johnsons prowess in a barrel of water in the driveway of his suburban home. Mr. Johnson revved and smoked and burbled just like a good motor should.

Brian -- who is a master of boats and outboards and fishing and BBQs and other manly stuff -- taught me some of the things I need to know about Mr. Johnson. He had me take a photograph of the correct oil Mr. Johnson wants mixed with his gasoline, though I immediately forget the proportions.

And I need to get me one of these: A gas container with a fancy attachment doodad.

Here Brian poses with Mr. Johnson, demonstrating, the people he thinks will be drawn to my hillbilly shantyboat.

I think he might be saying in a hick drawl:  "Hey, Cleatus, you gotta take a look at this. Aint that the durndest thing?"

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Grand Tetons National Park boating

00.09 in boat, Boat Plans, boating, grand, national, next, park, tetons

This summer we have been traveling, towing our boat to new locations.  We started at Holter Reservoir, near Helena, Montana, then on to McDonald Lake in Glacier National Park, and, from there, onward to Lake Coeur dAlene, Idaho.  With the concern about invasive aquatic species, the boat has been inspected numerous times as we traveled from lake to lake.  In Wyoming, Montana, and Glacier N.P. the inspections were free.  In Idaho we were charged for a state sticker but received no inspection.  Then we traveled to Grand Tetons National Park.  There we first had a park entry fee, then a boat inspection, then an aquatic invasive species sticker $30 payment, a boat entry fee payment ($40 seasons pass only), then a $35 per day slip fee.  We then discovered that another boat was already tied up in our assigned slip.  It was almost sundown before we were able to launch and tie up in our assigned slip.  We were wondering if all the cost and hassle was worth it.  But, as we motored out onto the lake next morning, all our concerns faded.  The Grand Tetons have to be one of the most scenic mountain ranges on earth.  Steep, jagged peaks still with visible snow fields in mid-summer.  The mountains end right at the lakes edge; the shores are covered in undisturbed dense forest.  As we went out onto the main lake, I recorded a reverse compass bearing of the entrance to the cove where our dock was so that we could find our way back to it.  Jackson Lake is about 15 miles long by 7 miles wide with over a dozen islands and located at a high altitude of about 6800.  From a distance, the shoreline blends into continuous forest.

We spent the next three days exploring the lake (as well as hiking).  The water is clear, cold, and deep (almost 450 feet).  Few other boats were encountered.  We went water skiing briefly (no wet suit).  The Tetons, especially Mt. Moran, kept attracting us like moths-to-a-candle with its high, rugged prominence and partially snow (glacier?) clad slopes.  The peaks were so picture-perfect they seemed like something computer-generated out of a movie.  The weather was cool and calm which meant very few waves.
We met my brother and his wife at the lake.  They have a 27 Sea Ray cruiser, twin engine, 430 hp, so we cruised the lake together, stopping in quiet coves for lunch.  I had mounted a 13" pitch propeller on my boat which provided extremely quick acceleration and a top speed of 33-34 mph.  We had a full tank of gas (18 gallons) because we spent hours exploring away from any harbor.  My brother, Jay, commented that he had never skied behind a boat which pulled him out of the water so quickly (and he has been skiing for 50+ years).  I could have easily mounted a 15" pitch prop which would have provided more speed.  My wife, Dawn, also enjoyed the boat handling, such as making high-speed circles, banking into the turns and creating a large wake.  It rained several times, mainly at night, but our full canvas enclosure kept the boat interior completely dry.

At this point, I am completely satisfied with my boats performance.  The secret to success in this case is the strong but light-weight construction of the boat.  Modern wood/epoxy/glass construction provides a water-tight, monocoque, composite structure which is significantly lighter than normal fiberglass.  I should add that the boat tows on its trailer so easily that you can almost forget that it is there.  We towed on the highway at 80 mph or better when allowed.  Our SUV still got decent fuel efficiency, 16-18 mpg.  One thing needs to be addressed: I originally wanted to paint the topsides but was encouraged to finish it clear to show the wood grain.  Now the "clear" finish is becoming slightly opaque and uneven in color.  Before next boating season, I hope to sand and paint the topsides.  A black color, to match the deck edge, would be the most obvious choice, but I would prefer a lighter color to not absorb so much sunlight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=X1m7WiJS7S8
 

 

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