View to Meldrum Bar, February 2021
After February’s snow and ice and the resulting power outages for many people in the Willamette Valley, it’s a delight see the sunshine on a comparatively balmy 56 degree day as I write from my house in Northeast Portland. I hope all of you managed to stay warm and safe during the storm. Tomorrow marks the first day of March and the sixth attempt for winter steelhead. I’m 0 for 5 when it comes to winter steelhead this year and hoping for a change in fortunes. Rick Pay and I are heading over the coast range this afternoon and spending the night in Tillamook in lieu of a dawn patrol drive tomorrow morning. We’ll be meeting up with our guide Nick Rowell of Anadromous Anglers, which is based in Oregon City. We’ve been out with Nick once in January to float a beautiful stretch of the Nestucca River without success. Fingers crossed that our perseverance will be rewarded with a hookup. Given my lifetime record of failure when it comes to landing a winter steelhead on the fly, you can be assured that pictures will follow if I am successful.
Our Zoom club meetings continue to draw good numbers of people. By my count, over 30 of us attended the February 9 presentation featuring Marty Sheppard of Little Creek Outfitters. If you have been reluctant to try a Zoom meeting, I strongly encourage you to give it a try. Program Director Mike Radakovich has been hard at work wrangling local guides and other presenters to tell us more about our favorite sport, and each meeting includes opportunities to win raffle prizes.
In addition, the 60th Anniversary Creel Committee is busy selecting articles for the upcoming issue commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the founding of our club. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product which should be available by year end. Thanks again to Mark Metzdorff and the other dedicated volunteers for putting in substantial amounts of time to winnow through the vast trove of material to identify the “Best of the Best.” (Editor’s note: Your FCO President is one of those dedicated volunteers combing through the archives to find the best gems worthy of the upcoming Creel! lkh)
Wishing you all the best as we move toward spring and, I hope, continued vaccine deployment to get us through the pandemic.
Tight lines,
Jim
