May 2018 Newsletter

Salem Chapter News Letter 10 May 2018

Ladies, Gentlemen, and fishermen of all ages—this is your chapter news letter and update. We get some sun, the weather warms and the darn weeds and grass grow faster, “Life gets Teajus don’t it”. {An old C&W song there}. Hope you have been fishing and “catching”.

I want to thank the members who showed up for the cleaning and maintenance of Minto Park on the 5th of May. Some folks brought heavy duty equipment and lots of elbow grease. We left the park in much better shape than we found it. Weather was cool at the start but when we ate our delicious “cook out” lunch [see what you missed] it was just right, no rain. Thanks again for your help.

N.W. Steelheaders magazine that you should have received last week has an very interesting and informative article penned by President Brian Winn. The article is on page 15, titled “Salem Teachings,”. You will find it very informative. Brian continues his treatments and rehabilitation for the loss of his leg and is improving.

The Learn the River trip, scheduled for May 5th was rescheduled for May 12th, weather and river permitting. This run will be from Mehama boat ramp to Stayton boat ramp. Last shuttle will leave Stayton at 9:30 am. There will be a safety meeting, signing of releases in case of injury and underway at 10:00 am. This run will be a bit more challenging than the last trip and there will be a portage using the boat slide at Bennett Dam just east of Stayton. Each boat should have a minimum of 100 ft of rope to get your boat down the slide. For more information, please contact Bob Lusk at 1-503-559-5576; no answer leave a message and your number and he will get back to you. If you plan to go and want to see some recent photos of the area around the dam, contact me at: [email protected] I will send them to you.

The Salmon Quest and fishing tourmanent and banquet will be held on the 12th of May at 8:00 am at Camp Withycombe. If you are intrested in entering the fishing tourmanent or want to assist with the program, you can see information at www.nwsteelheaders.org or [email protected] or call 503-653-4176 and the Steelheader magazine.

Meeting on the 15th of May. The speaker for this month will be Mr.Bruce Polley of the Coastal Conservation Association Salem Chapter. Bruce is a State Vice President for CCA and chairs the government relations committee. He has been involved in fish advocacy about 15 years. The first 5 as an individual, the last ten as a CCA member and officer. Bruce actively fishes for salmon and some steelhead. He is a Doryman with a house in Pacific City where he fishes all the local ocean fisheries plus coastal rivers as far south as the Coquille. Bruce will speak about his experience in fish politics in Oregon and the state of the Columbia River Reforms. Let’s have a big turnout to hear him speak.

19 May, Steelhead 101 Class, will be held at the Santiam State Park, highway 22 east of Salem. This is hosted by the Salem Chapter and ODFW. The class will cover the basics of steelhead fishing. If you are interested in attending please check out: https://myodfw.com/workshops-and-events scroll down to find the 101 class. There is a charge for this event, but if you are a member of NW Steelheaders part of the charge will be refunded.

26 May, NW Steelheaders Event at the State Capitol: V.P. Mat Tucker advises us that the Association will be installing a fishing pond at the state capitol on 26 May at 9:00 am until sometime in the afternoon. Mat and Bob Rees are asking for 5 or 6 of our chapter members to volunteer to help with the fishing poles and such. For more information contact Mat T. at <[email protected]>.

Fly Fishing Clinic is scheduled for 23 June at 9:00 am. If you have expertise or want to help with this program, coordinator, instructor or helpers, contact the President or Vice President.

Mark your calendar for events the chapter and Association has planned.

May 12
th , Learn the River Trip Mehama to Stayton at 10:00 am.
May 12th, NWSH Asso. Salmon Quest fishing tournament and banquet. See above and Association Web page.
May 19th; 9:00am: Summer Steelhead Clinic starts, 9:00am till about 3:00pm. Lunch will be served to all attendees. Helpers will be appreciated.
May 26th 9:00am: NWSH Association Fishing Tank at the State Capitol.
June 9, 7:00am: Youth Outdoor day at E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area Monmouth OR. This is the crazy one with 200 fishing poles and 700 kids; you do the math. We do get lunch and the kids are a real delight. Our time for arrival is about 7:00 a.m. to set up all the poles and be ready for the young fishermen. [We need volunteers to prepare the poles with leader and hooks before the event.]
June 23rd 9:00am: Fly fishing, this clinic is for newbie’s and we get a good response every time we put it on.
July 14th [time tba]: Chapter Picnic. We may be at Santiam State Park or Keizer Rapids. We need your input for us to increase attendance.
August 18th 9:00 am: Advanced Fly Fishing, a little dual purpose rods and some Spey rods and any kind of special help you may need. It will be at the Santiam State Park.
Sept. 15th 9:00am: Winter Steelhead Clinic. If you are ready to learn, get signed up at the ODFW Calendar website and tell your friends who would like to learn.
We in the Salem Chapter love to fish and hunt and we love our forests and rivers, keeping our fish alive so we can enjoy catching them are our priority, and should be the priority of all our members. Stand by your chapter and keep volunteering as we need your help. If you are a member you can reach me anytime 623-363-7387 cell. Thanks, Brian Winn Pres. Salem Chapter.

Have you checked our chapter web page lately? https://salemnwsteelheaders.org/ Dave S. has put a lot of work into making it informative; giving links to fishing guides, fishing news, activities, photos, and more. If there is something you want to see on the board or have something to contribute, i.e. a story or photos, please let us know. We have the “how to make rags with photos” on the page. We would like to put photos of fish you catch on the page.

At our meetings we have an “open seat board”: with a listing of people who want to go fishing and people who have an open seat in the boat to hook up. Check it out; you may meet a new fishing buddy or someone to help you manage/ballast your boat.

We have some new members who want to learn to fish for steelhead and want to fish with you. If you see a new face, please introduce yourself and see what they are interested in or ask us to help you find someone.

Are you getting your Association magazine, The Northwest Steelheader, information from the association, and chapter e-mails? If you are not, please contact me.

Snail Mail: If you are getting this letter in the mail and have an e-mail address PLEASE let us use it to save us money on paper, ink, stamps, and my time and provide us with that information.

Be part of the 100,000 Spring Chinook Returning to the Willamette River.. The Quest for 100K’s objective is to get 100,000 spring Chinook back to the Willamette River each and every year for the benefit of sport anglers, food banks and general overall ecology of the region. Sea lions are currently the major bottleneck for the recovery of upper Willamette Basin salmon and steelhead stocks to accomplish this goal. More information at the association web page: https://nwsteelheaders.org and our web page: https://salemnwsteelheaders.org/ Soon I will have information and action pages at the meeting. Email me if you want some more information.

Membership renewals: We have 24 members with expired memberships, we are trying to keep our membership renewals current so please check your membership card to see if you may have missed your notification. We do not want to lose someone who missed renewing. If you need more information please contact Bob J. at a meeting or give him a call at 503-507-1424.

See you soon, Bob Johnston, Sec.