June 2026 Sunriver Scene - Flipbook - Page 18
Fly Tying Corner: The balanced damsel
Balanced Damsel Pattern
Materials List
Hook: Firehole 516, size 10-14
Thread: Olive brown to match marabou
Bead: 3/32 (for a size 14) Tungsten bead
painted olive
Pin: Size 8 sequin pin
Tail: Dark olive marabou with very
long fibers
Body: Olive brown euro seal or simi seal to
match marabou
Tying Instructions:
Tying instructions and steps are being
published in video form, and can be found
on the Sunriver Anglers Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/SunriverAnglers/, or on
YouTube https://youtu.be/Oa3oRNKz0q8
By Phil Fischer
The damsel hatch has been reliable when
fishing at Crane Prairie in the summer. It occurs mid-day on many of our local lakes in late
June and is characterized by a splashy rise form
as trout take damsels swimming just below the
surface film. Damsels look to find sticks, tules,
anchor ropes or any other object that enables
them to crawl out of the water to hatch. They
often swim just below the surface for some
distance looking for these items to latch onto.
It is during this surface swimming action that
the damsel is the most vulnerable to trout. The
damsel nymph coloration matches the color
of the environment where these insects live,
which ranges from tan to a deep olive. In Crane
Prairie, the damsels are dark, olive brown.
This month’s pattern is the Balanced Damsel, which is a pattern that I have used with
good success under a strike indicator, especially
in the warmer mid-summer days as the fish
migrate into deeper water. In mid-June, the
hatch begins in earnest in shallower water. And
it progresses to deeper water as the lake warms.
Recently, I have been fishing this pattern at
Crane Prairie in the Deschutes, Cultus and
Quinn channels looking for water that is 10-13
feet deep. I cast it out and let the flies settle,
and then initiate short strips, with long pauses
in between. Most often, the fish take the fly
on the pause.
The design of the Balanced Damsel is simple.
I use a short shank jig hook with a wide gape to
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improve hooking consistency.
The short shank allows me to
keep the fly small; the natural
is about 1” to 1 1/2" inches
long. The fly features a long
wispy tail to mimic the undulating motion of the natural.
For the body, I use a blend of
dark olive dubbing, blended
with some UV ice dub to give
the fly some sparkle. I use the
smallest tungsten bead I can
and still get the fly to balance
horizontally in the water. Give
this pattern a try during this
summer’s damsel hatches on a
favorite lake. If you have questions or would like additional
information about this damsel
pattern, please don’t hesitate
to email me.
Or, if you have suggestions on
future patterns to feature in this
column, I welcome your input.
I can be reached at Philfischer@
sbcglobal.net.
Sunriver Anglers June meeting
By Rynie Miyashiro
Members and the public are
invited to the June Sunriver
Anglers meeting featuring Phil
Fischer as he walks the audience
through the seasons at East
Lake on June 3, 5:30 p.m. at
SHARC. Doors open at 5:15
p.m. Admission is free. Bring
money for the monthly bucket
raffles. Refreshments will be
served. This event will be a great
precursor to our upcoming East
Lake outing. As always, Fischer’s presentation will feature lots
of excellent photography.
He will discuss how to approach each season, from ice
out to the fabulous callibaetis
hatches of late spring and early
summer, to throwing streamers during the last gasps of fall
before the snow flies. Fischer
will break down the lake into
sections that show where the
best hatches occur, where to
sight for rainbows and browns,
the best flats for fishing wooly
buggers and how to find the
“hump.” Fischer is an avid fly
tier, fly fisherman, photographer and author. He lives in
Sunriver where he spends his
time flying fishing the fabulous
still waters in Central Oregon.
He was born and raised in the
San Francisco Bay area and has
fly fished extensively throughout the Western United States
and numerous international
destinations. He has been a
regular demonstrator at several
West Coast fly shows and often
speaks at fly clubs in Oregon
and Northern California.
When Fischer was 10 years
old, his dad bought him a flytying kit for his birthday. He
has never been far from a vise
since that day and now has over
45 years of fly fishing and flytying experience.
He was tutored by Andre
Puyans and taught fly-tying
classes at Creative Sports in
Pleasant Hill, California, for
several years. He owns Phil’s
Custom Trout Flies and has
fly customers throughout the
United States who count on
his expertise in solving fly
fishing puzzles on their own
home waters.Fischer specializes
in patterns for still waters in
Central Oregon.
His Callibaetis Life Cycle patterns consistently catch fish and
are in high demand. These flies
have been featured in several
publications and tying instructions can be viewed online at
his YouTube page.
Call us today to customize a schedule right for you!
Captain, US Navy (Retired)
NOTICE FOR OUT OF STATE PROPERTY OWNERS
• Oregon will impose estate taxes on the value of your Central Oregon
property at your death. Beginning at 10% for estates valued at over $1 million
(under current law, possibly higher under proposed changes)
• Moving your real property into an LLC will avoid Oregon estate taxes.
• We can establish an LLC for you to help you avoid Oregon estate taxes.
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541.390.8961
Law Group LLC
tony@dealicante.com
www.dealicante.com
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Page 18
JUNE 2026 SUNRIVER SCENE
