Every year, as spring gives way to summer, one of the most spectacular Mayfly hatches in the United States commences. The result of these clouds of insects is a Redband trout feeding frenzy that you have to see to believe. For those who can’t make it to Aspen Ridge Ranch for courtside seats we will bring the experience to you with our slide presentation, Secrets Of The Yamsi Valley.

The Upper Williamson River, in south-central Oregon, offers a matchless flyfishing experience featuring one of the few black (gray) drake hatches in the Western US. This 40-mile stretch of gently moving water meanders almost exclusively through privately owned cattle ranches. I purchased Aspen Ridge Ranch ten years ago. Cattle grazing was halted and an intensive fisheries and riparian system rehabilitation project was begun.

Now, with grassy cut-banks, the return of willows, and strategically placed woody materials in the river, we have a deeper, cooler flow of water. Consequently, the native Upper Williamson River Redbands are back; bigger and better than ever.

Secrets Of The Yamsi Valley is a 40-minute slide presentation that reviews the natural history of the Yamsi Valley, the uniqueness of its fishery, and our conservation efforts on the Upper Williamson River. The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session.  For more information and a preview of this slide show visit our website at www.yamsi.com or call us at (541) 783-2138.

Dawn G. Stuart grew up in Klamath County. Upon graduation from Chiloquin high school she went off to college at the University of Nevada – Reno. In her fifth year of college she ran off with a cowboy and somehow ended up living and working in Huntington Beach, California as a sales and marketing consultant.

After years of searching for just the right weekend escape property, fatefully she ended up back in her hometown, buying several hundred acres in the Yamsi Valley. Quickly the smog and crowds of southern California were too much and the call of the wild brought her back to Oregon for good. Dawn now shares her log cabin home on the Upper Williamson River with Bob Rogers--a surfer, web designer and beginning fly fisher--two dogs, and a cat; all of who believe they’ve found heaven on earth.