Arboreal Angler Collection
Tying Historic Logging to River Ecology
Exhibited with the McKenzie River Land Trust on October 14th, at Green Island
The Arboreal Angler Collection is a creative combination of angling traditions, vernacular timber construction, and vintage logging camp equipment, aimed to capture the critical relationship between Oregon’s river ecosystem and the region’s wood. The collection contains a diverse assemblage of oversized lures ranging from 12 to 32 inches. Each lure consists of three primary elements: the wood body, the hardware, and the dressing. When these elements are combined, they tell a rich story about the ecological role of large wood in aquatic ecosystems and their intertwined history with the timber industry. Each piece within the collection represents local organisms that rely on large wood for food, habitat, or the geomorphological processes it facilitates.
The Arboreal Angler Collection has been built in collaboration with:
David Buckley Borden
Adam DeSorbo
Asa DeWitt
Ashley Ferguson
Jenny Ginn
Blake Schouten
Nancy Silvers
Sabine Winkler
This project was proposed as part of Ian’s Masters of Landscape Architecture project at the University of Oregon. It was developed and fabricated throughout the Summer of 2023 with the generous support of the Fuller Design Fellowship team at the Fuller Initiative for Productive Landscapes.
Photos were taken by Adam DeSorbo and Ignacio Lopez Buson
Cutthroat Cutey
The Cutthroat Cutey is a nimble lure for the swift rapids of the cold ripples of Oregon rivers and streams. The spinner blade and saw-fin animate this lure in the fast-moving waters. Use this lure with a fluorocarbon line for ultimate success.
Dam Dillinger
The Dam Dillinger was first produced in 1938 in commemoration of the Bonneville Dam, the first electric dam in Oregon. Dams not only obstruct water flow, but they also stop the transport of wood throughout aquatic environments.
Tempting Termite
This mysterious lure was found in an old pile of sawdust in the remnants of Wendling Oregon, an old Booth-Kelly company town.
Trusty Tricho
The Trusty Tricho can be used to catch anything from rainbow trout fries to adult sculpin. The Trusty Tricho mirrors the tasty characteristics of the wood-scraping trichoptera.
Daring Dofleini
Are you looking to catch seals, sea otters, sharks? The Daring Dofleini is the lure for such a cast. This lure moves like and appears to be a Giant Pacific Octopus. Use this lure near sunken driftwood, where the Giant Pacific Octopus may be found hunting for prey.
The deadliest lure ever cast. The Magic Hex is said to host an ancient curse. This imitation Mayfly has a reported a 100% success rate, however, those who use it cast their luck with the Swamp Auger, a fearsome critter that resembles a sunken log. The Swamp Auger uses its swivel proboscis to drill 3-inch holes into the bottom of fishers boats. If you use the Magic Hex, bring cayenne pepper and be ready to tickle the snout of a Swamp Auger!
Magic hex
Frilly Fry
The Frilly Fry has been carefully engineered to mimic trout fries, the juvenile form of a trout. For the best success, use the Frilly Fry in tranquil pools created by wood in streams.
Looking for an energizing injection of oxygen and turbulence in a stagnant, eutrophic fishing pool? Look no further than Borden’s Bubble Bomber! Good for use in logged zones with no woody debris to absorb and slow the flow of topsoil and nutrients into pristine forest fishing pools.
Borden’s Bubble Bomber
Feathers, kinetic parts, hooks and sinkers, this Amphipod lure has it all. This heavy-weight champion needs to go deep down to the bottom of the sea where sunken wood provides food for Hirondellea gigas, a wood eating amphipod. These amphipods can catch a diverse range of deep sea predators.
All-In-One Amphipod
Sturgeon Strike
For best luck, use the Sturgeon Strike in an estuarine habitat with extra sinkers to keep it the deep.
Dosorbo’s Daily Double
What’s better than catching a fish? Catching a fish and getting paid for it! Dosorbo’s Daily Double is an immaculate imitation of the Northern Pikeminnow, a fish whose populations benefit from the reservoirs and dams built throughout the West Coast. The pikeminnow’s meal of choice is salmon smolts, only adding to the unfavorable conditions for the long-term success of our beloved salmon. The solution? A fish bounty funded by the Bonneville Dam of up to 10$ per pikeminnow.
Scary Planarian
Yikes! A Scary Planarian, if you’re a microscopic organism, you better watch out! This freshwater carnivore can be found clinging to rocks and wood. These worms are great snacks for fries in stream pools.
Whistle Punk Pete
Everyone knows the plight of Old Whistle Punk Pete, who, despite his small stature, dreamed of being a hooktender. What is less known is that Whistle Punk Pete realized he had become a hooktender after all as he was hooking and fishing, and then gotta thinking. It was with this lure that he stated, “Holy cow-wow, if the crew could see me now, I am a hooktender after all.”
Remarkable Woodrat
The Remarkable Woodrat is the hottest lure in the riparian corridors. Large hungry trout simply can not resist this delectable treat. This arboreal rodent lives in cavities of trees, snags, and fallen trees and is careful to avoid rivers at all costs!
Dewitt’s Dancing Diver was made with exquisite craftsmanship. This lure has three segments to create lifelike movement. The layers of paint add beautiful patterns of scales and color. Dressed with dressing that a seasoned angler wishes they could finesse. Well done.
Dewitt’s Dancing Diver
Surfing Sally
Surfing Sallys are reproductions of the tasty Oregon Ensatina, a predatory salamander found hunting for grub in decomposing wood. The ensatina spends most of its time under the protection of decomposing wood, only resurfacing on warm and rainy nights. It is on these nights that bass may opportunistically feed on these elusive salamanders.
Chrinomidae Charmer
The Chrinomidae Charmer is the closest thing to a perfect representation of the unassuming non-biting midge that shreds wood and organic matter in rivers. The non-biting midge is a favorite catch for trout hiding under downed trees and submerged wood.
Gyroscopic Grenadier
The Gyroscopic Grenadier is a deep diving plug used to catch krakens and the like. These specimens can be found lurking around sunken wood, feasting on shrimp, crabs, and small fish.
Notta Sucker
Need something to blame whilst you’re down on your luck? The large-scale sucker has been unfairly accused for attributing to the low trout and salmon stock by PNW anglers, creating consequences for these poor suckers!
Grib-L-Grab
The Grib-L-Grab is sure to convince any estuary-inhabiter that a wood boring Gribble has let down its guard. The Gribble is a tasty wood boring isopod who plays a pivotal role in the mechanical decay of driftwood.
Powder Polywog
From the 1850’s-1930’s lumber companies practiced “stream improvements” which often used dynamite to clear river obstructions such as log jams and boulders. The workers responsible for the dynamite were called “Powder Monkeys.” Aquatic habitats were obliterated by these practices.
Haywire Herring
The Haywire Herring will trick even the most sharp predator into thinking they have a live Pacific Herring in their sights. For best results, use the Haywire Herring in protected estuaries with hanging weights.
Redside Wobbly
The Redside Wobbly is named after its favorite user, the Wobblies, an endearing nickname for the timber workers in the International Workers of the World. This lure catches fish with ease, so after those hard-working days, and all that union busting, the workers knew they could rely on this lure for a consistent catch.
Lucky Lamprey
Out of 40 different lamprey species in the world, Oregon is home to 11. One of these lampreys, the Lucky Lamprey has a heavy wedge head which is used by the expert fishers to clear the way for future casts. Lampreys rely on the geomorphological process that wood in rivers and estuaries facilitate.
Bristled Baiter
The Bristled Baiter should be used in the depths of the Pacific Ocean where Bristle Worms bore into sunken wood.
Skullduggering Skipjack
Commercial fishers, looking for tasty skipjack tuna, know to cast their nets under adrift wood in the ocean.
Dreaded Dredger
The Dreaded Dredger was found at the bottom of the Willamette River, stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Cascade Croaker
The cascade frog usually hides from predators using wood, so when a fish sees the Cascade Croaker, it is unable to resist this delectable delicacy. Anglers are encouraged to use this lure as a substitute for the real cascade frog, an amphibian that is currently under review to be listed in the Endangered Species Act.
Sea Salad
Need to catch a vegetarian sea critter? The Sea Salad’s impeccable patterns, gyroscopic weight, and frilly feathers closely resemble seaweed or algae anchored on adrift wood.
The Sinking Shipworm is the most feared marine organism of the wooden boat community. The aggressive shipworms eagerly bore into wood, promoting decomposition of driftwood, and sinking ships at sea.
Sinking Shipworm
This lure is one of the largest lures in the collection, and it’s proud of it. The Shad was introduced in 1871, and it gladly took over the large rivers of the PNW in the millions.
Shameless Shad
Hungry Humdinger
Small fry better watch out! Deep in the pools made by wood obstructing water flow lurks much larger and hungry fish. There is always a bigger one waiting for the next bite!
Coaxing Caddy
The Coaxing Caddy is a favorite for growing salmon fry which need to be coaxed out from protective hiding places made by large wood. Use this lure in the deep pools made by jammed wood in streams.
O’boy Orca
The O’Boy Orca was found on the wall of an old logging bar just north of Coos Bay. Orcas are apex predators; nothing would dare eat them. These ‘wolves of the sea’ primarily eat Chinook Salmon and krill, all of which follow floating driftwood for food.
The Dancing Gandy is a one-of-a-kind lure. As the transcontinental railway finally reached Oregon in 1880, logging railroads quickly spread throughout the old-growth forests. Rail allowed entire camps of loggers to travel to previously isolated areas. Originally produced with two shiny black eyes, Dancing Gandy had a rail spike driven through it in the form of an environmental protest.
Dancing Gandy
Mack-A-Tack
The Mack-A-Tack is of the sea and krill variety. This irresistible lure is best used near floating driftwood where Pacific Mackerel are known for using the shadows of the wood to catch plankton. This lure is best for catching tuna, a predatory fish known to lurk around wood adrift at sea.
Arboreal Anglers: Anatomy
The Arboreal Anglers use different materials and building techniques to tie the story of river ecology and logging together.
Body
The bodies of the anglers are made from peeler cores, a bi-product from the Moman Lumber Mill in Drain, Oregon. Each body was carefully shaped into forms derived from vernacular wooden lures.
Hardware
Oversized lures require oversized hardware. The anglers use tools and materials from old logging camps such as pulp hooks, saws, and drag hooks. The hardware is painstakingly installed into each angler to create a seamless connection between body and metal.
Dress
Not all anglers have dressing, nor should they. Dressing is often used to represent tails, cilia, or setae. The dressing uses feathers from different game species found in Oregon, such as pheasant or duck, with a few flourishments. The majority of the feathers are locally and ethically sourced from the turkey stomping grounds in local Eugene neighborhoods.