Green Drakes

Metolius

Yesterday was a beautiful day in the Cascades of Oregon.  Nice spring weather and lots of sunshine (well, until it started pouring rain).  I was luck to have decided to take the day off from research and fish the Metolius.

I had been hoping to find rising fish, but found none despite a decent hatch.  I was able to catch a nice rainbow and whitefish while nymphing, but was really hoping for rising fish.  Mayfly after mayfly drifted downstream, but none of the fish bothered to take them off the surface.  I waited until the hatch started to die down and decided to head elsewhere on the river.

After the short drive, I searched some of the usual haunts that have rising fish.  I couldn't find any fish and I couldn't find any bugs.  I sat and watched for a few minutes and thought I saw a ripple caused by a fish.  It looked like a fish had taken something just beneath the surface.  I figured I was seeing what I was hoping to see and not what was actually happening, but I kept an eye on the spot.  A couple minutes later, I had confirmation that it was a rising trout when I saw his nose just barely break the surface to take a bug off the top of the water.  That was it, I finally had a rising fish.  It looked  like a small fish, but a rising fish is a rising fish.  After several attempts, I was empty handed and hadn't seen another rise.  So, I decided to give him a rest and nymph a nearby run.

On my second cast with the nymph, I hooked into what felt like a nice fish.  After about 20 seconds, the hook came free.  I tried several more casts, but no luck.  So, I went back to the bank and looked for my rising fish again.  I didn't see him rising, but I decided to throw a few more casts.  Nothing.

I was just about to head out, when I saw a large caddis fluttering on the surface near where I had seen the fish rising earlier.  After a few dips on the surface, the caddis disappeared inside the large mouth of a trout who left a large swirl.  This wasn't the small fish I had thought I'd seen.  I put on a caddis and mad the cast with my hear racing.  I anticipated the rise, but it never came.  So, I twitched the fly.  Nothing.  (Someone needs to create a fly with flapping wings.)  I changed flies and tried again.  On the third cast I saw the trout slowly swim up and confidently take my fly.

I set the hook and realized this was a really nice fish.  At first he seemed to be fin just thrashing his head back in forth.  I was okay with this, since I wasn't sure how much the 5x tippet and 3 weight rod could handle.  After a short fight, he decided he'd had enough of me and swam across the river and well downstream.  I ran after him, trying to keep good pressure on him, but not breaking him off.  I finally had him beat and got him in the net after a few failed attempts (it was hard to fit him in the net, so it was a struggle).  I finally had my rising fish for the day, and what a fish. 

Sometimes it's good to be patient and observe what's going on around you.

Sorry, the camerawoman had to work, so the picture isn't great.  Here's a picture of the rainbow I caught nymphing earlier in the day.

Sometimes you just have to laugh

While fishing on the Metolius the other day, I found some rising fish.  After several failed casts, I thought I figured out the fly that I needed.  Sure enough, on the second cast I fooled what I thought to be the biggest of the bunch.  I was feeling pretty good about myself and took note of just how smart I was.  After a short struggle, I had the rainbow trout almost in.  He decided to swim towards me in a last ditch effort to get free.  I stepped back in hopes of keeping the line tight and I succeed in doing that.  I also succeeded in having my feet slip out from under me and go crashing to the ground.  I somehow managed to land on my line and the fish quickly broke the line.  So, I tied on new tippet and a new fly.   I hooked another, much smaller fish and had it at my feet when the fly popped out and somehow flew up into the tree behind me.  It was higher than I could reach and I had to break it off.  All I could do was laugh at this.  The fish had won this round.  I was no longer feeling so smart, but that didn't really matter as I laughed at this misfortune.  I'll be back again and next time I'll try to find more solid footing and I know what fly to try again.

Metolius

Made an overnight trip this week to the Metolius. It was rather chilly at night, but there were some periods during the day when the weather was perfect. The fish were quite active, but didn't seem to be looking up. I had good success nymphing and even hooked a big bull trout momentarily. He decided to get back at me by attacking the fish at the end of my line minutes later. The biggest fish of the trip was caught "properly" on a dry fly. That was a good way to end the short trip. I drove home in a downpour. Looks like the rivers will be in flood mode for a while around her, but that's okay since school is starting back up so I'll be short on time

Underwater

Thanksgiving Trout

I think I have officially made Thanksgiving on the Metolius a tradition. I was a little disappointed to see other anglers on the river, but I think they all lacked the crazy needed to stay on the river long during the driving wind and occasional snow. (Or, football and turkey trumped fishing for them.)

Britt and I had a good day, although the camerawoman was absent for most of the action. She did play her part in the pictured fish, as she was the scout who found this rising fish. All in all a good day, even if the typical 2 hour drive home was a little longer due to the weather.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.

Some pictures

This fish chose not to be identified.

Metolius with my Family

My parents came out for a visit recently. It was good to see them and they got to see Oregon for the first time. We headed over to the Metolius (along with Britt) for some camping and fishing. A few fish were caught and it got cold at night, but we all had a good time (even if I am now being accused of poking holes in my fathers waders in order to outfish him). (We also went to the coast and my parents went to Crater Lake, so I thought I'd throw those on as well.)

Summer Time

It's been some time since I've been fishing. I guess I haven't made it out for any serious time since Spring Break. That change this week as I finished up the term and had my grading in by Thursday morning. This gave me time to spend a couple days camping and fishing. There was one great day of fishing and two great days being outside. Here are some pictures.

Winter Break

I decided to start my break with a trip to the Metolius. I had gone Thanksgiving and seen a Bull Trout viciously attack a pretty sizable dying rainbow trout (it very well may have been a dying Kokanee which would make more sense, but that is not what my eyes saw). I had this trout, or to be more accurate char, in my mind as I made the trip. His hole was the spot where I started my day. I was fishing with a streamer that was probably 6-8 inches long, so if he was in the mood for a big meal again I'd be ready.
I felt pretty good about my chances, but as I worked my way through through the pool I began to wonder. Then my fly stopped cold and I was hooked into something very strong. I have little experience with Bull Trout but I am quickly realizing that when it feels like someone is tugging hard at your line but not going anywhere it is probably a Bull Trout. While this doesn't make them a great sport fish, it does make them impressive. (I can just picture a Bull Trout locked into a fight with Rainbow Trout and thrashing around. I'm pretty sure the Rainbow will be hightailing it out of there as quick a possible, which is why Rainbows are so fun to catch.) That's not to say Bull Trout aren't strong and aren't fun to catch. I think quite the opposite. For short stretches of time I think they are stronger than any trout and are a blast to catch since they are so violent. Back to the story at hand. I managed to keep him for getting tangled up under his long and started to pull him in. I thought he was tired out but he thrashed around some more on the surface. This was a scary fish. I could picture that thrashing being him attacking a duckling or another fish. As I brought him to hand I realized he was definitely the biggest trout I'd ever caught and was definitely the most impressive fish I'd ever caught. Any fish species that is native, can only live in very clean water and spent years with mankind trying to exterminate them is cool with me.
Unfortunately the picture does not do him justice. (My camera had a rough day as it got a little wet and didn't start working again until today, so I'm just happy to have A picture.) Lets just say my Betta Clarkii would be the fish equivalent to finger food (fin food?) for him. The rest of the day I had a little luck with nymphs but the surface action never happened. It would have been hard to have topped the beginning to the day anyway.