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.

Gallatin and Madison Rivers

To close out the fishing on our trip we fished the Gallatin River (inside the park) and the Madison River (outside the park).  I thought the Gallatin was a perfect little river in the park but it's very close to the highway, which is unfortunate.  I caught a nice rainbow and westslope cutthroat (third subspecies of the trip).  On the Madison we were mostly foiled.  With both of us hooking nice fish, but only keeping them on momentarily.  We were a little disappointed in the fishing, but if we had caught one of those big fish we might have felt differently.  (To be fair I caught a couple monster whitefish.)

Madison River at dusk

Deschutes

The other side of the Cascades is a different world.  We left behind the green Willamette valley in order to camp and fish along the Deschutes for the weekend.  The river has a certain rugged beauty to it.  For one thing, there is a lot more brown and a lot less green.  It is easy to find where the river is since it is surrounded by a strip of green.  The area has  different feel to it.  It feels more "Western."

The river was certainly pumping out a lot of caddis.  Every time I bumped into a bush a swarm of caddis would fly out.  These caddis apparently provide a good meal to the fish (and other insects, as I saw more spiders in 2 days than I have in the past year).  The fishing Friday was good for lots of smaller fish.  Saturday did not provide the steady action of the previous day, but had an exciting ending.  As the shadows grew long, the fish became active.  Rising consistently to the hatching caddis.  I managed a couple smaller fish (including my first pikeminnow) when my fly disappeared in a boil.  My reel sung as I began to see parts of my fly line I hadn't seen in a long time.  I managed to gain some ground when the fish made another long run.  I somehow manage to avoid any snags and he didn't head into the main current.  I managed to turn him around and started to regain some of my line.  I felt his head shake and then there was no resistance.  Later, I got some redemption landing a nice, fat fish.  There were still fish rising, but it was getting late and this seemed like a perfect way to end the day. 

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.

Bobby Lake

Since classes start back up this week, Britt and I made one last backpacking trip. Headed to Bobby Lake for what was supposed to be good fishing for brook and rainbow trout. That may be the case, but all I ended up catching was one tiny rainbow. Granted it was very fat for a 4" fish, but that isn't enough to make me think it'd be a good option for a return trip.

Britt did make a friend who seemed to be rather hungry.

Idaho Ramblings

My father and I returned recently from a week long trip through Idaho. We started off with tough fishing on Silver Creek and the Henry's Fork. The bigger fish did not want to cooperate and the biggest fish was probably 6". We saw some big fish, but they weren't in a feeding mood. (There was one "toad" on the Henry's Fork that was rising, but it wanted no part of what we had to offer.)

The fishing improved on the South Fork. We also had some luck on the Fall River and Blackfoot River. Unfortunately, some camera problems and camera shy fish led to only one getting his picture taken. I guess that means we'll have to go back again to get some fish pictures.

Also, if you stop at the farm (Stocking Ranch?) on the Blackfoot River for access say hello to the friend we made there. He wanted to come back to Oregon, but I had to tell him that my apartment doesn't allow dogs. He's a sweet dog, so give him a scratch on the head and he'll be your friend.

Some pictures

This fish chose not to be identified.

The Joys of Sleeping in a Tent

Britt and I hiked into a couple lakes over the weekend. It was a nice, short hike. Even the off trail hike was easy. Some fish were caught on the lakes and fish was had for dinner. It was shaping up to be a really good trip....then the fun happened.

Let me set the mood. It was a full moon and it looked almost like a flashlight was being shined on the tent. Very eerie stuff. Then around 10 that night Britt heard something. I wasn't sure what it was. It slowly and quietly walked beside the tent (on the opposite side from the moon, so there was no shadow). It went away for about an hour. When it came back again it walked by the tent, trying to figure out just what it was and what was inside it. It came back a few more times that night. We could hear it sniffing at the bottom of tent. Needless to say, it was not a very good night of sleep. Unfortunately, there was no place by the tent where tracks could have been left, so I guess we'll never know who it was.






"I swear the map says the lake should be right here! Why is it just a pile of rocks?"

Some pictures

Been a little while since I've been out fishing (too busy teaching and watching Britt win her age group at triathlons). Here are a couple pictures.

Gold Lake

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.)

First Backcountry Outing of the Season

I hiked the float tube into Marion Lake for some early backcountry fishing. When we got to the parking lot it was overflowing with vehicles. I spotted the hatchery truck and breathed a sigh of relief. Just volunteers hiking in fish I thought. We passed several people walking down the trail. One boy told us we had good timing, we would have the lake to ourselves. I got excited. Then he finished off his comment, "Yeah, everyone is in their tents right now because of the rain." Oh, that's not what I was hoping he meant by you'll have the lake to yourselves. When we got to the lake there must have been more than 15 tents set up at the first camping area. Not what I wanted to see.

Did I mention it was raining. Rained all day Saturday and didn't stop until we were hiking out. Fish were caught and I saw few other people fishing. However, once I got out on the lake it was like it was just me, the ospreys and the fish (and the rain).

It was a good start to the backpacking season and I am anxious to hike into other places. Now that the snow is melting I am hoping more places will be open soon. (Pictures tomorrow if I remember to bring my camera in.)

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.