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.)

The Value of a Fishing Hat

I went fishing for a couple hours locally last night. I caught a couple trout, but I felt like I should have caught many more. I'd get a rise, set the hook, feel a head shake or two and then nothing. I know exactly why this happened. I couldn't find my fishing hat so I was wearing a different hat. That is why I didn't catch those fish. Never mind that it was a Trout Unlimited hat, it wasn't my fishing hat. If I had my old, beat up Penn State hat I would have caught those fish, I'm sure of it. That is the value of a fishing hat.

Don't worry, I found my fishing hat when I got home. Should be great weekend of fishing now that I have my hat.

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.

Happy Memorial Day

One week..... Where to go? Gold Lake? The Metolius? Hike-in lake? The Deschutes? Hmmm....

Yellowstone Fish Management Plan

Slowly Yellowstone is beginning to put more and more effort into protecting native fish. Not sure Yellowstone Lake will ever be the same again since there doesn't seem to be a way to eradicate the Lake Trout. I do think they need to put lots of effort into keeping their population in check and maybe someday we'll find a good solution (or better yet Mother Nature will).

http://www.nps.gov/yell/parknews/11046.htm


One more week of classes and one review session then I'm free for the summer (well, until I teach). I think some fishing is in order as it has been a long Spring with little time on the water.

Steel

Today was a good day. I caught some fish and enjoyed one of my favorite places in Oregon. It's a race with steelhead between me and them to see if I can get my camera out before they revive. So, I only took a picture of one. I also took a picture of a steelhead that was hanging around with me. He decided to take up the spot of the bigger fish I caught vacated. He was pretty ragged, so I don't think I was helping natural selection but I think I made his day.

Small Stream Getaway

Last winter I made it out to fish for steelhead four times and caught one fish and lost another. I thought this was a pretty good record, especially since I caught one my first time out. I tried my hand at summer steelhead only to lose several fish hooked. Then, this winter I have struggled and only had fish on for about 5 seconds. I don’t view fishing for steelhead the same way as trout fishing. I can have a great day trout fishing and not even come close to catching a fish, but for steelhead it’s a different story. The crowds wear on me and there are no hatches to match.
I feel different about small coastal streams where the crowds are nonexistent and the fish (the few there are) are wild. Any time you combine small creeks with few people and big fish there’s a good chance I am going to love it. So, I headed to this coastal stream in search of steelhead and better yet solitude. Luckily, I found both. After managing to spook a few fish in the clear water I hooked into a nice male. At first he was happy running upstream and so was I since this was easy to control and I figured this would tire him out. This wasn’t his plan though and he bolted downstream. I “sprinted” down after him treading water and trying not to fall. He was headed straight for a downed tree. I figured this was the end but ducked under the tree where there was a big enough gap between tree and water. The run had stopped and I feared that I was hung up on the tree. Then he bolted straight downstream. With the reel screaming and me trying to chase after him I prayed that this would be the one to end the drought. After such a long run I could see he was tired and I pulled him in and tailed him. My first native steelhead! I wanted a picture. Of course this meant the camera didn’t want to work. By the time I had the camera ready so was my fish. I let him go without a picture in hopes that in a couple winters I might be able catch one of offspring. I felt satisfied and this gives me an excuse to go again.