The fishing

The fishing was pretty cool…Defiantly a great experience. And after a span of 10+ years fishing for the bastards, I fianly caught a few the honest way. I feel like I can finally call myself an Oregonian.

The fly that worked for me (pics to follow)

• size 6 TMC heavy scud hook
• tungston bead head
• lots o’ lead
• Tail = 2 loops of crystal flash
• Body = peacock ice dub
• Hackle = olive chickaboo soft hackle (clip the fibers off of the top of the fly)
• shell back/tail combo = Small bunch of PT fibers tied in at the head and again at the rear of the fly. Let the excess PT tips form the tail.

I also tied these in chartruse since it seemed that the fish showed an affinity for green things. They looked good, and I did foul hook a sucker fish on one, so hey that something.

And on the way home we saw a bumper sticker that almost defies description. I am too much of something to actually laugh at this. I guess that it just left me dumbfounded. Pretty good for a bumper sticker.

Yes that really does say “Get-R-Drunk”. Classy stuff there.

Getting ready for the steelhead trip

Getting ready for the stealhead trip, originally uploaded by Moonshine and Matches.

I am off to Boy Howdy NE Oregon for a few days to chase some steelhead. Of which, during my lifetime, I have hooked a few, and landed two. Once in Lake Superior when was a kid, and one in Emigrant Creek near Ashland when the ODFW dumped a ton of 3rd run pellet head fish in the reservoir.

Keep yer fingers crossed that that the fish hear my train a-comin’.

It sure has been a long time.

I leave you with a view of my fancy soft sided Barbour fly case.

A look back to the spring and summer.

Fishing the salmon fly hatch on the Deschutes for the first time. Caught lots of nice fish. Also caught poison oak for the first time. Still have the scars.

A wet, tired Ella on the Metolious after a day of fishing. As usuall the Met yielded no fish. Beautifull place though.

A small number of casts.

Yesterday BRL and I hit a uber-local stretch of the Mac for some power fishing. I caught no fish, he caught no fish. I had one bump. and one slashing strike. Yeah, yeah, I know. But that one strike made my day. It was a thing of beauty. I had just tied on a big ugly golden stone/orange stimulator thing that I had in reserve from the salmonfly hatch this spring on the deschutes. I dropped it into a slack water pool under a tree just downstream of me, and all of the sudden. bang. slashing strike, for which I was wholly unprepared.

All in all a nice night to be out.