Washougal

While I haven't been posting, I have been fishing. Most of those trips were spent at the Washougal river. I can leave my house and be in the water in less than 15 minutes. So, it makes a great place to go for an hour or two here and there.

I've yet to catch a fish here. It is just now getting the winter steelhead run. Unfortunately, it has been a dry fall/winter and I don't think many fish have pushed in yet. As I type, it has been raining for the past two days. Things should change.

This is really a beautiful place to fish. With the moss covered trees, waterfalls pouring into the river, and lush growth, it is hard to believe it is so close to our house. There are plenty of riffles, pools, and runs to keep one occupied.  I've been doing a lot of exploring and finding what I believe will be good fish holding spots.

My wife and I are expecting our second child in only a few short weeks. Hopefully, I can get a few more days in before. Once the birth happens, I won't be fishing much.

I also made a trip to the Sandy river earlier this week. Stay tuned for a report.

Sandy River: Chocolate milk

Paid a visit to Oxbow Park for a day on the Sandy.  After a 40 minute drive, I arrived before sunup only a day or two beyond a pretty decent sized storm (SND03 - 5540cfs).  Leaves and branches everywhere.  It should of been a sign.

This was the first time fishing this section for me.  I did a lot of exploring since the water was extremely colored.  I could not see my boots if I stood in knee deep water, so catching fish was not likely.  On top of that, I was hooking leaves or other debris on every cast.  So even casting practice was a pain.

I stuck it out for a few hours before giving it up.  That was enough time to do some exploring so I know where or better yet, where not to go next time.

On the way home, I fished the Washougal.  This river is only a few minutes from home, so it is a nice little place that takes little effort.  More on this river, since I have fished it a few times since my visit to the Sandy.

Cold day on the Klickitat

Made my first trip to the Klickitat.  Not far from the mouth of the Deschutes on the Washington side, this river is a beauty.

Got there at sunup on a cold morning.  Air temp was around 30 degrees.  After getting in the water, I thought to myself, "boy, this water feels cold".  A thermometer told me it was 40 degrees.  Wow.  Wasn't expecting that at all!

For three hours I battled frozen fingers and frozen guides.  My toes were numb as I was wearing my Fall socks, not my winter ones.  I failed to follow the Boy Scout creedo, "Always be prepared" (I could be completely wrong about that, it has been a few years).

I'm going to make this a quick report as I have somewhere to go in about 10 minutes.  The gist of it is, the river is beautiful, but more setup as nymphing/indicator water.  Can you believe I actually put on a bobber?  Blasphemy!  I gave it the old College try for about 1/2 hour.  Then went back to swinging.

Didn't matter what I did, I didn't catch a thing on this day.  I tried everything from small flies on a floating line and a 10foot section of T14 with a weighted intruder, to of course nymphing.  Found a sweet run or two, but for the most part, it wasn't an ideal river for what I like to do.  Or at least I didn't find an ideal run to swing on.  If I had done more walking on the other side of the river, I may of found something.  But today, was for scooting from point to point in my car.

If I can put my bike in the car, I may take a trail that goes along the river for several miles.  I can probably find some secluded spots that are far away from any roads.  This is definitely on my list for next time.  While the area I probed in my car was not ideal, it has potential.

Although this was a very cold, zero fish day, I had fun.  I'll be back with a bicycle sometime in the future.


p.s. The White Salmon river dam was blown on the same day I was on the Klickitat.  While I didn't hear it, a Washington Fish and Game guy was very excited and told me all the details.  In a few years, that river should be a great run for salmon and steelhead.

Knuckles Busted on the Deschutes

I've actually been to the Deschutes three times since my last post. I got a case of the lazies and didn't feel like posting anything at the time.  

First things first, let's go over the last trip a couple of weeks ago.  (I can't even remember what I did the time before that, so we'll have to forget about it.  Woops.)  I decided to head down and fish around Maupin, down to Sherar falls. This part of the river is so much prettier than the mouth. Not to mention it is less crowded and fewer gear fisherman. Sorry gear guys, most of you are really nice, but you sit too long at one spot and it drives me insane.

If I remember correctly, I started upriver from Maupin and just drove around looking for a spot. There were a few good ones, but in general, I didn't find many longer runs where I could step and swing. The river seems to be deeper and more narrow here. I'm sure I missed some good stuff, I just didn't find too many of them.

I spent probably 5 hours driving and fishing anything that looked decent. Eventually I went below towards Sherar, away from Maupin. Much better choices here. Found some super sweet runs to swing. Unfortunately, the fish completely ignored me except for a trout or two. In the evening, I scooted down river of Sherar. This is where a friend and I floated several weeks back. This time, I was stuck to the road side in my car. Found some cool spots. One of which looked really great, but the wind was so strong it was making life difficult. I could barely stand at times. Nasty!

Fast forward to last week. This time I decided to park at the fish hatchery above the White River. Walked up and down the railroad tracks. Found some great water. I was fishing all sorts of flies. Big, little, low water ties, and bulky flies. I got a small trout or two. But it was tough going. Near the end of the day, I managed to catch a 22" trout in the soft shoulder of a really heavy rapid that took up the whole width of the river. She put up a decent fight and made the day worth it.

After that, I went back to a run that I fished in the morning. From the railroad tracks far above, I mentally marked the deep slots in the river I wanted to swing. It looked super fishy from above. And from earlier in the morning, I know it felt fishy while in the water.

It was getting late and hard to see. I was ready to call it a day- satisfied that I caught a decent sized trout. I hucked out one last cast. I was literally casting as far as I could to hit the slot about 120 feet down and across the river (handled with a long cack handed cast and the feeding of line). The cast started across the river, and I let the fly sink at the end of my floating line. Feeding some line in to give it a bit more depth and distance.

Thump! I felt something. Oh boy. It's a fish. But how big is it? Splash! A steelhead took two quick leaps, cart wheeling across the surface more than 120 feet away. Oh boy. I started reeling in cautiously, cause there was slack in the line and I didn't want to lose it.

I reeled in quite a bit of line. The fish was now much closer. Probably 70 feet away. Must not be a big fish, cause there wasn't much fight. Then, all of a sudden the fish started running. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzing my reel was going nuts. It happened so fast, I didn't get my hand out of the way and the reel handle busted my knuckles. The pain was intense, but I couldn't help but laugh. That doesn't happen often enough!! It was exciting.

My reel continued to scream as the fish pulled my running line out, then 30-50 feet of backing. Uh ohh! Am I going to be able to stop this fish? There was a sizable class III rapid below and if the fish got there, I would certainly lose it.

I palmed the reel and slowed the fish down, then started cranking. The fish was putting a massive bend in my rod. Sweet! I have a real steelhead on! This is awesome. Only a problem starting becoming apparent. This fish was hot and I'm standing in some reasonably fast water. I need to get closer to the bank.

Easier said than done. it was now pretty dark out. I couldn't see the river bottom. The fish was pulling hard enough to cause me to be off balance. This wasn't good. Lucky for me, I had my headlamp with me. Unlucky for me, it was in my pants pocket, inside my waders. What a stupid place for it! I tightened the reel drag, held the fish with one hand and started digging in my waders for the lamp with the other. I must of looked like a real idiot if anyone was watching. Somehow, I managed to get the lamp out, turn it on and put it on my head. All with one hand while my body was being pulled by both the current and the fish.

By this time, the fish was moving into softer water on its own. Doing a few jumps along the way. My rod was still bouncing all over from the head shakes. This was an honest to goodness fish. I reeled it in and when the fish was within 10 feet, I saw it rolling around. OMG, this fish is big. I started to get really excited. Don't screw this up! I've gotten stupid in the past and have lost fish when they are in close. Can't let it happen this time.

I was now near the bank and the fish was getting tired. I grabbed the leader with one hand and pulled her in and held her tail. I put her on her side and clearly saw she was a beautiful wild fish with just a bit of color. I laid my rod down next to her to get a mark that I could measure later on. It went past my rod's first thread wrap. That means she was over 32" long. She was healthy and thick. A very nice fish.

I took the size 6 fly out and held her for about 5 minutes. Concern was growing as she was showing no signs of trying to leave. I was on my knees in about 2 feet of water, just holding her waiting for her to get some strength. I was officially worried. I mean, this fish was nice enough to eat my fly, so I want her to be okay and go make wild fish babies.

Then out of no where, she bolted away with a surge.

That was an exciting moment. Just thinking that I lucked out on my very last cast of the night. Somethings are just meant to happen.

Bonneville Dam

I was hoping to go fishing today, but there is too much work to do. So, I opted to wait it out. The heat is on again here and next week is supposed to cool down a little. Probably better to wait anyway.

Last weekend, myself and the family went to Hood River to pick some apples.  On the way, we stopped at the Bonneville Dam to check out the fish through the viewing windows.  As I talked with the fish counter, we saw hordes of both steelhead and salmon come through.  Some were very big.  It made me want to fish real bad.  But, being with the family, it just wasn't going to happen.

The sign on the wall said that we are above the 10-year count for most species of fish.  Including steelhead.  Considering we still have a few months to go this year, that is a good sign.

Deschutes: Off The Schnide

Met up with my friend Ted for two days of fishing on the Deschutes.  He came up from California and was nice enough to invite me along.  Thanks Ted!  I had an awesome time.

Ted brought his Watermaster Kodiak, and he rowed me around the river above Mack's Canyon while we stayed at one of the campgrounds.  I'm sure the raft was a little sluggish with me sitting on the back, but he did an awesome job of keeping us out of trouble and getting us to some good fishing spots.

On Day 1, we didn't see that many other boaters or fisherman for that matter.  Pretty surprising since we are entering prime time on the D.  We both started with floating lines and switched over to sink tips in the afternoon.  I put on my skagit line and went as big as 11ft of T10.  I think I caught a couple of small trout.  But no steelhead for either of us.  I don't recall seeing anyone else pulling fish out of the water.  However, I can't remember for sure.

I tried all kinds of flies, muted colors, bright, small, big, nothing seemed to be working.  Argh.  Whatever was up with the fish or whatever was up with us, I still had a great time.

Access	Above Macks Canyon / boat
Air Temp	Low 60, High 90s
Water Temp/Visibility	~60 F / 4 feet
Weather	Sunny
Flow	~? cfs
Time in/out	6am, 8:30pm
Leaders/Lines	Compact Scandi and Skagit
	Floaters	Morning
	Sink tip (T8 and T14)	Afternoon
	Floaters	Evening
	8lb Maxima
Flies	Size 4 lightly dressed hair wing	landed 2

On day two, we floated downstream from where we were at on the first.  The water was fishier in both of our opinions.  There were far more fisherman and several guide boats.  We were definitely not alone today.  Unfortunately, the day started out like the first.  No fish other than a few small ones and a pluck here or there.

I was doing some experimenting to take my mind off the fact that I wasn't getting any steelhead.  I decided to do all my floating line work with a skagit line and a 12 foot floating poly leader.  Other than it being a little clunky, it was a pretty good cast.  Even with small flies.  In the afternoon, I switched to 8ft of T14.  No fish from whatever combo of line/fly I put on.  While I got a few tugs on day #1, none on day 2, other than catching a small fish.

As it was getting late in the afternoon, we parked ourselves at a riffly run.  Ted went to the top, and I went to the bottom that was pouring into a pool.  I hooked a fish at what seemed to be about 5 feet of depth along the boulders near the end of the swing.  Because of the sink tip, I first thought I was hung up again (it was happening a lot).  However, my line moved just a little and I realized I had a fish.  Five or so minutes later, I had a nice 23 or so inch fish in my hand.  Yea!  Finally.  My first legit (albeit not all that big) Deshutes steelhead that I actually brought to my hand.

We got in Ted's boat and went downstream trying to find a run to spend the last of the daylight in.  We were not the only ones with the same game plan, as empty runs were hard to come by.  Eventually, we found one and I immediately caught a bright chrome ... 5 inch fish!   Ted had at least a tug or pull below me as he was skated a fly through the riffles.

It was getting late and I had worked my size 4 wet fly (on a dry line) through the riffle and was now working on the inside soft seam as the run was coming to an end.  I was basically high sticking this very small section that I thought fish may be holding in before heading through the riffles above.

On one of the swings, I saw a flash and my fly immediately went down along with my rod bending over.  While she didn't peel a ton of line off, this hatchery fish made up for it with several runs as I tried to get her to my hand.  She didn't give up easily.  The fight lasted a while and I finally brought her in.  She was about 24 or 25 inches long.  Not all that long, but she was solid with pretty good girth.  Ted thought she might be 6 lbs or so.  Which would put her as an average D steelhead.

What started off as a slow couple of days, the last two hours produced two fish.  Finally got a steelhead to hand up here.  And two of them at that.  Don't know when the next trip will be.  Hopefully this week.

Deschutes: Windy day @ Heritage Landing

Another day on the Deschutes last week. Like last time, arrived around 5:30 and on the river just as there was enough light to see. The place was surprisingly empty. I'm guessing because the weather called for some super strong winds. The forecasters were correct. Gusts ended up hitting 40+ mph during the day. Making casting extremely difficult. However, in the morning it wasn't too bad.

Again, I was starting at Heritage landing. First thing after getting to the water, I ran into an older gentlemen with a flyrod. He had just hooked a fish and was super excited. A bit later he hooked another fish. How do I know? Because every time it happened, he blew a whistle as loud as he could. I guess he wanted the whole river to know what happened. Seemed kind of weird and funny at the same time.

Anywhoo, I was in the water with a size 4 purple wet and an intermediate poly. Kept my casts rather short, maxing out around maybe 50-60 feet. On the seam between softer water and the main current, I felt one of the most subtle of takes I've ever felt. It was so light, yet at the same time, I knew it was a fish.

Access	Heritage Landing
Air Temp	Low 50, High 75
Water Temp/Visibility	~60+ F / 5 feet
Weather	WINDY
Flow	~? cfs
Time in/out	5:30am, 8:30pm
Leaders/Lines	Compact Scandi
	Intermediate Poly	Morning
	Floating	Afternoon
	Floating Poly	Evening
	8lb Maxima
Flies	Size 4 Purple wet	1 hookup

I raised my rod to set the hook as soon as I felt some weight. Then he took off. He didn't peel that much line off, but he didn't make it easy either. I knew it was a decent sized fish. The fight didn't last all that long. However, I was excited. This was my first Deschutes steelhead of significant size. In fact, it was my first Oregon steelhead of size since moving up here.

A few minutes had gone by and I got the fish up to me. I couldn't tell whether it was a hatchery or wild. Pulled him in closer and was starting to reach down in the water to grab his tail. Then, my brain stopped working and I released pressure on the line!!! The fish casually came unbuttoned. OH MAN! I was inches away from tailing that first official Deschutes steelhead. I finally had one within reach and I had a brain malfunction!!

On the bright side, I've had a lot of bumps and tugs, and a few hookups. So, my presentation seems to be working. Just need to keep at it. The rest of the day felt like I was sitting in the middle of a tornado. It was so windy, that I had trouble standing up at times. I almost was pushed into the water on more than one occasion.

Despite the awful wind and the fact that I couldn't cast very far with the swirling winds, I stuck in there all day. Sadly, no more action. Not even a bump. I did get a chance to explore the other side of the river. So, it wasn't a complete waste. However, I'm going to avoid the D in the future when the forecast is calling for such high winds.

Sandy River: Dodge Park

While this wasn't meant as a hard core day of fishing. It was more of a scouting mission and a chance to introduce my son to fly fishing. Since we moved up here, we've been floating down rivers and playing in the water. He is really into it on these HOT days. So, I thought it would be a good idea to put a rod in his hands.

After cutting off the hook point on one of my flies, I let him swing his tiny rod around and have some fun. He really enjoyed it. As he gets older, I hope to have a fishing partner!

The afternoon started at 1pm on the Sandy River at Dodge Park. This is about a 45-minute drive from home and easy access to the water from the parking spot. I couldn't really explore with my son/wife around. So, we stayed right under the bridge. There looked to be some good water up stream. I'll have to come back on my own to give it a shot.

I only fished for an hour or so, and most of that was spent holding my son's hand and walking him around the rocks/water. He is getting good at scrambling around the slippery boulders. Maybe more so than me! While I wasn't really focusing much on fishing, I did get a bump from a probable trout and saw another trout chasing my fly. I was tossing bright flies, some rather large on my single hand rod using a intermediate 10ft poly. There was a bit of glacial silt in the river, making it cloudy.

After a few hours of being there, we took off. A great day in the water with my family. I'll be heading off to the Deschutes on Wednesday. Stay tuned for another report.

Deschutes: Heritage Landing

Last week was my first trip to the Deschutes after the move. The drive time is a comfortable hour and a half. Not bad for such a great steelhead river. I can handle that. Nothing compared to what I've been used to.

Before sunrise, I was already geared up and walking down the trail. By the time I got to where I wanted to step in, there was enough light to do so. A gear fisherman was already in my spot. So, I asked if he was staying still or stepping down. After confirming he was to stay put, I asked if he minded if I went below him. No problem.

On this day, gear fisherman outnumbered fly fisherman by at least 2 to 1. And probably 3 to 1. I have no problem with them. Although, I wish they would step downstream. Most of them seem to sit in one spot for hours on end. I know that we are fishing different techniques, but it does rub me the wrong way. I guess I have to learn to deal with it. Although, when you see one guy in the same spot for 5 hours, it can be frustrating.

The river is super wide, however, I was casting only 30 or so feet out into the main riffle on this first run. Moving down a couple of feet after each cast. I saw this nice calm spot that looked fishy. It was only 10 feet from shore and about 20 feet down from me. I worked it over pretty well with a muted low water fly. After each swing, I let it sit. As I was pulling in for another cast, there was a humongous boil under the fly as I felt a jerk at the same instant. I don't know if he just had a hold of the tail, but the fly popped right out. He was sitting in about 14 inches of water. I spent about 20 minutes changing flies and stepping back through that same spot. Nothing ever happened again. Too bad. He made quite the commotion and was probably decently sized.

Access	Heritage Landing
Air Temp	Low 75, High 100
Water Temp/Visibility	~? F / 6 feet
Weather	Sunny
Flow	~? cfs
Time in/out	5:30am, 8:30pm
Leaders/Lines	Compact Scandi
	Intermediate Poly	Morning
	7ips Poly	Afternoon
	Intermediate Poly	Evening
	8lb Maxima
Flies	Various Low Water flies	3

I spent another couple of hours going through that run and another above. I witnessed a gear fisherman hook into a big fish. I didn't stick around to see him land it. Whatever the size of the fish, it bent his rod over pretty good. It may of been a salmon. The thing was locked to the bottom of the river and wasn't running at all. (I saw another gear guy land a steelhead as long as my leg later in the day!)

I walked upstream pretty far. Further than I had gone last time. It was probably about two miles. Some really great spots in that section. No action. Came back to stand on a basalt ledge in the middle of the river and spied a few really large steelhead lurking below. The wind was whipping at this point with gusts to 20+ mph. It was hard to get my fly in the sweet spot. I did put on that heavy squidro fly and it sunk right in there. But the fish ignored it.

Went back to the car to load up on food and water and change a shirt which was drenched with sweat. Did I mention it was hot? Had to be pushing 100 degrees. After a rest, I was back to the water. By this time, practically everyone had left. I had the river to myself. I wandered back upstream and got in the water in a place that looked like it might have fish. No bumps or tugs.

Witnessed a fly guy on the opposite shore land a big fish. A few minutes later, I was casting near a submerged boulder when about a foot and half of my loop was pulled through my fingers. I set the hook and... Nothing! He wasn't there. Again, I spent a long time swapping flies and stepping through several times to try and get him again. This fish did have the audacity to show his face to me! And he was H.U.G.E. I had a few choice words for him and then moved on. At least I was getting tugs and boils today. Just couldn't land anything over 18 inches.

Outside of the heat, it was a great day. Looking forward to another shot!

Clackamas: Epic Day in McIver park

While taking a break from house hunting a few weeks ago, I drove a few miles along the Clackamas River. It was a big/wide slow moving river filled with boats. Not very appealing to me. I made a mental note that I wasn't interested.

Fast forward to early last week. I read a few internet sites talking about how great the Clack is for swinging flies. Obviously I wasn't in the right place. The good water must of been further upstream. That turned out to be the case.

The Clack would be my first fishing trip as a resident of the Pacific NW. I wasn't sure how much time to give myself in the morning, so I left bright and early around 4am. Turns out, it only takes 45 minutes to get to McIver Park, my destination for the day. After being used to 3-5 hour drives to reach a decent steelhead river at the old house, this was a breath of fresh air. (Wait until the winter run when the nearest steelhead river is about 10 minutes from the house!!)

Access	McIver Park
Air Temp	Low 53, High 82
Water Temp/Visibility	? F / 6 feet
Weather	Sunny
Flow	?
Time in/out	7am, 8:30pm
Leaders/Lines	Compact Scandi
	11ft Float Poly	Morning
	10ft 7ips Poly	Afternoon
	12lb Maxima
	Various steelhead patterns	25+ trout

The sign at the entrance to McIver said "Day Use Area opened from 7am to 9pm". What??! It is five in the morning and it doesn't open till seven? Great. To make things worse, the day use fee machine was out of service. After freaking out, I decided to drive to another park - Bonnie Lure - to see if they had a ticket machine (day use pass is good at all state parks). After all, I had two hours to kill. I never did find the entrance to Bonnie Lure. So, then I tried Eagle Creek. That was a county park. Argh! Not a good beginning to the day.

Now that it was approaching 7am, I went back to McIver. I got out and stared at the electronic Out Of Service sign. I figured my laser beam eyes would make the machine start working. While focusing all my energy on it, a Park Ranger arrived. He gave me two pieces of good news. First, he could manually issue me a day use pass. Second, as a fisherman, I can get in the park anytime after 5am. Great information for future trips.

I quickly put on my waders and found the nearest path to the river. I had no clue where I was going. But, I could hear the water and knew I was somewhat in the right place. As I emerged from the brush, I was in the middle of a nice riffle. Stepped to the top and put on a fly. I picked something in a size 8 and muted earthy crunchy colors. My floating poly leader was down to 11 feet in length thanks to a snag while fishing on the Deschutes.

Since it was well after sunrise now, I tried to cheer myself up. After all, I missed one of the best parts of the day. Out loud, I said to myself, "I'm going to land a fish on my first cast." I knew that was silly, but it actually made me feel better. I pulled out the leader and about 7 feet of my short scandi. Tossed it out and at the end of the swing, I feel a bump, bump, bump. Son of a... I caught and landed a nice 18" fish on the first cast of the day. Just like I knew I would!

That catch set the tone of the day. As the title of this post says, this truly was an epic day of fishing. While I didn't pull in any adult steelhead, I caught somewhere between 20 and 30 fish! And I'm only counting fish that were over 12 inches and came to my hand. Total insanity. The number of bumps, plucks, under 12" fish, and lost fish had to number in the millions. The biggest fish was probably near 20". Nothing to write home about, but it was a really fun day.

I started the morning with muted colors and smaller sizes. However, as the heat of the day came on, I switched to a 7 ips poly leader and weighted flies. Some of these flies were 4 inches in length or longer. Practically everything caught fish. As a test, I put on some really bright colored flies. We are talking hot orange and hot pink. In fact, my biggest producing fly was a 3 inch hot orange/pink rabbit strip fly. That thing got a bump or catch on almost every cast. Until it got hung up on some rocks and was lost. I've already tied a few more of them.

I tried both low water flies and big bushy intruders. It didn't matter. These fish were aggressive all day long. The only flies that did NOT work were black or dark purple.

From the morning till about 3pm, I was staged at the upper boat launch. At one point, I walked a very difficult and slow walk down river to the lower parking area. The rocks were extremely slippery. I wish I had worn my studded soles. While I didn't end up in the water, I had some close calls. Luckily, the walk back to the car seemed to go faster. I filled up with water and food and then drove to the lower parking area. As the sun went down, fish were getting harder to catch. I tried various colors and sizes, but it was as if the trout just lost interest. My body was starting to ache, so I decided to stop as well. It was getting close to dark and I caught plenty of fish for one day

The Clackamas turned out to be a beautiful place. Completely different from my drive-by experience a few weeks earlier. I'll definitely be going back.

Moved In

It has been about a week and a half since we moved in. I'd like to say the transition was flawless, but it was anything but. First, all of our belongings didn't fit on the 26 foot truck we rented. About 3/4 the way through, the guys loading told us it wouldn't happen. Crap.

I drove the truck out of California, through Oregon and into Washington. After doing the unload, the plan was to fly back to California, clean up the house and bring the remaining items up here. However, because we had way too much stuff left, I figured I'd install a trailer hitch on my SUV and tow a uhaul trailer with me.

More bad luck. Turns out the underside of my vehicle is rusted from all the driving in the snow. The hitch is supposed to secure onto a section that had a rusted bolt. The trailer idea wasn't going to work. Instead, I had to rent a 10ft Uhaul truck and tow my SUV on a trailer. After stuffing the truck and my car, I still had to leave some stuff behind. Crazy what you can accumulate after living in the same place for a while. My wife and I vowed to lighten up our belongings. That week was pure nuts.

We still aren't completely unpacked. Our bedroom is still in shambles. The three car garage is stuffed with boxes and you can barely move through it. Sad sad sad.

Anyhow, I'm taking a break on Wednesday to go fishing. It will either be the Deschuttes or the Clackamas. The D has been slow from all accounts I've been hearing. But it may be picking up. I've driven up the Clackamas, but have yet to fish it. It will be a last minute decision. Whatever the case, I'll have a report later this week.

BTW, it feels great to be here. After more than a year of planning, we are here and living in our new digs. Surrounded by incredible steelhead rivers. Exciting times lie ahead!

Reading Material

For my birthday last week, my wife got me a river guide to fishing Oregon. I haven't had a chance to really study it. I can tell you that it will be helpful to someone like me, who has just recently transplanted to the Oregon area.

Okay, I'm still not quite moved yet. In five days from now, the truck will be loaded and we will be making the trip. I'll fly back to California a couple of days after that to clean up the house for the new owners and drive my car north. After a few more days of unpacking the most important items, I'm going to plead for my wife to let me go fishing. If you ask me, I deserve it after all of this packing.

Can't believe we are almost done with all of this. The move has been in the making for more than a year now. The time has almost arrived. I'm excited to be in a new house. I'm also excited that I'll have a designated fly-tying area set aside. I can go there and crank out a fly without having to clean up each time or worry about one of the cats getting themselves into trouble.

I'm already trying to figure out when and where I'll go fishing first. I'll probably turn to my new book for help. I've had a couple of offers from people that live in the area to go fishing. I'll probably be taking them up on it. There is no better way to learn the water than from someone else. If any Washington or Oregon readers happen to see this and want to hook up... I promise, I'm a nice guy and will keep locations to myself.

I know this blog has been a complete drag. Let's hope it starts to get exciting shortly!

Two week countdown

Hard to believe we are so close to moving out of California and into steelhead country. A seriously long process that is almost over. A friend threw us a going away party and it sunk in that we won't be here much longer. This is really happening! Yikes.

Packing has been a major pain in the butt. Anyone that has ever moved knows what I'm talking about. I just want these two weeks to go by as fast as possible.

On the fishing front, I've made arrangements to have my waders repaired. In fact, they are going to send me a brand new pair of their latest model. How sweet is that? I may actually be dry over a whole day of fishing.

I'm already thinking about where I want to fish first after getting unpacked. Lots of rivers in the area are starting to pull into shape with summer runs moving in. The North Umpqua is really high right now, so that may not be the best choice. But, in the Portland area, you have the Sandy, Hood, Clackamas, and Deschuttes looking good. Frankly, I'm overwhelmed by the choices within an hour of our new home.

A good resource for fishing conditions is here. I'll be watching it closely.

Okay, enough typing. Back to packing.

Went fishing!!

Can you believe it?! It has been months and months and.. Well, it has been too long. I'm happy to say I got a couple days of fishing in.

I was up in Washington/Oregon looking for a place to live. Now that we sold our place down here in California, we needed somewhere to put our junk. This was not a pleasant process. Let me tell you. Finding a rental was harder than selling our house. What was supposed to be a quick weekend getaway ended up being 12 days of living in hotels and even in the back of my car. Not much fun. Well, except for the fishing.

Somewhere in there, while waiting for our credit check to go through, I decided to head to the Deschutes and give her a try. While it isn't quite prime time for steelhead, I figured a day on the water would be good for me.

The Deschuttes is a couple/few hours from Portland. The drive was nothing compared to what I'm used to around here in California. Sputtering along the Columbia river, Hwy 84 takes you all the way to the Deschuttes Recreation Area. It was an easy drive through some truly beautiful scenery. What starts out as lush green forests, turns to desert conditions by the time you hit the D. Temps on the drive were comfortable 70's and 80's. However, while approaching my destination, the temp started rising well over 90 and close to 100. Quite a change in climates. What was green, was now brown and dry. A different kind of beauty.

I arrived late in the afternoon. After quickly putting on my gear and walking down a trail along the river, I jumped in at the head of a nice run. I wasn't more than a half mile of my car. Feeling a little tired, I didn't want to go very far this late in the day.

The area reminds me of the Yuba, but with more vegetation. The river itself is much wider and a little more impressive than the Yuba. Also missing is the occasional dynamite going off in a nearby quarry. Instead, a train would pass here and there. Blowing horns or clanking of metal wheels were the only noises besides the water and wind. No other fisherman were around. I saw no one. Other than the occasional jet boat going upriver, I had the place to myself. --People on water craft are not allowed to fish in the first two miles from the Columbia up stream.--

Soon after getting in the water, I noticed my foot getting cold. Arghh! I somehow developed a leak in my waders!! How is that even possible? I haven't fished in months. I tried to ignore it, but it was so bad, I had to take off my waders at one point and dump the water out. Thank goodness the air temp was high and the cold water actually felt good.

There were trout jumping around and if I dug out my smaller soft hackles, I probably could of caught some of them. But, I was here for steelhead. Whether they were around or not was the question. I was using a floating line and a 15 foot floating poly leader. My flies were mostly unweighted and I fished just below the surface.

Other than catching a couple of small trout, I didn't get any action on this first day. I know there were steelhead in the water. When entering at one location, a fish gently swam away from underneath where I was about to step. With the high water, the fish seemed to be hugging the banks. This one was pretty big and bright. Never saw him again. But, it did give me motivation to concentrate on my presentations.

The end of the day came quickly. I went back to the car and changed into something dry. Found a place to pullover and just slept in the back of the car. I was so tired that the morning came quickly.

The next day was much like the first. Wet feet and only trout on the end of my line. I did get one good tug. But the fish was off in less than 2 seconds and I never saw it. Felt like a good size one. Ahh well. Maybe next time. Like day one, I saw a few fish from shore. They looked to be in the mid 20's in length. They were positioned perfectly behind some trees that made casting to them difficult. I tried, but couldn't get any interest.

On the second day, I was a little more adventurous. Walking a couple of miles upriver to find more water that looked almost identical to what was near my car. Granted, there were a few more spots of pocket water that surely held some fish. If the river wasn't so high, these probably would have been even more inviting spots to pick from. For the most part, and from this experience, the river seems like one of those-- cast absolutely as far as you can and let it swing. Of course in lower flows, it could be totally different.

The wind really started whipping in the afternoon on day two. This isn't anything unusual from what I've heard. But, it still was difficult to cast into. It literally shifted on every cast and you had to constantly adjust which shoulder you used. Fingers crossed it didn't change just as you were about to launch the fly.

Although I didn't catch anything more than a 15" trout, it was a good time. I got to do some exploring and I know what to expect next time. I can hardly wait to get up there again. One more month and it will be a short drive away.

While in the area, I scouted several rivers. The Hood River, Lewis, Clackamas, Kalama, and the Washougal. More about those in another post.

One Step Closer

Well, it finally happened. Closing has come and gone and our house is no longer our house. We will be renting back until July 31st, so we have a bit of time before we are kicked out.

I would imagine if everything goes as planned, we will be moving up to the Portland area sometime in the middle of July. After the dust has settled, I will hopefully get out and find a day to fish. It has been so long, that I've honestly forgotten the last time I went. I'll have to refer to this blog to know for sure. (I knew this thing would come in handy for something!!)

Leaving California is tough. I've been here for more than 20 years and have spent almost my entire adult life either in San Francisco or Los Angeles. There are a lot of great memories here.

When I first moved to Los Angeles from St. Louis, I was in shock. It was a total 180 from what I was comfortable with. But I quickly fell in love with California. Being young and in Los Angeles was an incredible time. It gave me all sorts of stories to tell and experiences to remember. What a crazy time in my life.

When moving to San Francisco, I had even more adjustment problems than when I went to LA. In fact, I hated it up here. It took more than a year to accept it. Eventually it grew on me and became home. Fingers crossed that I'll love Oregon/Washington just as much. This time, I'll have my wife and son with me to make the transition with someone.

Sorry this blog has been such a snooze fest. I hope that things turn around soon and I can get out on the water and share my entirely new experiences with you soon!

Squidro

Haven't been fishing, nor have I tied a fly in eons. However, I did stop by Leland to pick up one of Scott Howell's "Squidro" flies. I wanted one to reverse engineer it- since it looked like a good idea.

The fly is basically an intruder. But, instead of using rhea or ostrich, it uses rubber legs! Easier to tie and more durable. I can't wait to give it a try (both in the river and on the vise). The below picture is from Leland's website and the version I picked up.



It was an expensive fly, $6.50 after tax! I'll mass produce it and variations for my own fly box, so I guess it will be money well spent. :)

Still no fishing

Still haven't made it to the water. However, that time is coming! I can feel it.

I completed all work on the house and it was put on the market one week ago tomorrow. The open house attracted around 150 potential buyers! Crazy. Even in this market, people flooded in all day long. A few days later, we received two offers. After accepting one, that "Open Sunday" sign has changed to a "Sale Pending". Just like that! Not even a week from its first open house and we are on our way to getting this thing sold.

I suddenly felt sick to my stomach after accepting. Reality set in. This house that we have loved for 10 years is about to belong to someone else. Sickening. The buyers agreed to let us rent the house back from them for 2 months, so that we can tie up business loose ends before our move to Oregon. But man, it will be weird living in our house that is no longer our house.

So, we are looking to be in California until July 31st. That will get us moved up to Oregon by early August. Just in time for Summer steelhead season on the North Umpqua. The timing couldn't have been better. There. I feel better now.

Light at the end of the tunnel - Leaving California?

It is already March and I haven't done any fishing, nor have I gone skiing this year. How depressing. Between working non stop on my normal career stuff and fixing up the house to get it on the market, there hasn't been much time for fun stuff.

The good news is that I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. I've managed to do most of the repairs and only have a few rooms left to paint. I should be done sometime this month if nothing interrupts the process.

If all goes as planned, we will sell our house in the not so distant future and get outta here. After nearly 20 years in California, I'm sad to say that we are getting out of dodge. I love the place. At least I love most of it. The beauty is incredible and the people can be great. There is so much to see and do. Unfortunately, the state has gone to hell in a hand basket and I don't see things improving. The cost of living is ridiculous and now that we have a son and hope to have another child, it would be nice to spend less time working and more time doing family things. (The idea that you can get twice the house on twice the amount of land at half the cost is crazy. That equates to less working and more time with family and of course-- fishing.)

My wife and I are lucky enough to have careers that allow us to go elsewhere. We are both self employed and can set roots just about anywhere. It will be sad and very strange to not be living in California anymore.

Where are we going? Will there be any blog posts in the future? I somehow convinced my wife to move to the Portland, Oregon area. The heart of steelhead country! She actually has friends there, so it wasn't as hard as it would of been otherwise. Whatever the case, I'm so excited to have this opportunity. There are dozens of great and famous steelhead rivers within a short drive. Even the North Umpqua is not too far away. It will be incredible. And I plan to continue with this blog- reporting on those rivers.

Some of you may recall myself going to Oregon to fish the Umpqua and then going up to Portland. That was actually a top-secret reconnaissance mission to scope out the area and find potential neighborhoods to live in.

For my friends in California that I've met through this blog, it will be sad not fishing with you. However, I'd gladly show any of you around the Oregon/Washington rivers I become familiar with down the line. Just give me a bit to figure things out, unless of course you want to figure it out with me. Everyone is invited.


Seeya in Oregon! (Due to the current market, selling the house may take more time than I'd like. So, I'll be doing plenty of fishing here in the Sunshine state before we have moved. And of course the reports will start up again at that time.)

Still no fishing

This blog has crawled to an absolute stand still. My apologies. I just haven't had an opportunity to do any fishing. Further, I haven't even tied a fly.

What the heck is going on? Well, I'm doing my normal job from 6am to noon each day and then the rest of the day is spent working on the house. Painting and repairs. We are putting our house on the market soon and there is work to be done! And lots of it.

After it goes up and things settle down a bit, I hope to get on the water and get a few days in. It won't be too long now. Fingers crossed.