Parked my car at the fish hatchery well before sunrise. After suiting up, I walked down river to a spot that I caught a 12 or so pound wild fish last year. The water looked equally inviting this time. I walked my way out sporting my brand new 420 grain Rage line and a floating poly leader. The fly was a generic size 4 summer fly.
Since this was my experience with the Rage, it took me a cast or two to get dialed in. I wasn't blown away by it. I think I could deliver the Compact Scandi further and cleaner. I stuck with it, trying to see if it would simply be a matter of figuring out any subtle stroke changes I needed to make.
| Access | Deschutes | |
| Air Temp | Low 33, High 80 | |
| Water Temp/Visibility | ?F / 15 feet | |
| Weather | Sunny | |
| River Stage | ~? feet | |
| Time in/out | 4am / 9pm | |
| Leaders/Lines | Rage and Int. Skagit | |
| Poly leaders and T-8 | All day | |
| 8lb Maxima | ||
| Flies | Summer flies morning/evening, Winter mid day. | - |
| Notes | Water was good flow and temp. Great clarity with light fishing pressure. Two decent sized wild fish. | |
I was ready to head to the car, but decided to stop at a decent looking spot. It wasn't an ideal place, but there were a few lines worth fishing. This time, I had a 7.0 ips sinking poly leader and a heavier fly with dumb bell eyes. It was around noon. Much warmer out and fishing deep seemed like my best option with full sun on the water.
The cast was only 20 or so feet from the rod tip, but that was all it took when my fly took a sudden turn downstream. Fish on! A few minutes later, I had a nice, albeit not very big, steelhead in my hand. She was probably only 7 or 8 pounds, but put up a decent fight.
A trip back to the car to take off layers from the morning. After all, I arrived to 35 degree temps that morning, but now it was well into the low 80s. I also took this time to put on a Intermediate sinking Compact Skagit. I've been ready to try a sinking line out for a while. I finally bit the bullet and bought one from Airflo.
Boy oh boy. Do I love this line. I had a short 8 foot piece of T-8 on the end, but the thing was sinking like a rock. Love it! I could get down really quick. And since the fly line is sinking, it wasn't getting all belllied in the currents. Mending was minimal to get a good swing. I cannot wait until winter to put on a heavier piece of T material and sink a fly down to the depths. I'm excited!
After I put on that Intermediate Skagit, I got in the car, drove through Maupin and started hitting water from Maupin up above Sherar falls. Lots of good looking spots. As the day wore on, I took off the T-8 and put on an intermediate poly leader. Guess what? That skagit line tossed it out there smoothly. Nice. Did I say I love this line?
It was getting late, I found a run to fish for the remainder of light. I was having so much fun that I continued fishing a deep hole as there was barely any light to see. As I was about to call it quits, I hooked up with another fish. Once I got her close, I couldn't see in the water. I needed to be able to step down from my grassy casting platform to get the hook out. I took a chance and stepped in the water. Lucky for me, it wasn't deep right there, I could of easily gone swimming. The fish ended up being about the same size as the one I caught earlier.
Thanks Deshutes for the busting that skunk.
No comments:
Post a Comment