Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Two birthdays +bumps & bruises

 



on friday   we headed up into the coast range to a river that receives  little to no pressure for trout in the summer for a friend's birthday.We hiked a few miles  covering water throughout the day catching plenty of trout,and to our surprise,even 30+ miles inland from the salt we caught  a few chrome fresh sea run cutthroat and saw many more swimming around in the deeper holes.Although we were able to entice a few to bite most remained very selective and spooky,the resident trout really saved the this day.I was really beat up by the end of this trip, the rocks are usually very slippery and can be dangerous even with felt soles,my left shin bone would know after i landed with all of my weight on it.  Also,a friendly reminder to those that wade coastal rivers, spring chinook have spawned in some areas,so watch where you step and make sure not to step on redds.Monday for my birthday was a little slower and seemed to be a rough day.  The fishing location my dad suggested  turned out to be sort of a bust,and i also ended up losing my 5wt rod and fell on my already bruised left shin from friday leaving me limping down a gravel road avoding log trucks in the hot sun...but it could have been worse. caught a few cutthroat and didn't see a single steelhead. I'm ready to wipe that day off the books and go out somwhere i know ill catch trout,then heading somewhere for 3days of stillwater fishing at the end of the month


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Friday, August 10, 2012

Indroduction and The Big D in the middle of summer

  Hello All, Brandon invited me to be one of his guest bloggers for his great pac northwest fly fishing blog.  A quick introduction of myself.  My name is Michael Wilson.  I am lucky enough to live in fly fishing rich central oregon.  My biggest passion in fly fishing is stalking large trout in stillwaters but i love all forms of fly fishing.  So enough about me and on to the fishing.......

  Mid Summer on the Deschutes
  The mighty Deschutes River is probably the most well known fishery in the Pacific Northwest,especially known for its amazing Salmonfly hatch in late spring/early summer and steelhead in the fall...and of course the rafting in between.  What maybe is not as well known is that mid summer in the upper, lower D can be very good also...With this in mind i decided to make the short half hr drive to mecca(i know 30 minutes away....don't be a hater)  I was shocked by what i found.  I knew that knowone would believe me so i got the proper evidence....Mind you this was on a weekend.

 
  With this fortune i had the river basically to myself.  The rarity of cherry picking my way down stream brought a smile to my face.  My standard operating procedure for summer on the big D is pretty simple, i run a two nymph rig under a indicator.  Personally i am not picky about flies, i like to run a couple of size 16ish nymphs this time of year, usually for me its the old standby's of a pheasant tail and a hare's ear, although i will throw on various caddis nymphs as well for the caddis are thick this time of year.  The biggest part to me is knowing where to locate the fish, and fishing mid morning to mid afternoon on a hot sunny day i focus on relief from the sun, not just bankside shade but heavier riffly water especially, places where the fish can have overhead cover from predators and sunlight and still get a bite to eat....
  It was a typical day with never lights out but plenty of steady action for 12-16" bows such as this.


  Just remember to bring lots of water as it is HOT in the canyon this time of year and watch for snakes....
  Tight lines....