FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

The Wade Right Fishing Belt

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The Best Wading System on the  planet

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Bend

Our first stop on the Oregon trip was Bend.  Surrounded by thousands of acres of National Forest and BLM land it has plenty to do if you love the outdoors.  Our primary reason for starting  there was to take a fly fishing lesson, and that worked out just like I thought it would.  (Or hoped it would for the Boss.)

The Boss getting it done!

Of all the choices in fishing in the area I settled on River Borne Outfitters located in Madras.  We met up with the owner at the Deschutes River Fly Shop and Camp for our lesson and for 2 hours he covered all the basics with knots, equipment, and casting.  Then off to the river right down the road for 3 hours of fishing.  They supplied everything needed to fish so other than our lunch nothing else was needed.  Check them out, they did it right.

https://deschutesriverflyshop.com/

Matt, our guide, puts one in the net.

Matt the guide then took us to the Deschutes.  An interesting river it only has the resident wild Rednose rainbow trout, a native whitefish, and summer run steelhead.  The fish are native and no stocking is done to keep the genetics pure.  In an interesting aside, while you can drift or float the river you have to get out of the boat to actually fish.  A pissing match between competing interests, seems we have seen that most places we have fished, resulted in this unusual rule.  But in the long run there are trout in that river who never see a bait.

2 happy fisherpersons – The Deschutes River.

And the fishing went exactly as I figured, the Boss got the hang of it and I sucked.  She managed to get 4 out of the 6 she hooked to the net, though all did not make it in.  I had 4 good bites and hooked 2, but with my well known superior fly fishing skills I managed to screw it up.  There was only one small hitch when the Boss slipped and filled her waders, but she took it like a trooper.

Guess that power fishing I do so much does not lend itself well to barbless hooks smaller than mosquito.  I did not have my readers so I could barely see it but I guess you call that a “hook”.  But the day was a rip roaring success.  The guys were great and I could not recommend them any more highly.  (Nice trip when you hire 2 different guides in 2 different places and both are great.)  Matt was patient trying to help me remove head from rear end, but as far as I was concerned getting the Boss into it was the ulterior motive.  And the Boss took to it immediately and is wanting more,  so another trip to fly water is in the planning stage.

*****************The Knockin Tail Lure with a built in tail rattle!   Look for it this winter.

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Lava from Crater Lake – 60 miles away!  Muley.

We did some hiking and lots of driving.  As we further explore the mountains in different states I am continually surprised at the amount of available places to fish.  Bass, trout, seaonal salmon, pike, walleye, they are all available somewhere.  I was surprised when we checked the records for Oregon and the largemouth was over 12lbs!  And even though it was the holiday weekend stopping at several lakes most had maybe a couple of boats.  And miles and miles of trout water.  There was also a large area for 4 wheelers to go nuts.  Plenty of room for all.

Cool streams everywhere.  And forest as far as you could see.

These guys were everywhere.  And kids with their spots.

We did not see that many animals other than the pictures but that was just locational on our part.  And the frog thing was crazy.  Of course it is some kind of endangered frog.  The lake where we saw them had some knucklehead put bullheads in the lake which ate all the frogs.  No problem now, the picture does not do them justice, there were millions.  My bigger questions – What would prompt someone to put bullheads in a beautiful mountain lake with bass and trout.  No fixing stupid.

I had no clue they had antelope there.  We were almost a mile away and they hit the road!

The town of Bend was not quite what I was expecting.  The Boss does the planning, I just follow along.  I was expecting a little mountain town, but Bend is a town of 89,000 that is also a big weekend place.  Good eats, walk to most anywhere, the Deschutes running right through the middle of town, it was situated in the middle of untold acres of forest land with plenty of outdoor activities to keep you busy.

Ponderosa Pine – One big ass tree.

There are both lodge pole pine and ponderosa pines.  Most of the areas had been logged over and re-growth, which is still going on, but there were some awesome trees.  Even though we kept after it there are millions of acres open to the public and we only saw a small piece of it.  If you like to do anything outside Bend has plenty to offer.  And when combined with Astoria on the coast and Portland it was a cool trip.

A beautiful lake surrounded by cool mountains.

Folks fishing the tail race.  Sorry this is not clearer but these are frogs, thousands of them.

Of course I have forgotten plenty of stuff, but I have slept since then, but suffice to say a great area.  One interesting thing, the owner of the fly shop is starting to think about a “winter” type place and he has been looking at the Texas coast.  When he reads this the offer is still open, email on the way.

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Portland

We finished our trip in Portland.  An interesting big city.  We had one of the better Greek meals ever at Eleni’s Philoxenia.  After a couple of visits to Greece we love the food and this place filled the bill.  Authentic food the way it should be, we told out waiter to compliment the Chef who turned out to be the owner.  And surprise, he came to our table and told us exactly how he prepared the food.  He was personable and you could tell he appreciated the comment and was happy to share his love of Greek food.  If you are ever in Portland put it on the menu, you will not be dissapointed.

We did lots of walking downtown and it is as safe as big city can be.  But one thing, the homeless.  Portland is a progressive city and the homeless, there are lots of them, are basically given a free pass.  Of couurse with that comes a few problems, they camp literally anywhere and everywhere.  And with that comes piles of garbage, little huts in doorways, and just a general mess in places.  It was funny how we were never panhandled, unusual considering.  Of course the businesses do not all appreciate them, nothing like finding a couple of dudes setting up camp in your doorway and leaving a mess.  And of course the occasional mentally ill walking down the street screaming.  But like so many places – Welcome to the big city.

But folks ride bikes, run, walk, enjoying a healthy life style.  And the bookstore, oh the book store.  A square block and 4 stories tall, it is a thing of beauty for readers like me.  While I kept it to a dull roar the book I am reading right now on the Bluefin Tuna came from there and it is a good thing I do not live close!

So after a couple of days we packed up, grabbed the salmon and home we went.  It was a good trip that went as well as it could be.  And to see the Boss fly fishing, much less smacking the salmon, put a cherry on top of that sunday.  Oregon is a great state to visit and I would recommend it to anyone.  Next up on the major travel scene, who knows.  (I am lobbying for fly fishing in Colorado.)   But no matter where it is if it goes as smoothly as this trip I can’t wait.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.