Saturday, June 25, 2005

The Hunt for wild trout-Deshutes River, Oregon


This past winter, I received an invitation from an old friend, to fish the Deschutes River, in Oregon.
Al Neves, who moved to Oregon several years ago, loves to camp, and I have really missed tent camping in recent years. It was a chance to visit a new area, and of course, do some fishing.

This type of fishing is a little different from what I have done in the past. We used one-man pontoon boats to float the river, each day. We could then stop whenever and wherever we wished, to fish.


This is a view near our camp, below Warm Springs. Mt. Bachelor is in the background.

The area around Warm Springs was full of life, and we awakened each day to Chukkars calling across the canyon.

Here another picture of the river and a good view of the rim rock, high desert county.

....and of course we found a few trout, too!

My partner really knows this great river, didn't take long to show me a few of the trout that make the Deschutes River so famous.


Al is a great trout fisherman, and like me, enjoys catching trout on dry flies. This trip was scheduled to coincide with the Salmon Fly hatch, which is a huge 2-3" bug that hatches in early June. Our timing was great, as Al had hoped.

Here is a picture of the massive Salmon Fly.

....and the immitation I created to fool these wonderful redside trout (rainbow).

I couldn't wait to try my new Pentax Optio water proof camera, too. It was more difficult to center the subject than I expected, but the picture turned out great! What a super camera.

The evenings were spectacular, and we each took turns cooking our favorite camp dinners. I am hoping that Al and I will have a chance to fish together, soon. I think he will be down in California, chasing striped bass this fall, so we are planning to fish San Luis while he is here.

The end of a great day, and memorable trip! Thanks Al.