For a flyfisher little compares to plying dry fly to stream. A moment where a fish breaks the surface, hook is set and a flash of silver proceeds your line going taut. Most of us are on the river for that experience.
However, there is a great deal of time when no bugs skitter across the water. The fish are, as any seasoned angler will tell you, always feeding. It’s just most of the time that is done below the surface.
You can enjoy a good book when there is no hatch. Or, you can employ a wet fly technique of which there are many. The current method we are attempting is “Czech Nymphing.”
“… The fly line is hanging under the tip of the rod and its end often does not even touch the water. “
The origin of this style of fishing varies, but we kind of like the story about a Polish fisherman who stunned the 1989 World Flyfishing Championship with a very different style of fishing and unique hand tied flies.The beaten Czech team came back in subsequent years and “owned” the technique by basically being better marketers than the Poles.
This week we attended a ‘how-to’ clinic on the Crooked River. Organized by Sunriver Anglers the morning’s lesson was guided by Mary Ann Dozer an accomplished Euro Nympher, fishing guide and a master casting instructor. We had a blast!
Many fish were hooked. A dozen were actually ‘caught,’ and our education in short line nymphing has started. Along with how to manage line, rod and flies, we also got great pointers on casting, as well as how to read the water.
The Crooked’s boulder strewn bottom is readable from the surface. As water roils around or flows over structures in the river you can get an idea of sub-surface formation. With that information you can find the best place to toss (cast) your rig.
This river has long been a favorite place to park our van and fish the tail waters of Bowman dam. The river is known for its Redband Trout population (a subspecies of Rainbow trout). There are a fair number of fish in this river, though most are smaller sized. That said, it’s a much friendlier wade than the Lower Deschutes. Which was particularly true on this day.
Sometimes when you start out for the day there is a destination in mind. Other times you don’t know where you’re going, and once in a while it changes mid journey.
Last week we had just that kind of day. It started with a trip to get sunrise images at Fort Rock, maybe grab photos of raptors, and hike up around the rim. It was a frosty morning, a bit too cold for a long walk, although we did pick up some great shots.
Even when there’s not a road mapped, a simple two track exists on the ground. This means you really need to keep a close eye to the USFS road markers, those flat metal posts at most junctions with numbers on them.
To the east of Fort Rock is a lava flow formation called the Devils Garden (scheduled for a separate day’s exploration). We start with USFS 18, skirting the western edge of that rocky structure, then turn on to 2431 and bump along the seam where forest meets high desert.
Eventually we wound up on the southern rim of Hole-in-the-Ground, a unique, if unimaginatively named geological feature.
We head along a scenic drive to explore the prehistoric past of Oregon and stop at the Clarno Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds. It is located 18 miles west of the town of Fossil, Oregon.
The Palisades are the most prominent landform and are ancient mudflows.
Kokanee Karnival
Perhaps not so coincidentally on Earth Day this year, we participated by helping other Sunriver Anglers serve lunch to 100 hungry elementary students, teachers and volunteers. This was part of Kokanee Karnival’s Angling Clinic Experience.
