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| Doug Fly Fishing the Deschutes River |
Our
annual 5-day float trip down the Deschutes River was filled with
great camaraderie, success, some disappointment and a mild
confrontation. Thankfully, we were graced with fabulous weather that
featured little wind, a warm blue sky and an impending full moon.
Expectations were high as we set up our camp at the Box Car run, but
the water was higher than normal. Nonetheless, we fished the first
evening hoping to hook a few summer steelhead, but nary a fish came
to the fly.
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| Isaak, Shannon & Paul with Isaak's Buck |
Early
the next morning Paul and Izaak headed out to find some deer and
Shannon and I went fishing. Our casting efforts were to no avail, and
after several hours of flogging the water we gave up. This was of
some concern because this water was usually productive, but since we
had four more days left, we reeled in and fixed some breakfast. Later
that morning we heard several shots, and our two-way radios confirmed
that Izaak had a 3-point buck down. Shannon went up to help him drag
it down from the canyon and I monitored the camp. Paul also had an
opportunity when he spotted two nice bucks running up and over a
saddle, but he passed up the opportunity for fear of wounding one of
them.
The
second day Paul and Izaak headed back to locate another buck. Luckily
it came sooner than expected. A small herd was feeding at the top of
Peckerwood Canyon, and it had several nice bucks in it. But, in order
to get a good shot, Paul would have to keep a low profile because he
had little cover. Izaak was at a position where he could see the herd
and advise Paul of its activity. So Paul began to crawl behind
sagebrush, tall grasses and rocks to inch 50 yards closer to a nice
buck that was quietly feeding. Tension gripped the scene as Paul
sighted in on the animal at 200 yards. Suddenly a shot echoed down
the cannon as Paul brought down a husky 4 x 3 buck. Teamwork and
stealth was essential in making this event a classic stalk!
Later
that day I decided to do some trout fishing, and since there were no
risers, I put a small split shot on my leader and tied a Girdle Bug on the tippet. I waded out into a riffle, and after numerous casts I
felt a slight pull and set the hook. Suddenly a 9- or 10-pound
steelhead rolled on the surface and shredded my 5 pound leader. I
immediately went back to camp and re-rigged my steelhead rod with
another Girdle Bug and returned to the same riffle. After
only a few casts I got a hard take but the hook pulled free. I guess
it just wasn’t my day.
We
pulled out Monday morning and headed downriver to a campsite called
Weinhard’s Drift. It has classic fly water that contained slow
glides and ledge water that usually held steelhead, but when we
arrived another party had the campsite. Fortunately, another camp was
available below called Wagonblast. We set up camp and when the sun
was off the water we started to fish. Shannon went upriver, Paul and
Izaak went below me and I fished our camp water. Soon another angler began to fish behind me. I stopped and went up to chat with
him. Suddenly he said, “You’re not at a legal campsite and you’re
fishing in our water!” I was stunned and said, “I’ve been
fishing and camping here for years and your camp is 100 yards above
us." “Well,” he said, "the Weinhard camp includes all the water
below it." I snapped back, "Does that mean you own this water all
the way to the Columbia River?” With that statement he just shook
his head and fished on through without saying another word. In spite
of this confrontation, it still was a great trip even though fishing
was disappointing. Hopefully, this will all change in the future.
