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July 26, 2026July 26, 2026

Summer Smoke

Wildfire smoke obscures the north end of Prineville Reservoi

We did not get on the Crooked River this week. The Canyon was blanketed with a layer of wildfire smoke.

At the beginning of the week a thunderstorm walked lightning from the south to north, across Central Oregon. In its wake were a multiple fires.

Most of those ignitions were dealt with quickly, but a handful grew into major burns.

The biggest, Akawa Butte fire is over 26,000 acres and only 3% contained. It threatens the city of Sisters. But that’s not the only problem.

Pull up the app Watchduty and you’ll see that from Redmond north to Interstate 84 (the Oregon border) there is literally nothing but orange flames. So many in fact that two are designated “Complexes”.

The Rowe Creek complex is ten fires that have consumed 132,000 acres and is only 16% contained. North of that is the Hay Creek Complex which is 5 fires on 116,000 acres, but it’s 76% contained.

To make matters worse, a second storm swept up nearly the same line and while it brought some rain, lightning started a couple dozen new burns.

All of this fire brings smoke. While here. south of Bend, we’ve been spared the worst of the air quality numbers, we still sit under 100 plus readings. Unfortunately, this has become the norm for summer.

July 19, 2026July 18, 2026

Fishing the Dry Fly

At least one excursion a week is focused on fishing. From May to August those pursuits are primarily in search of dry flyfishing opportunities.

We started flyfishing on the North Fork of the Flathead River, casting Royal Wulff patterns to West Slope Cutthroat Trout. Catching a fish off the surface of a river is, to me, the most fun.

These last couple of months we’ve been chasing the Caddisfly hatches on the Crooked River.

Starting around Mother’s Day and extending to early July, there are a series of these emergences nearly daily. Just before and during the hatch, fishing is optimal.

The biggest challenge with Caddisflies is they hatch, shuck out of pupal skin, and fly off to the bushes at dawn and dusk.

On the Crooked dusk in July is hot and windy . . . kind of miserable and not the best fishing conditions. But on the high desert mornings are typically much cooler and calmer.

All these insects are a boon to the birds, as well as the fish

We’ve been very successful leaving the house about 6:30 (yes after sunrise, so not technically dawn) and being on the river about an hour later. This has connected us with some really successful fishing.

By the time the afternoon wind picks up, we’ve had nearly four hours on the water and are ready to have a cold one and call it a day.

We’re not going to stop spending mornings on the Crooked, but as we move into July and August the target species shifts to Small Mouth Bass on the John Day River, and then the futile pursuit of Summer Steelhead on the Lower Deschutes.

We’ll take you along on those journeys as well.

July 12, 2026July 16, 2026

Last of the Litter

Boo enjoying the winter evening his way.

Almost 20 years ago, as we started to move out of the house in Troutdale, a small black cat started hanging out in our front yard. Turned out . . . that cat was pregnant.

She and her 4 kittens joined us and our pack of 3 dogs in a 5^th wheel camper, as we built a new home on a hill in Sandy, Oregon.

The cat we called Greta, her kittens, Lewis, Clark, Ariel and Boo were primarily house cats.

Extra toe meant better chair scratching.

Their presence is still visible on most of our furniture.

This week we bid farewell to the last of Greta’s litter . . . Boo.

Greta couldn’t have been much more than a year old when we rescued her from the street.

The closeness in age of mother and kittens amounted to a series of aging pet vet visits over the last couple of years.

That came to a close this week.

Not really feeling like more of a blog post.

July 5, 2026July 4, 2026

Windy Day on the River

We spend a lot of time on the Crooked River. The drive is short and we find there are very few people mid-week. Plus, we never get tired of sitting by a stream.

Fishing is only part of it. We have a couple of spots that offer good access and plenty of shade. These places are familiar, and regularly offer up a surprise or two.

This week’s trip started early. We wanted to avoid the summer heat, nab one of our favorite spots, and avoid the early afternoon when the wind kicks up.

Willows starting to crowd the bank and obscure our views

The gusts got pretty strong. The willow bushes that line the bank were tossing little Lincoln Sparrows around, though these delicate birds never lost their steely grip.

The bird population was really active. Fledglings are out and about, so there is a mix of watchful parents and opportunistic predators.

It was nice to get reacquainted with the local fauna. This time of year activity picks up and we have great fun watching the circus.

After the July 4th holiday the campgrounds get a lot fuller and for longer stretches. We will start looking for more remote sites to keep out of the fray.

This is what ‘sitting by the stream’ looks like.

That said, we try to make a trip to the Crooked at least once a week . . . just to sit by a stream.

June 28, 2026June 27, 2026

River Side

There was a nice big Rainbow just behind that rock

We’ve settled into summer. The mornings are cool and the afternoons are hot, so we travel in the morning hours and are comfortably ensconced in AC by late afternoon.

This will be the rhythm of our days for the next few months.

Back on the Crooked River we’re looking for a Caddisfly hatch.

We have had lots of success on the river in the last few weeks. The dry fly fishing season is in full swing and the Crooked is at peak performance.

We were treated to a Great Blue Heron sunning on a rock. Usually they are kind of skittish and you don’t get much chance to grab a pix. This was not the case this day. He was quite satisfied to just lounge by the stream.

After a long rest the Great Blue Heron heads downstream

We then watched him as he fly-hopped along the edge of the water in search of his next meal. It was a real treat!

The Osprey flew by a few times, hunting the length of the canyon it seemed.

He did rest a few minutes on the other side of the river, passed with a fish in his talons and generally harassed the fish population on our stretch of the river. So I guess we were in similar pursuits.