fishing – Page 2

August 31, 2025August 30, 2025

Eye of a Storm

The week started with a wildfire burning east of Redmond and headed for Sisters, with another one burning north near Oakridge.

Both of these conflagrations managed to spread plumes of smoke over the area . . . well, actually it was fickle wind patterns.

Dry fly presentation over a morning hatch on the Crooked River

In the middle of these smoke-filled days, there was a trip to the Crooked River. Opportunity pushed Prineville outside an “unhealthy” AQI (Air Quality Index) shading on the weather map.

Apple Weather and Watch Duty get regular scans on our phones . . . tracking wildfire activity and air quality.

The Crooked is a welcome respite from thick smoke-filled air and fishing was good too. It is the height of summer season and the lush vegetation, juniper trees and snags are busy with bird activity.

A young Osprey is getting better at hunting, eating, and keeping the gang of Magpies at bay. The Magpies really are a marauding gang. At any point a dozen of them swarm over the trees.

Off to grab another of his 3 to 5 fish per day diet

With just a skreech from one, a few more come flying. They menace the Osprey but don’t really do much damage . . . if you don’t count making meal time stressful.

Our day begins before the sun hits the water. All morning I’ll fish over the caddis or mayfly hatch.

By noon activity on the river’s surface has tapered off. By now it’s getting hot, even in the shade, so we pack up and head home.

Tip napping in the shade of an old juniper tree

The Apps suggest that smoke will wane in the next couple of weeks, so that’s good news.

We’ll wait till the Labor Day crowds thin before venturing back out.

July 13, 2025July 12, 2025

Back on the Crooked

We headed back up to the Crooked River this week. We lucked out and found our favorite campground . . . completely empty.

That’s unusual this time of year. But as they say, “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

For now, mornings remain almost cold. All too soon summer’s sun will beat back the chill.

For the present, we set up chairs along the river and settled in to enjoy our good fortune.

Fishing was good, I brought a few to the net. The willows nearly overpower the rivers edge, making it difficult for Tip to keep an eye on me or get a drink.

Checkered White Butterfly floats among flowering wildflowers

An abundance of butterflies danced across the leaves in the still lush riparian.

An Osprey surveys it’s surroundings from a very high perch.

Around noon we moved downstream to a new piece of shade and a different stretch of river. At this spot we found the kestrel’s tree occupied by an Osprey.

A lack of defensive efforts (on the kestrels part) suggested the brood has moved on. The osprey seems content in getting his perch back.

It’s already the second week in July, and summer is slipping away. We’ve not had to endure wildfire smoke . . . yet.

So these peaceful excursions are treasured times.

A shaded vantage point to keep track of everyone

All too soon the dog days of August will require more careful planning on where we might find patches of shade. We do have a few places in mind.

June 29, 2025June 28, 2025

Settling into Summer

This is likely the end of warm days and cool mornings.

Pretty soon we’ll have to seek shade before noon. For now, soaking in some solar energy is a pleasant respite.

There were two trips to the Crooked this week.

This weather brings out Mayflies, as well as mosquitos. That was the excuse used, but there’s little reason needed to set out chairs and picnic along a stream.

The fishing was adequate, but the weather was superb.

The wildflowers have shifted from large yellow and white petals, to tiny blossoms in shades of purple and blue, with an occasional flashy daisy.

The Kestrals are still very protective, ganging up an any large raptors even just flying along the water. We saw them knock an osprey off a tree limb, easily sending it on his way.

The geese are raising goslings, and ducks are always trailing a brood amid the tall grasses at streams edge.

An abundant run off left lush growth and great habitat for birds and water fowl.

One of the trips to the river was an afternoon drive.

We were trying to hit an evening hatch and some dry fly fishing. There were lots of strikes, but not a lot of hookups. I got in my casting practice though.

Campers are getting more common, which makes it hard to find secluded spots.

Headed back to camp after checking on the fisherman.

With campgrounds filling, we’ll move to different locations (primitive sites) and wait for fall to return to the river in less crowded conditions.

But then . . . that’s all part of settling into Summer.

June 15, 2025June 14, 2025

For many years (due to my teaching schedule), summer didn’t begin until the second week in June. While that constraint came off when we retired, this week’s heatwave really felt like the start of summer.

There were a string of eighty degree days this week, matched with a dozen small wildfires. It feels like summer (our new norm).

A kestrel preens during a brief stop on a busy feeding schedule

A few things shift for us when the weather warms up.

Primarily our schedule . . . early starts to the day and early ends. This practice has two advantages; first it gets the active part of our day away from the heat, but it also tends to keep us away from the hordes.

Keeping an eye on things

About the time people start showing up on the river, we’ve had a choice of parking spots, a couple of hours of fishing, and lots of peace and quiet.

That is how we managed this week’s trip to the Crooked River.

Lupine seems to like the gravel edges of forest roads

Most of the spring wildflowers have been reduced to leafy stems, replaced with hardier summer varieties.

Lupine for example, is in full bloom on nearly every gravelly borrow pit. It lines our route with a carpet of purple and blue hues.

Fishing was better this week. The river has settled into its summer flow and fish are taking up their usual holds.

Witnessed the kestrel pair fight off a bald eagle with incredible acrobatics. The falcons harried the eagle, and at one point, one plunged from above onto the back of the eagle hitting with ferocious impact.

The kestrels were in full hunt mode, stopping only long enough to drop off some tasty bits for the fledglings, before swooping back up the canyon walls.

By the time the breeze was starting to loosen it’s cooling power, a small group of picnickers set up a few hundred feet from us. That was our cue to load up and head for home.

Daytime temp, even on the river, was just over eighty and climbing. We’ll be back again during the cool of another morning.

June 8, 2025June 6, 2025

June’s first river trip

Summer is in full blaze. The week is getting progressively warmer and we’ve already had a couple of small wildfires.

There are more places to go than days in the week. Plus, we kind of like to have a rest day between excursions.

That means we can do home-based errands when not on the road and in theory, stuff gets done.

Deschutes Canyon upstream from Blue Hole

One of the drives this week was up to Maupin to check out the Lower Deschutes before the rafters take over.

We kind of missed the Salmon Fly hatch this year . . . not sure what else we were up to.

The tail end of the hatch was last week, so we thought I might get some ‘big bug’ action.

There were no large stone flies on the river’s banks, so we resorted to other patterns. Caught a few little guys and had a great hike along the river.