Nature – Page 18

May 15, 2022May 14, 2022

In Defense of Hatch Charts

This week we caught the front end of the Mother’s Day Caddis hatch on the Crooked River.

Only a flyfisher would be excited to stand in a swarm of bugs armed only with the understanding that they don’t bite … but the fish will.

Weedy Water Sedge is a common name for the caddis fly –Trichoptera. Brachycentride. Amicoentrus – often found on still and tail waters.

The emergence of this aquatic insect in spring, along with a dozen other genus of the same order, is predicted on a chart.
.
River hatch charts are notoriously inaccurate. Though only some of that is on fisherman. If they were good at keeping secrets no one would know that around Mother’s Day there is an excellent hatch on the Crooked River.

http://https://vimeo.com/709899428

A Caddisfly hatch, or rather series of hatches, is a daily event which can re-occur over a series of weeks. So … Mother’s Day is close enough. We’ve managed to participate for a few years now, thanks again, in part, to charts.

Speaking of hatch charts they will also show that over the next few months there is a marked spike in activity. This time of year if we aren’t tracking bird migrations, we are trying to anticipate emergence of a specific genius of Plecoptera, common name; Salmon Fly.

Finding a hatch and catching fish are not always synchronous. For example, I fished over this hatch with very little luck catching fish.

However, JQ managed to get some good images. This weekend I’ll hit the tying bench in anticipation of next week’s adventure.

May 8, 2022May 14, 2022

Spring Showers

This week we managed to find a sunny day in the midst of spring rains. The weather hasn’t offered much of a chance for outdoor activities. However, we managed to find a few getaways this week … one being the Lower Deschutes River.

The Deschutes River is long, so long it gets broken up into upper, middle and lower sections when people refer to it. We spend a lot of time on the Upper Deschutes in the summer. This is more of a creek than river in the sections we fish.

From Pelton Dam, on the Deschutes end of Lake Billy Chinook, to the Columbia River is the Lower Deschutes. Since moving to Oregon in the late eighties, we’ve spent time on the stretch of the Lower Deschutes, downstream of Maupin. During the spring, the stoneflies begin to hatch, offering meals to winter-hungry fish.

Lush grasses and wildflowers begin to dot the landscape

The Deschutes never disappoints. The temperatures were in the high seventies, the wind was light and the water crystal clear. It was a perfect day for some excellent fishing.

All too soon, the rain returned along with some wind gusts, but we were grateful to manage a great day out on the river.

April 30, 2022May 1, 2022

May Day

Black-necked Stilt at Summer Lake Refuge

It’s the first of May and aside from Maypoles or the Wobblies, we’re hoping it really does mark the start of spring.

Ancient Brits, the Celts actually, celebrated ‘Beltane’ as the return to life and fertility. These festivals didn’t imigrate to the new world, as they were discouraged by the Puritans. However, May Basket Day did, to some degree, and I’ve a faint childhood memory of handformed paper cones filled with flowers, candies and treats, as something my mother did.

April was a record breaking wet month. Good for the rivers, but not so much for our excursions. Weather aside, we have managed a couple of road trips.

A return visit to Summer Lake allowed us to catch up on migrating flocks.

Sandhill Crane

These regular visits have provided us with a wealth of bird pix’s and a much better understanding of what to expect in the lakes. reeds and marsh lands. This trip we made an effort to collect a larger library of sounds to lay under videos.

As always we spent some time on the Crooked River. Levels are coming up which bodes well for better fishing in the future.

However, at the moment, the birds and wildflowers hold most of our attention. At one of our favorite parking sites there was an osprey.

An osprey, perched on an isolated tree, patrols high above the water.

Looking forward to increases in temperatures and more sunny days coming up. The Middle and Lower Deschutes, above Maupin officially opened and the stoneflies are starting to hatch. We also have to make a swing by Spring Basin to check on wildflowers. In all, the summer calendar is filling up.

April 17, 2022April 16, 2022

Winter Redux

We watched this belted kingfisher plunge headfirst into the river, catch a fish, then eat his catch. Brilliant!

It was 79 degrees and sunny at one point last week. We spent a relaxing day sitting on the banks of the Crooked River getting berated by a pair of Canada Geese.

Then this week … it snowed.

Every morning we woke to a couple of inches of fresh snow. We had to break out the snow shovels and they even plowed streets again.

On the bright side, snowpack in the mountains is closer to normal. However, we didn’t attempt any road trips all week. These morning snows would mostly melt away by late afternoon, at least on the roadways. But it brought our adventures to a standstill.

Central Oregon didn’t have as many problems as some western parts of the state … we didn’t lose power or have a bunch of downed trees. I’m sure the skiers were glad to have the season extended.

We are SO ready to shake off winter and jump into spring.

But still, we are ready for spring to come back. Right now, the forecasted week of rain is actually looking good.

April 3, 2022April 3, 2022

Spring Bugs

Rolling hills in the Deschutes River Canyon are draped in spring green

This week found us on the Lower Deschutes River near Maupin. The river is still running crystal clear, but the fishing was slow. One of the reasons to ply the Deschutes as spring starts, is to see what stage the stonefly and caddis hatches are at.

Starting early spring, I’m picking at the river’s bottom looking for Skwala, Golden and Dark Stonefly Nymphs. As the river temperatures rise, these bugs (order Plecoptera) start their march to the river’s edge. Eventually these aquatic insects climb onto rocks and bushes to transform into large Stoneflies and present excellent dryfly fishing.

The canyon vegetation has started to shift from winter’s dull browns into spring greens. Wildflowers are also starting to emerge. patches of tiny little pink petals, clumps of yellow blossoms from Balsam Arrowroot, as well as buds on the trees and bushes. With new flowers are butterflies and a variety of insects.

Mixed in with all the fresh plant growth were Woolly Bear Caterpillars coming out of winter’s rest.

Folklore has it that a longer black band is a predictor of more severe winter. Not saying we hold to folklore but our caterpillars seem have mostly black. For now these guys are just eating a bit more in preparation for their transformation into Tiger Moths.

Central Oregon is putting on it’s Spring regalia … which we’ll enjoy before the dry summer weather sets in.