Nature – Page 27

November 21, 2021November 19, 2021

Talking about Fishin’

This week found me standing in the Crooked River’s turbid water. As the afternoon sun slipped behind the canyon wall I was trying to get in one more cast. Fishing was slow and I didn’t seem to have the right combination of bugs.

However, the day was sun drenched, temperatures pushed into the 40’s and the wind wasn’t pushing down the canyon, so it was a great day to be fishing.

It is already Mid-November and the shift to winter season has started. We’ll see less sunny days for the next month or two. Daytime temperatures have dropped and rarely get above 50, with morning temps regularly in the teens. For us, that means layers … hats, gloves and scarves become part of the kit. We’re also a bit more weather report conscious.

Within an hour’s drive there are waters that remain open to fishing with drivable access year around. The Forest Service had controlled burns near the Metolius in late October, but we’ll head up there in the next few weeks. The Fall River gets fewer fishers in the winter, so that is also a spot we’ll check out. Like I said no shortage of destinations for our weekly fishing outing.

Much of the west coast has been drenched in fall rains, the Cascades are snow capped and promise an early start to the ski season. On the High Desert we’ve seen a light dusting of snow and brief stints of rain, but more often wake to sun on morning frost.

Cooler days will eventually give way to shoveling snow from the driveway. Right now we are making the most of late fall days with short trips out into the sage and basalt river canyons.

November 7, 2021November 7, 2021

In The Clouds

We spotted several Blue Heron roosting in trees along the river’s edge

The main difference between weather on the Cascade’s west versus the east slope is how long it lingers. In Central Oregon a rain storm comes in and moves on in a day. The great part is you get to experience weather in a variety of stages and it seems like a sunny day is always on the way. This week we drove through clouds.

The Lower Deschutes, around Maupin, is a regular destination in the fall. There are far fewer people, the river level drops to ‘wadeable,’ and summer heat has passed.

The road ahead winds its way down through a dense cloud bank

The latter part of the week looked like a storm front coming along with wind gusts and increased rain. So we spent a bit more time on the road and headed for Maupin. On the edge of the Deschutes River canyon we drove into the clouds … literally.

The fog bank hung onto the canyon’s edge, so we slipped below the clouds and pulled up to a favorite spot on the river.

Lunch, fresh coffee and on the river. The fishing was very slow but Tip and I had fun scrambling along the bank. JQ was much more productive with the long lens on her camera snapping pix of some of the locals.

We spent an afternoon on the river without encountering a single fisherman or rafter, unusual, but made for a great day. We expect the rainy days to increase in late fall and take advantage of the drier ones. Bend / La Pine get an average of 11 inches of precipitation compared to Portland’s 44 inches, so we still get mostly desert-like weather.

October 31, 2021October 30, 2021

A Quiet Day on the River

Parked at our favorite site on the Crooked River

Took advantage of a break in October’s stormy weather and headed up to the Crooked River. Fall weather seems to clear out the campers so we had the place to ourselves.

Set up the chairs in the sun and enjoyed the day. River levels are still very low but the fishing was great, actually. As the temperatures drop, along with water levels, the dry fly fishing wanes but that means we break out the long rods and Czech-style or Euro nymph.

Tight line swings on a rod rigged with two flys off a light weight 10 foot long rod. This combination allows you to feel the takes, or bumping along the river bottom. In the end, if done right, there are a lot more hook-ups than on a standard wet fly rig. This day that proved true as we saw a lot of fish action, even with the Crooked’s murky and shallow waters.

The day was perfect, temperatures in the low 60’s, lots of sun and only minimal wind.

The lack of other human presence seemed to increase the bird activity. In all, it was a very pleasant day on the river.

October 24, 2021October 23, 2021

A Blustery Fall Day

Lake Aspen is nestled among eight-acres of pine forest, wetland, and meadow habitat

It took less than a week to wash a summer’s worth of smoke and dust out of the Central Oregon air. It’s been cloudy and wet, which means road trips were shorter and closer to home.

It got cold enough to breakout beanies and gloves, layer up and dig out the rain coats. With stormfronts there are always gusty winds that add to the bite of Fall temps.

We went to a favorite spot, Sunriver Nature Center, to check on our favorite river otters, swans, and water fowl.

The beauty of this place is there are literally miles of walking paths, most of them paved. We did venture a bit away from the pond and out along the airfield and horse pasture.

Paved areas for biking and walking lead to forested trails

We were working out kinks in a new iPhone camera rig and trying to give Tip a chance to stretch his legs as well. The migration season is in full swing, but there were just a few flights of geese and ducks. I suspect most of them are year round inhabitants of the pond.

This week the house got a seasonal cleaning, the idea is next week’s road trips will be a bit farther afield. We’ve made the shift to cold weather gear and restocked cocoa and a flask of whiskey in the picnic bag. Now is the time to get in those last fall excursions before the winter snows set in.

October 10, 2021October 9, 2021

Falling into fall

A gnarled western juniper thrives in the arid climate of the high desert

This week we continue to embrace the fall season with short road trips. We are taking advantage of the cool mornings and warm afternoons without smoke laden air.

At winter levels the Crooked River has exposed rock and weed beds.

One downside of the shift to winter is the river draw downs.

To get reservoirs back to capacity for the next irrigation season, dams on the upper Deschutes and Crooked river restrict flows, basically lowering river levels. The Crooked River is down to what seemed like a trickle and it’s water was too turbid to fish. However, that didn’t deter Tip from exploring.

The other activity was pizza baking … from scratch.

This Ooni is heated by gas but cooks more like a wood fired oven.

We’d picked up a gas pizza oven at the end of summer and have been playing with recipes. There is a bit more involved in making pizza, rather than heating up frozen or just carry out. There’s a learning curve and failed attempts, but we are starting to dial in the best cooking method and the last few pies have turned out great.

Scratch-made gives you a delicious pie with total control over the ingredients.

The Ooni oven will be great for other “wood fired” baking jobs. Flat bread is on the list to try.

For now, we’re working on tweeking dough recipes to fine tune our pizza crust, very important, as there are a surprising number of variations possible.