Crooked River

November 23, 2025November 21, 2025

It’s Gotten Cold

Winter seems to be upon us. This week was wet . . . and bone chilling cold.

Each year we seem to need more time to adjust to the season of snow. Usually the transition from fall to winter is enough, but for some reason this season seems particularly short.

Perhaps the days are moving faster?

Either way . . . here we are . . . well into November and still thinking it’s October.

The weatherman suggested that Wednesday would present some sun and perhaps be a bit warmer. So we headed up to the river.

The sun did not break through the overcast sky and it never got warmer than 37º. Thus we only spent a couple of hours on the river.

That said, our time was marked by the presence of a Bald Eagle perched in the Osprey’s snag. So fierce!

We pulled out the Drone for a water survey. The Crooked River is at it’s winter time low level.

Finally, when the chill became too much, we sipped on mugs of hot tea, enjoyed some roasted chicken, and shared a slice of delicious cranberry cake. So, all was not lost.

By December we should have acclimated to winter and be better prepared for frigid days on the high desert.

We know there will be breaks from these arctic fronts, where sun-filled days outnumber the dull gray ones. It’s just this week was particularly dull.

November 2, 2025October 30, 2025

Another Nice Fall Day

The fall storms this week moved in and on rather quickly.

That is typical of high desert weather. If you wake to dark clouds on the west of the Cascades, there is a good chance it will rain for a couple of days.

On the eastern side of the mountains, a storm front can sweep through in a matter of hours, leaving the remainder of the day clear. We generally try to take advantage of that pattern.

Late fall storms interrupted our week, but there were breaks that offered perfect days to sit by a river.

The day starts with rigging a fly rod or two.

Fall means I shift my fishing rig set up.

I’ve not tied on a dry fly in the last two weeks.

Tiny nymph patterns, doubled up on sinking strands of mono get fished near the bottom. This is the method employed until the end of Feburary.

The bird population has thinned as well. Migration patterns mean majority of birds have . . . well . . . moved on.

There are some resident ducks and the osprey did a brief fly-by. However, we’re not pestered by the Magpie gang and the amount of bird song is definitely diminished.

The day was sunny and warm, for late October.

One other thing, there are fewer people, which is much appreciated.

The river is at winter levels, exposing a lot of rocks

We can set up our chairs and enjoy the river sounds without distractions. Which is pretty much what we’ll keep doing until the snows come . . . and even after that.

October 12, 2025October 10, 2025

A High Desert Fall Day

The mornings are getting frosty with a chill that warms up about noon. We’re enjoying these fall days.

In July and August we have to work hard to avoid the heat of the day by seeking out shaded spaces.

After what seemed like a solid week of rain . . . actually it was just a couple of afternoons . . . we’re enjoying a string of cloudless days. Good time to get back on the river.

“… we’ll see if they like that pattern.”

The Crooked River has way fewer people as the season shifts. The fishing is still good. We’re on the stream a bit later in the morning mostly to avoid the frost.

By noon the sun requires we push our chairs into the shade. However, it’s still a pleasant temperature.

Fall sees a shift in bird activity . Some days are filled with flocks on migration and other’s near void of any wildlife activity.

This day we encountered a unique species . . . a Praying Mantis. It landed on JQ’s arm as if asking for its picture to be taken.

Don’t remember ever seeing one of those on the river.

Typical with fall in the high desert, this clear weather will be interrupted by another few days of rain before the skies clear again.

This week that storm front will move in on the weekend leaving mid-week open for us to wander about. It’s hard to beat fall in Central Oregon.

September 7, 2025September 6, 2025

Summer Ends in a Cloud of Smoke

Didn’t really get out much this week. We remain sandwiched between two project fires and spent most of the week engulfed in smoke.

The opening, when it presented itself, was taken with a trip to the Crooked. Yeah . . . we’ve been there a lot lately, but it’s dry fly season and that tailwater has been very active.

Fuller’s Teasel (bull thistle) frames a lush riparian

Last year my brother-in-law passed and among his possessions was an old Sage Graphite II 9-foot 5-weight fly rod.

A very nice rod, but with one problem. It was missing the tip section. Not broken, which is common, but not in the rod case and nowhere to be found.

Sage rods are, in theory, lifetime warrantied. So I figured why not give that a try. I mean with only three fourths of the rod it wasn’t going to fish like that.

Long story short . . . Sage was unable to repair the old rod, but they did replace it with a new one . . . my choice. I opted for a 9-foot 4-weight, an ideal dry fly trout rod. It arrived this week and was immediately put into service.

Post-meal preening by another successful fisher.

Now there are negative points to late summer in Central Oregon; heat and wildfire smoke top that list. But on the positive side, the dry fly fishing is peak.

The Crooked River is a tailwater (flows out from a dam), a type of water that’s fished most of the year sub-surface.

Bull Thistles are regular obstacles along the stream edge.

Anytime of year, some type of aquatic insect is moving around and an imitation of that bug will catch fish.

In early spring and late summer, the aquatic insects hatch (present on top of the water) in greater numbers. You can have success with a dry fly any time, but during a hatch it gets crazy.

A Eurasian-collared Dove floats in for a landing

Dry flys require a more precise presentation than sub-surface fishing. However, the payoff is seeing the strike . . . often missing the strike . . . but it puts you more directly into the process.

It’s a lot of fun. The last few weeks have afforded us some great dry fly days on the water.

The signs of fall are around us. Days will be cooling off and we’ll soon move onto the Deschutes River to cast for Steelhead.

For now, we’re enjoying morning coffees on the Crooked and plying Small Black Sedges to hungry Redband Trout.

July 27, 2025July 25, 2025

High Desert Mornings

Early morning light glitters across this expanse of river

The pace of our lives is not brisk and our days of multitasking projects is long past.

That’s not to say we’re idle. Quite the opposite, as summer gets up to full blast our weekly schedule fills up.

Along with more excursions, come early starts. It’s all part of getting into summer.

The High Desert in this season can be oppressively hot from noon to sun down. To counter this, we are out the door at first light . . . conversely, back in the house by mid-afternoon.

A young Western Kingbird sports a mix of juvenile plumage and adult feathers

This week’s trip to the river was highlighted not by fishing, though that was good, but by a proliferation of fledgling sightings.

A Magpie flock harassed this juvenile Osprey trying to enjoy his catch.

A young Osprey was getting a lesson in Magpie gang warfare.

There were moments when we thought the Magpies would succeed in getting the young Osprey’s meal.

In the end, he finished the fish and brought back another.

A Western Tanager dives down to catch insects mid-air

A group of Western Tanagers were also spotted. Likely a stop on their migration to either the Cascades or Ochoco range.

The sighting is a rare treat, not only because of their brilliant colors, but also they only spend a few days in the canyon on their summer jaunt to the mountains.

Black-billed Magpie

We also got treated to a family of Redwing Blackbirds.

It appeared to be flight practice. We observed the family hopping along the tops of willow bushes at the river’s edge.

Often these trips are filled with long stretches of sitting quietly, watching the natural world move around us. Morning hours seem to be a good time to get the most of that activity.