Crooked River – Page 10

July 31, 2022August 6, 2022

Dog Days

Once past the summer equinox, days are getting shorter and in Central Oregon, progressively hotter. During these dog days, our schedule shifts toward sunrise and early morning departures. While it may be hitting triple digits by noon, the day usually starts off cool.

At this point in the summer, cool is a relative term. High desert spring mornings often include frost and the need to don a hoody.

However, by July we are withering under 105ºF afternoon heat. So it’s nice to start the day at a brisk 60º. This week we took advantage of a pleasant morning along the river.

You can shave a few degrees off the thermometer in the shaded riparian. There are a few choice spots on the river offering decent fishing and sufficient shade trees.

Wildlife activity seems to shift to morning hours as well. We’re still treated to birds and water fowl along the river. Stepping out from under the shade to cast a line, the breeze across the river and the water itself stave off the worst of the summer sun.

By the time the afternoon sun has penetrated under the juniper boughs, we are back in AC with iced drinks and eBooks. It looks like there might be a cooling trend this coming week, with daytime mercury only raising into the 80’s. We’ll continue to plan around early mornings for a few more weeks.

July 17, 2022July 16, 2022

A Day on the River

Summer in Central Oregon starts out full of sunny, warm days that transition to the dog days with sweltering afternoons. There is a shift in how long it takes for the morning chill to burn off.

By August we’ll seek AC spaces for midday retreats. This week we took advantage of one of those slowly warming summer days to sit along the river.

The Crooked River canyon has started to shift to the brown tones of summer. Along river’s edge there are still green grasses and a few remaining blossoms.

While the migratory birds have moved on, the juniper trees and willow bushes are still alive with activity. We even manage to catch glimpses of Osprey stalking the river and raptors hunting the canyon edges.

The day is balmy and we don’t even need to move camp chairs into patches of shade until the late afternoon sun really starts to beat down. Fishing is pretty good and our iPads are full of reading material. We fill cups from a thermos of ice tea and munch on crackers spread with Mettwurst (German spreadable smoked pork sausage) and cream cheese.

Dappled light casts shadows through juniper boughs

By late afternoon the wind picks up so we pack the car and head home. There will be lots more trips to the Crooked. In the weeks to come, we’ll be more dependent on shade trees and actually look forward to afternoon winds coming off the river.

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.
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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.

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.

February 20, 2022February 20, 2022

Always an Eye on the Weather

Spring-like weather continues … although, this week was pretty low key. We had an appointment with our tax person, which required time collecting papers. the house was in need of some above ‘regular’ cleaning, and there were a couple of canning projects.

We did make it out to the stream late in the week. Didn’t fish, just set up chairs along the bank, had a picnic and watched wildlife.

JQ took some photos and I got in some drone practice. In all … a very mellow week.

This winter started out with above average snows and raised local’s hopes for some drought relief.

Unfortunately, reservoirs are at record low levels, to the point that even an average snow pack won’t be enough. It would, however, have gone a long way toward easing Central Oregon’s water crisis.

Well, this past December was followed by a record dry January. We went from a hundred and ten percent snow pack to eighty-five and relief isn’t in the forecast.