Tag: Crooked River

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A Quiet Day

 

This week, with constant din on social media and political static on email we thought it would be good to take a break. Phones were turned off and we headed to a favorite stream bank.

The days are cooler but not cold and there is the threat of ‘first snow’ in the forecast. But the Crooked River offered a quiet pause before dropping back into the media storm.

The turmoil surrounding us right now will ease. There is a new challenge ahead, but for now we’ll stay safe and hunker down against the storm.

We hope you’re able to do the same.  As for next week, well we plan on going back out into the world … just not any place with lots of people.

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Season’s End

 

What is surely the last hot days of summer came this week.  Today it rained and the forecast is for cooler temperatures.

But this week we sat on the banks of the Crooked River and sought elusive patches of shade as the heat of midday beat down on us.

Yes … fall is a favorite time of year, but more to the point, we like that there are four seasons.

That space when the seasons are changing offers a perfect blend of both. We manage to take advantage of what every season offers.

Right now, fall weather is overtaking summer. Crisp mornings require caps, scarves and even gloves for the walk. The required sweater will be shucked by afternoon but never far from hand.

Winter’s snow may be early this year, it may stick around longer and deeper, but for now, we are taking in what is best about autumn days and trying to catch migratory flights and Fall Caddis hatches.

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Good Fortune at the River

Not sure what happened.

Time of day, day of the week, or maybe just heat of summer …  regardless, there was no one at our favorite picnic site on the Crooked River!

 

And then we were visited by an osprey and treated to aerial acrobatics and maneuvers …, good luck indeed.

Monday we got going early to avoid afternoon heat. We were ready for what had become typically packed campgrounds and had riparian picnic gear at hand.

As has become custom, we start with a fetch/swim at the reservoir, which has been drawn down quite a bit.

Wet and happy dog back in the car we head down into the canyon and search out a parking spot on the river.

Over the past few months the river has been unusually crowded, however today Post Pile CG was completely empty. It stayed that way until we left about 3 pm.

The other thing that stayed away was August heat. These last few weeks have seen temperatures hit near ninety by noon. Shade trees aided with a light breeze up the canyon offered pleasant reading sites all day.

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A Day Trip

This week marked the start of summer and saw Deschutes County dipping a tentative toe into reopening. We remain masked against the potential second wave, avoiding areas of population while still seeking out forest retreats.

Fishing, hiking and photography have offered good distractions and excellent means of social distancing over the last few months.

As society stumbles back to some semblance of normal, if that is even possible, the river banks we frequent are seeing increased pressure. BLM (Bureau of Land Management.) opened Crooked River camping this past week, which greatly increased traffic on parking sites.

Discovering a tent set up in our favorite spot, we moved downriver a couple of miles.

This new stretch of river is more of a canyon with rock walls dominating the far bank.

It is every bit as peaceful and will be added to the list of potential stops.

There are lots of places within an hour’s drive of our house offering fishing, views, trails or a combination of all those.

Day trips will continue to present a great way to maintain a level of sanity in these chaotic times.

New Photo Essay … check it out!

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Tight-line Dead Drift

For a few years now we’ve been dabbling with the ‘Euro-nymphing’ flyfishing technique. About this time last year we got some formal instruction from Mary Ann Dozer. Then this week we finally broke down and purchased a dedicated euro-nymph rod.

I found an Orvis ten foot three weight that cost less than two hundred dollars. It arrived this week, so we took it out for a test cast on the Crooked River.

Euro, or tight line nymphing uses a two fly rig with weighted wet flies or split shot. As the name implies this is fished with the line kept taut through the arch of the drift.

The day was warm, for mid-February, and sunny. We hooked up to several fish and caught a couple of decent ones. There is an old adage which says, “a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work.”

Well … this was a GREAT day on the river.