Friday, March 6, 2015

Boise via Central Oregon Trip.

Hey All,

Finally got to go on an adventure.  Sean had to make a trip to Boise, so he called and asked if I would like to spend a couple days exploring Central Oregon waters?  The weather was predicted to be mild and sunny.

We had a couple phone conversations on where we would go, and when we would leave.  It was to be his last day working the day shift, starting the graveyard when he got back.  This sort of gave us an extra day.

I had been wanting to go to the Crooked River at Smith Rocks.  It would make a great background for some fishing shots.  And there was easy access to both sides of the river.

Sean decided that he wanted to leave as soon as he got off work.  He would have all his stuffed packed, pick me up, and off we would go.  Now this is February.  It's still "winter" even though the temps have been mild, but it gets dark around 5:30 or so.  A three hour drive, find a campsite, and set up camp in the dark.  Not unheard of, but hey, I'm getting old.  Comfort is a big deal to me.

Well, Sean had heard that it was good fishing below the dam at Prineville Reservoir.  Maybe we could run up to Smith Rocks after a day at the dam.

It was a pleasant drive over the Cascades, into Sisters.  No snow anywhere except the peaks of the mountains.  This is one dry winter.  May not be much water this summer.  Scary.

We pulled into Prineville about 7:30 that evening and stopped to get some dinner.  We wanted a burger and fries, but not fast food, so passed by the McDonalds and Dairy Queen and settled on a small, local diner.

We got into a conversation with a gentleman that had just moved to Oregon from Wyoming.  Nice guy and it made us feel good about this part of the country.  And the burger and fries were great.  Wish I could remember the name of the place.

Anyway,  back in the truck and off to find a campsite.  There were several BLM campsites on the road to the dam, but they had campers in them.  Not that we don't like people, just wanted solitude for our outing.  That, and to be as close to the dam as possible.

The last campground was empty, so we picked our spot, and set up camp.  It seemed a little colder than what the predictions were saying, but we were here, so make the best of it.

Rolled out our bags and went to bed.  Now, I've became a little bigger than when I bought my bag twenty some years ago.  It's a nice Marmot down bag.  Very warm, but has got a little confining on me.  I usually just unzip it and use it as a big, warm blanket.  Great for summer and fall, but it started to get cold!  Had to zip the thing up and crawl in.  It really made me feel like a mummy.  And I fought the zipper all night.

Oh, well, tomorrow will be great.

Sean got up before me, put on his gear, and started fishing.  I got up and started breakfast.  Priorities!

Finally got down to the river and started fishing.  Fished for about an hour with no strikes.  I was just goofing around while tying one night and made up a fly.  Called it the Tsunami Tommy, after Sean's son.  So I thought I would give it a try, being that I had forgot all my other fly boxes.  Just had a few in an Altoid tin.

So tied on the fly and let it drift.  BAM!  It got a hit.  That was awesome.  The fish liked my fly.  Caught six in a couple hours, with a few more strikes I didn't hook up.  They were  a couple rainbows, whitefish, and a redound.  I had never caught a redound before.  Beautiful fish.


Sean on the Crooked River.

We had lunch, took a nap, and fished the afternoon.  I shot a few photos, but was not impressed with the light.  Plus, I have a bad ankle, and after wadding all morning, it was giving me grief.

It was great spending the time with my son.  I wish Jon and Chris could have been there.  A lot of jerking each other around.  A late dinner and off to bed.


Late dinner.  Hot dogs and chile.

Will post more tomorrow.

Tom



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