Never Trust Averages

On average, I’ve caught one Steelhead per year over the last six years. Oh, never mind the fact that I was zero for the first five years and caught six this year. You got that right, I was skunked for five straight years and finally hit the jackpot this year.

Last month, Todd Grigsby from Hyperion along with Todd Williver, Don Hundt and Bret Hodgert and I went Steelheading on the Lower Deschutes. We started just below Maupin at Macks Canyon and floated to the mouth of the Deschutes at the Columbia River. If you’ve never seen this part of the Northwest, it’s breathtaking.

Grigsby picked me up at the Portland airport and we headed over to Maupin to meet Williver. Don and Bret had floated down river that Thursday to find our preferred camp. Which camp you ask? One will never tell J. We arrived around 11pm and began loading our gear into Todd’s drift boat to ensure we would be the first boat down the river on Friday morning.

This weekend was a non jet boat weekend on the Deschutes but there were nearly 200 boaters passes for the weekend. 5am came early and we heard the trucks rush down the dirt road, we packed up our cots, threw our gear in the boat and started the journey to camp. Weather was perfect. Mid-70’s and overcast skies. Water temperature was warm but the river was pretty cloudy. Williver tried his hand at the river the night before with no luck.

We all agreed that we would push through and head down to camp. After a three-hour float, we arrived into camp before noon and it was all we could do to setup camp and get into the river as fast as possible. Don caught one fish the night before just outside camp.

Within 2 hours, Williver and I each had a 6lb Steelhead in the cooler. Amazing. Five years and zero fish – I was done. If I didn’t catch another fish, I would have been happy as a clam. Both fish were hatchery fish which means you can keep them. How do you determine if a fish is wild or hatchery? Very simple, hatchery fish from Oregon have their adipose fin shaved off when they are little. As you can see, these fish have no rear fin on their topside.

Fishing calmed down that Friday afternoon as the sun rose high in the late summer sky. Board games and card games were in order. Around 5:30, most were eyeballing a nap, and I was anxious to test the waters again. Williver brought along a 9’ one-man pontoon boat which was a perfect watercraft for reaching the schoal mid-river. It was quite a float rowing up into the fast water to land on the schoal at 10 knots per hour. Williver said to get to the top of the island and fish the seam back down to the rocks. Easier said than done. The water was ripping and was chest high. One lost footing and you were swimmin’. I pressed my way up river, got a good position and casted the nymphs into the seam. Within 5 minutes, I had the 2^nd Steeley on the line and was inching my way back to the island to land him. It was a nice hatchery fish about 26”. That’s the limit for keepers but I kept on fishing for the experience. Over the next 20 minutes, I hooked and landed three more Steelhead. Five fish in one day? I couldn’t believe it. I was feeling guilty so I rowed the pontoon back, but the fish had pushed through. Bret tried his hand at the seam but to no avail. Saturday morning, I hooked two and landed one wild fish.

By noon on Saturday, the fishing was completely done. After that time, no one person from our group touched or landed a Steelhead. The switch was flipped. The temperature of the river dropped and the skies parted making for a bluebird day .

This trip was a fishing experience of a lifetime. I’m very grateful to be able to pursue these awesome fish with such great friends.

Fishing in Cabo

Two hours out to the fishing ground from the Cabo Marina. We spend an hour catching Yellow Fin Tuna among the small herd of porpoises then it was off to find the big fish. Not 10 minutes later did we see a huge sailfish on the surface. The captain slowed down and the first mate casted a live bait fish on the line out towards the fish. Within seconds it was on the line and we were off the races. Omar asked 'Do you want to mount this?" Good question. Surprisingly, I passed. It was a 7 Foot Sailfish. It took us 20 minutes to get it up to the boat. Awesome!

Here is the largest of the three Yellow Fin Tunas. Suzanne and Parker had it for dinner that night and we packed the rest back to the California.

Cast & Blast 2007 – What a Difference a Year Makes

Both father and son anxiously await our fall tradition through the football season. As the gridiron schedule draws to a close, we make final arrangement for our annual Oregon Cast & Blast weekend. This year football ended on a high with Parker’s team winning the championship after getting off to a slow 0-2 start. Parker had an outstanding season scoring 26 points at fullback but now it was time to turn our energy towards hunting and fishing as we so regularly do at this time of year.

Parker & I arrived in Portland around 10:00pm on Friday night to head over the pass and meet up with my friend Doug Barton and his father, Clair. After three hours of solid rain, we arrived in Camp Sherman, unloaded the gear and hit the sack.

After our customary greasy spoon breakfast we got our licenses and some last minute rain gear and headed to Madras to meet Jim and his pack of short hairs. Rain was constant with temps in the 40’s with little winds.

Just moments after getting into the field the chatter started about who will take the prize of the worst shot for the day. Normally that would be me. This year things would be different as Parker and I were in sound shooting form as we’d been practicing every Sunday for the past three months at the local trap shooting club. No perfect scores but lots of rounds in the twenties.

This year Parker grew several inches and bulked up considerably since last fall. Consequently he outgrew his 28 gauge Ruger Red Label so I suited him up with a new 20 gauge Benelli. Our last round at the trap club he turned in two consecutive scores over twenty marking 21 and 23. Not bad considering he was averaging 13 the year before.

Our hunting party hit the field and Parker had a much greater sense of confidence given his consistency at the trap club. On the first pass Parker and I each picked up three chukkar’s apiece. Parker was on his game and dropped birds from the sky in a reflex action. It was quite an amazing sight.

It’s such a great feeling to see your son succeed at a sport you love so much. He shot more on this first pass than he did all of last year. Beyond handling a shotgun, he had much more awareness of the hunting situation and was very engaged in the day. I’m not sure how many birds, it didn't matter. This was a day I'll remember the rest of my life. The day it 'clicked' for Parker.

On Sunday we got an early start and headed off to the Deschutes to try our hand at the most challenging sport fish in central Oregon – Steelhead. It rained so hard this day that we had to bail the boat three times just to empty the rain water. Can you say wet and soggy? The weather didn’t deter us. Parker caught 11 fish and I 3. By 2.30 my Goretex gear gave up and I was starting to drenched so we headed for the boat ramp. Earlier in the day Todd caught a small Steelhead which we had for dinner Sunday night along with barbeque chukkar.

Doug and Clair left Monday morning and Parker, Todd & I headed for Corvallis to go duck hunting with a friend of Todd’s. Naturally the weather turned and it was clear and sunny – not exactly ideal for duck hunting. We saw hundreds and shot two. It was quite the experience and something we’ll need to pursue more often. Parker loved it as much as I did.

In reflecting on the past year, I still can’t get over all the changes in Parker. His hunting and ability to handle a shotgun with great consistency is but one of many wonderful changes. He’s growing up to be a great young man and already I’m looking forward to next year’s Cast & Blast.