Steve's email:
Mornin’ Gents,
Report from the D: The fish are freaking stacked in the
runs like sardines!! (Well, OK, that might be a wee bit of an overstatement,
but there are most certainly some fish around!)
Charlie and I drove to the river in the pre-dawn only
to find several rigs already parked and the best spots already staked out
so we decided to head downriver and fish the water in the middle to
lower sections of the run. I opted to start in above a gentleman who was
fishing the middle run while Charlie continued further downriver and dropped in
well below him.
I watched this fella go one for two in the heart of the run,
and saw another single-hander directly across the river from us hook and land a
fish just before he slipped, went for a short swim-about, then dragged
himself to shore and headed back to his boat to dry out. Once the guy below me
finished fishing his way through the run, he turned, gave a wave, wished
me luck and headed out.
I continued fishing my way down, swinging an Undertaker on a
dry line until I arrived at the holding lie. I decided my best bet might be
to show the fish something different, so I tied on Todd’s now infamous “Little
Wang” - black with a green butt.
At the lower end of the bucket, just as the LWGB was sliding
out of the chop and into the softer water, a huge bulge appeared behind
the fly, then a gaping white maw absolutely crushed the poor little penile
creature. It was one of those super-hot fish that went totally ballistic
at the sting of the hook, melted line off the reel at an incredibly insane
clip, then exploded way upriver in a hell-bent for destruction,
end-over-end catapult while the fly line was still way downriver, making me
wonder if it was even possible that this was the same fish I was currently
doing battle with.
It was one of the best tussles I’ve had in quite some time! I
was finally able to tire her enough to lead her into shallower water. I
could see she was a beautiful wild hen and I didn’t want to chance harming
her just for a picture, so I quickly snapped this shot just before
tailing her, slipping the hook out and gently sending her back on her
way. Really a special fish - nickel bright, super broad across the back
and perfectly formed. Although the picture makes her look a bit smaller than
she actually was (they always do, don’t they?! =), I’d guess she was
pushing the 10lb mark, maybe even a touch heavier.
Charlie fished a Pom Skater through the lower sections and at
one point had a steelie absolutely explode all over his fly,
somehow miraculously managing NOT to impale itself on the hook in the
process. Unfortunately, try though he might, he was unable to coax it
back for a second go-around.
As I finished fishing my way through the run I noticed that a
sled had somehow sneaked in and parked just above me (My hearing must be even
worse than I thought). It turned out to be Tom Larimer and his camera
crew shooting some footage for an upcoming spey fishing video. Tom’s an
old friend of both of ours and we had a nice visit with him and his crew,
then we headed upriver to the uppermost run which had by this time been
abandoned by it’s earlier occupants.
It was approaching noon and beginning to get really
warm, but we decided to give it a quick go anyway, so we put tips on and
divvied up the run with Charlie going up to the top and me starting in
about mid-way down. I had neglected to throw my tube flies in the sling-pack
(which is typically what I fish on tips) so for kicks I tried something
really different and lashed a size 6 low-water Night Dancer onto six feet
of 10 lb. Maxima and attached that to 10 feet of T-14, fully expecting never to
see that fly again.
I’d made maybe half a dozen casts and had just reached the
full length of my shooting head, when about midway through the swing, the rod
darn near got ripped out of my hand. The take was so violent that even
Charlie saw it from his station way upriver.
It didn’t take but a few seconds to realize that this
was not a typical Deschutes river fish, given the super-long, super-strong runs
even with mega pressure applied. After a lengthy battle, I was finally
able to tire her enough that Charlie, who had come down to help land her, was
able to get a hand around the wrist of her tail. I’m guessing this was a
stray B-run fish from the Clearwater. We snapped a couple of pics and then
allowed her to continue on her journey. I know, I know. She’s just a
hatchery brat, but I have a soft spot where the Idaho bound fish are concerned
and just couldn’t bring myself to harvest her.
We decided to run into town during the heat of the day to
grab a burger and shake at Big Jim’s in The Dalles, then return to give it
one last shot when the sun left the water - which we did, but unfortunately
with no further excitement. Given water temps that were pushing seventy degrees
by this time, the fish may have been less active than they were in the
morning when temps were closer to the comfy sixty degree mark.
I gave Charlie one of my coveted Little Wang GB's to fish the
evening session with, and he really liked it. (Shocker, eh?! =) In fact,
he asked if I could get some info on the foam you use Todd, i.e. type,
size and maybe where you typically get it.
Anyhoo - that’s the haps from the D boyz!
Steve
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