Fishing

Chickahominy!, 2018

We’ve driven by on the way east many times, the sign always beckoning, but the time not allowing a visit.  This past weekend it was finally the destination.

 

 

Chickahominy is a reservoir in the high desert of eastern Oregon.  Several hundred acres of water seem a bit out of place in the sagebrush ocean of Harney County.  Along with the reservoir is a campground with well over 30 sites, a nice boat ramp and lots of fishing opportunities with views for miles.  Saturday was going to be the nicest day in a week and it was time to start getting out and about.  After a short drive we had a campsite with a lake view and were quickly trolling.  Before long we started getting some takers and it didn’t take too much to figure out where the biters were.

 

Trolling Chickahominy

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Reflecting on Rivers, 2017

November typically signals the end to river floating season.  In the past, seeing November roll around was a bit depressing.  No more floating, fishing is pretty much over and the days are really short on daylight.  It seems nowadays there’s no shortage of things to get done in November, so it’s not all that depressing, but it still marks the end of river floating season.  And wow, was 2017 a season for floats.

I feel very lucky to be able to live in a place that I can float 7 rivers in a year (some multiple times) all within a one day drive of the doorstep. So these are my thoughts reflecting back on a year of being lucky enough to float over 360 miles on 7 rivers in Oregon in 2017.

Deschutes

James Bond Isle

How amazing is it to have the Deschutes as your backyard river?  1.5 hours to the put in, abundant permits, amazing trout fishing with bonus steelhead in the fall, and great camping and even hiking if you make the time for it. Trips to the Deschutes are kind of the bookend to the floating season. It is typically one of, if not the first trips of the season and is also commonly the last trip. It seems like it is always a good time to float the Deschutes with a wide season of good weather, predictable flows and great fishing, I don’t know what else to ask of a river.  Fishing seems like it is on the decline, but I don’t ever see a year in the future without the Deschutes.

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Idaho 2017, Part 1

With the end of fire season and cool weather in the forecast it was time to hit the road for a week off.  Off to the high country of Idaho.  Your vision of Idaho may be from I-84 passing through the southern part of the state.  If so you may equate Idaho with a weedy wasteland of dairy cows and junk cars.  And that is what is it.  Trust me.  Disregard the rest of this post and stay home.

We were Stanley bound, but we decided to take a day getting there and made our way up into the Payette River country and stayed overnight on the way.  The river, mountains and forests were beautiful and call for a visit of their own.

South Fork Payette River

 

Payette Colors

We enjoyed an evening around the fire and were up the next day for the short drive the rest of the way to Stanley Lake.

The inlet campground at Stanley Lake is about how I left it last time I was there, which seems like quite a few years back.  There’s a few less trees, and a few more dead ones, and the infrastructure is wearing out without much maintenance, but the mountains and lake don’t change.  Beautiful as ever.

Mt. McGown from Stanley Lake

 

Stanley Lake

 

There are lots of memories at this lake.  It is always good to be back.

 

A view you never tire of

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