We made a trip to Delintment Lake, high in the pines in eastern Oregon. There’s not much of a report. Casts were made, fish were caught, we sat back and enjoyed what we could see of the stars through the smoke. Mainly it was just good to get away. And in rejoicing about deciding to go, instead of to stay, I was reminded of a passage from John Muir.
Our last stop on our 2021 tour of the John Day started the morning after our last stop ended, with an early morning launch at Service Creek. Near as we could tell we were the first boat on the river, shoving of right at 8 a.m. just beating the crowd that was showing up as we were finishing up the last bit of loading. It was a beautiful sunny and calm morning. Weather perfect, the only question remaining was were the bass biting? The short answer – yes. Perfect weather was in the forecast, fish were biting, and the crowds were cut by the permit system, which was not in effect last time we were on the river. You can try it both ways, but I’m here to tell you, the river was immeasurably more enjoyable this time around. Could we ask for anything more? Maybe, but let’s not get greedy.
The John Day River is the longest undammed river in Oregon. We were able to get out and enjoy a few pieces of it this spring. Our first stop was the South Fork, catching up to it flowing north toward Dayville. The South Fork is a decent sized stream, especially during spring runoff, surrounded by a picturesque canyon through most of it's run before it spills into the main fork of the John Day. Coincidentally,…