Fishing

Wandering the Southern Oregon Coast, 2021

With Veterans Day falling on a Thursday we decided to make a long weekend of it and escape to a location that was too far for a regular weekend. With cold weather and some snow on the east side of the Cascades we narrowed down our choices and headed to the South Coast. The quickest way to get to the Brookings vicinity is actually through California, down Hwy 199, the Redwood Highway, so we took off and headed there for an overnight along the Smith River. Things have been brown and dry in Central Oregon for a while so it was nice to wake up to blooming shrubs and lots of green the morning of Veterans Day.

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High in the Pines, 2021

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.

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Forks of the John Day, 2021, Part 3, Main John Day

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 scene as you slip away from it all down the John Day
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