Malheur, 2019

Labor day had come and gone. Summer fishing adventures in the high Cascades are winding down and we are moving on to our list of fall destinations. Counting the possible destinations and the number of weekends available until Thanksgiving rolls around, it seems the numbers don’t quite match up. But, we’ll get out to see what we can see and maybe have a list left over for next year. The first stop turned out to be a trip to the high country of the Malheur National Forest, and the headwaters of the Malheur river.

This is familiar country to me but I haven’t visited in a long time. I used to hunt deer and elk here regularly but with how difficult it is to draw a tag now in Oregon and how lousy the hunting is I’ve concentrated more on fishing the last several years. It was good to be back and see the country again. With the days getting shorter we arrived in the dark on Friday night. First up on Saturday was a hike in the Strawberries to High Lake.

High Lake, down in the bowl, almost hidden by the ridge
High Lake
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Deadhorse Lake, 2019

Did you ever just want to get away from the crowds, boats, hikers and noise? Living in the chaos that is Bend gets you thinking about that kind of stuff all the time. A bit of a trip east or south usually is a good cure. This weekend we went south and found Deadhorse Lake. It wasn't the ultimate cure, as it seemed that water, in a place that has very little, is still a…

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Spring, 2019, A Reservoir, A River and High Mountain Lakes

The end of May and first part of June have been a bit of a whirlwind. The weather turns nice this time of year, and there are a lot more options of places to see and things to do. The last few weeks we’ve had the opportunity to enjoy a variety of nice water, including a trip to a reservoir, a wild and scenic river and a couple nice high mountain lakes.

The Reservoir

We tried to go to Prineville Reservoir last year when we heard of epic crappie catches. Then the water dropped too low and we just didn’t make it in time. This year we hit it at full pool and the crappie bite was still on. They were delicious.

Stormy on Prineville Reservoir
Camp on the Crooked River below Prineville Reservoir
Bucket of Crappie (one of three)
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