My phone rang shortly after lunch Tuesday. It was the call I had been waiting all day for. "Hey Scott, it's Doug. Can you leave early?" There's a silly question.

We picked up Dave just after 2, and after a couples of hours behind the wheel rolled into Maupin heading south up the river canyon. The river had dropped quite a bit from when I had been out with Bill a few weeks earlier, and was looking good. We fished for a few hours before setting up camp, then headed into town to hit the 'Bow and wait for Paul.


The good Doctor Pants with a nice redside

Wednesday was great - on the water around 9:30, with a slight cloud cover and nip in the air. We didn't see another boat the entire day, and had a great time seeing what the winter's high water had done to our favorite stops.


View from the peanut gallery


A wonderful Deschutes rainbow


Nothing will put a smile on your face like tussling with a Big D redside

Paul had to roll out Wednesday night, so Doug, Dave and I hunkered down for another tough night at the 'Bow and were eager to explore above Maupin on Thursday.

Thursday arrived with a heavy cloud cover and slight drizzle; we were excited in the hopes of a March Brown or BWO hatch, but it wasn't too be. While we did see a few sporadic caddis and smaller BWO's, the hatch never materialized and it was a nymphing game.


Waiting for the hatch

We packed up late afternoon and headed north, eager to meet again for our trip in May to celebrate a friend's 50th birthday and explore some new water in Central Oregon.


Clouds rolling on the Big D

scott

What a great weekend.

Amy's brother, Matt, had a birthday in early March, and to celebrate my father-in-law Steve wanted to spend a weekend chasing steelies. Twist my arm.

We headed out early on Saturday, driving out the gorge to meet up with some family friends, Dan and his son-in-law Don. I had fished the same river with Dan and Steve last year, and was looking forward to seeing Dan again and enduring some more ribbing about the "elitist fly fisherman" that I am.



On the river, the temp was hovering in the mid 30's with a light snowfall. We split up, with the guys heading down river looking for more suitable hardware water, leaving the unfished fly run open.



I started at the top and worked my way down; towards the tail end of the run, I felt a subtle pause in the drift and lifted the rod - fish on! A beautiful, bright native hen, stripping line and putting a huge grin on my face. I finally coaxed her in and released her, then took a minute or two to sit on a rock.

I managed another brief hookup in that same run, but unfortunately it was all too brief - I lost him within a matter of seconds as he gave me the head shake. I reeled in and headed downriver to meet up with Dan.


The Boys - Don, Dan, Steve, and Matt

The five of us headed into town to meet the ladies for lunch, and returned to the river afterwards for the rest of the afternoon. Unfortunately for me, no additional luck, but a great day on the water.

Sunday, Matt, Steve and I headed west into the Coast range. Steve and I had been on the same river in early December checking out spawning salmon, and were curious to know if the recent rain had brought any fresh winter steelies in.



The river was low and clear, and while steelheading was slow Steve was able to land one nice trout. Of course, who catches trout on a steelhead trip?



Towards the end of the day, Matt had a nice take, but the fish hit hard and ran fast, breaking him off almost immediately. Thus is steelheading...





A happy birthday Matt, and hope to do it again next year.

scott