Chasing tail in Eastern Oregon

Monday, July 31, 2006

Well, I took a week off, loaded up the car and the girls, and made our annual trek east to work wheat harvest for my father-in-law.

Steve farms just north of Pendleton; the ranch has been in the family for three generations, and while the technology has changed the process has not. All total, he farms just under two thousand acres, and recently transitioned 600 of that into the Federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). That being said, Steve is farming about 600 acres a year, cutting his harvest time from almost 3 weeks to a long week and a half.

This is Elsa's second harvest, and she, of course, has a great time...




Elsa enjoying lunch in the field with the boss, my brother-in-law Matt, and mom...








Riding in the "yom-bine" with Papa...

I split my time working for Steve to assist Amy's Uncle with roofing his cabin on the Umatilla. Mark and Gail suffered a wicked fire last fall, completing burning their cabin to the ground. He just finished framing it in and is in the process of sealing it up before winter...





It wasn't all work, as Mark has 5 acres all along the river with excellent trout pools...to beat the 110 degree heat we did some snorkeling and found several spawning salmon in the deeper holes.

Elsa, of course, is a trout bum in training and was obsessed with petting the little redsides as we removed the #14 adams...



scott

Thursday, July 20, 2006

It had been a while since I fished with Jason. We fished for years together, had some crazy adventures, but for the past year or so we couldn't line up schedules. So, it was great when we got a day on the books.

We met up after work Monday, threw gear in the Toyota, and fought traffic. Rolling into Mecca right at sunset, we rigged up with some caddis dries and briefly cast to rising trout in the back eddy just above camp. The evening was cool and clear, with sporadic shooting stars and entertaining conversation drifting over from the teenage group of rafters on the other side of camp...there are a lot of ages I look back fondly on, but I can honestly say you could not pay me to live through 13 again.



The next morning was sunny and hot from the get go. We knew it was going to be an early game, as once the sun hit the water the river would shut down. We hit the Warm Springs launch early, 7 AM, and were into trout within a few casts. Big fish, working some of the water close to the bank and cover.



We had a great morning, but once the day heated up and the sun was on the river, it shut down. We still managed a few trout, but after about 10:30 it was slow. Of course, a beer and hefty lunch didn't help our motivation out, and we spent more time lounging in the shade watching rafters during the afternoon than actively pursuing trout.

We hit the Trout Creek takeout around 4, kicked back and loaded up the boat. I don't know when I'll hit the D again, or when I might get a chance to be out with Jason, but I had a great day on the water and am already dreaming of fall days and blue winged olives...



scott