I picked up a pair of hitchhikers on 3rd Street in Bend (I’m not talking about ticks this time), and neither of them seemed to know the other. The guy asked what I knew about panning for gold and the girl wanted to tell me she had read The River Why. And isn’t that like all the people that come to Central Oregon?
One of the funny things I’ve noticed is on places like East Lake or Paulina or on Crane Prairie or Lava Lake, the fishermen stream back to the launch for happy hour. It’s not because they caught so many fish, it’s because they have dinner reservations at a brewpub in Bend. They leave the lake at the exact moment the fishing is getting good. Nothing wrong with not catching fish, except not catching fish.
I made a list of fishing towns in our part of the world, and it seems I could make the same list and call them drinking towns. Perhaps this is the core of the problem. Tourists come to a drinking town for vacation, but they have a fishing problem.
Places to Fish
They fish in the toughest part of the day and then want a beer because the fishing was bad. Here’s a thought: drink a beer in the middle of the day and go fishing when the fishing is good!
I spoke to a fly-fishing club from Bellingham, Wash., and they wanted to hear about Central Oregon rivers. They knew about the big four – the Deschutes, Crooked, Fall, and Metolius. To fish them well, an angler is probably going to base out of Bend, Sunriver, Prineville, or Sisters, all towns with great restaurants and more than a few brewpubs. And also cone-lickers.
What about the White River? There are sections of the White that never get fished and the trout can get big. Or the John Day where an angler can catch 100 bass on the fly on any day in July or August. Or fish the McKenzie where the trout chase caddis above the surface! The North Fork Santiam above Detroit Lake can deliver great dry fly action. The Ana River fishes almost all year long with reliable hatches and a lake nearby (Ana Reservoir) with trophy trout. The Williamson can turn out wild trout that tip the scales in the teens and they take dry flies! The Upper Klamath Keno Reach can turn out crawdad-eating six-pound rainbows any day in October. How about the Wood? The Upper Willamette? The East Fork of the Hood? The Chewaucan? There are more.
Remember your Map
Get out a map. Accordingly, you still have a map, don’t you? Trace those little ribbons of blue and find the nearest towns. You’ll find places like Service Creek, Spray, Sumpter, Maupin, Tygh Valley, Summer Lake, Parkdale, Paisley (yes, Paisley), Westfir, Chiloquin, Blue River, and Wamic.
Fish the small rivers. Stay in the small towns. Stay at a bed and breakfast or in a tent, and get your breakfast at the tavern, and dinner too. Drop off a six-pack at the nearest fly shop and see what kind of good stuff they have been holding back. Drink coffee with the locals.
Therefore, Use a map and maybe a GPS to find hidden treasures – the places where you can’t see the stream from the road, but you find a place to park and go down through the timber to the sound of the water. Wet wade and cast dry flies till sunset.
Wherever you fish this coming year, look at the landscape like a hitchhiker. Let’s say you get dropped off in a small town in Utah, Wyoming or Washington instead of a Salt Lake, Seattle, or Cheyenne. Don’t fish the big name waters. Fish the places you’ve never heard of.
I like to think that pair of hitchhikers is going to get married. On the honeymoon they would decide to compromise and devote their lives to protecting golden trout. And hopefully they can afford their own car. And deodorant.
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For a copy of the Fishing Central Oregon book, send $34.99 to Gary Lewis Outdoors, PO Box 1364, Bend, OR 97709 To contact Gary Lewis, visit www.GaryLewisOutdoors.com
