Upcoming Awesomeness

Like every other American there are going to be some changes going on as of the first of the year. Be ready for a all new look to LTD. There are going to be more reports, some tutorials and all around jaw dropping, mind blowing, thought provoking accounts of Living The Dream. Living To Drift!

2012 is going to be a good year, so go out and enjoy it!

Recon Trip?

What exactly does a recon fishing trip look like? A day where you hook into a fish at every spot they typically hold, a day where the water is crystal clear and you can see every little nook and cranny of the river bottom. I don’t know if there is a true definition of a recon trip but that was my plan as of Friday morning.

Leading up to Thursday night I was going to skip this weekend because once again you can’t trust weather forecasters. Not a single drop had fallen since the first week of December, which means low and clear water conditions. I had told my fishing partners on Wednesday when we got together to tie fly’s that this weekend was going to be spent with the Wifey doing the HTD (honey to do, completely opposite of LTD) list. So thinking about the HTD list more and more I decided that this weekend could be better spent as a recon trip on the river, you know learn the river and the underlying structures. There it was Friday morning I talked to the guys and the day was planned.

Although knowing that this was going to be a recon trip and not to worry about hooking into fish, that is all I could think about once on the water. And once on the water that is exactly what all the other boats were doing, hooking into fish. No more than five minutes and one run down a set of rapids there were 4 boats all hooking into fish, some had claimed they landed 3, others 4. Between not having our rods setup and the massive amounts of people we decided to push on and hope there were more spots like this, but as most fishing trips turn out there where not any more spots like that one. We saw a lot of water that could be good and a lot of water that could be epic once the flows increase and the water rises a bit. 

Just keep casting

This past Saturday my good friends Jesse and Jay decided to float the Nestucca with me. It was what I had been waiting for since I pulled the boat out of the water last Saturday. Over the last week the water level has been steadily dropping to 4.8ft due to the fact that there has been no rain. The cutoff point to not float is 4.5ft. It was getting low when we went, but a day on the water is better than not. Thankfully the forecast for the coming weeks is RAIN.

The day started off exciting with a near “man overboard”, which ended up being the biggest rush of adrenaline for the entire float. After the near brush with a cold water bath you ask Jay what happened to him, he claims “there was ice on the bottom of the boat, and I just slipped”. I believe it was a mix between that he hadn’t gotten his sea legs and his constant waving of his arms which where his attempts to cast causing his balance to get off.

So with the near bath behind us we pushed on looking for some steal. Jesse was putting his fly in the perfect spots, hitting the seams and tail outs with that sweet walking pace water. About two hours into the flout hit got the grab. Indicator went screaming underwater then “pop” it came right back to the surface. He reeled it in and the fly had been taken clean off the line. After you see your fly taken clean off the line all you can do is tie on another and keep casting. That is exactly what Jesse did, and he did it for the rest of the day. Tying on a new fly and casting back in the water, tie on a new fly cast back in the water. That happened over and over just about 7 times, you could see the look of frustration building on his face throughout the day. What made the situation worse is that he let the only take of the day slip through his fingers. 

The day was not a total bust each Jesse and Jay both hooked into a trout near the end of the float. 

Where is your big brother?

So I am just now getting around to reporting on this weekend’s outing due to our busy schedule. Friday we had a Christmas get together with our Sunday School group which was a blast, we ended the night of with a game of hide and seek throughout our whole church. Saturday was spent on the water and Sunday, I don’t know which was more exciting getting our cable hooked up Sunday or fishing on Saturday. All I know is that we spent our Sunday afternoon watching everything that the fabulous direct tv had to offer.

Back to the important stuff, fishing. My good buddy Jesse came out with me, he has been Stillwater fly fishing for years, but just getting into the world of river fishing. It was a blast seeing him and the excitement that he had to try and get his hands on one of those magnificent chrome fish. Throughout the day we ended up landing 3 rainbows which averaged at about 13 inches, all Jesse could say is “where is your big brother?” He had 2 good bites at a steelhead, but they never developed into a fish. Once again all of those fish took the egg pattern, this is a must have fly for this season. I got little time to wet my line, as I wanted to see if I could get Jesse hooked into his first steelhead on a fly rod. I love being on the sticks, I am learning how to move the boat with little effort and I feel like I am seeing the water differently than if I was up front fishing. I am starting to spot the seams and slots better than ever, and I am starting to recognize possible holding spots for fish, I can’t wait for the big winter run of steelhead.

Even though we didn’t get into any steelhead it was a great day on the water. The high for the day was around 50 degrees with no rain or wind just a lot of sunshine. Since being on the water, when I am off I am constantly thinking about fly variations or different areas the fish might be holding in, I guess this is my realization that I am fully addicted to this sport, what do you do but “LTD”. 

Stunning

This is a must watch Video. It shows how great it is to live in a place like Oregon.