Inspectre Rides Into Winter Mist.

Welcome to another edition of Neil Whitacre's travel and fishing blog. 

I got a chance to get back to Iowa the beginning of this month. And experienced the continued thrill of now looking at my home state with the eyes of a foreigner. 

I changed the name of this blog from Conflicted...       to Seagull + Fry    to more accurately reflect my feelings on the urban fishing experience.  A lone gull flies poetically through the fog somewhere and swoops for the tossed fry. 

                                                Spawned out Salmon on Eagle Creek.

 That painterly looking pink area on the head there is either fungal or crayfish plucking zone. It was odd and slightly disconcerting to see crayfish still very active and working on salmon carcasses in September. For one, crayfish are not native to this part of the country and they are probably pretty effective egg eaters.

                      The Blue Angel at the back of Greenwood Cemetary in Muscatine, Iowa. 

 She used to have a hand with a rose in it. We used to go into this cemetary at midnight on Halloween and hope to see her drop the rose. Instead what would happen is we would get chased out by the cops.

                                        Bri took me on my first visit to Mount St. Helens. 

Photo is of the cool 3D display to illustrate the path of the boiling river wall of mud and rock and trees that poured down the mountain that day.

                   Another doll house. This one is inside the barn at a home I was inspecting. 

         I suspect it takes more than a facebook level attention span to craft something like this.

Chicken Turtle shell found in Iowa. 

 My brother found this shell doing land surveying work in far Southeastern Iowa. A couple hundred miles north of its typical range.  The reptile nerd in me was thrilled at this anomaly. I called the Herp lab at Iowa State and left a message.

Sometimes there is fishing.  Sometimes fishing is all there is.

Bri and I continued our annual tradition of hitting the Icebreaker merino wool sale in November. 

 This one has a tarpon head on it. A face on it only the screech of your drag could love. 

                    A very recent drawing --  Life is Funny.                       

By this we do not mean funny. We mean all emotions all at once.  All the time.

I have been doing a lot of home inspecting and not a ton of fishing.  Thats how life is right ? We are all so afraid of being poor that all of us get out there and work almost every single day.  We might all mostly squelch our real talents for fear of poverty but maybe sometimes we don't crush ourselves with fear all the way. We are still an animal creature somehow. Sometimes inspiration creeps out. Forces itself out into the light of day. Or is it panic....that sets in. The feeling that I wont get to catch another Steelhead before death and we run outside and go fishing. Who can say.

                                   Mansion on the Mississippi River bluff in Muscatine, Iowa. 

I see seagulls in the flat mowed grass in the park across from my condo in portland - hunting worms.  I used to see gulls at the park that I would fish at in the 1980's in Musactine, Iowa. I am always impressed at gulls strange inland flyways - and where they will stop for food.  Even if that means eating parking lot fries sometimes.

                                                                      King Missile. 

Death of a salmon.  Big carcass providing nutrients to their future young in these cold clear nutrient poor rivers. It would be so much easier to spawn at sea like everybody else ?  I have no idea what the baby salmon - or alevins are eating to grow to 8" and then leave freshwater.  Seems miraculous to me that these young fish gain nutrients in these cold clear rivers. Startling to find out how much the nitrogen and other nutrients in the dead fish plays a role in riparian tree growth as well.

Godspeed Vincent

In May of 2003 I took a road trip up the east coast from Miami to New York stopping 6 or 7 places along the coast to camp and fish.  It was an ill advised trip as I had $500 to my name at the time and somewhere in central Florida I lost my jeep muffler on a mud road and put it back on with bungees. But the trip overall was a great experience. I have a many distinct memories of landing different fish on that trip. One that stands out is casting to these little mangrove snapper and sheepshead in a tiny mud creek through the marsh grass from my kayak and catching a Spanish Mackerel ! An electric blue fish of deep wide open salt water - waaaaaaay back up into a brackish marsh creek.  It is really for these kinds of impossible surprises that I fish.

                                                  Taking in some Portland Trailblazers

                                   A hero Bluegill locks eyes with a Snapper in a drawing. 

                             How we live now.  All 440 square rad feet of our tiny condo. 


                                       

                                                         
                                                    A creature of halloween dance party. 

                                          Forrest Sprite beast is serious about some shit. 

I have never had anything but positive experiences with octopi - with the 3 experiences I've had.  But this drawing needed conflict. But I hope no young landlubbers get the wrong idea.

I bought some egg pattern flies and am getting new waders and will be back in the river soon. Right now Portland is in the middle of getting a ton of rain. We are at 10.3" for just December 1 to 12. The rivers are all blown out and ultra muddy. The eggs laid in the fall wobble down in between the rocks in the river bed. Circle of Life dude.

          Left to Right: My Mom !  My Brothers sons - Woodson and Major - Bri  - and My Dad 

I will catch up with you all via this blog - WITH some fishing next time - the early part of next year.

Happy Holidays.

Neil

Slow Ghost Returns

I'm fishing again thanks to a slow and steady change of events and a very cool fiance.  

Fiance is just a fancy word for paella.  I've also become a licensed home inspector in the past few months.  And really,  I'm not conflicted at all about fishing. It may be the one thing I'm not conflicted about.  Cornbread also not very conflicting.

(I also now have a Bic inflatable paddleboard.  So now the goal for next is to catch a bass on fly on the paddleboard on the Willamette.  So hold me to that next summer please. )

Heavy Aqua Funk. Tetras and Swordtails in an aquarium during a home inspection. 

Flotilla of free rent - a living structure anchored in the middle of the Willamette River in Downtown Portland.  Always interesting to discuss the rental situation here in Portland.  We were lucky enough to purchase a tiny condo this spring to escape from the climbing rental prices.  

                                                                               

The mighty Bri Sabin at the confluence of Sandy River and Columbia.   They recently took out an earthen dam and allowed this channel to also flow to the Columbia.  So now Sundial Island is truly an island and supposedly salmon favored this channel in the past. 

Bri wearing out Howser.  East channel of Sandy River facing Sundial Island as seen from Thousand Acres dog and people park. 

Fish where you live.  Smallmouth Bass in the Willamette at Oregon City. I will go out on a limb and say that this fish is taking over the warming rivers along with the carp.  We can prop up the cold water Salmonid species as long as we can afford  - but these Bass do not need our dollars or help. I saw some Vietnamese guys catching them like crazy in deeper water than I would ever fish on Carolina rigs.  AND I also found a killer unconventional secret September bass spot for those who might want to go.  AND heard a rumor about a single huge Largemouth Bass in the Clackamas.  AND rumors ! AND heresay !

So you saw that I said "Fish where you live".  I'm also the wanker that will buy plane tickets specifically to go fish places. 

Always try to make time for a Herp Walk while fishing. This skink was sunning on some clay cliffs along the Clackamas River. 

I'm finding time to draw again as well.  I try to always have one drawing that I am working on.  I got into 3 shows this summer and was very lucky to sell several pieces. Bri has been very supportive of my drawings and I can't say enough positive about her influence on my life this past year. 

Miniature fireworks stand as part of a homemade dollhouse - seen while home inspecting.  

The quirk , the whimsy - let them wash over you. 

Hood Ornament.  Portland.  (See: Rumple Minze)

Remember that old anti-litter commercial with the Indian.  Drought conditions this year altered the entrance into Eagle Creek for returning Salmon. Typically there are 2 entrances. To the right in this photo is this big cauldron of scary spiraling current at where the Clack meets Eagle Creek. 

Eagle Creek at its confluence with the Clackamas - near that Cauldron. The lowest by far I've ever seen the water here.  I hopped across it.  The Coho plowed up it for several miles as evidenced by a few spent carcasses.  The run is likely peaking as I write this. 

A few Coho were spotted in Eagle Creek that were killed for just their eggs.  Really Stupid. 

Mountain Whitefish caught on egg pattern fly in the Clackamas.  Eggs are kinda the only hatch right now. So lots of fish become egg eatin' fools. 

Cave Bear skeleton at the new Cabelas here in town.  One of the saddest parts of fishing is getting that incredible rush when you go into a fishing store. As far as fishing stores in Portland - I highly recommend Northwest Fly Fishing Outfitters on about 109th n Halsey.  I always learn something when I go in there.  All the employees are also guides on local rivers so they are on the water a lot. 

Bonneville Dam fish ladder viewing window. Always worth a visit in September. 

Sturgeon in the fish ladder even. 

A great video on the damn and fish ladder by my friend David Barmon: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTe297gGeWg

More on the killer handmade dollhouse.


I did get a nice Coho Salmon this fall  - down near the mouth of the Clackamas.
But we are about to make a batch of Quiches from it to freeze for later.  To have with our Bourbons n Cocoa later this winter.  (Quiche is just another word for Egg Pie)


Hey!  Get out there and steelhead this winter. 

We ate this one.