Shadows of Twain - A Disturbance in the Flow

Very Large Mark Twain in downtown Muscatine,IA

Mississippi River this January

My parents in the ice fishing hut

Gary with gear

Bald Eagle eaten head of Quillback

Drilling holes w auger

Ice hole and the minimal gear required

Crazy Punk Bluegill - Iowa farm pond

Hybrid Bluegill ?

Lookey here Jeb looks what aye caught!

Bass!

If you look really hard you can find some 70's swingers in here....

Oaks Bottom frozen over.

Wilson River can take a flying....

felt like i had to say goodbye to Johnson Creek mouth

A handmade boat called Recurring Dream (facebook)

So I have to get right to the heart of the matter right away.

I am regretfully letting everyone know that Naomi and I have separated. 

Heavy Relationship Stuff Ahead. Rivers of tears. Huge waterfalls of crushing pain.

  I now get to miss the goats and cats hardcore. I have moved out and am renting a room on East Burnside St. My new place happens to be next door to a really good friend of mine - Dave Barmon and his family - a hyperactive landscape company owner who really had my back on this one and not sure how to ever repay.  He likes "wild foods" so I have some idea. Supposedly I will also be making my famous pad thai for his  family.

My family in Iowa - my mom and dad - also caught me perfectly in my fall. My parents have had their differences as well but they were both there for me the past few weeks.

I will also mention Matt and Jill who provided the most comfortable safe harbour imaginable during the worst week of my life. They introduced me to a TV show called Deadwood for which I will ever be greatful. My best friend Luis Campos who is mastering his 3rd career is also going through a divorce so we had some good talks this past month. And to all the other friends I have met for lunch the past few weeks. Unsolicited advice would be to ask along the way for what you want from your partner. Give them the things you know they need.

The break up --- It is disturbingly sad and a lot of people are very sad about it. But some people are still making very funny jokes in light of all the drama and the heart crushing panic and anxiety that I have been feeling. I wont hold them liable if I end up lost on the end of the earth or splayed in a ditch somewhere by a crocodile. The level of sorrow is almost transcendent.  Nice that there was no cheating or drugs or alcohol or racketeering involved. Naomi and I still had some really good good times over our 10 years together and I wont forget those and shall still carry them with me. I have wonderful memories and they shant be taken away.  Naomi and I are trying to work out our differences slowly. So we have not lost all faith. I will always wish her the best. BUT there is a terrible shaking of the foundation right now - things swinging in both directions - good and bad. Looking back and looking ahead.  Corny and awesome all at once.

I liked peanut butter quite a bit and she actually seemed to realize she was allergic to it. We are trying like hell to reconcile, but the whole situation might have us lost for a bit.  Water creatures are so close to my soul. Furry creatures so close to hers. I became a fuzzy land octopus and she became a mer-goat and we still had disagreements.

 I hope continued talking will help. I am trying to get the other camp into discussions about the business we have together.These talks are plodding along and not sure which way they are headed.

 I have a lot of life to live and people to see all over the country and the planet perhaps before I come back to Portland. I have a lot of forks in the road coming up and the people in my life have been providing a huge rudder as well as net. I will be embarking on my own new journey soon and we shall see where it takes me. For now I am still in Portland. 

A bit on the fishing in January - 

Just before this big hell of life shift I got back to Iowa for a week. It gave me time to see my family and it gave Naomi time to peacefully get me out of the house permanently and start dividing our stuff.

Iowa in Winter : Under the Shadow of Twain along the frozen Mississippi.

l got to go back to Muscatine for a visit in early January. It was a blast. I got to go ice fishing. This is the most surreal type of fishing one can do. You walk out on to a frozen lake and drill holes in the ice. Then you take a 2' rod and some blue 4 lb. test (so you can see you line against the all white background) and plop it down the hole with a super tiny pink or green micro jig on it with a wax worm. It was a small farm pond but fairly deep as we were fishing just off the bottom at about 15'.  My dad fished really hard for a semi old guy. The big Bluegills were in attack mode. We caught a bunch including one Largemouth Bass as well. I even had one exciting incident with a big mystery fish that had no interest in being landed or even really coming up in the water column. Go Bass or Catfish ?! 

I was there just after the "polar vortex" so there was a full foot of ice on the lakes and ponds. The Mississippi was even 90% ice covered. Dozens of Bald Eagles patrolled what little open water there was. Bald Eagles stood everywhere on the edges of the open water. I was very curious as to what kind of fish they were catching and how they were catching them. I saw the severed heads of a Gizzard Shad and a Quillback.

Iowa appears to be having a super cold winter by the way. 

I got back to Portland and there had been only a little bit of rain while I was gone. It raised the water levels for a few days and things got fishier according to the online forums. But we really need to get some more rain. Portland is way behind. And yes of course I have selfish reasons for wanting more rain. But the farmers will need more rain for irrigation, and even the ski resorts AND anyone not interested in seeing all of the American West slip into chronic drought. So pray for rain everybody.

The Wilson River  - oh turquoise archnemesis -

On a suicide mission again - Matt Reed and I headed back out to the Wilson for some steelheading on MLK Day.  Still low and clear and 8 to 900 cfs - there were lots of different fishing styles on the river that day and I saw no one hook up. I was out there with the new fly rod and fishing an orange/black egg leach. It took me hours to figure out not to focus on any of the sunny areas and really work the shaded areas. I had one take on a little roll cast in one of the darkest eddies I could find. Fish ran for a brief moment ... and was gone.

By early February I was moving out of our house - not by choice. Then the snowstorm hit in Portland. It was pretty snow and it drew people together. I took a lot of long walks and pushed a lot of stuck cars of Oregon nubs out trying to drive. As I write the 3 day snowstorm melts. Rain falls  on top of it. Rivulets run to the river.

Flash forward to me writing on Feb 20 - Now we just got even more rain and February's precip of 5.33 inches to date might be approaching normal. Lots to do and the rivers are to high to fish this anyway. Wait for the water to seep down through the soil and provide that neat ground filtered aqua water that the steelhead like.

Got a great free casting lesson from a wonderful semi retired semi pro named Rowan. He showed me some lessons that I will be practicing in the park.

As far as big life advice.... there is none I am qualified to give.
But I will say -
Hold your loved one and tell them you love them.
Do it now genius. 

Good night.

Neil  

Chrome is Gold

On Steelhead and what happened in 2013

So I'm putting all the photos at the top and all the text at the bottom. I figure everybody likes nature photos but not everyone wants to read about fishing. So here is November and December's fishing thoughts and excursions and some bits on 2013 fish in general.

Naomi photo of Gull in flight - Wilson River

Spawned out warriors on the Wilson on Jan 1

Wilson River Trail - Naomi runs fast

I looked up "pristine" in the dictionary

Nice piece of water for a yoga pose

More cracked out uglyness on the Wilson

Bubba is tying on a jig

Matt Reed reading water

Book of man and salmon

Matt readin'

Typical arsenal for 2013

 Wilson River at about 500 cfs

A deer was beating me up off camera

Clackamas at "action" flood stage

Go Ducks!

RIP Spinning Rod ? not likely

Clackamas: water temp 33

Yay ! I can cut my hair

Futuristic Lures of the year 3000

Hobo Hillbilly Moonshiner

Excalibur jumps your heart out of your chest electrified - Steelhead on the Clackamas River in November

Sandy River having no trouble looking poetic.

Silver is Gold Steel Chaos.  

Chrome bolts downriver and holds on to the night. So I caught a Steelhead ! And released it in short order after taking my obligatory fast and terrible photos. See photo above.

      On the Clackamas River. Almost nothing was right about hooking this fish in this spot. The lure was too big. The sun was too bright at 2 pm. The water was too cold at 41 degrees. It was over sand.  Wrong wrong wrong. I had just fished 5 hours of good looking bouldery pocket water.  I put on a bigger #5 in silver. Generally, I figure that if you have to fish larger than a #4 to get down in the rip you are fishing too fast of water. Well it was near the head of a big pool - so that was textbook. But what do I know. I get the cult like obsession regarding this fish.

     My whole body was electrified. My face looked hilarious. The fight lasted long enough that I began to be conscious of my hilarious breathing. Nervous, focused breathing. You can’t believe your touching this animal. This is the closest thing I have to religion.  But I will take it.  My first Steelhead was a big 30+” hatchery fish that made a hard drag zing like mad. I hobbled over boulders to chase it and was lucky enough that it began to tire near a boat ramp.  Hence the rumble concrete under the fish in the photo.  10lb. test did feel a bit silly… 15 is probably better.

      It happened the Monday before Thanksgiving.  From most of my reading, Thanksgiving should be about the earliest one can expect winter fish in the tribs. (This is what one does when one does not quite have time to go fishing --- we all read about it on the internet.) I also got a couple of small steelhead smolt  that day and lost 4 spinners. It made it a lot easier that I was going after them on spinner rather than fly.   BUT I was not able to cover very much water on foot. Access is limited to the parks along both rivers that I fish - so someday it would be nice to have a raft or a boat.  But the hiking an exploring on foot is still really fun.  I always have a moment in a day of fishing where I realize where I am at - EVEN if I am in the middle of Portland on the Willamette River. I am in an incredible area and how quiet and peaceful it is. I am conscious of my breathing in a different way in these moments. 

     Steelhead mess with you head.  This is by far the most puzzling fishery I have ever experienced.  I can kind of understand why people would do it. I am not sure I understand why people would go Steelhead fishing more than once.  I built up the mystique of Snook in my head like this as well but I think Snook are way easier. I have thrown at so much DECENT looking water in December. I have yet to see a fish other than the one I caught. (I am not counting spawned-out salmon, whitefish and suckers) Though I am not able to sight fish to suckers either. Somehow I am always hooking them in 2’ of water but never seeing them while wading ??

      I really don't know if I'm casting to any fish all day.  It is a strange fishery ---you don't see any fish. The species in the river in winter other than Steelhead are just whitefish and suckers.  Hence the Cult of Steelhead. and the Cult of Egg Pattern. The Steelhead is the only fish and the Salmon eggs are the only hatch.  Covering water is really a challenge on these rivers out here without a boat or raft. Often you can only access a half mile or so at best right at one of the parks. Wading in each direction usually presents you with an unclimbable cliff or private land or and unsafe river crossing.  But we make do. I usually fish it a little too hard when on foot. Really trying to cover the water – fishing sections all the way through twice slowly cause it’s all I have. BUT I think I am starting to get it with the water levels and the water temperature. It is very slowly starting to gel. If you can get the water levels, water color and temperature to line up than you have a good starting point. I bought my first fishing thermometer last week.

      I actually almost went fishless in December until I fished the tail of a big pool on the Sandy with a jig.... hard ..... like I was trying to catch a sucker ... which I was. And I managed a couple of Bridgelips on the Sandy.  I was conscious of not wanting to get bageled for the month of December.  Whew…. My insanity is intact.

Reading a book called "Salmon Nation" about the interactions of Salmon and people since white folks arrived. It is quite good. 

      I also have been expanding my winter tackle box to include more jigs and flies. The marabou steelhead  jigs and basic flies. I find the jigs easier than spinners to swing slow-n-low for Steelhead.  I find it a bit eerie that they sell these at Bi-Mart and I get them there -- and then I go fishing nearby and see nobody fishing. I also find it a bit depressing that my hobby is so common that it can be store bought 2 miles from my house.  BUT I think the jigs will help me transition to fly better as they are so similar to the winter Steelhead flies. I think you could get them to hit soft plastics (Mister Twisters) as well but I have not developed any confidence really even with spinners yet and I KNOW trout hit spinners. I am also very slowly building up my collection of flies. Santa was extremely good to me in the fishing store gift certificate area. Hit the Orvis store today and octupled my fly collection. Thanks Mary and Eric!! Thanks Naomi for enduring over an hour of the temple of fly fishing.

Going a bit further afield to fish:

Notes on the Wilson River so far –

Matt Reed of Bee Thinking and I went out to the Wilson river in mid December and had a rough go of it. The water was too low and too clear at 600 cfs BUT a good 44 degrees. It is one of these crazy pretty small coastal rivers with the clear aquamarine cast water. We fished four different spots along the lower river from mile marker 12 down to 7.  At the last spot we actually had the truck broken into and the window smashed and they got a bag of my clothes. I reported it to the Tillamook County Sheriff and hope something turns up. ha! 

I went back with Naomi 2 weeks later and parked at a spot 10 miles upriver in a lot at a great Trailhead.  She was able to get in a long run on some really nice coastal jungle trails. AND she took most of the amazing photos above. 

I am also engaged in an interesting debate regarding bait vs. lure. vs. fly  or the caste or class system as represented by fishing.  rich=medium=poor   I have fished lures comfortably for ten years and fished them mixed with bait prior to 2002. And now dabbling into fly fishing.  How does one decide on traveling far to fly fish?  or fishing bait close to home instead?  Does one drive farther for better water or fish closer to home for more time on the water ? I like the stuff the group Urban Lines is doing on the subject of fly fishing your home waters. I always have to have a spot I can go to and fish for just a bit that is close to home. 

This discussion was spawned by some insulting comments I made about bait fishing. I did not intend for them to be insulting but I can see how they were taken that way. I think bait fishing is honest. And thank you to Brian for pointing out that we all use hooks.  As a qualifier I would like to offer that spending time fishing for non-food fish is ridiculous and that I have mixed feelings about it - yet I still do it. Conflictions.  It is the socio-economic aspects of the different types of fishing that I find worthy of discussion.  

I took a survey of some fishermen I knew: 

We did a one word association with the 3 main types of fishing  

1.bait  2.lure  3.fly 

Here is what I got: 

Neil –   bait= food               lure=fun                    fly=far driving 

Phil –   bait=amateur          lure=fun                    fly=unessesary

Adam - bait=worms            lure=big tackle box    fly=snob    tenkara=interesting

Ryan-   bait= uninspired      lure= utilitarian          fly=artful

Dave – bait=fish                 lure=sticks                 fly=nothing

Gary –bait=stink                lure=doll                    fly=rising

Naomi – bait=master          lure=allure                 fly=super 

Matt – bait=powerbait         lure=mepps               fly=legit

Luis –  bait=  neil                lure=neil                    fly=neil

Brian - bait=hook                 lure=hook                 fly=hook

End of Year

Ruminations and stuff that happened. 

I caught 21 species in 2013 year on lure and fly.  See List BELOW.  It was a good year. Fishing is picking up for me in general - work has calmed down a little.  

Though I did not do any full on  “fishing trips” this year I managed to weasel in some fishing on family  trips to Hawaii and San Diego and on camping and hiking trips. I suppose the thrill of the year was the  3 Trevally I landed at on Kauai.  2 on poppers...!!  (these would be juvenile Giant Trevally). Jacks and Trevally are my favorite fish. It is like god has handed you an inshore tuna. Kablaam !

Though being a bit intimidated by fly fishing (the limited casting, the knots, the snobbery, the prices, accessing the whole water column) I managed to get out on a couple of Oregon rivers and on my own, throw some nymphs and some San Juans and land some trout on my 5wt. 

To be fair this Steelhead thing is kicking my ass psychologically. It is quite possibly the

most humiliating thing I’ve done to myself.  One never knows if there are fish in the river ... except when the water is low and clear and then you can see that there are no Steelhead.  Nothing ever busts the surface in a big way. But you fish anyway and go fishless in some of the prettiest river water imaginable. I think half of the addiction is about these amazing areas.  The water seems to either be too cold, to high or too low the past 2 months. Really need higher dirtier water. Watching the Wilson spike a bit after a small rain but quickly drop - headed for a mere 400 cfs......

I am learning to work hard for my fish.I have to learn a whole new type of fishing really.  This is Oregon baby smurf,  fish it hard.

Fish Species of 2013 – new fish in bold

Manybar Goatfish

Barracuda 

Cornetfish 

Giant Trevally 

Peacock Grouper 

Smallmouth Bass 

Largemouth Bass 

White Crappie 

Carp 

American Shad

Northern Pikeminnow

Corvina

Bridgelips Sucker 

Black Rockfish 

Sculpin

Mountain Whitefish 

Brook Trout 

Cutthroat Trout 

Rainbow Trout 

Chinook Salmon 

Steelhead 

Fishing is a celebration of how these creatures live in this weird earth life we all share. 
 Have a great 2014. Get out there and fish. 

- Neil 

BridgeLips and Wizards of Current

Bull Run River

I have very little personal fishing history with Salmon. My first experience fishing for Salmon was in the Wisconsin on the way out to Oregon. We stopped to visit Naomi's mom's place in Milwaukee WI in September of 2006 and I walked down to the Milwaukee River near its confluence with Lake Michigan expecting an opportunity to fish for Smallmouth in a skanky urban river.  I was really surprised to see Chinook rolling in there in September.  Ended up having a really good day the next day landing 4 of 6 big landlocked Chinook a Smallmouth and a Walleye! . Catching them on spoons and bucktail jigs and struggling with my 10lb. test travel rod. 

spinner caught post-spawn

In Oregon in 2008 I made a few forays out to the lower Sandy River at the delta in late October fishing black marabou jigs and wading in the same quicksand that terrified Lewis and Clark in that area.  I love the look of that Delta but it did not end up being very fishy for me. It has no good trout water in that low stretch. It is big, wide and sandy and thus hard to fish.  But I did have a ton of fun riding my bike out there in the dark and did catch my first Steelhead smolt casting a micro spinner to it right under the big Highway 84 bridge.

"Everything pulls hard." Quote to me ca. 1995 from Klee a Bahamian fisherman

Eagle Creek

I had one of those odd fishing experiences over Labor day weekend where you get more than you ask for.  I was fishing a 1/4 oz. purple curl tail jig off the jetty at Tillamook and had only hooked one Black Rockfish in hours of casting. The one other guy fishing out there was new to the area from Spokane so I was filling him in on what I knew. I mentioned that this was theoretically a spot where you could have a chance at a Salmon from shore while still in the saltwater. So I eventually put my money where my mouth was and put on a heavier 1/2 oz. jig head so I could fish further out and deeper in the channel. I had fixated on a spot where the jetty wall had collapsed forming a small penninsula of big rocks out into the channel and the current spiraled around it.  Cast upstream, let it sink 10 seconds, bounce bounce. I was gambling with the jig getting it down into the kelp. Only a few casts in right up next to the rocks I hooked what I thought was a VERY solid rockfish. The hit had that vertical bounce of a Rockfish which then proceeded to peel tons of line off the reel and sped out to mid channel at a speed impossible for a Rockfish.  It then came up at did a surface thrash and I could see all the chrome silver of a bright Salmon. Then it ran again out even further and surface thrashed and threw the jig. Me being severely outgunned with 10lb. line was really fun. I have learned to love the "no handed release" but I now have this reel spooled with 30 lb. braid. 

Flash forward exactly 1 month:

Sandy River near spawning sites

I have made a serious attempt to start a regular "fishing practice". Our shop is not open on Mondays so I have been trying to take every Monday and go fish somewhere close to home. 6 weeks in a row ... and it is making me very happy.

tiny tackle shop at Troutdale

In early October I headed out the the Sandy River for a day of chasing fall Salmon in the fresh water. Still too shy financially to get a fly rod bigger than my 5 wt. I was armed with my selection of french blade spinners. I decided to stop and fish a nice looking rocky spot on the lower river as I knew the upper river would be crowded with more people.  I got a good wadeable stretch all to myself.  At this point in the season most people seem to be fishing the big holes generally with something on a bobber. I was casting a big #5 all gold Blue Fox. I was thrilled out of my mind to hook a big post-spawn native female Chinook in a seam next to a crazy long slot rapid. The fish tore into the heavy chop current and made 2 nice long runs. This fish was much easier to stop than the fish still in the saltwater.  I love these Blue Fox spinners with the slow rotation on the blade that you can feel with the braided line and cork handle. I got her back in the water and she swam of with surprising energy.

Successful Session with Spinners in the Clackamas River

inside tiny tackle shop

In late October  -  I was still looking for the odd chinook or coho. I want to avoid people as much as catch fish.  I ended up finding that there is a fish count for the Clackamas  River and reading that there are a handful summer steelhead in the river as of Oct 14.  By mid afternoon --- after a long walk along slippery rocks exploring a new section of the Sandy River I gave up on that river.  I discovered a connector road that gets me to the Clackamas River in 20 minutes.  Exploring again by wading far from parking lot on foot I found some good nervous water on the river.  Not as much curve or bend in the river as I would like but and not overly bouldery --- but swift and uneven bottom with medium size cobble - whitecapping in a big area from the turbulence caused by the uneven bottom.  I was hoping for a summer fish so I switched down the spinner to a #4  --- bumped down again to tarnished copper instead of gold and managed to catch 2 small hatchery Steelhead. (barbs are pinched on these)
 

a young Clackamas Steelhead

Mountain Whitefish

The next week  I waded a large portion Eagle Creek park on an upper tributary of the Clack.   I was trying to find Coho… I have never caught a Coho and was trying to add one to my "life list" I suppose.   I have heard they are notoriously hard to get to bite when they are in spawning mode. I have experienced hard to catch jack Coho at the mouth of the Clackamas.   But saw 4 dead coho way up into the Eagle Creek tributary.   I caught a bunch of small trout on micro spinners with the barbs pinched.  I kept walking downstream until the Eagle Creek met the Clackamas River.  This section looks good - not great but good - I fished the low clear water very systematically casting then taking a step - repeat.  At the tail of a big pool I caught my first Mountain Whitefish.  It killed a big spinner and fought valiantly the way all trash fish do.  I thought if I could figure out how to target this fish by fishing the deeper water and the tails of pools I could have a blast. Cascades Ladyfish !

 I Regress onto Bait Boat:

Dave fighting Chinook

Chrome Tidewater Chinook

In Early November I had the super lucky privilege of getting out on a boat in Tillamook Bay near Garibaldi, OR. My freind Dave Barmon of Fiddlehead Landscapes had an extra spot on Pete Wilson of Pete Wilson Stoneworks 20'+ Boat.  Pete was nice enough to have somebody along he had not met. It was a good education for me.  I like most types of fishing and had never done this type of trolling before.  It was that spinning a plug cut herring on 4 conventional 30 lb. test rods behind the boat - with spreader bars and a 5 oz. weight!! kooky!   (BTW NO Snook or Tarpon would EVER hit a live bait that is literally spinning. If you rig a live shrimp so that it spins in Florida - forget about it - nothing is touching that weirdness)  We trolled an area called the Ghost Hole with many other boats.  This would also be my first experience "combat" fishing - with a high concentration of boats. But we hooked 3 big Chinook and landed 2 it was really fun. Though I did really miss getting to feel the fish hit. Trolling not so much about fishing skills but very much about life skills - organizing your life to have a boat. So very different from fly fishing at 7700'. So I think I am getting a very well rounded Oregon fishing education.

I have cried three times this fall:

moody Garibaldi Harbor

The first time cried this fall as I was walking along the trail beside Bull Run River and realizing the Salmon I saw spawning had endured years at sea evading possibly Blue Sharks and Steller Sea Lions and Fisherpeople and Boats at the mouth of the Columbia - ascended all these sets of rapids to make their way all the way back here to spawn in 18" of water.  I was alone and looking at 3 spawning pairs of Fall Chinook. These fish represent the elite of the elite - one in 1000 fish - the class of returning spawners.

The second time I cried this fall was when I got a new 9 wt. fly rod and reel in the mail from my dad.  It came in the mail while I was at work. I had asked to borrow his old 9 wt. for winter Steelhead season and the assjack actually sent me a new rod and reel. 

Then I cried again when I was driving to the river early in the morning realizing how many people were breaking up or struggling with relationships.

Bridge Lips portion

Wed Nov. 13  

 Naomi ran the ENTIRE 30 mile Wildwood Trail on Monday. Of which I ran the last 18 with her... !!  She had been wanting to run this since we moved here. And then I also got a Wednesday off work. I had the choice to go to the fly shop and rig my new fly reel or fish… and I chose fishing for the day. Last month - I had run in two Portland Water Bureau guys at Dodge Park doing a gravel survey of that area regarding suitability for Coho and Chinook spawning. I asked them if there were Suckers in that part of the river.
 They said they do see Bridgelip Suckers. I hit three parks with access along the Clackamas.  I landed 3 Bridgelip Suckers and jumped one Trout.  Bridgelips are a

Bridgelips Sucker

solid fish. Any fish that will hit lures and hit lures in a trout current is a great fish. Like Ladyfish !  This really saved the day for me to have something take a little bit of line.  Suckers are Wizards of Current. This was in the same area that I caught trout 3 weeks ago so I was using a Gold #3. I also got some more scoop on fly fishing this area from an old dude with a drift boat. (his fly looked exactly like 2 Aero Jigs i just bought - like a woolly bugger stuck to an egg…)

Some Fish Stuff of Interest:

This was apparently a record year for returning Fall Chinook to the Columbia. This is good. The Coho run I am not sure about… we had heavy rain that came early in the fall and then a dry October which likely set things back.

Also something that came up in the past few weeks is odd catches of species in odd places: A Mahi Mahi off Ilwaco, Washington! I am most interested in  the few recent documented Striped Bass in the Columbia River. One really large female of 71 lbs. !  There is an erie and cool photo of a Striped Bass passing through the fish ladder at Bonneville Dam back in June.  I will be looking for big ones in June someday - just under a giant school of Shad.

On November 8 was the premiere of WAYPOINTS a really good fly fishing documentary by Confluence Films. The trailers of all their films are worth watching.  I went with my friend Matt Reed who I think liked it. He might be afraid of Saltwater fish though.  

"This is my fishing rod. There are others like it but this one is mine." quote

sparky Clackamas Steelhead

from internet

Sandy River

Get out there and fish!