Fishing on the Metolius

(This is the second attempt at this post. The first one was with a video clip, but there seems to be a technical problem between the new version of Blogger and Catalla's video service. There may be another somewhat duplicative post appearing later if things get worked out.)

Yesterday I played hooky and went fishing. I couldn't find anyone to tag along, so went alone. It was another perfect day in Central Oregon. Sunny, but cold. Air temp when I started was 20 degrees.

I've learned that there is no bad weather, only bad clothes. Fortunately, I now have good clothes and was plenty warm. Equally fortunately, the cold weather keeps most people away, so I had the river pretty much to myself - unless you count the eagles, otters, and other critters that makes a hike around here always fun.

The only real issue was ice forming in my rod guides and occasionally freezing up my reel. Easily rectified, but it will mess up a cast - and always it seems to happen at the most inopportune time. The real issue was water temp of about 40 degrees - according to my thermometer - which made the fishing slow.

I was able to land the biggest whitefish I have ever seen, at least 17 inches and thick, but could not get a fish to rise to a dry fly all day. These are the kind of difficulties I really enjoy.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

As is our tradition, we went skiing/boarding today after we opened up a few presents in the morning. Gift giving is light around here as we all get early Chirstmas presents in October and November: snow gear upgrades. I also got myself this new camera phone. Not the best quality photos, especially outside in heavy snow conditions, but you get the general idea. A friend we ran across on the slopes snapped the photo for us.

It was a perfect day on the mountain. About a foot of fresh new snow to start, new snow filling up our tracks as fast as we could make them, empty runs, and new powder skis. This is why we moved to Bend. Starting tomorrow the holiday crowds will arrive from out of town and we'll take a short break. The best skiing will start in a couple more weeks anyway, then all the rocks will be covered up on the backside and we'll get fresh tracks all day long.

Hope your day was as fun as ours.

Merry Christmas!

Holiday Card

I've sort of fallen off on postings here lately, but resolve to get back on it. We've been as busy as ever. Ski & board season is well under way. Syndey is on the freestyle skiing team. She's also swimming, playing flute in the band, and getting ready for basketball season. Miles is on the local competition snowboard team and wrestling on his high school team. Ethan is working and focused on moving out of the house after graduation this spring.

Karen and I are enjoying life, keeping an excellent balance between work and play. I've been steelhead fishing a lot this fall and winter and we're both spending time every weekend (and some weekdays) on the mountain.

All-in-all, we are very fortunate human beings.