Saturday, December 30, 2006

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!