Central Oregon Thanksgiving

by Phillip Dobson
(Butte, MT)

I just got back from a post-Thanksgiving fishing trip with my brother David. The bulk of our time was spent on the Crooked River: a great stream for anglers of all ability levels.

This was David's first time tenkara fishing, and he picked it up with amazing speed. I find that the big challenges of short-line long-rod nymphing are strike detection and fish fighting. David lost four of the first five hookups either to poor hooksets or head-shaking jumps. After that, it was all over for the trout and whitefish. Hooksets were quick and the rod was kept low to the water to keep the fish from trying to jump. We lost track of the fish count early in the cold morning. Sign of a successful day!

David almost exclusively fished my 5.4m Sagiri with a short #2.5 level line and a beadhead nymph. I nymphed with my Mom's 4.5m Sagiri and fished small dries with the 4wt which kept getting rendered useless from frozen guides.

I couldn't ask for a better time for my first Oregon fly fishing trip.

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten” - Benjamin Franklin

"Be sure in casting, that your fly fall first into the water, for if the line fall first, it scares or frightens the fish..." -
Col. Robert Venables 1662

As age slows my pace, I will become more like the heron.

We've all had situations where seriously chewed up flies kept catching fish after fish after fish. It is no sin to tie flies that come off the vise looking seriously chewed up.