With the 49ers out of the Super Bowl, I had no reason to sit around on a beautiful Sunday and watch the game. Kidding, I'm not that petty, it was just forcasted to be almost 60 degrees in Central Oregon on Sunday and I figured the river would be empty with the Big Game on 
.
My 8wt was looking at me longingly as I was packing up and frankly, I've been fishing double eggs and size 18-22 nymphs since like October and I was tired of it. I wanted to get into a Bull and to keep myself honest, I left all dry and nymph rods at home. I've never done particularly well in the Winter for Bulls, and especially on big streamers, but that's how I wanted to fish and I planned on and was expecting a goose egg.
All in all, it was a perfect day. When I got on the water around 8:30am it was about 24 degrees and when I got off the water at 3:30 it was 57 and I was fishing in just my flannel. I walked more on this river than I typically do, but I wasn't pounding the water so much as I was hunting the wood. These were typically the features I was fishing--stripping under, through and behind log jams. I only lost one fly and I'm not sure if that means I got lucky, was fishing well, or just wasn't trying hard and fishing deeper into the jam. But in my experience they'll come out to get it. Unfortunately, I'm still bummed about losing THAT fly.
I did see some big fish over the course of the day, but they were often in places that I couldn't cast too or even if I could, they were so deep in the wood the only way I'd land it would be just dipping a net down. There was a 24"+ bull sitting right in that open bit of water below in like 12 inches of water. When I crossed the log and looked down, I got startled and almost fell in.
In the end no one wanted to play and I just wasn't interested in tying on that ONE egg I still had on my patch.
One thing of note, at the end of the day, two Bald Eagles flew into a branch right above me and started making a commotion like I'd never heard before. I look up and they were getting it on and to be honest I was kinda surprised because A. I didn't realize Eagles did that B. and I guess, it was exactly how I'd expect.
.My 8wt was looking at me longingly as I was packing up and frankly, I've been fishing double eggs and size 18-22 nymphs since like October and I was tired of it. I wanted to get into a Bull and to keep myself honest, I left all dry and nymph rods at home. I've never done particularly well in the Winter for Bulls, and especially on big streamers, but that's how I wanted to fish and I planned on and was expecting a goose egg.
All in all, it was a perfect day. When I got on the water around 8:30am it was about 24 degrees and when I got off the water at 3:30 it was 57 and I was fishing in just my flannel. I walked more on this river than I typically do, but I wasn't pounding the water so much as I was hunting the wood. These were typically the features I was fishing--stripping under, through and behind log jams. I only lost one fly and I'm not sure if that means I got lucky, was fishing well, or just wasn't trying hard and fishing deeper into the jam. But in my experience they'll come out to get it. Unfortunately, I'm still bummed about losing THAT fly.
I did see some big fish over the course of the day, but they were often in places that I couldn't cast too or even if I could, they were so deep in the wood the only way I'd land it would be just dipping a net down. There was a 24"+ bull sitting right in that open bit of water below in like 12 inches of water. When I crossed the log and looked down, I got startled and almost fell in.
In the end no one wanted to play and I just wasn't interested in tying on that ONE egg I still had on my patch.
One thing of note, at the end of the day, two Bald Eagles flew into a branch right above me and started making a commotion like I'd never heard before. I look up and they were getting it on and to be honest I was kinda surprised because A. I didn't realize Eagles did that B. and I guess, it was exactly how I'd expect.
