Apparently, its raining.

Lazy. Worthless. Regret.

These are all the thoughts that are going through my head right now. I actually feel guilty about not getting out? All the gear was packed up last night, the boat was ready to go, shuttle was taken care of, and spirits were high. My mind was set on floating the D from Warm Springs to Trout Creek in search of my last good chance at the summer steelhead that were hanging around. This was probably going to be my last time at the D for a long time since winter steelhead season is coming up on us not soon enough.

But I kept checking the weather, water levels, which route to take (over or around Mt. Hood?). And so it goes. My (ir)rational thoughts: It wasn;t going to get above freezing on the D, "I've never done this float before..... how long would it take blah blah blah bullshit"?, is it worth the drive through what looked to be bad conditions throughout most of Oregon?....... So I woke up this morning at 4:30 and checked the weather again...... not so good, I was still tired (of course) and I just went back to bed due to what I believed would be a trip that just wasn't worth it.

SOMEONE PLEASE GET ME THE LARGEST TAMPON AVAILABLE!!!!!!!!!!! What the hell is my problem? This is Oregon. It is winter. GET OVER IT!!!!!! Especially when the winter fish arrive. And the rain really starts.

Get out and fish.

Jackson hates me right now.

Happy Thanksgiving

Damn. We love food.

The Rain has Arrived.

Blown out? This is what every river level looks like around the area. Including the coastals...... might be on the drop and ready to fish come thanksgiving. I want to be full of good beer, and all that tryptofane from the turkey. Icing on the cake would involve some time on the water.

Maiden Voyage

I am very proud of this little poacher. Very badass boat that can go virtually anywhere. The weekend was spent feeling her out and getting used to the things she likes. She is going to be a workhorse for seasons to come and I will put her to the test. This will make her happy.

I'm Confused.

"After more than two years of design and development, Ross is pleased to introduce the Flow - a modern rendition of the centerpin reel. The sport of centerpin fishing is loaded with incredible history and tradition, but rather than simply reproducing a reel design that so many have done before us, we have incorporated our thirty plus years of fly reel engineering into what will become the new standard for all centerpin reels."

Lots of respect lost to a reel company thats prices have always treated Jackson and I well. What the hell are they thinking with this move? Is a fly fishing company marketing to Centerpinners???? I thought people got in fist fights over this shit. The last thing we need out here is for those centerpinners to start spreading like a disease and making their way out west. Bastidges.

Ross Reels: Your an idiot.

Buster Wants To Fish!

So don;t try and stop him.......

Jackson and I are eating this shit up.

Buster Wants To Fish

My New Ride.

..... has officialy been upgraded. Ok, so maybe it was previously non-existant. Here is my first attempt at putting her together...... not so bad? Jackson seemed to like it, now all he needs to do is learn to row. How else is he going to burn calories now that our lazy asses will be floating all day instead of long hikes and lots of wading?

Can;t wait to be searching out alot of new and untouchable water.

The Black Lips

My mom always hated my friends..........

Sea Run Cutthroat.

If that didn't catch your attention...... I sure as hell don't know what will. On good advice from what seems to be a fishy steelhead junkie, I decided to spend some time taking advantage of all the Sea Run Cutts that are in our coastal systems. They now fall No. 2 on my list of favorite fish. Steelhead being No. 1. The most interesting thing about these overaggresive- fish is that they act like street gangs..... One piece of water might yield none..... while another has been claimed by these territorial thugs. Here is my props to a badass fish.

On another note..... it was hard to focus on catching these unpredictable ghosts when fresh steelies were swimming right by on their way upriver.

And it all came together.

I feel like I have been a part of something special. Don't worry..... I won;t get all mushy and shit, but I am going to pat my own back for a moment. Every minute I spent getting skunked all summer trying to stick a steelie on a swung fly was worth every moment. Truth.

Jackson will be the first to rat me out though...... I won't pretend like I have finally figured it out and it is all smooth sailing from here. The way i see it, I am going to pay for that fish, more skunking in my future. Shit, it wasn't even pretty when I got the take..... I was fumbling with my rod and line like a 16yr old trying to put on a condom at prom night. But this 16yr old got laid.

I can't believe I have finally landed one. 15 minutes of sunlight was left on the D, fish took directly below me. I'll remember this moment for the rest of my life. Hopefully more to come.

Red Gold

The genious of felt soul media. Everyone needs to watch this.

Deschutes, Thankyou for kicking my ass.

I feel like a lucky bastard.

My old man was in town this past weekend and he wanted to do a steelhead trip on the Deschutes. Ok, so maybe I had a little influence on the matter but he put up no argument. My poor ass can;t afford it. This just happened to be perfect timing. My quest with the Spey rod has been a Beatdown. Having a guide who knew what he was doing was going to clear up alot of things for me and give me my best chance for a fish. Lucky for me I got a guide, Matt McCrary, who is fishy as hell and can cast incredibly with little effort. But more importantly this guy loved what he does and it just showed. Guy picked us up in Maupin @ 4:45 am and we got out of the river at 7:30pm. He had a smile on his face the entire time. This is no Wyoming with easy little cutthroat to make your client feel like they really know what they are doing. This is Steelheading and there sure as hell are NO guarantees. This has to be a tough gig......

My report is one that lacks a fish..... but the amount of knowledge I gained was more important. By the end of the day my fiance was handling the spey rod like she was born with it in her hands. For his first day, the old man was getting the fly out where it needed to be and he was swinging it nice and slow. As for me...... Matt had me more excited about each individual stretch of water than the thought of catching a fish. Sometimes you stick one and sometimes you don't. I have alot of new tricks in the bag now. My knowledge of reading water has improved, I can cast close to a tight bank.... and the wind was an afterthought. I was having a blast the entire day.

Oh Shit. I'm Hooked.

Now, the most important thing I have learned:
This shit is unpredictable. You gotta think out of the box and just get your ass out there and try new things. In the first pool of the moring I was just getting my line out and so I flipped out the leader real close. Steelie took..... I missed. I won't make that mistake again. At the end of the day it was the last run and we had about 15 minutes of light left, and then I hear my dad scream...... "I got one!" 2 seconds later the fish had got off. Oh well..... I better start getting used to this.

Some photos from the day.

Thank God I am a positive person.

'Cause I would have given up already. I have been trying everything I can. Even decided to roll the dice and head over to Washington cause Jackson and I thought those fish might have wanted our offering. Skunked. But My casting is getting better..... and I think I can swing it a tad slower...... now I am just waiting for it to all come together. Been getting skunked alot lately.

Wolf Parade

Saw a great show from The Thermals last night during the MusicFest NW @ crystal ballroom. One show I regret I wont see is Wolf Parade. They are playing tonight, I just can;t afford to miss the season opener for the Cowboys.

Labor Day

After a long weekend of many drinks and non-stop fun I had to drop the sis off at the airport and send her on her hungover way back to the heat of Dallas. Since she had a 6 am flight and I had to drop her off by 5 am....... Jackson's mama and I decided to hit the local stream on the way home to swing for some summer steelies........ great morning for it..... with a nice hangover I was working a greasy looking piece of water when I wasn't even ready for it. The tug came so quick and fast I did what any trout fisherman trying to learn how to swing with the long rod would do...... I lifted the rod straight up the minute I felt it. Lost fish. Shit was fun though. All in all it was nice to be the only ones on the water:

Here is the better half double hauling before the sun had hit the water:


Spent the rest of the day being lazy.

The Thermals

A great portland band. They are playing the crystal ballroom on Saturday as part of the Musicfest NW tour. Go check them out!

Portland. Beer Town USA?........ Revisited.

Jackson has called me out on this one. When we wrote this the first time soon after moving to Portland we thought we knew what good beer was after trying the obvious beers that were found in stores. I didn't know shit. Jackson's super k-9 senses have sniffed out some incredible breweries and delicious brews since then.....
P.S. Just go to these breweries.

Some of our recommendations:
1)Amnesia Brewery: Copacetic IPA
2)Laurelwood: Amber
3)Alameda Brewhouse: Klickitat Pale Ale
4)Lucky Lab Brewery: Black Lab Stout (Jackson's Favorite)
5)*Hopworks: IPA
(I am not sure what it is called.... the brewery opens this fall in SE Portland.... I have only had their IPA at the organic brewfest, and portland brew festival. Insane.)

Cheers!

How I feel today.

After Portland's first good day of rain since June, these are my emotions. Now if only we could get a few more days to be exactly like today........ Maybe more fish will be pushed into the system and the bite will turn on. I think I am ready for the fall.

Holy Shit! Its Friday! The Pixies!

Jackson has begged me to put this one up. Here you go......