Donner and Blitzen fish pic

C_Run
C_Run
We went to Eastern Oregon. It was our 30th anniversary and we retraced parts of our original honeymoon route.

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It was not a fishing trip but I did put my ultralight spinning rod behind the pickup seat and packed a handful of lures and the regs just in case. (@Brandon 4455 ... Eight days and 1300 miles and we never made it to Mann Lake...bummer.) We covered a lot of ground and the first opportunity to wet a fishing line was Krumbo Reservoir. After about fifteen minutes of picking green slime off my lures I decided I was having no fun and called that quits. We were in Frenchglen two nights and managed to make it out to Donner and Blitzen early one morning and I got about and hour and a half to fish. It is open for catch and release year round with flies and artificial lures. I just had a little brass spinner but managed to catch three, two smalls and this one which was maybe 11 inches max.

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Not huge but that was my first eastern Oregon trout ever. In 1984 they were having floods over there in May and in 2014 it's a drought. All the Warner lakes were completely dry except for Crump Lake which still has some water. In '84 I remember people bowhunting carp in the roadside ditches south of Burns.

If you go to Donner and Blitzen and hike in from Page Springs, take the rattlesnake warning signs seriously. My wife sat down in the grass next to the trail and put her hand down next to some "scaly thing" she thought was a dead fish. Turned out to be a huge rattler but it was so cold in the morning that it was lethargic and just laid there. I told her to just do like John Wayne would have and grab it behind the head but she declined. That was probably the most exciting moment on the trip. Yahoo!!

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eugene1
Didn't know it was so dry over there this year.

Cool set of pics!

Best,

ps. looks like shooting skills have declined over there as of late...
 
jamisonace
jamisonace
Excellent report Chris. Congrats on the anniversary, what a milestone.

I stayed near frenchglen about 10 years ago and enjoyed fishing the area.
 
Irishrover
Irishrover
I love that area and the history that goes with it. We used to vacation over there and make our camp at fish lake up the Steens Mountains. We fished the Donner % Blitzen and the lake. Great place for kids and what great views from the top. Thanks for posting that. Congatulations on the 30 year mark too.
 
C_Run
C_Run
I hope it isn't another 30 years until I go back. I'd be mighty old. Here are a few low water pics to show how it is right now.

Rock Creek Reservoir looking pretty low.

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Looking down on parts of Campbell and Flagstaff Lakes in the Warner Valley. I didn't need to bring crappie jigs after all.

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