Love the "D" report

D
dozer365
Bep beep beep bep beep ...... 230 am!!! Wake up call.
Okay I'm driving out to meet up with the rest of the group but I'm by no means awake yet. Lol.
Got to the mouth of the "D" around 530 am and hiked in from the west bank. Hiked up past the outhouse and started throwing black spinners and blue and purple spinners. Nothing. Moved up a bit and switched to a lil Cleo watermelon 1/3 oz. Second cast nice red band trout. Then nothing. Hiked up farther and found a likely spot. End of a deep run of riffels. Lil island that semi split the tailout current. 3 or 4 cast with my trusty copper Cleo. Slow tug take. Yack back the sst and fish on. First fish hooked up by our crew right around 8 am. It came right at me and jumped a few times then got it in for a quick picture and a long revive.
I only had this fish on for about 3 min. And it was hooked in the top lip nicely. Yet it really wanted to belly up. I tried to revive it by moving it back and forth in a little current close to the bank. It wouldn't revive. Carried it out to a little heavier flow of riffels, fell on my face in the process and held him in tight for about 2 min of fast flowing water over the gills before he finally pulled away hard. Dang fragile fish.
Move down to inform the other guys what was working and put one of them on the spot I'd been fishing. He was still throwing size 3 blue/silver blue fox. I stepped about 20 feet above him. Next cast hard take.... But alas, a pick jump, and spit the spoon over my head. Much bigger fish then the Nate I just released. After a few muttled curse words I made a few cast and hung up on some line. And stretch and slip as it might it wouldn't come free. Fiddled with it for about 5 min trying to work it free. Pop goes the copper spoon. Dang it. Retie and rig my last 1/3 oz copper spoon. Paint the back black and cast. Tick, tick, flutter... Tug, tug. Fish on!!! Second cookie cutter Nate to the bank. Quick picture. Fast and strong revive. Hearty fish swam strong. 2 or 3 cast later. Boom. Fish on!!! Wash, repeat!!!
Ended up going 2/5 on steelehead, 1/1 on a large mouth at about 12 inches and lost two red bands at my feet about 12-15 inches. I saw both the steel I lost. Both were nates also. So I know 4 of 5 I hooked were high fins.
I finally convinced the guys and gals to switch to spoons. Blue and silver hooked a pig. This hog may have been b run. Water walker ran down river fast enough to pop 15 lbs leader. And my bosses daughter hooked and landed her first steel today.
For the bad part. I jumped a small rattler near the shore line and I tried pushing it away with my rod. Lol. Bad choice. It hit the current and panicked. It swam right back at me fast and actually bumped my shoe as it swam in. I like a ninja tossed it back out with the butt of my rod. It flung out about 20 feet into the river. My buddy down river, couldnt figure out why I looked so disturbed over catching a branch. Lol. He was almost as white as me when I told him it was a rat in the shallows. Never seen that before.
And then about halfway home I found the tick. Not bad for a full day busting brush in shorts and tenis shoes. One tick and one snake.
We ended up going 3/7 on steel. 2/2 on bass one smallie and one larg mouth. 0/2 on redband and 2 other don't no hook ups.
Not bad for my first "D" experience. Pics to come. Hitting the clack in the morning.
All fish touched or caught on 1/3 oz spoons in walking to jogging speed water of less then 5 foot depth.
Can't wait to go back.
 
S
steelhead_slayer
Sounds like a good trip. Nice job
 
D
dozer365
pics off the trip... the view upon arrival. the gear required for 5 fisher ppl, the hike past the rest of our group... travis and i got the spot. and the rest is various pics of my cookies, wish I could have got my buddies into some more fish... next time
oh the shirtless guy was freaking out when I found a tick on me. lol the guys got down to the skivvies. lol west side boys, lol. I grew up around Redmond much of my time when I was younger. a deer tick aint nothing. that rattler on the other hand... yeah
 
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E
eugene1
Great report and nice steel! Sorry for the ticks and snakes, kind of lol for the dude downriver though.

Best,
 
T
Throbbit _Shane
Cool report! good job on getting some steel on your first visit there. Always a good feeling getting some fish at a new place.
 
H
hydropsyche
Did you notice any maxillary clips around the mouth of the fish. Two springs ago we were catching the crap out of max clipped juvenile steelhead be for they left there introduced tribs, crooked, wychus, and the D between steelhead falls and billy. These were no redbands chrome,skinny, airborn and feisty as heck all around 8-12 in. It would be cool to know if the reintroduction process in these tribs will be successful.
 
D
dozer365
hydropsyche said:
Did you notice any maxillary clips around the mouth of the fish. Two springs ago we were catching the crap out of max clipped juvenile steelhead be for they left there introduced tribs, crooked, wychus, and the D between steelhead falls and billy. These were no redbands chrome,skinny, airborn and feisty as heck all around 8-12 in. It would be cool to know if the reintroduction process in these tribs will be successful.
Yeah I agree I'd love to go fish the crooked for steel. Even if it would be catch and release. I dint notice any clips on these fish. Didn't look very close for a max clip. Not pelvic or any other clips that I saw. Talked to an old timer out there who said these are all warmsprings hatchery "natives" idk enough to say. But they seem like little clones.... Hope the reintroduction is successful.
 
Aervax
Aervax
You told the D story well. Very entertaining and good insight. I will be taking my cleos on the next trip there. The Deschutes and John Day have way too many rattlers. I hardly fish a day there without seeing one, sometimes 2 or 3. I have had too many bad snake encounters over the years. Some near bites for me and an actual bite on my best hunting dog ever. She recovered, but it was months before she was emotionally right again. After reading your story I dreamt there was a rattle snake living in the bedroom wall. I thought it was okay because he could not get out and would eat the mice in the walls. Then I realized it was a really small one. Small enough that tiny rattle snakes started oozing through the pores in the wall and disappearing into the carpet. Thanks for the night time creep fest. I swear there were not any nightcaps involved before bed.
 

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