O
OnTheDrop
First off, want to say props to Steelhead_Slayer for giving me some tips and showing me some new water today. Well, Ive heard and read about a million articles about the world class fishery for trophy Bull trout they have and knew I had to make it there soon. As I've recently moved to Bend a few months ago from the Northwest ( Clackamas river WAS my backyard ) Ive been trying to fill this void for steelhead with trophy trout. Which in my mind are more of a prize and much harder to come by. I know it's not easy from the reports that Ive read on the M even with the most experience anglers. But, I LOVE a challenge. To start off the day I met SS around 7 and we proceeded for the river. Exchanging fishing stories and drinking our morning coffee always calls for a nice drive. We showed up to an empty river with beautiful overcast skys with a slight breeze that soon dissapeared. We eagerly tied on our streamers and collected our gear and walked down to our first spot. We both waded out and started fishing immediately. Two or three swings later one picks mine up but with an almost absent hook set he was free. ( Wasn't expecting that ) SS gets his 8" streamer out there nicely I believe on his second cast and BAM! FISH ON! 
Was thrashing around similar to a steelhead and was really bending his 8wt. ( Thinking if I get one on my 5/6 Im in for a FIGHHTT ) After a nice battle with a little video footage and some really cool underwater shots he landed him. The fly was completely engulfed except for about an inch hanging out. The mouth on him was HUGE. Was probably around 7-8 pounds. Another quick picture and back off to the river she went. WOW, 5 minutes in and we've had 2 hits and hadn't even started our day yet. After all I've read I'm thinking this is just tooo good to be true. No more than 2 minutes later SS's line was swung out and I think I was showing him the video of his previous fish when another one decides to grab his fly again. Was off before a hookset was implied. Couple more swings and we decide to walk upriver with atleast a dozen more holes to hit. We hit the next one and SS was telling me where to throw it and when to retrieve it ( side of some log structure along a nice pool that was fairly deep where he usually gets one ) . I swung it out there and on the strip back when I wasn't expecting it again one grabbed it and took off. My hookset was almost absent again and the fish long gone. That was it for that hole. The water looked better and better as we walked with plenty of cover for these fish to ambush prey. Making cast after cast and rip after rip we couldn't get another one to bite. We hit all the holes again including our first spot on the way back with no success. We try some more water on a different part of the river for the next two hours and fish 20+ holes where we knew some fish were with not another take. . Now thats the Metolius that I've read about. I knew it was too good to be true to keep the day going like in the beginning. But that was alright, SS with the only landed of the day and some more action was more than enough for my first trip. You can guarantee I'll be spending some time on this river from now on.
Was thrashing around similar to a steelhead and was really bending his 8wt. ( Thinking if I get one on my 5/6 Im in for a FIGHHTT ) After a nice battle with a little video footage and some really cool underwater shots he landed him. The fly was completely engulfed except for about an inch hanging out. The mouth on him was HUGE. Was probably around 7-8 pounds. Another quick picture and back off to the river she went. WOW, 5 minutes in and we've had 2 hits and hadn't even started our day yet. After all I've read I'm thinking this is just tooo good to be true. No more than 2 minutes later SS's line was swung out and I think I was showing him the video of his previous fish when another one decides to grab his fly again. Was off before a hookset was implied. Couple more swings and we decide to walk upriver with atleast a dozen more holes to hit. We hit the next one and SS was telling me where to throw it and when to retrieve it ( side of some log structure along a nice pool that was fairly deep where he usually gets one ) . I swung it out there and on the strip back when I wasn't expecting it again one grabbed it and took off. My hookset was almost absent again and the fish long gone. That was it for that hole. The water looked better and better as we walked with plenty of cover for these fish to ambush prey. Making cast after cast and rip after rip we couldn't get another one to bite. We hit all the holes again including our first spot on the way back with no success. We try some more water on a different part of the river for the next two hours and fish 20+ holes where we knew some fish were with not another take. . Now thats the Metolius that I've read about. I knew it was too good to be true to keep the day going like in the beginning. But that was alright, SS with the only landed of the day and some more action was more than enough for my first trip. You can guarantee I'll be spending some time on this river from now on.
