Raincatcher
Yesterday,lilsalmon & I headed for a spot in Stayton that Kodiak had told me about a few years ago. I had only been there once and Rose had never been there,so it was sure to be an adventure. I honestly can't tell you exactly where we were or even what stream/river for sure. :think: We thought we were on the Santiam,but the park worker said no. The best I can tell you is that we started out at Pioneer Park and did a lot of walking from there. We found some slow,sluggish,nasty looking water,some mild,slow moving water,some faster moving water with very appealing ripples. Bank access was not readily available so we did quite a bit of scouting and climbing. We settled on a section of faster moving water with minimal access,but lots of cover for the targets of the day. Rose was tossing flies in a very serene spot when I heard her shout/scream...I thought she'd had a way too close encounter with a spider. :shock: Then the fish jumped again! It was not tiny. :naughty: Try as she might,she could not entice what she was sure was a 24"-26" steelhead to take her fly. 
Within three minutes of her sighting,I was stunned to see what I believe was a 20" rainbow swimming in the deep pool where I was tossing my favorite rooster tail. We were both determined to catch a fatty. The laughter and excitement was soon replaced with disappointment and a few unladylike expletives...:wall: but,like the elusive fish,we moved on. We found some great spots to check out in the future,oh yes,we will definitely go back,soon. I was surprised when I reeled in what I was sure was another stick fish and it turned out to be a 7" fresh water clam. That thing was clamped onto my rooster tail with a vice like grip and it had to weigh at least 1/2 a pound!! :shock: There were several of these huge things lying in the riverbed. No,I did not keep it. I have no idea if they are edible,but I don't eat them anyway...
All in all it was a great day to be out on the water with a great friend and I can't wait to do it again. Even the part where a certain somebody got a fly hung up on a stick...let's just say her white socks were caked in mud goo and will take a full gallon of bleach to be considered anything close to white again. :lol::lol:
Within three minutes of her sighting,I was stunned to see what I believe was a 20" rainbow swimming in the deep pool where I was tossing my favorite rooster tail. We were both determined to catch a fatty. The laughter and excitement was soon replaced with disappointment and a few unladylike expletives...:wall: but,like the elusive fish,we moved on. We found some great spots to check out in the future,oh yes,we will definitely go back,soon. I was surprised when I reeled in what I was sure was another stick fish and it turned out to be a 7" fresh water clam. That thing was clamped onto my rooster tail with a vice like grip and it had to weigh at least 1/2 a pound!! :shock: There were several of these huge things lying in the riverbed. No,I did not keep it. I have no idea if they are edible,but I don't eat them anyway...All in all it was a great day to be out on the water with a great friend and I can't wait to do it again. Even the part where a certain somebody got a fly hung up on a stick...let's just say her white socks were caked in mud goo and will take a full gallon of bleach to be considered anything close to white again. :lol::lol:
