Small Stream Salmon Fishing - Blogs

Coming on Wednesday, a 'tuesdays with Ryan' report!

ryank — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 04:43:33 GMT

Originally Posted by ryank

We started the day at the same run I got my fish at last week, Ed decided to bust out the fly rod and give it a go, it didn't take him too long to hook up, the first one he had on just long enough to know it was a steelhead and then it was gone. The next one came less than an hour later, he hooked this one and it was a full on FISH ON! then after a few seconds it was gone, when he reeled up and checked his hook the hook broke at the shank! Man what a bummer that one was, it was pretty impressive that he got 2 hook ups that quick on a fly I thought though.
I hooked up a little while later, just briefly, right in front of me and the fish went airborne at eye level and spit the hook, it was still pretty cool to see that fish jump like that! The next fish I hooked I stuck and it was a nice 10-11lb wild fish, and from that point I figured my day was all smooth sailing from there on. I ended up hooking one more fish later that day, this fish went on a run like I've never felt before it ended up almost on the other side of the river, then it came back to my side and I was trying to work it back upstream and it was just gone, I was so damn pi$$ed off about that, because I knew that the big one got away and I never even got to see it. After that we hiked into another spot Ed hooked up in a few minutes with a spinner and got that one to shore, it was getting close to the end of the day so he decided to bonk it, it can be pretty difficult to carry one around all day if you get one early in the day so Ed lucked out with that one!

Ed with a fish on!

Ed with his fish at the end of the day

So I went out today also, I hooked one nice fish an hour or two after we got there and let Natalia fight the fish, she did a great job as usual and we landed it and shot a quick pic and cut it loose. Later I hooked another fish as soon as I hooked it I knew it was larger than normal, and then it went on a huge run down stream and almost spooled me I chased it like a mad man and it kept taking line I finally got a decent amount of line back on my reel and it took off again and almost spooled me again, I started working the fish in after an in close battle I landed the fish, it definitely made up for the fish I lost yesterday, it's a new personal best, and by far the meanest fish I've ever hooked!

Deschutes Report 8/3

ryank — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 04:42:20 GMT

Originally Posted by ryank

Took my first official trip east for the season today, rode my bike up the east side of the river to an area I fished quite a bit last year, it took a few minutes to hook up but it wasn't a steelhead it was a redside! That thing hit my spinner so hard that for the first few seconds I genuinely thought it was a steelhead, then I felt that there wasn't alot of weight behind it and saw it was a trout, small, but still a very fun fish. I hiked up stream to my "guaranteed" spot, and sure enough I hooked into my first Deschutes steelhead of the season, it went on a big run as soon as I hooked it and went airborne shortly after the first run, then went on another run straight down stream, then turned straight around came back towards me jumped again and spit the spinner back at me! this all happened in about 10 seconds, so after that I was pretty pumped up, it wasn't a real big fish but it was a scrappy one. I fished a few other spots that were good to me last season but nothing else came from that section of the river. I hiked back to my bike, and decided to fish the run where I parked my bike, I usually don't swing spinners but I wanted to cover some water pretty quick so I decided to try the swing out, I was just thinking to myself, fishing spinners like this is kind of boring, and as soon as I thought that a fish grabbed the spinner, it ran downstream shortly and then it felt like it came off, so I reeled like crazy to pick up the slack line and it had just turned and started coming back up towards me, it then passed where I was standing and started peeling line off swimming up stream, it ended up about 100' up from where I was standing so I followed it up and it was holding in some heavy water I could feel big head shakes, it felt heavy, and the fish never went airborne, so I thought for sure it's a chinook, after a minute or two the fish comes up to the surface about half way out in the river, and I saw it was a big chrome steelhead, I was pretty exited at that point, I worked the fish in and tailed it, it is by far the nicest steelhead I've ever caught! I caught a 13lb summer on the sandy earlier this season and this fish was quite a bit larger than that one, so I don't know how much it weighed and I don't care! I was just really happy to be lucky enough to sink a hook into this thing, my day was made from there on out. I fished for a few more hours, with no other takers, and it was getting really hot out and I started feeling funny so I decided to call it a day. It doesn't seem like there are a ton of fish around but there are definitely some nice fish to be caught if you cover enough ground. Here are a few pics, I didn't get a good shot of the steelhead :( I just snapped a few quick shots and cut her loose.

Ryank

Man, what a whirlwind of change.

Twise95 — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:51:43 GMT

Hey everyone,

being that nobody seemed to jump into this blog post thing, I figured I'd give it a shot to maybe see if I can get others to be interested in doing the same. Plus, it's a way to sort of be an outlet for my last troubled week of my life, and hopefully can serve as an encouragement for others in some way. Who knows, but let's get started and see where this ends up.

Well, I am excited to let others know that I have decided to change my college major once again... to Agricultural Sciences, with Fisheries and Wildlife. Or otherwise just known as fisheries and wildlife.

Yes, I know i've been told a million times by people in and out of the industry that the choice I have made isn't a particularly smart one, due to an overwhelming number of factors. Lower job market, lower rates of pay, etc. etc. the list goes on. But i've decided that I need to start looking in my true areas of interest, and only then will I actually find an option for a career that 1) satisfies my thirst for knowledge in a particular field of study, so that studying and reading information isn't particularly boring or unsatisfying, and 2) that will ultimately in the end, make me happy knowing i'm making a difference in what i want to do in life.

Electrical engineering and computer science are sure, high interests for me, but they by no means reflect what i'm willingly capable of achieving, at least knowing myself. I am absolutely terrible at math. Yeah i know, math is just a skill that must be refined and practiced, just like anything else. But regardless of how much i've tried to study the material, I just can't find the appreciation for it that I thought I could coming. I know that there is so much more to computer science and electrical engineering, and that math is pretty much just the language and the skill-set needed to understand and be able to work within those professions, but at times I literally just can't stand it. After completing first term of calculus by retaking it only to get a meager C grade, I decided that for now, that's the only math I want to involve myself in for a while, being that I don't want to make my GPA any further at stake then it already is.

So that being said, I figured I could give myself a fresh start in a new major that, may not necessarily be the FINAL ending place for my college career, but it hopefully if anything else, might serve as (just like ECE and CS) a stepping stone in figuring out whether its truly a career I want to engage myself in. Even if I don't find something that specifically works for me in fisheries, I might find a related topic or career that sounds even more interesting to me.

There are a lot of options available in this major, and if I figure out what i want out of it, I might be able to do something worthwhile. Going to grad school is not completely out of the question, and those people, if the right job is available, do make good money, from what I figured out in some surveys I found from the department's graduates in 2006-2008. From what I've heard, one of the safest routes that I heard they have is a route that will take the individual into law enforcement, and that you can get into a program to become a state police officer who specializes in fisheries law and policies. Law enforcement has always been there for me as a semi-interest.

I'm sure those of you that know me probably don't think of me as much of a guy that would be in law enforcement, because (well, once you do get to know me, which hopefully will be one day ;) ) I'm generally a pretty carefree and laid back guy. But believe it or not I had a road in High School that was seriously tempting me to join the Marines before I decided on a career at Oregon State. And I wasn't that far away from making the decision at one point in my life. However, luckily I took a anthropology course of Iraq while I was in high school, learned more about Iraq then I think I need to know, that helped me in the decision that I didn't want to end up there. Not to discredit those who have served or those that are serving now, you all stand out as nothing else but a inspiration and a blessing to all of us, and I wish that we lived in a world where the military wasn't needed. Alas, as they say, wish in one hand and crap in the other, and see which one fills up first. Getting back on topic, I decided that a career in college, despite coming from a working class family and being a first generation college student, would in the long run likely be a better fit for me.

Anyways, how this relates to law enforcement - well, I do think of it as a job that is needed in our world. Its the sad reality, but we live in a pretty interesting society today, and unfortunately not all of us know what's good for ourselves, the environment, or the people around us. And even some of those people don't even care - they take everything for granted and don't care to understand. If I could be someone that could do something that mattered, to me anyway - be someone who did something that was meaningful and worthwhile, every day, I think that I could find peace in a job like that. And being that I love fishing and the outdoors so much, and I want to protect it in the best way possible, I don't see why it wouldn't necessarily be a engaging fit for me. I could do that or be a biologist, but in essence I would be learning a lot of the same stuff because the core requirements for graduating even with a law enforcement specialization still requires you to learn the biological side, maybe in some aspects not as specialized but at least it gives you a good core of understanding. And who knows, maybe after a while I could find myself using that to put towards a different career.

Anyways, wow that was a lot of babbling and thought about a lot of things. But, I think it was a good release to get it out, and I think you are all welcome to share your thoughts and feelings with me. I'm only 20 years old, I know that I still have a lot to learn in this world, and I'm always a very open minded person to just about everything. And I really enjoy engagement with others, as I feel that sometimes the best way to learn is to just keep your mouth shut >.<

Well, another part of this rather interesting week of my life was that I just broke up with a girl that I had dated for nearly 9 months (would have been 9 months tomorrow, anyway). It wasn't a very easy thing for me to get through, especially on the day before finals week starts! (though, in a way its never a good time to break up with your girlfriend). I guess that's just part of life though. You can never take anything for granted. Yeah, it was my first love, and the experiences I had with her I'll remember forever. I'm hoping most of them I'll remember are the good ones. She was younger then me, and part of being in love with someone that is so young is knowing that their hearts can change at any time, and I guess I took that for granted. But we all learn one way or another, right? I know that there's a better fit out there somewhere - and I can't keep all my eggs in one basket so to speak. As my older sister said to me this morning (who has fished a handful of times in her own life): "so many other fish in the big 'ol sea... start re-tying your rig." It gave me quite the laugh but at the same time really put things into perspective - you can't win them all, regardless of how hard you try, and I know that I was trying too hard. I just cared too much for her, and I am safe in saying I gave too much and didn't receive enough in return, and that was pretty much that. I know in the future, there will be a better fit. There's too many other options out there for it to not happen :D

In any case, this is a new summer, i'm on a new leaf in life, i'm ready to just take it day to day and let the good come to me. I can't control much, except for myself. Sometimes I can't even do that >.< but I'm ready to take it by the reigns and just keep on truckin' as they say. This whirlwind of change has got me swept up in it's eye, so I hope that wherever I land, its not too hard, and hopefully there's plenty of fish to catch :)

Thanks for listening and I hope you guys got something out of this.

Take care! Tight lines to all.

~ Teddy