Fishing trips are a chance to escape mundane trappings and live it up for a while (on a shoe string - at least for me). I had packed up my things for this week-long venture in a frenzy the day before I left on the 8 hour drive North. My salmon/steelhead buddy, Bill, had been asking me to join him in Oregon for some time now and I was champin' at the bit. He had already been up to the Bend area a few times and described it as having beautiful scenery, people of stout character, ethanol-free gas, and awesome fishing for trout and kokanee (landlocked sockeye salmon). Originally we had talked about shooting for August but this was delayed on account of my dubious home situation.
After residing for two years in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada), I had just returned to Lake Tahoe and our house was in need of some remodeling (oh boy!). The upside of it was this meant knocking out some upgrades to the Living and Dining areas my wife and I had been thinking about for a while. And, the new carpet smells a lot better than the stuff the renters' dog used for a horizontal fire hydrant... So with that hurdle past, it left some time for a road trip, and time to think.
One of great things about any travel (anywhere) is the opportunity to try wide varieties of local fare. Years of palate spoiling in San Francisco taught me which breweries produce the most desirable product; therefore good deals are jumped on immediately. These are sampled, evaluated, and if unspoiled, squirreled away for the next escape. The local Outlet had some Elysian 22oz craft brews on sale for a buck a bottle (usually over $4). Definitely a deal. So, I bought a 12 pack to go along with others collected along the road back from the North.
When I lived in 'the Great White North' I had loved visiting what Canadians called the North. We had family in Thompson, one of the last towns one could visit before heading up to Gillam or Leaf Rapids, and then there was Churchill situated on Hudson Bay. Northern locales were more remote and somehow seemed more pristine than any Southern areas I had seen. The move back to Lake Tahoe was a blur and I had been looking forward to this 'light-at-the-end-of-remodeling tunnel' trip. I loved going North.
I met Bill at Gordies, a truck stop in La Pine, around 4:30. I was a little late because I had to get a fishing license at the True Value. Next time I'll buy a license at Ken's Sporting goods in Crescent right on Hwy 97, or better yet get it online beforehand. We shook hands and were soon back on the road to the Paulina Lake camp. Locals pronounce it ‘paul-eye-na’ despite what southerners say.
Already, dark clouds were threatening to wreak havoc on camp-making and we selected a site that would allow lashing my 20 x 12 tarp to the nearby trees to cover it. The rain commenced with the lashing ceremony and soon progressed into a steady downpour. Our gear was stowed under the new pavilion just in time to celebrate cocktail hour. Setting up our tents underneath and then staking them out afterwards proved effective. During a June trip, Bill had almost frozen here and so he brought half a truckload of good hard wood. Madrone, a larger relative of the manzanita, burns long and hot and leaves little ash. It was much appreciated.
The next morning it was still cold and raining. The water supply for this camp was an underground glacier whose waters were barely above freezing. Its volcanic mineral content was of excellent flavour - and made great coffee too. Since Bill had designs on visiting Bend for a camper factory tour, it seemed like a good day for the hour-long drive. Bend has to be one of the cleanest cities I've ever visited. I saw no garbage, no potholes and no homeless looking for handouts. It was both strange and refreshing. How do they do it? Bill, an Economist, said Oregon is smarter with their programs than California - which seems to be set on rewarding the poor for doing absolutely nothing. Don't get him started. The campers were quite comfortable and looked to be well designed - especially from a maintenance standpoint (important factor for fix-it guys like me). We left with brochures and headed back toward La Pine to scout out some promising prospects.
Much of the water in this area is a daisy chain of lakes connected by the Deschuttes River originating near the Lava Lakes. Lake Wickiup (actually a reservoir) was drained down to a barren land of stumps. We drove out to the main river channel and saw some locals pulling out trout and whitefish on flies. Since most of our time fishing was spent in the boat surrounded by downriggers, we did return here for a simpler change of pace. Bill landed a beauty brown buck of about 4lbs that deserved several pictures before releasing. I pulled out a respectable eating-sized fish that ended up on the grill over a bed of madrone coals. Also readily available and willing to take dead drifted nymphs were the hard fighting whitefish, several of which gave my arms a decent workout. They were surprisingly strong.
Odell Lake was a mighty wind tunnel sporting crystal clear waters much like those in Lake Tahoe. Bill noted the fishing was good there but not really worth fighting wind and waves for. There is too much tempting water in this area. It stirs me with a sense of both anticipation and angst at my mortal shortcomings. I know I can never hope to wet a line in all of them, but I will try. Two others that piqued the curiosity were the Fall River - known for wild rainbows eager to take dry flies, and Hosmer Lake - known to regularly produce big brookies up to 20". Those places will have to wait for next time. And I have a feeling that time will come.
Our main focus on this trip were Paul(eye)na and East Lake. Paulina is popular for its excellent kokanee fishing, and for producing sizeable brown trout. Someone purportedly landed one over 20 lbs during our stay there! Also noteworthy is the location of the hot springs right on the edge of the lake near the big slide. These springs saved our toes from freezing one day when it was snowing and blowing us all over the place. We jumped in fully clad in waders until the feeling was restored. We also managed to land a nice bag of kokanee too. They are unquestionably one of the best tasting fish and why most people out there were jigging with brightly coloured spoons for them.
When one is going after any salmonid in deep water, the fish finder is a necessary and often frustrating tool. It tells one of the depth and approximate size of the fish underneath you they can be targeted more effectively. Sounds good, Eh? However, seeing them on the screen does not necessitate connecting with them on your line. The ratio of sightings to hookups must hover around 10:1 and makes me wonder how many times I've presented flies to finicky fish without a grab. The big joke when spotting a large school on the fish finder is,Get ready.
East Lake was, in our minds, the more desirable location. It is quite picturesque and seemed to have more fish than Paulina - according to the fish finder anyway. Besides kokanee, the opportunity for a big brown is ever present. And there are mackinaw (lake trout), rainbows and landlocked Atlantic salmon as well. Every day here, when the kokanee bite subsided (usually around noon), numerous rising trout could be spotted all along the sloping weed edges. The fly that worked best for me was Cutter's EC Caddis on a long tippet. It worked well for browns, bows and even a few small Atlantic salmon. Since no stockings have occurred for several years, this proved that somehow these salmon are spawning in the lake. Some of the adults were seen cruising but I could not tempt them to strike. It is my wish to someday cast a line for the real Atlantics up (North!) on the St. Lawrence tributaries. Someday.
So much water, so little time. The curse of fin-addicts. It seems to be the case wherever the quest for fishing is entailed, and especially so here in the Cascade Lakes region. The beauty of it is, there is such a variety of opportunities, one can hardly go wrong picking any of them. I'm planning on going again...
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