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October 2008 Featured Articles

October North Umpqua Chronicle
fishbum - October 26, 2008

North Umpqua Chronicles

October 20, 2008, water 45 degrees F, flow 626 cfs

            I head up river on a gorgeous fall day.  The air is fresh and clean from the light rain early this morning, and the fall foliage is spectacular in the bright sunlight.

            It has been four long days since my last hookup, and I no longer fish with any confidence; I have no idea where they are.  It was that way this summer, and it continues into the fall.  Now I just randomly choose pools for no particular reason except perhaps that they are beautiful, or easy to fish, or just because I’ve got to fish somewhere.

It is deep in the afternoon when I drop into Wright Creek from the roadside, the sun is low on the western horizon, and the glare off the water down stream is harsh.

I begin the standard routine, casting down and across while avoiding looking into the sun while my fly swings around and hangs below, then stripping an arms length of line off the reel and repeating the sequence.

After perhaps a dozen casts here it is…that electric grab!  The rod is yanked down, my reel shrieks, and a fish is on.  I see three big jumps through a veil of sparkling sunlit diamonds.  It looks like a good one, but I am surprised at how quickly it tires and comes in, and when I beach it I am stunned.  It is a small very bright and pretty hen with a soft pink stripe along its lateral line and a pure white belly, barely 20 inches long.  I make no complaint, it is more than enough …after all, it has been a tough summer, and I am a happy man as I head down river.

Back at the cabin, out of curiosity I page back through my journal for the summer and do the math…it says I am averaging a hookup every 2.13 days, in other words it has been nearly as slow as the winter season.  Oh well, it is what it is.

October 24, 2008, water 49 degrees F, flow 596 cfs.

Becky and I returned to the cabin yesterday evening after a quick trip to Portland.  This morning the air outside is cold and I am in no rush to get out on the river, after all there is no reason to believe fishing has improved.

By mid-afternoon the air has warmed and it has become very pleasant and I head upriver with no particular plan.

           When I reach The Famous it is open, and I pull over… it is my policy to fish it anytime I can get into it. I am just putting on my fishing vest when a vaguely familiar SUV slows and pulls in.  It is Bruce Mackay, a former colleague of mine during my BPA years who sometimes fishes here.  Today he’s just out for a drive up the river on a fine day, and we chat for a while.  In passing, I ask if he has ever fished the Famous.

           “No.”

           “C’mon, I’ll show it to you.”

           We go down the trail, and I hop up on the stand, work out some line, and drop my first cast into the head of the pool.  The fly is immediately gobbled!

            Holy Cow!!

            The fish is strong and fights hard to stay in the main pool, and it is a while before I am able to convince it to come in over the ledge, and into the shallower water, where I can see it’s a fish of about 8 pounds.  Only seconds later it becomes highly indignant about the whole thing and goes totally berserk, thrashing the area into a froth of flying spray.  It’s quite a scene!  When things finally calm down and I am leading it to the beach, the hook simply pops out, but you know what, I am thrilled…how often do you hook up on the very first cast in a pool like this?

 Bruce probably thinks it is always that easy.