Bullied

Today ended my longest drought between fishing days in recent memory.  My last time out was late December, I think the 28th.  Drew and I headed out to the Metolius River around 6:30 a.m.  I'll immediately spare the suspense - I caught nothing.  And Drew, well close to nothing.  I attribute the skunking to the lack of an "Inducer" (sausage & egg McMuffin) on the way out.  And the fact that we didn't get beer.  Fishing and no beer.  What the hell kind of fishing trip is this??

I did get to swing with my spey rod in one of my favorite pieces of water ever - the Dolly Hole.  We were chucking huge, 5-6" whitefish imitations, certain that we'd land some monster Bull Trout.  Just as we started talking about moving on to the next spot, Drew hooked up.  And it was big!

At some point during the fight, we think, this fish had spit the barbless hook and got re-hooked on the side near its dorsal fin.  Drew then had to literally drag the fish in the rest of the way.  The fly popped out  just as I was rolling up my sleeves to land it.  I'm glad I didn't have to stick my arms in the frigid water.

We barely got another sniff the rest of the day.  Even up at Allingham bridge where a whitefish hook-up is almost required.  The water at Allingham has changed since our last visit here in October.  I believe there was a blow-out in the river in early January that pushed the tip of the "New Snag" downstream.

The large Ponderosa in the river used to be almost perpendicular with the far bank.

Also, one of my other favorite holes is still changing.  An alder that had fallen straight into the middle of the sweet spot has slowly started to uproot more and will soon be swept downstream:

Overall, it was a slow, but beautiful day on The Metolius, as most days are here.  I got out and that's about all I can ask for these days.  Some more photos:

Drew working the bridge hole

The fly we used to target the Bull Trout

An important but underused part of my quiver: Winston Vapor #8

Looking upstream at Allingham Bridge

Oregon's Imperial (IPA) Empire

Hops.  Give me hops.  And then give me more.  Drown me in hops.  Well, there's probably a limit somewhere but I love my hops.  I used to be a porter and stout guy and it's probably been the 10+ years of living in the northwest that has turned me into a hop-head.  If you make an IPA and I haven't tried it yet, I'm gonna get it sooner rather than later.  My first pint of Bend Brewing Co.'s Elk Lake IPA more than a decade ago grabbed me.  What a beautiful beer.  And for years it, to me, was the perfect beer - and definitely sits somewhere in my top-five favorite ales.

Then, BBC came out with their HopHead Imperial IPA.  It was a game-changer.  Every chance I got, like many many other hop-heads in Bend, I found myself at the bar down on Brooks St. either drinking the stuff or asking when the next batch was coming out with a fist-full of regular old Elk Lake like a bunch of spoiled children.  Poor us.  And if they were pouring HopHead, it was (is) best to limit yourself to two, maybe three and only if you were having dinner there and either had a ride home or a bike.  Today I try to stop myself at one of these 9% ABV beasts.  It's better for everyone.

HopHead ruled my taste buds forever, with it's floral, citrusy, hoppy, 100 IBU ... gloriousness...

In the last few years, there's been some new dogs in town.  In particular, Ninkasi, which is actually out of Eugene.  They make, among others:  Oatis, an incredible Oatmeal Stout;  Total Domination IPA, a very good NW IPA;  and Tricerahops Double IPA, like HopHead, a 100 IBU monster.  Tricerahops blew me away when I first tried it.  I immediately thought that this was my new love.  It's very different from Hophead - not nearly the hoppy, bitter flavor that HopHead brings.  But well rounded, smooth, and not as strong tasting as the 8.8% ABV might suggest.  One of these days I have to get over to Eugene and try one of these on draught.  As far as I know the only way to enjoy this in Bend is in 22 oz. bottles.

It's been a little while since I've had a pint of HopHead at the pub, but lucky for us fans, they now sell 22s of it.  I bought one the other day, came home and popped it.  Oh yeah, it's still king.  It's just that much better than Tricerahops, and it's actually not even close.  As far as I'm concerned this is the IPA to which all others are compared.  And Elk Lake after that.  Which is to say a lot because there are some really great IPAs around.  Bridgeport's Hop Czar Imperial IPA (as well as their original IPA), Deschutes' Red Chair NWPA, Lagunitas Maximus, just to name a few.

It's good to be a hop-head! Cheers!

SLOW and LOW

Most recently - inspired by my brother, mother, and memories of my grandfather - I've been making a lot of chicken stock.  It's nice having it around and in the freezer.  It can be used in so much.  One of my favorites that in the past I've done with store bought broth, is slow-cooking a pork shoulder roast in the stock.  Very simple, and also with this, there is a ton you can do.  And now looking through my photos I realize I deleted the ones of the roast going into the oven .... oh well, here are some others:

The latest batch

Spicy Pork tacos w/ onion, lime, & cilantro
 

L: White bean & Pork chili   R: White bean & Chicken

White bean & Pork chili

Killin' Time

This is a little video I made back in late November while getting ready for some December steelheading on the Deschutes.  I actually touched a few fish with this guy, and landed one.

Spring Hope

March is upon us.  The first day of Spring in less than three weeks away.  Here in Central Oregon this doesn't mean much as far as weather is concerned.  We could still see a lot of winter in the next few months.  You just never know.  Yet I feel hopeful.  While my winter steelhead season ended before it even began, I still have my sights set on some fisheries closer to home:  The Metolius, for instance, a river in which I haven't wet a line for months and months.  And the lower Deschutes trout season at the end of April.  My annual trip to the upper Deschutes at the end of May.

Mott Bridge, North Umpqua River

Oregon is known, at least in the fishing world, for having an endless season.  One could essentially catch a steelhead somewhere in this state in every month of the year.  Winter used to be "my" season.  Now I just look forward to it being over.  I guess as the years go by, standing in 30-something degree water in leaky waders loses its appeal.  As if it really ever had any.  The appeal, perhaps, was having the river to myself.  There aren't that many more knuckleheads out there - or not enough to crowd a river in a driving cold rain.   And if you're camping - UGH!  Not only are you thinking about the skunking you're likely to suffer, but your mind keeps going back to camp and hoping that there isn't two inches of water sitting in your tent.  Or if the firewood stayed dry.  Just because it's covered doesn't mean much.

Oh, but Spring ... The days getting longer.  A little more sun on the water, well, if it's not still raining!  Beer tastes better, and isn't so freaking cold in your hand anymore.  Overall, there just seems to be more hope.  Is there?  Depends on where you are and what you're after.  Spring has a light at the end of its tunnel.  There's the actual possibility of it being warm out.  Sure, you felt "hardcore" during those harsh days of winter.  But "stupid" probably explains it more closely.

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It's also time to start thinking about the garden.  My veggie garden didn't do so well last year.  One tomato plant survived a late-June frost and actually produced some great fruit.  It left me impressed with the Oregon Spring Bush variety, which are great for shorter growing seasons.  With some better planning and preparation this coming season, I'm hoping for a huge yield.  While you're not going to enjoy the fruits of your Spring labor for quite some time, the thoughts of a big vat of fresh tomato sauce or fresh garden salad give you a lot to look forward to.

Lessons learned from last year:  Keep an eye on the weather report and no matter how hopped up you are on vicodin, you MUST get out and cover the garden when the overnight low is going to be 28º;  you probably don't need 40 leeks;  you probably don't need 40 onions;  keep the dog and cat out of the thing;  cover the garden when it's gonna be 28º!


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One thing we started to do last spring/summer before we found out my wife was pregnant, was make more trips to the Oregon coast so she can get some surfing in.  Part of the beauty of this idea is to hit wine country on the way.  This year if we decide to try this again, I'm definitely going to do more crabbing.  I always say I could eat dungeness crab only for the rest of my life and be very happy (who wouldn't!).  Pair this with some nice Oregon Pinot Noir and I'm in heaven.  This is why I love Oregon -- a trip to the coast in a weekend can bring fishing, wine tasting, surfing, crabbing, camping ... and well yes, rain.

Yep, Spring is in the air and Summer is just around the bend - even if there's still a foot of snow on the ground.  Technically, it is one of the four seasons.  But it really feels like a fight between Winter and Summer.  I'm rooting hard for Summer to win in the early rounds.