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