Saturday: I busted out of town early, still deciding whether to fish the Metolius or the Crooked River. I would allow fate to make my choice. The trip to Central Oregon always requires going over a pass, this time Santiam and Tombstone Passes. The forecast predicted snow mixed with rain. To my surprise both passes were relatively clear and only passenger cars and trucks required chains. My little SUV and I motored up and over the pass without incidence. As I was coming down the steep grade from Hoodoo ski area, the snows began. My wipers were at high speed and were not keeping up. Snow started to accumulate on the road. As I approached the Metolius River the snow was thick and heavy. I turned off the highway and saw that chains would be necessary to continue. So, fate raised it’s head and off to the Crooked I went!



This ended up being a serendipitous decision. Parking at some early slack water, dodging between snow flurries and sunshine, I headed to the river. My very first cast rewarded me with a beautiful rainbow with spectacular color and measuring in at 21 inches! I was thinking OK it will be downhill from here. But actually the fishing picked up cast after cast produced some very large fish. 3 and half hours of fishing yielded me several fish over 20 inches and dozens more between 12 and 20! This wasn’t the 6-9” Crooked of  the past, this was a slice of heaven! I had to play a gig in Redmond at 7pm so I packed up but knew I was here for two more days… I had very high hopes.

By the way, I was fishing one of my favorite rods, a Sage ZXL 4 wt. with a Ross CLA 1.5 reel and a Rio Trout LT Line. Sweet combo. The flies of the trip were Griffith's Gnat and a Batwing Emerger, both in a size 20!