I took my boat out for a spin in Florence last Sunday but instead of running the cool waters of the Siuslaw, I was runnin asphalt and picking my way through road apples from Parade Ponies. It was the 102nd Rhody Parade in Florence and I entered my rig and boat to spread the gospel of fly fishing and drift boats in the name of Trout Unlimited – McKenzie River Chapter… or maybe I was just tired of high cold water and fishless outings on the “mac”. I had anglers in my boat – Matt, Katie, and little Paul Stansberry rowed the boat and fought a rather large Rhody Redside for over two hours before finally bringing the fish to hand. When we netted the brute, it actually resembled a spawned out Salmon (must have been the 85 degree heat and the 30 mph winds). My bad. A good time was had by all. And the people said… “Fish On”.
-Greg Hatten
