Last weekend we camped out at the mouth of the Deschutes River for the Native Fish Society River Steward retreat, hosted by NFS staffers Russell Bassett and Tom Derry. It was a great event, full of presentations by top fisheries biologists and policy-makers, and presentations by the River Stewards themselves.
We shot a video of some of the river stewards at the event, and they got to talk about the projects in watersheds around the state. Definitely check it out:
For more info on the River Steward program, contact Russell Bassett 503-829-6211.
While that’s all pretty great, the fishing was even better. Early mornings and late evenings, desert rainstorms, and jumping sea-run salmonids. Can’t beat it. I caught steelhead on a floating line, but a sink tip would have been helpful during the middle of the day. Johnson Creek river steward Will Govin sent us these photos:
Will went 4 for 5 on Sunday night, with 3 wild, 1 hatchery and one that never slowed down and eventually freed himself well downstream.
-MS
Thanks for putting together the video Matt, great work! I hope you don’t mind me stealing it for my blog post on the retreat 🙂
Great video Matt! Nice to see you there.
Holy Hell! Nice job on Sunday night Will! Kicking myself for leaving at 5.
Nice job, Matt. What fly did you use to catch those fish? Oh yeah, I remember… Will found it in the grass on Sunday, and now it’s in his fly wallet along with all that steelhead juju you put on it. No worries, I’ll hook you up with a replacement or three.
Fishing with Mia Sunday night was a hoot, but though there were fish showing, no grabs were forthcoming.
Monday morning, the sleds were back on the river with a vengance, but Will, Tom, his son Josh & I marched up the road anyway. Will got into another wild fish. That is one steelheady dude. Mia & Marty fished closer to camp and both got into fish. Marty selected an old, quasi-AS pattern of mine called the Scurvy Dog for his opening pattern and fought a hot fish ’til it came unbuttoned. Mia connected with a cooler keeper.
See y’all soon ~
P