Road trip…

Oregon Coastal Bridge……

Yaquina Bay Bridge (Newport, Oregon)

Twisted…

twisted between wire

scars, marks and battered psyche

cut the strands of wire

Road trips are magical……..

“Now, on this road trip, my mind seemed to uncrinkle, to breathe, to present to itself a cure for a disease it had not, until now, known it had.”  Elizabeth Berg, The Year of Pleasures

The magic of a road trip from the planning, anticipation or even a spontaneous outing! Usually drawn to the wilds, the remote, the company of friends or loved ones, the memories mount and the vistas seem more graphic and etched into our memories. I only have to look at a photo of the Oregon Cascades to recollect decades of road trips and all the beauty that encompassed those road trips. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Now of course, if you are going to venture off, on a road trip, in the Winter be damned prepared for the worst case scenario! That last admonition did take the edge off all that mental balm, but still enjoy, but be responsible for everyone you take out into the wilds, to include yourself.

Do you feel the silence?

“October extinguished itself in a rush of howling winds and driving rain and November arrived, cold as frozen iron, with hard frosts every morning and icy drafts that bit at exposed hands and faces.”  J.K. Rowling

Memories Coming Back Around: Silver Creek Falls

I received some texted images from my son, Tony, yesterday as his very sweet friend Darly and he were hiking the Silver (Creek) Falls trail. It was a very wet, blustery day but not as cold as it has been (high 40’s), so they ventured off to explore one of the beautiful spots in Oregon.

What is special about this locale, to me, is I started fly fishing on the upper reaches of Silver Creek 52 years ago. And, a few days ago, I posted about the Tied Down Caddis. That was my first possessed fly pattern and I used it here on Silver Creek to catch feisty Cutthroat Trout. Every Summer my family camped on Silver Creek. What goes around comes around in good karma and memories for sure.

“Silver Falls State Park is located near Silverton, Oregon. It is the largest state park in Oregon with an area of more than 9,000 acres, and it includes more than 24 miles of trails. Its 8.7-mile Canyon Trail runs along the banks of Silver Creek and by ten waterfalls, from which the park received its name. Four of the ten falls have an amphitheater-like surrounding that allows the trail to pass behind the flow of the falls.” (Wiki)

Darly and Tony ventured up to the falls where you can hike behind the falls and stand watching the water cascade off the cliff.

Darly & Tony: A blur of an image as the water particles from the fall”s spray fill the air. Standing behind the falls for the snap was invigorating on this chilly day in Oregon (Middle Falls/North Fk. Silver Creek)

Sprucing Things Up……….

This coming year, I intend to Spruce things up more. To start, while searching the depths of streams, rivers and lakes, I intend to use the Spruce fly and other streamer/baitfish patterns more than I have. Of course, the Woolly Bugger complies with this intention to some degree, but even then I don’t use it as a baitfish imitation (in my mind’s eye). 

Spruce Fly

This is not an advocacy piece. It seems many fly fishers often use streamer/baitfish patterns. I seem to have some how never fully committed to their use. I have tied sculpin patterns, Muddler Minnows, Spruce flies, Matuka’s and assorted concoctions of rabbit and such for Bass. But, they are always a side experiment.

I suppose if I was searching for Brown’s I would more often use such patterns. But I don’t come across Brown Trout that much. But, the biggest Trout I have ever caught (13#, Central Oregon lake, 1995) came to a Spruce Fly. I have made this commitment several times over the years, but somehow fail to follow through.

Don’t try to figure out the photo. I am not sure why my son staged the fly with an old silver bracelet. But, there’s the Spruce Fly he tied.

Water Art: Images of Reflection & Displacement

With all outdoor pursuits one sees possibilities of creative angles, light, emotions, contrasts, textures, history etc. I have three sons, all competent outdoorsmen. One, in particular, has a keen eye for the more artistic side. Sometimes he just seems to be photographing more than fishing, but hey its his experience.

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Art & Sketching: Chasin’ Tail

Nature: the breach & the chute

The log that had spanned the stream gave way, it was breached by the relentless current. The moss has had time to be well established on the section wedged in on the right.

A few weeks ago, the temps were in the teens and twenties and the waterfall was frozen, the ferns and trees on the rock face were covered in ice. The temps have moderated into the thirties and forties. The spray/mist off the plunge pool in quite invigorating. Images in the Cascades (Oregon) above the Columbia River Gorge by T. Muncy.