Not many fly shops serve beer. I’m certain there’s a few, but my favorite is the Fin & Fire Fly Shop in Redmond, OR. That’s where I have delivered a full day of presentations twice the last couple years including last Saturday and it’s always a good time. The man who makes this event happen is store manager, Paul Snowbeck.
Fin & Fire also has their own podcast hosted by Jeff Mishler and on the way home from Lake Billy Chinook last night I stopped by and did a show. Paul was not only there to organize the recording, but he kept his micro brews flowing. After we finished the show, Paul invited Scott Robertson and I to join him today on the Metolius River. We went!
Would you be surprised if I told you the weather was horrendous? Well, this harsh US winter continues. The Metolius is in the high country near Sisters, OR and temps hovered around 30° and the snow fell. We’re used to it though and the three of us worked our way through the Ponderosa Forest in search of runs for sight fishing to bull trout.
We found them quickly thanks to Paul’s lifetime of knowledge of this river. And Scott sight nymphed one up on the second cast. It was a burly bull trout and Scott had to chase this fish. A few slippery steps and Scott went down but he remained tight.
I enjoyed watching the pursuit, snapping photos along the way. Eventually Paul netted Scott’s fish. A beautiful fish. These bulls are much darker than the ones we catch on Lake Billy Chinook.
As often is the case, when you catch a fish during the first few casts, things go quiet right after. There’s no such thing as easy fishing, particularly when chasing big ones. We found fish to cast too but none would cooperate. I dredged out a whitefish blind nymphing a deep pool and Paul caught a rainbow. It wasn’t until we moved to a new spot that I hooked into a big bull trout. It was my time for a rodeo.
The Metolius is difficult to wade. There are some greasy algae covered rocks but what’s hardest for me is the dark bottom. It’s hard to see what you’re walking on and today was particularly difficult with the snow clouds above making it further dark. Without Paul directing my footsteps, chasing my bull downstream would’ve led to a bad swim for sure. Instead I knew where to stand my ground and force this fish to the net.
This bull is one of my biggest. Most of the big bulls I’ve caught through OR and MT over the years never were taped. Today’s went unmeasured also but he’s no doubt, pushing the 25” mark. He has some shoulders on him too!
We ended the day on a famous pool. I believe Paul referred to it as the Dolly Llama. Its no secret. There’s plenty of room on this large area and there were a few other anglers already in place. Paul suggested it would be a good place for me to apply my streamer techniques. I was stoked and went to work. I ended up landing two more nice bulls.
It was a great day on Oregon’s famous Metolius River. It was even better to spend the time with new and old friends Scott and Paul. While Paul’s OR fishing experience is vast, he’s spent very little time on Lake Billy Chinook. Therefore tomorrow, Scott and I will take him there with us!
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