Many years have passed from where my last post took place.
It is now 2009 and I am finishing up college at THE University of Oregon in
Eugene. Go Ducks. My fishing adventures were limited to that sacred spot on the
Upper Rogue on family trips to the cabin. You might think that I was an idiot
for not taking advantage of the Lower Rogue and the fantastic steelhead and
half pounders that frequent the section. Well looking back, I was an idiot. But, to be honest I was
way into golf at the time so that’s pretty much all I was concerned with.
Living in Grants Pass though I passed up on a great opportunity to fish in a
prime spot. In my defense, I had no idea what my dad was keeping in the safe.
Out of the blue I talked to my dad about getting into
fly-fishing. Living in Eugene I figured I might as well take advantage of the
pristine and beautiful McKenzie River that is known for its trout fishing. I
wasn’t about to make the same mistake I did living in Grants Pass. He proceeds
to tell me that he has a couple fly rods in the safe that I can use. I figure
sure, that would be cool. So he goes to the safe and pulls out a 7 weight Sage
and a Pflueger reel. Are you kidding me? I was like, “Dad why didn’t you tell
me you had a Sage earlier?” Better late than never I guess. I hadn’t been into
fly-fishing that long but I did know what a Sage was. I was pumped!
School was about to start up again and I had a week to play
in Eugene. I decided to go to a fly shop and get some line on my reel and give
this whole fly-fishing thing a shot. The Caddis Fly Shop got me all set up.
They run a great shop there and I encourage anyone who is going to be fishing
in or around Eugene to stop by. Not to mention they give away free coffee in
the morning, and free beer from Ninkasi in the afternoon. Just saying.
At the time I didn’t have enough money for waders so I
strapped on my Chaco sandals and threw on a pair of hiking shorts. Excited to
start I jumped into the McKenzie near Armitage Park and started nymphing. There
is a nice riffle there and I ended up taking quite a few that day. I’ll never
forget that first trout. I little cutthroat that felt like a small guppy at the
end of my 7 weight. I caught most of the fish that day with a possie bugger.
None were big enough to write home about, but I was fly-fishing and enjoying
every second of it. The last fish of the day though was a decent sized rainbow that
solidified my desire to progress in the sport. 
I continued fishing near Armitage Park late into November. One particular day convinced me that I need some waders if I want to really
get into the sport. People thought I was crazy (they had a valid point) to go
fishing without waders in November. In summation I was a little crazy. But I was feeding the addiction and I couldn't help it. However,
I thought my hiking shorts, cold gear compression long johns, and my Chaco’s
would suffice. I was wrong. I was just so eager to be out there fishing. Can
you blame me? After about an hour in the river, which was much higher and
colder, I decided it wasn’t exactly the smartest thing to be out where I was. My legs were numb and the fishing conditions weren't exactly ideal. As much as I didn’t want to hang up the rod for the rest of the year, I didn’t
really have a choice. Needless to say, I got some waders for next spring…
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