My first summer in Bend was a young fly fishers dream.
Working at Orvis only spurred on the sickness. I compare it to a bunch of
drunks hanging out at the bar every day and night…yet never getting a hangover.
It was bliss. We went on many excursions on the Lower D, Metolius, Crooked, and
Fall River. We caught a few fish, nothing too exciting. Unfortunately I only
hooked one steelhead. Needless to say I needed another fix, and I was hoping the
Metolius River could provide that.
The Metolius is located just outside of Sisters. Known for
its gin clear water and picky trout, it’s is a tough place to catch fish. In
fact, I describe it as the prettiest river to go get skunked at. Like I said it
isn’t easy. Throughout the summer I went there and got skunked a few times. All
right, many times. I landed a few trout and hooked some nicer ones. Not a great
resume on the Met. While working in the shop though, I kept hearing about these
Bull trout. Guys would come in talking about hooking up with five or six, the
biggest being around 30 inches. Whaaaat? I had to get in on this.
One cold Central Oregon morning, the Orvis crew got together
to try our luck on the Met in hopes for some Bull trout action. Tye, Jeeem (aka
Jim), and myself set out with our 6 and 7-weight rods and some big ol’ flies.
These flies we were using were small trout imitations. One of them known as the
Dahli Lama is around 8 inches and has strips of bunny that has a tantalizing
action to it in the water. One of the most productive ways to catch Bull trout
is to throw these large streamers and swing it across the current and then
strip in, in hopes of encouraging the Bull to strike. This tactic seems to work
best because bullies are both territorial and aggressive fish, hence their
name. Once you hook them all you have to do is hang on! Yeah, it’s that easy.
Before our trip, we had been talking to some other friends
who had fished the Metolius for Bulls and they informed us of some good spots
to try. Not your typical fisherman huh? Telling us where to fish and what not,
well they are pretty good friends. At the end of the day, Tye would be very
thankful for that. We headed for this one spot that sounded encouraging. It was
a very cold morning. Snow was covering the ground, and it felt like we were in
the wrong place at the wrong time to be fishing. However, the Metolius is
characterized as a spring creek with consistent flows and water temperatures.
These conditions allow it to be fishable year round.
All of us tried the first spot with no luck. In fact one of
Tye’s Dahli Lama’s decided to befriend a large log in the middle of the river
and didn’t want to leave it. Touching story. So we went downriver to another
spot that looked promising. There was a strong current in the middle of the
river and a long deep pool from it to the bank. An ideal place for these fish
to be hanging out. And sure enough they were there. Tye hooked up with one
first, and then the hook came out. Dang! Not ten minutes later I hooked one. I
didn’t even know it was a fish at first. I thought I was stuck on a log. Then
the “log” moved and it was fish on! The fish surfaced and I could tell it was a
big one. Of course this fish wanted nothing to do with being caught. It shook
its head twice and said, “No thanks.” Oh man that was frustrating. I looked
upriver to Tye and said something my mother would have been disappointed with
only to see Tye pointing in the direction of where I hooked the fish.
Apparently just as I turned around to say something creative to Tye, the Bull
jumped out of the water. Tye confirmed what I had thought; it was a very large
Bull. Shucks.
Moving on, we went to a spot that would become famous. It
was a good drift with a bend around a large log at the end of it. The water got
deeper around the log as well. After a solid effort I was ready to try another
spot. I had tried my luck so I went over to bs with Jeeem on the bank. All of
sudden Tye started making funny noises. FISH on! Yeah it was a big one. Tye’s
6-weight was being put to the test. After admiring him struggling with his
fish, he said he was going to need some help landing this thing. I was gung ho.
I hopped into the river and made my way downstream towards Tye. Coming up to
him I realized just how big this sucker was. It was a good 28-30 inch Bull. A
trophy for sure. I ended up tailing the fish and took some pics that I still
look at today in amazement. It was Tye’s first Bull trout. This was a
celebratory occasion. Tye enjoys some of the finer things in life, and is a
generous man as well, so we enjoyed a quality cigar on the bank re-living the
epic catch of the day. Good times.
Needless to say, I did not land any Bulls on this trip. But,
I was hooked and determined to before they migrated back out of the Met. I went
back two more times after Tye had landed his trophy with nothing to show for
it. The chase continued.
About a month and a half later, I was moving from Bend. An
opportunity that I couldn’t pass up came about and so I only had a couple weeks
left. I was determined on hooking and landing a Bull before I had to leave. So
one Saturday my buddy Brad and I set out, again,
to give it one last college try. It was freezing that morning. I had to chew
the ice off of my snake guides in order to get line out a few times. Just a
part of winter fishing. I hooked one small Bull in one spot above where Brad
and I had fished previously, but no dice, it came off. Ugh.
Around noon though our other buddy Paul joined us with a
barley pop in hand and his dog Sunny. We told him the usual stories of being in
the right spots and making great casts and blah blah blah. He had an idea. Paul
told us of a spot up river where the river narrowed into a deeper canyon, and
where he had seen Bulls stack up before. This sounded promising so we headed
out. This spot was off the road a ways and after muddying up the tires we were
there. It was just as Paul described, and sure enough there was a large Bull in
the middle of the canyon. What was so cool about this spot is that you had to
sight fish. Paul and Brad were kind enough to let “the boy” go first, and I’m
glad they did. In order to get to this fish I had to climb down the canyon and
stand on a ledge about the size of a coffee table. Paul and Brad stayed up top
and directed me towards the fish. The first cast went outside the big Bull. The
next cast was a little better. As I remember, the conversation went as so,
“Alright man good cast. Strip. Strip. Let it sit. Uh, uh you went past him.
Strip. Wait. Whoa!” Then all of a sudden I felt a grab and I set the hook. Fish
on! It wasn’t the large one that we were fishing to, but another one that was
hiding under the bank. This one was determined to make my day. It came from
about 15 feet at full speed and slammed my fly. My 7-weight spey handled the
fish easily. Like I said it wasn’t a hog but I was stoked to have landed my
first Bull. Finally!
That night ended with a few brewsers at 10 Barrel and what turned into my roast with the Orvis crew. It was my going away dinner. And it didn’t disappoint. I realized that fishing for me, is not just about fish. It’s about sharing experiences with people, and enjoying the outdoors that by God’s grace we are able to cherish. I don’t ever want to take that for granted.
Equipment
- 13' 7-weight Spey
- Skagit line with 10' section of T-14
- Maxima 20# leader and 15# tippet
- Large baitfish streamer
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