We continued searching for signs of spring. If you don’t recall, it was blackbirds on the John Day River that kicked off our spring search, followed by a trip to the coast that revealed daffodils in bloom, and then a weekend in the Columbia River Gorge for some spring wildflowers. Spring is all around, you just have to get out and find some signs. This time around we were bound for the lower Deschutes river. What signs of spring would we find?
It’s been a while since I’ve been to the end of the road on the lower Deschutes. We made our way down on a Friday night, finding a few campers here and there, but when we arrived at Macks Canyon, the end of the road, we had it all to ourselves. The next morning we were up and, fishing poles in hand, headed down river. We came upon a side channel and quite a ruckus of frogs. Yes, I think spring has sprung on the Deschutes.
We fished our way up and downstream. I think it was a bit early for the fish to be very active, but I managed to catch a few trees with the help of some wind, and the first fish of the year on a fly. Eventually we made our way back to camp to watch the sun start to cast shadows against the canyon and listen to the chukars chuck. Wait….in the wind, what is that noise? Gobble, gobble? What is a turkey doing down here? Well, we didn’t ever get that question answered, but sure enough, there was a turkey gobbling away as the sun went down.
The next morning the geese were after each other, staking out territory for their nests I assume. The fuzzballs are just a few weeks away, another sign of spring.
We broke camp and made our way back up the canyon fishing at a few promising spots. Yes, the rainbows were biting, maybe my favorite sign on spring.
