Today is Memorial Day and we just had to go out fishing! I was pretty confident that we would be able to go to Foster Reservoir and limit out on trout within a couple of hours and I was ready to do it...
My son and I got up at 6:00 a.m. and headed to the lake. We had to make a pit stop at "Wally World" to get some odds and ends and we continued on our way. We made it up to the lake at about 8:00 a.m. I was a little disappointed because since earlier in the month the lake has filled up to capacity. That means the our hot spot where we had limited out two times earlier in the month was under twenty or thirty feet of water. So we looked around for a place to fish, which proved to be fairly hard since there were already quite a few folks around and when they fill up the reservoir, the surrounding trees and steep banks make it pretty hard to find a place to fish.
So we stopped half way between the dam and the first bridge and fished for about a hour. We only got one bite and I landed a nice 10 1/2 to 11 inch fish. But that was the only fish that we saw there, and I was still expecting to find some place where we could limit out in a couple of hours, so I decided we should head back down to the dam to fish there.
Apparently the fish didn't get that memo because we didn't get one bite at the dam. It was warm and still and there were several people fishing. We didn't see anybody get so much as a bite, so, we decided we would try somewhere else.
I had planned on going to a boat ramp that is near the first bridge that goes up to Green Peter Reservoir, but there was no parking available, so we decided to just go ahead and go up to Green Peter to fish off the bridge on the Whitcomb arm.
We didn't get a single bite there after about an hour, so, we decided to head back down to Foster. I figured we might try some spot on the north shore of the lake, so, I found a spot and parked and since my son was asleep, I decided to go ahead and take off the Buzz Bombs we had been using for kokanee and put on the standard size 18 treble hook and three small split shot 14-18 inches up from the hook for a PowerBait setup. Well, after I finished that, I couldn't take it any more so, I woke my son up and we packed everything down to the water.
On the first cast, my son caught a nice 11 inch rainbow, and the action was pretty much non stop from there on. We limited out in a couple of hours.

Notes:
Caught first fish on south shore on fly rod with tapered leader (about 8 ft). On the end of the tapered leader I tied on a little extra 4lb leader. I roll casted out some salmon eggs on a size 10 eagle claw hook. Love that action.

It was a pretty hot day. There were water skiers and lots of fast moving, wave making boats. The breeze picked up a bit in the afternoon and blew into our faces as we fished the north shore. I think this maybe brought the fish and the fish food to the north shore.

The weather and conditions (hot, lots of boats and lots of other fisher folks, high water, and a good stiff breeze) could have discouraged me, but I am very glad we kept looking for the fish. I knew they were in there. Indeed we found them!

The weather was absolutely wonderful. I had a very enjoyable day with my son! We really bonded today like we never have before. He is such a good kid. I love him so much. He is really growing up and can now do things that he couldn't do before. I am so proud of him.

P.S.
After we caught our limits on Foster, we headed down to the South Santiam River below the dam and I fished for steelhead for a couple of hours. I was using my fly rod with an egg sucking leech. I didn't get any hits, but I saw three steelhead taken. I think that, for bank fishing on the South Santiam, the best thing a guy can do is get a good long steelhead rod and use a bobber and jigs. These guys could have casted all they way accross the river! I observed one of the guys catch two of the steelhead. As I walked by I noticed he had a big box that was full of every color of marabou steelhead jigs imaginable. This guy was serious. I need to get serious about the steelhead too!

Couldn't stay away from the water today. After working in Corvallis today I decided I better take advantage and stop at Willamette Park and try my luck on the Willamette river. I had the size 10 brown Woolly Worm on that I had been catching green sunfish and bluegill on at the pond at Periwinkle Park, in Albany. I tried that for a few casts and didn't catch anything. Then I decided to tie on a size 12 brown soft hackle. A few minutes later, at the end of the swing, about 30 feet down river and not three feet off the bank, I hooked a fish. I was so stinking excited! I reeled it in and it looked like a steelhead smolt (about 10-11 inches long), so I released it. I tried for a few more minutes and just as I decided I had to go, a big fish surfaced not five feet from me. It came all the way out of the water and I saw its brown back, with black dots on it. It looked like a trout to me, but I wasn't sure. I tied on a size 14 parachute adams and casted to it but I didn't get any hits, then I quickly changed over to a size 12 yellow Humpy and didn't get any rises. Unfortunately, I had to get back to Albany to attend to some errands. I will not forget that place though. There were a couple of hatches coming off. I believe they were dark gray caddis flies and some green caddis flies, but I am no entomologist. I wished I had a camera, but I didn't.

I went and took care of my errands and then we had a little bit of time before it got dark, so I took my son down to Periwinkle Park here in Albany, to fish at the pond. As soon as we got there and started getting our rods ready, I noticed he was shivering, so we got back in the car and headed home to get him a coat. We drove back to the pond and started fishing. About five minutes later he was jumping like a little jumping bean and said he had to go to the bathroom. Now, if you haven't been able to tell by now, I am a little immature at times and get way to excited about the fishing, so I got kind of ticked off that we had to leave again because there was no public restroom in sight.

We headed back to the car and drove down Columbus St, and on the way I thought I'd go stop at Grand Prairie Park because I was pretty sure they had a bathroom. Indeed they did, so we did our duty and then decided we might as well try to fish there at that park. We caught the same species of fish as I had at the pond at Periwinkle Park. It was a little tough trying to get my son into the fish, but I at least hooked a couple and let him bring them in on the fly rod. It was fun.

*Weather - About 55 degrees. It was a little breezy and cool. There were some clouds in the sky. Great fishing weather.

*Flies - size 10 brown Woolly Worm, and a size 10 olive hare's ear (accounted for the biggest fish).

*Fish - about 10 green sunfish and one nice sized bluegill.

*Time - between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.

It was pretty fun. When you are catching a bunch of small fish and then you hook a bigger one, it can be pretty exciting. Those bluegill are great fighters.

After getting skunked at Crane Prairie Reservoir I just had to catch some fish, so after work I headed over to Periwinkle Park, here in Albany, Oregon, to fish at the little pond there.

*Weather - Sunny and warm. Fished evening (about 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm). Air temperate was in the mid seventies. It was a beautiful evening.

*Fish - Caught 20 to 30 green sunfish and I was really surprised when I caught two really nice sized bluegill, maybe the biggest I have ever caught. They were about the size of my hand! I caught these at the little man-made waterfall that runs out of the pond.

*Flies - Caught most of the fish on a size 10 brown Woolly Worm. They gobbled it up!
Also used a Gray Hackled Peacock, Prince Nymph (no fish) and a size 12 Woolly Bugger (no fish).

It was a great way to recover a bit from the fishless morning at Crane Prairie Reservoir. There is something to be said for catching large numbers of fish within 5 minutes of my home here in Albany. I think I will take my son back there soon.

Tight Lines!
nimrod243

We finally made a trip (though a very short one) to Crane Prairie Reservoir in the Deschutes National Forest, Oregon. Here is the rundown.

*Weather - Sunny and warm! It was a beautiful day. We've (my brother and I) heard that the wind can really cause problems at Crane, but that didn't prove to be true for us yesterday! There was virtually no wind all day. We had no difficulty casting (at least due to the wind). The temperature was in the thirties in the early morning and warmed up to the high seventies by afternoon.

*Fish - Didn't catch a single fish at Crane Prairie. We talked to a couple of other fishermen and they had only caught one "stocker sized" fish. We did see several LARGE fish surface. They seemed to be pretty wary of the boat because no matter where we were they always seemed to be surfacing just out of fly casting range. I will have to admit - seeing the huge fish surfacing, obviously feasting on millions of damselflies, minnows and a myriad of other aquatic creatures, and not being able to catch a single fish, took a tole on my fisherman's ego. I think it was like getting upset when you take your favorite dish to a huge potluck, where there is so much food, and getting upset when nobody eats it. They could have at least taken a nibble. The bounty of the lake is what allows the fish to grow up to two inches per month. My bro and I read that Crane Prairie is not for the novice angler, because you could go all day without catching a fish. I guess the jury is still out as to whether I am a novice angler or not.

*Flies - Tried everything in my fly box! Just kidding, that would have been virtually impossible in the short five and a half hours we had to fish. I did try several different flies, including various versions of the famous Wooly Bugger and damselfly nymph. I even tried a bass fly when we went fishing around the old snags that cover 10% of the lake. There are supposed to be lots of big bass in the lake, but we sure didn't see any.

*Other Tackle - My bro briefly tried PowerBait off the bottom and worms, and a worm with one salmon egg on the point of the hook under a bobber. He did say he felt some nibbling on the worm...

*Water Temperature - 54-57 degrees. The waters on "The Prairie" are surprisingly warm."

It was a very enjoyable day. Thanks for taking me fishing bro.

Tight Lines!
More...

My son and I fished at Foster Reservoir again today! After a hot fishing trip on Monday, I couldn't stay away! We didn't have the boat today so we had to find the path down to the lake to where we were on Monday. This area is located near the second bridge on Quartsville Dr heading up to Green Peter Reservoir.
We fished from around 9:30 a.m. to about 1:30 p.m.
I was really busy helping my son today. We both limited out on trout.

*Weather - Sunny. Temperature - around 70 degrees. A slight breeze picked up between 10:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

*Fish - Kept 10 rainbow trout between 8 and 11 inches. Also kept one smallmouth bass that was 11 inches long (I fried him up last night and that was one good eating fish. I think even better than rainbow trout)!

*Flies. Tried Several flies for smallmouth bass: Size 4 brown Carey Bugger; size 10 purple, green and black bead-head Carey Buggers; size 10 olive Wooly Bugger; size 8 Carey Special; size 14 bead-head rubber-legged (black) prince nymph.
Only had one strike on the size 10 purple bead-head Carey Bugger.

*Other Tackle - I used my fly rod with a 9ft tapered leader (I don’t think it is nine foot long anymore) and a size 12 Eagle Claw hook baited with Pautzke Green Label salmon eggs to catch two trout and the smallmouth bass.
We caught the rest of the fish on chartreuse PowerBait and size 18 golden treble hooks. The fish hook themselves with these tiny treble hooks and you don't deal with nearly the amount of frustration as experienced with other larger hooks... All you have to do is start reeling in when you have a fish on. The hook was placed 12-14 inches below three small split-shot sinkers. This is a shorter leader than I used to use, but it has proven to be very effective.

*Water temperature - unknown (thermometer is still on my wish list).

It was a great day fishing with my sun and being very successful. My wife and sister-in-law came along today as well, although they didn't fish. However, they did provide us with a delicious lunch!
Tight Lines! - nimrod243

Dad is in town so we had to go out fishing again today. We were bound and determined to catch some fish today. I got up at 5:00 a.m. and drove down to Springfield to meet up with my dad and my brother. From there we drove to Foster Reservoir, near Sweet Home, Oregon. We launched the drift boat on the very nice Sunnyside Boat Ramp. The lake was very low. It took a little while to find some fish on the fish finder, but find them we did!

*Weather - Overcast. Started raining at about 2:00 p.m. Temperature - around 45-50 degrees.

*Fish - Kept 14 rainbow trout between 8 and 11 inches (between three fishermen).

*Flies - Wooly bugger. Caught two fish on this fly, but didn't fish it much. Didn't use any other flies.

*Other tackle - We caught one fish on PowerBait. The rest of the fish were caught on fly rods with nine foot tapered leaders, size 12 Baitholder hooks and Balls of Fire Salmon Eggs, covering the hook with three eggs. We were roll casting out as far as we could off the bank and letting it slowly sink down without moving it. The trick is to watch for the line to start taking off in any direction and just lift the rod tip to set the hook. This is a very enjoyable way to fish as nearly every bite results in a hooked and landed fish and the hook set is beautiful with the fly rods.

*Water temperature - 44 - 51 degrees (depending on the location).

It was nice to limit out for the first time this year. What made it even better was to be able to fish with my dad and my brother.

Tight Lines! - nimrod243

We (my dad, my brother and I) went on a quick, two hour fishing trip in my brother's new drift boat on the Middle Fork Willamette in Euene today.

*Weather - Overcast. The sun peeked through occasionally. Temperature - around 60 degrees.

*Fish - Landed one hatchery rainbow.

*Flies - Size 12 brown soft hackle, size 10 orange soft hackle, size 10 yellow tied down caddis nymph.
All these flies were hit several times.
Several times we had fish on for just a second.

*Water temperature - need to get a thermometer.

It was a fast but fun trip.

Tight Lines! - nimrod243