on a lake with only one paddle

The strong winds the past week have hampered fishing efforts, although it appears that there should be a calm coming over the region starting Sunday. We can only hope!

USFS Lakes/Reservoirs: It appears that the lakes and reservoirs in the forest have held over, with fish in the 14-18" range being caught, along with their smaller cousins. Smaller flies seem to be working best, such as traditional Hare's Ear, Pheasant Tails, and other nymphs in #14-16. There have been some good chironomid hatches, too, so be prepared.

KRUMBO:  Krumbo has been planted, however, there are larger fish being caught, which often isn't the case until a few weeks after the plant. I wish I could give you a good report from my time there with my father last weekend, however, after the winds suddenly picked up about 5 minutes after we launched the boat, pushing us hard to the far side of the lake, it became kind of miserable. In fact, we know that there were gusts at least over 30 mph....when there was a SNAP of an oarlock breaking. &%$%!!  After tossing out two anchors to keep from being blown into the reeds, some Harney County ingenuity with a sliced up piece of anchor rope, and hard rowing back across the lake, I can't say we fished much at all. I did land one 12" trout while waiting for the gusts to subside (they never did), while my dad did hook a small planter. That was it. We plan on hitting it again this week. Two trips before that I had a wheel bearing go out of the little trailer I use for hauling around the pontoon. Lovely. All trailers have since had either new bearings installed or simply repacked. Hoping that's all for surprises for awhile...

Chickahominy:  Fish continue to be caught as weather allows, with fish being found in the deeper, 8-12' of water. I haven't seen how much it's dropped the past two weeks, or if algae has started, so be prepared for the possibility.

Blitzen:  The Blitzen did hit over 300 cfs this week, but is falling the past 24 hours as I write this, currently flowing at 172 cfs. If it keeps dropping, it should fish well on the fall. If it starts rising again, watch for days of little fluctuations or continual falling flows.