First fish of 2007 -- McKenzie River

Wild Bill and I went on the move today to try to find some active trout. I had to stop in Walterville, OR at the McKenzie Angler where they told us upriver was too cold, better off heading back toward town.

We headed downriver to Armitage, parked under the bridge and headed out in the rain. I had a size 10, black beadhead wooly bugger on my four-weight. Not the best choice of rod -- short for the size of the water and a little flimsy for the weight of the fly -- but it’s new and I wanted to use it.

Light drizzle, about 50 degrees, it felt good to be fishing. But I wanted more structure. This run of river was pretty smooth, no pockets or breaks to speak of. Plus, I’d left my polarized glasses at home. Eventually I did find some structure, a drop off along the channel.

I’d like to say I planned on catching the fish on that drop, but I actually hadn’t caught anything and was turning around to talk some smack to Wild Bill when the thing hit my line. It was nothing to brag about -- little wild cutthroat about 10 inches.

Wild Bill got a few hits from fish in the same scale, had one on for a minute. Eventually the little guys started rising. Pretty cool first day back.