Mount Hood lake...

Yesterday I managed to rouse myself from slumber early enough to make the drive up to the east side of Mt. Hood.  This was my first time fly-fishing out of my Hobie Outback.  I didn't get as early of a start as I'd hoped (try finding a bio-diesel pump open in Portland on a Sunday morning), but I managed to get on the water by noon.

I went to Laurence Lake, SW of Hood River (near Parkdale).  This is a very scenic irrigation reservoir that is home to a few native cutthroat and threated bull trout (all must be released unharmed), and a bunch of stocker rainbows (including a few multi-year old bruisers).  Also, some schmuck decided it would be a great idea to release small mouth bass in the lake a few years ago, and ODFW is strongly encouraging people to kill any they catch.  Laurence is pretty famous for wind, and yesterday was no exception.

I spent the day trolling olive wooly-buggers behind my kayak.  I don't have a sinking line, which was unfortunate, as my fish finder showed the bigger fish all holding down near the bottom in 20-25' of water.  Still, I was able to use brass putty weights on my line and keep my flies down in 5-8' of water.  Trolling in this fashion worked great.  Caught maybe a dozen rainbows (and 7 of em' ended up coming home with me).  The biggest was maybe 15", most were in the 10-12" range. 

Saw osprey and bald eagles.  Had a big mayfly hatch come off mid-afternoon, but only saw very small fish rising.  This lake is famous for ferocious afternoon winds, and yesterday was no exception.  The Hobie is awesome for trolling in the wind.  I was able to hold course and catch fish while the guys rowing pontoon boats were getting blown around like pool toys.  Got lots of interesting looks from the locals... it seems Laurence is quite the party spot on a hot Sunday afternoon.

There was a huge rain on snow event on Mount Hood last November that really re-arranged the landscape in a lot of places.  A 1/4 mile stretch of the road leading into Laurence was blown out when a tiny creek that usually flows at 10-20 cubic feet per second shot up to 10,000.  Volkswagon-sized boulders move around, a 100" steel bridge ripped off its foundations and twisted like a beer can.  The road is now passable, but it is an impressive sight.