Dad's Weekend VII - The Daniels' Crew

After months and months of planning and debating, Brian Wildish and I decided our 7th annual Dad's weekend trip would be to Newberry Crater. We had a lot of fun catching browns and lakers at Crescent Lake the previous year, but if you've ever fished East and/or Paulina Lakes you know what I'm talking about! There is just something special about fishing for brown trout at 6,400 feet elevation surrounded by hot springs, cliffs, and Paulina Peak to the southwest. Not to mention the fact that both these lakes house the prettiest browns we have ever seen. Not sure whether that is from the natural hot springs in both lakes or simply their genetics, but boy are they handsome fish. It also has special meaning to both our dads, as well, since they both have childhood memories of fishing both Paulina and East as young men.

As usual, I met my dad in Eugene at the Wildish's home. We threw his gear in my truck and headed up highway 58. Unfortunately, just outside of Oakridge, we got stuck in a huge lineup of cars and trucks from an 18-wheeler fatal accident. Evidently, the trucker left the highway and crashed into some huge douglas fir trees. Thankfully, no one else was involved in the wreck, but sad nonetheless for the driver and his family. The tragedy just helped remind me of how precious our time is here and to really cherish the moments we do get to spend with family! After about an hour, we were led through the wreckage. Up the hill we went and in a matter of time we arrived in LaPine. Dad and I stopped for some ice and last minute groceries before heading up to Newberry Crater with East Lake being our final destination.

We arrived around noon and determined that Brian and his dad, Gary, were already out fishing. So we went into the resort and talked with David Jones, owner at East Lake Resort, for a while. He was happy to see Dad and I. We asked if the Wildish's had checked in or not. They hadn't yet so we got the keys to our "Teal" cabin. David told us the fishing had been tough for quality browns 5 pounds and bigger, with Tyler Scott's fish still being the biggest of the year at 8.5 pounds. We told David we'd try our best to get a good one, and left the resort to go put our gear in the cabin. After getting everything unpacked from the truck to the cabin, and organizing things a little we were finally ready to do some fishing!

Within the first hour, Dad and I each boated a couple small pretty browns. We worked over some areas for a few hours then met the Wildish's back at the cabin for an early dinner. The plan was to grub down on some chow then fish the last 3 hours of the night. During dinner we discussed strategies and what we had seen during our early evening pre-fish session. The consensus was to work the eastern shoreline from the cliffs to the hot springs in varying depths of water. With this plan in mind, we both set out to see what we could find. Around 8:45 pm while trolling a kokanee patterned bomber lure, I hooked up with a better feeling fish. After a short fight, Dad put the net under a nice 4 pound hookjaw brown. Nothing huge, but definitely better than the dinks we had been catching. And a nice way to start off our trip too. After some pics, we released him back to grow bigger. That would be it for our boat that evening.

Friday morning came bright and early, but between my excitement and Team Wildish's enthusiasm I was raring to go! We were both the first two boats on the water for what seemed like hours. Unfortunately for us, it appeared that the fishes had slept in too. After a few hours Dad and I finally boated a few dinks but it just felt very slow. Then out of nowhere around 6:45, Dad's rod slammed hard in the holder. He quickly set the hook but before I could even ask how it felt I heard Dad say "I think it came off Ryan!". As I was reeling in my gear, I looked at his pole tip and sure enough it didn't look very loaded. I told him to reel on in and we would check for weeds and reset. Then I hear Dad say "I don't even feel the lure swimming, Ryan!". I was like "Oh man.......Really?!" Sure enough, Dad reeled in a chewed off line with no lure attached anymore! This big fish just completely sawed off the lure and kept going. Dad quickly asked me what are we going to do next and I said I'm going to tie you on that same lure and we are going to troll right back through there! Sure enough, that's what we did.

Not 10 minutes later, while trolling through the same general area, Dad's rod slammed hard once again and line started peeling from the spool. FISH ON!!! Instantly I could see it was a good one and the best of the trip so far. I quickly reeled in my gear then took a pic of the old man fighting this fish. Dad played the big brown nicely by not giving it any slack and keeping the line tight to the lure. After 5 minutes or so, we get the line tight to the boat, but this fish is staying deep. I smile knowing that is typically the sign of a fish over the 5 pound mark for sure. Soon thereafter, a nice mature hookjaw appears from the depths and I can see it is hooked very well in the corner of his jaw. I've learned over the years not to rush the net job and to make sure the fish is "ready". Sure enough, the big brown wasn't done and made several runs around the boat. Up and down the water column, peeling drag, and giving Dad a show. I was pretty stoked as I could tell the fish would be pushing the 8 pound mark. Finally the old boy had enough fun and I was able to corral him in the rubber net! High fives ensued and I even remember Dad letting out a loud but short "WHOOP!". We were both excited and I said to Dad, "Well, I think you just caught yer biggest brown to date!". He agreed as we got the camera and boga grip scale ready. Knowing my rubber net weighs 5.5 pounds, I read the scale out loud as we hoisted the fish in net out of water, just under 13 pounds! The big buck was probably more on the 7.5 side of things, but we called it a 7 to be on the safe side. A quick measurement against the old tape scale I have stuck to the front seat of my boat confirmed a total length of 27 inches! Just a Dandy brown all around! A sense of pride rushed over me as I took pics of my old man with his best brown trout to date. After all the years he took me as a little guy in the drift boat putting me on steelhead after steelhead in the Coquille River system, I felt like I was finally able to return the favor in a small way. I don't think Dad ever intended for me to pursue the browns as fanatically as I have over the past 8 years or so, but on this day I'm pretty sure he was glad I have! Being careful to make sure the fish was constantly oxygenated, we took some really good pictures then shot a quick video of the release. This will definitely be a memory I will always treasure with Dad and thankful we had the opportunity to do so!

The rest of the trip was gravy from there on out, as far as we were concerned. Yes it would have been nice to have caught a "good" brown, but I've caught a lot of nice ones the past few years. Dad and I put many more dink browns in the boat over the next two days, but nothing close to trophy sized. Of course it was fun and we enjoyed our time together on the water. I'm already looking forward to Dad's Weekend VIII next year!

Thanks again to David and Kathy Jones of East Lake Resort for making us feel right at home up there. They always have great ammenities and the hospitality is second to none! Take care and hope to see you again soon. And special thanks to Gary and Brian Wildish for making this trip once again with us. We always have a great time together and feel blessed for catching the beautiful browns that came to our boats.

Tight lines y'all,

R.D.

"Browns - Coyotes of the Fishing World!"