Dan and I headed up to the Newberry Crater right after I got home from work on Thursday evening. I had arranged for getting that Friday off from work in anticipation of some good summertime brown trout fishing.

As it turned out, it was one of my best days ever on the water while getting paid for it! :)

We arrived late on Thursday night and met Jimmy Lewis, Ruben Reeves, and Brian Wildish already at our Cinder Hill campsite. Thanks again guys for getting that picked out, as the majority of the sites now are by reservation only. We quickly caught up with the guys on the day’s action on the water, drank a few cold ones, and hit the bunk in hopes of big browns dancing on our lures in the morning.

Five hours later, we stumbled out of our racks, grabbed our gear, and headed down to the beach. In the boat we went. The morning was fairly slow with a few dinks to show for our efforts. Hey, at least the skunk was off the boat. Then Dan got a nice takedown and battled a THICK 22", 4-1/2 pounder to the net. After a quick pic, he put this big spotted beauty back into East to grow bigger. After a high five, we got our lures back out there and went for it again. A half hour went by and I landed a very colorful 19", 3-1/2 pounder. East Lake Browns have the most amazing colors and spot patterns in all of Oregon (IMHO). Love ‘em!

Then after the sun was on the water for an hour or so, my rod gets hammered hard, and just a little bit of line starts to peel from the drag. I feel the heavy pull of a bigger fish staying deep, but slowly coming into the boat. I tell Dan this fish feels better than any I’ve had hooked up to this point, and he tells me to just stay on him and not to allow any slack in the line. After a short but solid battle, we see the silhouette of a nice brown come up from the depths of East Lake. Once on her side, Dan slid the rubber net perfectly under her tired body and she was mine. This was my biggest hen I have ever caught in 9 years of fishing for browns. She was a 7 pound, 25 inch beauty with lots of spots. After some great pics, and moments of putting her back in the net to get oxygen to stay rejuvenated, I released her. She swam away strong, and I felt honored to catch such a gorgeous female brown. Once again, Dan and I high-fived and it was back at it.

A few hours had passed, but the action was still constant enough that neither one of us got discouraged. Every trolling path we chose on Friday seemed to be productive. Was it luck or the lures we were using or both? I think it’s always good to be lucky! While working some underwater structure, Dan’s rod slammed hard and line started peeling. "Good Fish, Good Fish", Dan hollered. I quickly reeled in my gear, and stood ready with net in hand. This is always the most exciting time for me as a trophy trout angler. Just the unknown of what your partner has on the other end of their line gets my adrenaline running every time. Finally, a golden flash appeared under the boat, and a kyped hookjaw preceded that flash. "Yes, it’s a hookjaw!" With the scoop of the net, a gorgeous golden male brown was all Dan’s! This buck was magnificent with a killer hookjaw and random spot pattern. Such a cool looking fish. We got some great shots of this guy, and then Dan released him while I filmed it. What a great brown of 25 inches, and 6 pounds! Nice job buddy!

Around mid-day, Dan got into a very uniquely spot patterned brown of 22" and 4+ pounds. Dang, these browns are eatin’ well this summer.

All of the browns we caught were just stuffed with fat bellies, and very healthy looking. Good to see them doing so well, and putting on weight. We are so lucky to fish in these waters where trophy brown trout live. Anyways, back to the fishing report!

Later in the evening, I got a very good takedown and the owner trebles stuck. The fight was on, and I told Dan right away that this was a bigger fish. A good battle ensued, and once again, an outstanding east lake brown trout was in the net. Another incredible hookjaw of

25 inches and 6 pounds! We were definitely on a roll, and it felt amazing to put so many nice browns in the boat. This male had a very unique red spot on his head. Almost like a "birthmark" or something.

Just another cool feature these browns have. As luck would have it, that fish would be the last big one of the day, but we definitely weren’t complaining!

Saturday morning, the action was fast and furious for the old smokercraft. Within the first 30 minutes of legal fishing, Dan had put two stacked 4.5 pounders in the boat, that both were barely 22 inches long! These fish were just incredibly FAT. We both looked at each other and said could this day be better than Friday? The action quickly slowed for the next few hours. Then we hit another HOT stretch of water where the big ones were biting! This sport sure has its share of that, where you fish for hours on end with nothing, and then in an hour’s time you catch multiple BIG fish. Crazy!

Sure enough Dan had another lunker on, and I was getting my gear in as fast as I could. This fish was a scrapper and took a few runs at the boat. I finally got him into the net, and what a PIGLET this short little guy was! 22" and 5 pounds! This guy would take the PIGLET of the weekend award for sure. What a chunk of a fish. After our little photo session, this guy went back into the water, and we quickly got our gear back out and hit the same trolling path. 20 minutes after landing the PIGLET, I was holding my prettiest buck ever caught to date. It was similarly colored to Dan’s 7 pounder he had caught a few years prior, but NOT quite that amazing looking. Still had some red/orange/yellow colors all woven together across his belly. Another 25", 6lb. male for me! Just incredible. We got some pictures and released him back to the waters of East. That buck proved to be our last good fish of the day and it was still a few hours prior to noon.

Around 5 p.m. we called on the radio to BWild’s boat and asked what they thought about a change in plans to Paulina Lake. After some discussion, Dan and I pulled out the smokercraft, packed up camp, and drove over to Paulina for the Saturday evening bite. BWild and Rubes would be over in the a.m.

Within 45 minutes of trolling Paulina, Dan yells "Fish on!".

"Woohoo", I screamed and brought my gear in. A very respectable 4+ pound brown came to the net, and the skunk was off of Paulina for my boat. Wow that was cool!! I caught a dink a few minutes later, and then legal fishing was over. We headed back to camp feeling great about our decision to leave East, and looked forward to what Sunday could hold.

Once again, the morning came way too early, but that’s the game when there is 17 hours of daylight during the summer months. Little sleep, and Much fishing! We hit it bright and early, and within 10 minutes we saw headlights pull into the public boat ramp. "Yep, BWild and Rubes are here!" We talked briefly on the radios and picked trolling paths. Once again, Dan and I were on the right path at the right time! My rod loaded hard along a favorite shoreline with some brief ripping of drag from my reel. "Dan, this is a good, heavy fish" I hollered. Dan got his gear in and cleared the boat. It was still twilight out, as we were about 45 minutes into legal. The water was still very black and hard to see and this big trout was staying deep.

Then all of a sudden my pole thumps hard three straight times from the recoil of big headshakes from the beast below. Dan sees this, and says "Alright Coyote, you’ve got a good one on here!" I’m getting anxious and excited to catch a glimpse of this guy, as he gets closer and closer to the boat. About that time, he takes a pass by the boat, and we both see the thick fat body of a very nice brown trout. He makes a short run, and then explodes at the boat’s edge with splashing and thrashing on the water’s surface. Dan does a magical job with the net and the big hookjaw is all mine! What a slab this guy is! My first Paulina Brown over the 5lb. mark and just a beauty at that.

This guy weighed a solid 7 to 7-1/2 pounds and taped out at only 25 inches. He was definitely the most solid fish I’d got the luxury of holding all weekend. After the photos, I posed for another pic of the release, and then Dan filmed it. I have since nicknamed this Paulina buck, "Ole Greenhead" for his spectacular colors on his head. BWild and Rubes also got a quick look at him prior to release and adamantly gave us the thumbs up and way to go! Dan and I gave a couple whoops and hollers, and got back to fishing. The Paulina Brown Trout gods had smiled all their glory on me for the day, and that was the only big fish for me during my time on the water there. I believe we caught a few more dinks, but nothing much to mention. What a memorable trip to Paulina this will always be!

Around 11:00 a.m., we decided to call it a trip. After pulling out the boat, we stopped by the Paulina Lake Lodge to show Karen Brown, the resort owner, our pics of my nice brown. Her first comment was

"Are you sure that’s only 7 pounds!?!". Dan and I laughed and said

"yep!" She is a great gal, and really appreciated us for stopping in and showing her the pictures. Dan and I drove away with HUGE smiles on our faces as we left the crater. All in all, we caught 64 browns for the extended weekend in 39 hours of trolling. Twelve of those fish were between 4 and 7 pounds. Without a doubt my BEST EVER TTH trip for brown trout. Thanks buddy! Great friend and fishing partner, Hookjaw!

Can’t wait till next time…….

R.D.