Sometimes fishing isn't about catching fish

By Chester Allen | The Olympian • Published July 18, 2008

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MAUPIN, ORE. – We anglers love a sure thing, and the evening caddis fly blizzard that blows off the Deschutes River on summer evenings has been my sure thing since 1985.

This big, green river flows through a rocky, desert canyon, and the sun lashes the water all day long

and the trout hunker down under the shade under bankside trees or deep, turbulent water.

But, as the sun sets, caddis flies

small aquatic insects that live in and below rocks in the bouncing riffles and runs

cut themselves out of their underwater cases and drift to the surface to become adults.

Thousands hatch every night out of every riffle. The lucky bugs

their wings fold on their backs like a Boy Scout tent

zip off the surface and head for the bankside brush. The unlucky bugs get stuck on the water's surface

which is like a thick, rubbery barrier to stream insects

and soon end up in a trout's mouth.

Caddis hatch in clouds on many rivers

including our own Deschutes, Nisqually and Cowlitz rivers.

The fish go nuts for about 90 minutes at dusk. The hatch is as reliable as a 1970s Ford or Chevy truck.

But Oregon's Deschutes

my favorite river for more than 20 years

threw me a curveball last weekend.

Heather

my favorite fishing partner

came along, and I told her that she'd catch a lot of fish as we ate an early dinner at The Oasis

a funky resort and diner on the river in Maupin. We ate outside on the deck to enjoy the balmy air

and to keep Berkeley, the lanky lab/golden puppy, happy with little treats of beef jerky.

I fidgeted like a preschooler throughout the meal, and we finally lashed the station wagon out of Maupin and landed on a good spot a few miles downstream.

Trout were already rising in a little seam near the bank, and Heather inched into the water to make a few casts. But Berkeley bounded into the water and spooked all the trout in the run.

"We teach him to jump into the water all the time, so don't blame him," Heather said.

We quickly figured out that we'd have to tell Berkers to stay on the bank every time we waded in.