Annual "Maupin Flop" TR



Well.Another "Flop" has come and gone. Hard to believe. We think it was the
27th or 28th annual "Maupin Flop" give or take a year. We do know the 25th
is behind us but it is getting hard to remember due to loss of brain cells
at previous "Flops". Thank god we are getting to the age where a night cap
and cigar hit the spot just before early retirement to bed. No more "Kill
the Bottle" desires left, though we still egg each other on.



Anyway, a few more fish this year than last. We arrived Friday the 13th.(Who
planned that Al???). We floated that day with Captain Al at the helm of his
well seasoned driftboat. The river was a little high at over 5,000 CFS but
not muddy and out of shape. The water was that beautiful emerald green color
and there were a few may flies and golden stones fluttering around - no
top-water activity though. So I strung 3 rods to increase the usual chaos in
the boat and received derogatory looks from Al & Gordy. I made some excuse
about saving me time when the big fish started breaking me off.(fat chance).
However we did get into a few fish that day with the largest around 14
inches, Most were of the 8" - 10" variety with the steelhead smolts causing
most of the excitement with their distinctive hit & miss takes. We fished
the old standards: GRHE, big black, heavy stonefly nymphs, prince nymphs and
golden stone adults This is the 1st year I strayed from the regular patterns
and was very pleased that I did. A #16 pheasant tail drew a lot of takes and
a few fish. Then a casual dress did well on it's first cast (when wet, the
casual dress is one of the most "buggy" looking wet patterns there is). I
like it and it is going to become one of my standards. We floated again
Saturday with fair success. I did best when wandering upstream into a
boulder field that looked like hell on earth to wade through (and was). But,
the reward was worth it. Landed 4 medium trout, lost that many more, missed
another dozen strikes and one very large white fish broke me off after
realizing he had been hooked. No stopping those guys on a light tippet when
they head for the rapids



A beautiful canyon, the Deschutes. A couple of the guys don't do much
fishing. They stay in camp and keep an eye in the 30+ Big Horns along the
cliff walls across from Beaver Tail. We used to stay at Rattlesnake until it
was washed out several years back. One of the guys mentioned the cliffs
above Rattlesnake might be another excellent habitat for the Big Horns. I'll
be danged if Al didn't get his humongous binoculars out, look down the
canyon five or six miles and spot another herd of 30 to 40 sheep on the
cliffs. One of the new guys attending the "Flop" is a Ranger in Eastern
Oregon and said the big horns are very prolific there, and if I recall
correctly, they are going to start transferring the sheep to other areas in
the state to build the population.



Steve was unable to join us this year due to an appointment in surgery for
colon problems - We all said a prayer for Steve by the campfire. At least
Gordy joined us for the first time in many years after suffering a sad loss
in his family. It is good to have Gordy back as his "old self".



Well, I hope to get back to the Deshutes early fall when the water is down
2,000 CFS, The steelhead are in, and, the trout are more aggressive. So many
trout streams, so little time.



And a high light of the trip was to have the Jew, the Mormon and the
Catholic (Gordy, Guy & Al) fishing together again in rare form.both Gordy
and myself took on water this year suffering uncontrollable slow falls
nearly to our necks.cold.. Scores for both dunks averaged only 6.3. Maybe no
scores next year.I hope.



Looking forward to Montana!



Guy

(We are leaving for NC tonight and will post pics of the "Flop" at
guysflies.com when we return in about 10 days)