I was ready for the run of silvers come the next season. I had studied the possible tributaries running into the 
Sandy River with great care, and came to the conclusion that the only place they could have gone was up one or two small creeks, I had identified, where the school of silvers disappeared the previous season.
One of these small creeks was home to the Sandy River Hatchery. Of course that is where they were going to go, duh. At that time I really didn’t have any experience with the biology of the fish other than how to pursue them. The revelation I received from chasing the school of silvers would open new avenues of learning to me, and I began studying more of the biology of the fish I was trying to catch. These fish were hatchery spawned for the most part, and would always return to the water they were imprinted with as fry.
I did catch the run at a holding pool below the hatchery. There were six or seven of the other lockjaw guys I had been fishing with the past couple of seasons with brazen smirks on their faces, but they welcomed me into the drift warmly.
Finally Found It
The pool I happened upon was about 120 feet long by about 40 feet across at it’s widest, and just seethed with fish! I did have both rods with me, and there was one of the fellows fly casting, but after looking at the fly he was using I knew there wasn’t anything in my box even close. I decided on my spinning rig with a 1/2 oz Steelie lure. This lure is a dimpled brass spoon, and I liked the lure with two fluorescent orange stripes that sold for $.89 a copy. Cheap lures are a plus when drifting snaggy places. 
I casted out into the tailout of the pool and felt a couple of thumps as the lure settled into its motion just above the cobbled bottom. Three cranks on the reel and whamo. Fish ON! It went like that for a couple of hours. Just crazy fun. There were so many fish there it was almost impossible to not hook one, be it snagged, or hooked legally in the mouth. My smirking fellows just kept smiling, and welcomed me into the fold!
Deschutes River Redsides
Stories of the beautiful, powerful Redsides rainbow trout had reached my ears throughout the summer preceding my Sandy River silvers pursuit. These tales came from fellow fly fishers I came into contact with in the sports shops around Portland, and the tales intrigued me so much I began cruising over Mt Hood into the desert to fish for them near Maupin Oregon.
Maupin is on the lower Deschutes River not far, maybe 70 miles, from the river’s confluence with the Columbia River near the Dalles. Maupin is a community dedicated to the tourism offered by the lower Deschutes. White water rafting, and fishing are two of the most prominent recreational features, and there is even a fabulous handicapped fishing access facility and park there.
A BLM access road runs right next to the river all the way to
Sherars Falls which features a class 6 rapid, and Native American traditional fishing. The entire river between Maupin and this massive rapid is fishable, and pretty easy to access for bank side anglers. Much of the run is also wader friendly, but Not All. The current is extremely swift, and the cobbles large and uneven with sudden pockets of deep water that is hard to see.
The next installment of this story will feature how I finally began hooking fish. It did take a few trips to get hook ups, and taught me how to begin nymphing techniques to fool these beautiful rainbow trout so I could answer yes when asked; Ketchinnee!
Mr Hook