2008 John Day River Final
Date : 2008-10-26
John Day River, Fall 2008
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Words by: Mia Sheppard
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Photos by: Shauna Stephenson
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Seeking Escape
Wind rips through the vast, arid, fields of golden wheat, illuminating a halo over the feral canyons of the John Day River. Millions of years ago the John Day Basin was once a cooler climate forest with lakes and trees such as Ulmus pumila L., Metasequoia, and Acer rubrum; also mammals such as the saber-tooth, small three-toed horses, and Brontotheres once roamed the floor of the ancient forest before a series of volcanic eruptions changed the face of the Basin, molding it into what we see today. Between 44 million years ago and 15 million years ago ash, heated gases, and pulverized rock spewed from nearby volcanoes covering up the forest, leaving layers of burnt red, pea green, antique ash and cathedrals of basalt and shale. These deposits have settled in and created an ecosystem for new adaptable species and a place that arouses the curiosity of men and adventurers seek their claim to seeing a new world.
The John Day River runs 280 miles long; the headwaters can be found cascading through the Strawberrry Mountains and Blue Mountains. This is the home that beacons the steelhead [Oncorhynchus mykiss], calling her back year after year. No one knows how long she has made her presence here but records date back to 1780, when Tenino’s made their villages along the banks of the John Day. Tenino’s where known for being fisherman and trading their prized fish with settlers. In 1811 the Astor expedition traveled through the John Day Basin where a member of the party was stripped naked and robbed, his name being John Day, and so the river bears his identity.
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Her journey begins here just as her adversaries that sought an unsettled land. They found the warmth and immense open space, which filled their lungs as the river fills her gills. Her desire is so strong she conquers the gauntlet of fishing nets, dams, predators, and fisherman. We compassionately return her to the river so that she may continue the journey forward, passing on her keen instincts to her heirs.
Anglers that seek her spend hours, days, years, studying her mysterious ways, trying to predict what might entice her to have a look at their fly. Those anglers that can present her with perfection have a chance at experiencing her strong passion and fight to return back to her home waters without intrusion.
Her touch is so subtle as if she’s smelling the temptation that is presented to her; her curiosity gets her and she comes back a second time and feels what is passing by her. This is when she notices she’s been hooked. The crescendo of the capture weakens your knees, the surge of electricity that pulsates through the line reaches your fingertips; this is the first time you feel connected with her. The sting of the hook pierces through her maxillary and agitates her; she leaps from the water cartwheeling over your line and crashes back in the water. She pulls and the line tightens; adrenaline surges through your body as the reel spins and she darts downstream, cartwheeling again. Slowly she submits to her fate, defeated, not knowing her fortune. Then gently she is released. Feeling the water quench her gills, she returns.
She’s humbled by the hands that released her just as they are humbled by her yearning to return home. Her victory is her desire to spawn.
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Below are a sample of some happy clients from our 2008 John Day Steelhead season!Photos by our guides: Marty Sheppard, Ted Neely, Brian Silvey, Jad Donaldson, and Josh Linn
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What to look for next year:
We will be offering new trip options as well as our previous day floats for our 2009 John Day Steelhead season. We have a new private ranch access with a small cabin on the river! An exciting four day, 42 mile, float trip will also be available to those "core" enough! Ask us about upland bird hunting too!
Thanks again everyone,
Marty, Mia, and Tegan Sheppard
with cedar too!
Little Creek Outfitters
Phone: (503) 944-9165
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