May 28th - Crooked River

Last year, on the eve of Opening Day, Wilkie and I consulted the Gazeteer and Google Earth. We determined several locales along the upper Crooked River that would offer pools and salmonoid habitat. One such spot is a real fun one to get to. Passing by Scribner's Mill and onto the (coincidence?) Jesse Mill Rd, the road turns to dirt after a one-lane, weight restricted bridge. Another mile up this road and you will come to an old cemetary. Park at the cemetary, mount up and then walk through the cemetary, right out the back of it and into the woods.

You can follow an ATV trail for a couple hundred yards, then you'll want to turn right, in a direction directly away from the road - perpendicular to it, if you will. A couple more hundred yards through the woods and you'll go down a steep bank into a small bog, and then you'll begin to hear the river. Follow the sound towards the rushing water and you'll come out on a really nice set of bolders in the river, leading into a long, deep pool.

I reached the pool and was trying to decide how to start fishing as I watched the water. Within a few minutes, I spotted a rise, then another. I had a size 16 Blue Wing Olive on, so I made some false casts, targeting the rise. Soon I had a take and a solid hookup. A few moments later a small landlocked salmon was in my net. Hard to complain about that.