I had the opportunity to do my first “cast and blast” this past weekend. Condon fisherman and occasional painter Kenny Potter took me on a whirlwind adventure to the John Day River on Sunday.
I had planned to go out chukar hunting on Saturday, but instead went with Kenny on Sunday in hopes of learning the art of angling. I really enjoy fishing but rarely get out there. A late New Year’s resolution seemed to be in order.
I’m glad we went out. Sunday was the better day. The wind had stopped blowing, the sun was warm, a perfect day to be down in the canyon and on the river.
We poked around a bit for arrowheads on BLM land. We saw some bighorn sheep. We weren’t in any sort of hurry.
Once we finally got to the river, we cast our lines in and Kenny grew quiet. For anyone that knows Kenny, this is a rare occurrence. The man is usually a chatter box, but when the line is in the water, he’s in his happy place. He is quiet but smiling ear to ear.
I expected a long sit with little action – but after only seven or eight minutes, Kenny had one on. It was a nice steelhead, probably 30 inches or there abouts. My springer spaniel, Gertie, thought she had found a new animal to hunt and tried to take the fish off the line. We saw that the fin was intact and that it was a native steelhead, so we threw it back into the water. There were a few nibbles about an hour later but that was about it. Gertie, intrigued, swam into the water several times, looking for that new creature. She shivered when she got back to the bank. It made us cold just watching her.
I took Gertie on a little walk but the chukar were of course up high, but she did flush a covey of quail. The weather could not have been better, and it was great just to be outside.
But in a matter of minutes, the sun began to set and we were reminded that it was late January. Kenny cooked a mean Porterhouse steak that he had gotten from the Wasco Market on a little Weber propane grill and we ate it in the car. Absolutely delicious. Gertie even got a bite or two of the gristle. It was a day to remember.
A special thanks to Kenny for teaching me how to thread eggs over the hook and for showing me a truly gorgeous section of the river.
Kenny’s birthday is Wednesday and if you are so inclined – give the man a call.
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