First a BIG THANKS to Paul Brewer for opening his Maupin home and hosting this months Fish-A-Long.

Around 8am we all met at Paul’s place for coffee and donuts then headed down river to Beavertail Campground, which is about 10 miles below Sherars Falls.

The gravel section of the road was in bad shape—deep wash boarding made for slow going. According to the locals, boat trailer traffic and especially the heavier jet sleds make the washboards worse.

We arrived at the Campground around 9:45 and couldn’t resist trying to spot some mountain sheep on the huge canyon wall across the river. We thought we saw a couple but they disappeared into the shadows before we could get a good view with binoculars.

After wadering up we all headed upstream to a big flat that attracts spawning chinook salmon. The fishing plan was to target the trout and whitefish that gather below the salmon to feed on loose eggs, using small glo bugs under strike indicators.

Salmon were present but not in large numbers. Everyone had some trout action fairly quickly but then the bite died down. We fished until around 1pm then headed back to Maupin to grab a tasty lunch at the Riverside.

After lunch some folks had to head home while others stayed to fish thru the afternoon. We went upstream towards the locked gate area. The road was much better but there were a lot more anglers too.

It was a beautiful fall day; crisp but not cold with blue skies and only an occasional breeze.