Our good friends, Mike and Nancy Phillips used the occasion of a visit from Nancy's brother, Ken, to come over for a 2 Dudes- 2 Boats Special on the lower McKenzie. Polly rounded out the foursome, and came prepared to do battle with some fiesty fish. As the river had recently been stocked with clouds of 8- to 12-inch hatchery rainbows, we felt confident we could pull off a fish fry at lunch. We were right. The action was very good throughout the day and everyone caught plenty. While Ken's steady diligence paid off with high-rod honors for the day, little sister Nancy had the fish of the day. . . almost! At the end of an especially productive riffle, as Scott was readying his charges to move out, Nancy's indicator went down with authority and the anticipated 8 incher turned into an 8 pounder! The chrome bright steelehad made a high-speed geometric escape maneuver and exited the run, coming unbuttoned as it picked up speed. Nancy was thrilled by the encounter, and everyone was still buzzing from the day as they headed back home to Bend that evening. Check out some photos:
