Day 3 Oregon Lone Riders

After a day of biking together, Mike and I went our own ways around Tillamook, OR. We both had a big breakfast before we went through the routine of unloading the motorcycle and freeing the minivan for my use.

Mike spent his day riding North on Highway 101 as far as Cannon Beach. He hit most of the scenic viewpoints along the way. One of the most special settings belongs to a friend of mine. He was kind enough to let Mike relax near Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach.

On the recommendation of someone at the restaurant, I drove northeast of town to find a spot along the Kilchis River. I found a public access that looked promising. For the first time on this trip, I donned the waders and boots.

It was a beautiful spot that had several promising places for me to cast. The rocks were very slippery and the current was strong as I tried to cross to a better casting position where I wouldn’t catch the trees with my back cast.

I tried fishing on both sides of the bridge.

I had no success on the other side of the bridge, so I went further upstream than the boat launch. It was a slow, somewhat tense crossing of the river. It was never more than knee deep, but the current got swift at the end of the crossing. After another 30-40 minutes without anything, I caught a branch on my back cast. I reached the nearest branch, pulled it closer to grab the next, and using both hands and all my weight I conquered the tree limb to rescue my lure. A lot of fishing, but no catching.

I took this as a sign to move on, so I did. I drove south to a boat launch along the Wilson river. First I tried a few casts with the spin rod, but the current was a little strong. It looked calmer down river, but I had to crawl under the downed trees you see in the picture above to get there.

I spent at least another 45 minutes working this section. Twice I saw a fish jump outside of casting range near the bridge. Maybe I was wrong, but I might have felt one tug that kept me going until a tree caught my lure on the back cast again. This time it kept it. Time to go home. I enjoyed the fishing, but would have liked some catching.

Mike and I met back at the hotel parking lot in Tillamook. We hitched the trailer, he loaded the motorcycle and we were off down Highway 101 to Lincoln City.

I probably didn’t earn this dinner, but I didn’t eat lunch and we will be biking all day tomorrow!

The Not So Lone Rider

Leave a Reply