Memorial Weekend Adventure

I would like to start off with an apology for not taking any more than ONE pic of fish the entire trip. That being said Ill share my trip up North.
The GF and I took Friday off and woke up about 5am to get a head start on the day. Stopped by the storage place and loaded up the kayak and then to Peets for a cup of joe and a lb of Sumatra for my buddy that was driving to meet us in Jacksonville Or. As I got out of the Valley and hit the 505 heading North I started to get pretty excited. Now it could've been the Peets kickin in or what I believe was the thought of every fishin hole that I have hit in Nor Cal and So Or. I was pretty focused on going with the flow but had all the intentions in the world to hit a couple spots that I knew of off I5 on the Klamath River. With a quick stop for a Turkey Panini at Granzellas (if you have not stopped here.. go to the bar and bring a camera) we are back on the road and getting closer. I do have to say I have a severe case of fishatidus. The madness if you will. I saw an exit that I have not taken before but with a glimpse of the river through the trees and the exit rapidly approaching I swerved off the freeway and came to a stop. Hmm... yep right turn it is. Followed the skid road down to the train tracks and someone is in MY spot    Not really my spot but hey I dont mind walkin down the tracks a bit but there was no one to be found.
To the good stuff.
I didnt have any worms or anything like that. Just some panther martinsa couple spinning rods (Old Berkley IM7 9' Slow and throw away shakespear). With about 30 casts and nothing to show for it Im getting a little discouraged. Ive always been able to catch fish around there. I remembered that I had been tying up some flies all winter for a trip to the Steens this summer and I had tossed in the lot of em. Just about that time I saw a really nice wood net float down about 30yrds away from me and with a few quick casts and no luck it will go to the next guy down stream. Its a sign I say to myself. A quick hike back up to the rig and a change out of the Panther Martin and a choice of a beautiful Adams Dry Fly I stormed back down to the river bank. I finally saw a fish rise and I knew the chance was mine. I left all the fly rods at home because the 5 rods that I did bring would be sufficient. That wont happen again btw. I cast out and BAM I had one hooked! The sense of accomplishment from hooking one from a hand tied fly from the skills that my grandfather taught me was absolutely awesome. It was good to be back on a river again considering I fish almost all salt these days. I got the fish in and it was a beautiful native Bow about 17". The pic does no justice but you can see the delight on my face. That was it, I got my quick fix and we were back on the road again. Got to Jacksonville and headed straight to the ranch where there were about 40 friends and family that were starving. Considering I post a lot of my food pics on Facebook I was naturally elected to chef it up for everyone. I wish I had taken the time to snap a few pics of the meal. Lets just say it was top notch and I will most likely be elected to do the deed from here on out.
The next day the GF and I woke up about 5:30am and hit the road to fish a spot that Grandpa took me since I was old enough to hold a fly rod. The spot is the upper part of Lost Creek Lake between The Gorge Bar and Prospect. A small steep trail down to the River and we were there. The water was high and perfect color. Ice friggin cold it was but that makes for some very special fish fightin. I tried ol trusty Panthers and flies with no luck. To late in the morning for flies and to early in the year for Panthers. So bouncing worms it was. I nailed three of the firmest trout Ive caught in years and they were all about 18". The fish in this area are very special. They fight like Steelhead and hit like a Ling. We didnt bring anything but squirrel food (Healthy stuff the gf brings) but I can fix that. I found the camp spot that my grandpa and I use to boat into and camp and it hasnt changed in 30 years and I dont think anyone has camped there in at least 5. So I started a fire and cooked up one of the fish real quick. Downed it and started the trek back up the mountainside. The wildflowers are in full bloom and the scenery was amazing.
On the way back to Medford for my buddys grandmas 90th B-day party, ol faithful (the 4 runner) starts to scream at me from the left front. Damn. Bearing is shot. Was able to pull over quick and call a tow truck. Off to Les Schwabs Tires and 445 bucks later we have new bearings on the front and a couple new shocks on the rear. Good to go however we missed the b'day party.
Up early on Sunday morning and in route to the coast. We stopped at Tap Rock Cafe in Grants Pass for some early breakfast right on the Rogue River. Grants Pass had the Boatnik going which is something to experience if you dig super fast jet boats. Took a few trys to order breakfast but the bloody marys helped with the patience. After breakfast we were off to Patrick Creek Historical Inn with one stop in between at Taylors sausage. This place is another "have to stop" places. Everything there is awesome and the jerky is to die for. A couple lbs of jerky and some smoked sausage and back on the road.
We arrived at Patricks Creek and it was still early to check in so we sat down and few bloody marys and chatted it up with some locals. The bartender was talking about the area in a little more detail than I was aware of and then she mentioned the word Cutthroat. I said excuse me.. did you say cutthroat? Oh yeah she said they are in there pretty thick right now. It wasnt a 1 minute later and I was in the back of the runner rigging up. I fished for about two hours and not a thing. I had my steelhead gear with me and even tried worms for a big fat 0. Later that evening back inside the lodge she said that she cant believe that they are catching them on old rusty spinners. WTF Im thinking to myself.  I tried everything from bouncing to slow a roll bubbles, flies, imitation eggs, worms and lures. I couldnt catch one to save my ass. Oh well next time I suppose. Dinner was awesome, the Quinta Ruban Scotch was flowing and the greenery was perfect, so perfect that I forgot to roll up my window in the truck and with the rain all night that left a nice soaking wet seat for the ride home on Monday.
It Rained from Sunday night and all day Monday but I didnt mind. Jedediah Smith Park was pretty cool and the GF dug it quite a bit. Rolled down the coast from Crescent City and thought about postin a hookup for lunch or a beverage to meet some of you that live further up but the stops along the way for sight seeing kinda ate up a lot of time. I didnt take the kayak off the truck once but was tempted many times. I even sat and stared out at Lake Selmac for about 10 mins and decided to let her be and continue on. I hope y'all had a great weekend as well and enjoy the scenery pics.   

Some more pics of the trip

Now that is what a Report should be like!!    Thanks for taking the time to document and share with the restofus.   Reads like you handled that bearing issue very well. 

Now that is what a Report should be like!!    Thanks for taking the time to document and share with the restofus.   Reads like you handled that bearing issue very well. 

Your welcome bud. It was a great trip up North as always. That bearing issue could've really screwed things up for us if it went out an hour later than it did. The fish gods took care of me for releasing almost all the fish caught. 

wonderful photos! Thanks for sharing 'em!

Awesome Photos as looks like a great time.

Sounds Epic! Glad you got some!

Dang that's a helluva trip! Bummer on the truck, but now she's ready for another roadtrip. Thanks for sharing those great pics too!

Awesome road trip

Thanks for the comments guys. It really was a great trip. I forgot to report the freshwater lagoon pit stop lol. If it wasn't raining so much I probably would've taken a couple more days off to hit Shelter Cove and count the holes in the lips of all the leftovers from Eric's tourney.