Next week, eight of us are driving to the John Day River, putting our rubber pontoon boats in the river near the town of Mitchell, drifting for three days, and fishing for smallmouth bass. We will camp for three nights on the river, eating fish every night. I will have my 13-year-old grandson, Courage, on my boat with me. Over the last 40 years, I have probably done this trip at least 20 times, and I have never gone down it when it was as low as it is this year. The river is usually at about 1,000 CFM the first week of June, when we usually go. Last year it was 600 CFM, and this year it is 400 CFM. That means we will be getting off our rafts and often pulling them over gravel bars. Someone asked me if we would be going through any scary rapids, and I said that in most places the water will not be deeper than our knees. The great thing about this is that the fish will be congregated in the deeper holes. There are approximately 4,000 fish per river mile, and now they will be squished together in spots deeper than one foot. We usually catch over 50 fish per day per person, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we catch twice that many this year. We catch and release, keeping enough for dinner each night. This is a very beautiful stretch of river, and the trip is very relaxing. This is the first time I have done anything with this grandson, and I am looking forward to spending time with him. He has never done anything like this before, and I am hoping he has a very good time with his grandpa. There aren’t many experiences where I feel more blessed by God than these kinds of trips. 

Next week, eight of us are driving to the John Day River, putting our rubber pontoon boats in the river near the town of Mitchell, drifting for three days, and fishing for smallmouth bass. We will camp for three nights on the river, eating fish every night. I will have my 13-year-old grandson, Courage, on my boat with me. Over the last 40 years, I have probably done this trip at least 20 times, and I have never gone down it when it was as low as it is this year. The river is usually at about 1,000 CFM the first week of June, when we usually go. Last year it was 600 CFM, and this year it is 400 CFM. That means we will be getting off our rafts and often pulling them over gravel bars. Someone asked me if we would be going through any scary rapids, and I said that in most places the water will not be deeper than our knees. The great thing about this is that the fish will be congregated in the deeper holes. There are approximately 4,000 fish per river mile, and now they will be squished together in spots deeper than one foot. We usually catch over 50 fish per day per person, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we catch twice that many this year. We catch and release, keeping enough for dinner each night. This is a very beautiful stretch of river, and the trip is very relaxing. This is the first time I have done anything with this grandson, and I am looking forward to spending time with him. He has never done anything like this before, and I am hoping he has a very good time with his grandpa. There aren’t many experiences where I feel more blessed by God than these kinds of trips.