The plan for TGT 2019 in Bend Oregon was to fish, a lot, and golf at least three times. Sometimes plans don’t work out…. Mother nature had other ideas for us – we did get to fish nearly every day, but due to the rain we were only able to get in one round of golf. It wasn’t a big deal, we had a great time as always.
Saturday morning Bob and I picked up Joe just outside of Sacramento and continued on to Bend. Rob and Wyatt were already there and, Jof showed up shortly after. We met at the Sunriver Brewing Company for a few beers and some food to kick things off. That night, we mostly just chilled at the house in Sunriver.
On our first full day, Sunday, we drove about an hour outside of Bend to the Crooked River. It is a beautiful river that flows through an amazing canyon. We all caught several rainbows, but most that came to the net were white fish not trout. Oh well, it was still great. That night we had the Honored Mate Ceremony. This year there was a twist though…. I hadn’t pick an HM ahead of time, I decided to put it to a vote. A TGT first. After the votes were tallied it was decided that, Joe would be our new Honored Mate for TGT 2020.
Joe had to leave early the next day so Bob got up early, ran him to the airport, and then made a great breakfast for the whole crew. Then it was off to the Fall River for another day of fishing. All of us had pretty good luck catching at least a couple of Rainbows per person.
Tuesday we ventured off to the upper Deschutes for a day of fishing. Bob and I went earlier and Rob, Wyatt and Jof met us later. Another fun day of fishing, even though it was still raining/drizzling. The next day it was back to the Fall river for fishing. We went to a different spot near the hatchery and seemed to have a little more luck with each guy catching 2-5 Rainbows.

When Thursday came around, we were finally rewarded with a clear day. The sunshine led us to a round of golf at Widgey Golf Club in Bend set amidst a beautiful pine forest. We had a great time and what made it even better was that I smoked my buddies with the best round.
Friday we decided to drive out of Bend by a couple of hours and fish the Lower Deschutes down by Madras for the Salmon Fly hatch. The day was clear but it was rather windy and made it a bit harder to fish, but some were still hooked. On the way home we found a great Mexican restaurant and gorged ourselves with margaritas and burritos.
Saturday morning and its time to clean up and head home. Rob and Wyatt were going back to Nevada, then Burbank. Jof headed back to Washington and Andy (aka Wags) staying put right in Bend. The ride home was beautiful. Of course it was the nicest weather day of the whole trip – no big deal however, the views that Bob and I got of Mt. Shasta were breathtaking.
Until next trip boys, Cheers
2019 HM, Jeff Olson