The thunderstorm was marching straight towards Bend as we set out Sunday evening with Dustin’s alumaweld in tow.  My smart phone even informed me of up-coming intense storm activity – while nickel sized hail hammered down on the truck at the gas station.  But like everything in life, storms pass by quick.

A slight breeze was coming out of the Northwest as we pushed off into Crane Prairie Reservoir for an evening session.  Dustin had been there earlier in the day, and Josh had sent in some solid reports of beast-like cranbows hammering ice cream cones.  The anticipation hung heavy in the air – or perhaps that was the post-storm humidity – regardless, there was no place I would have rather been at that moment.

I opted for a green bugger rig and Dustin set out nymphing.  I had a very quick bump but then things got quiet quickly while my boat-mate began hooking up left and right.

He kindly lent me some of the flies he was using, and then fired up the little Weber to get some food going. I hooked up and landed my first cranebow pretty soon thereafter.

The rainbows in Crane fight like crazy – which makes catching a handful of them on a summers evening quite lovely – but bringing them to the net with the smell of a pork chop cooking away on the Webber brings the experience to a whole new level.

Dinner Served.

Post-feast, more fish were caught, and were treated to an amazing sunset as well. All this within a short drive from my front door. It does most definitely not suck to be an angler in Bend, Oregon.

Last Light over Crane.

Sunsetting Over Cultus Butte