Species #27 — Brown Rockfish

Species: Brown Rockfish (Sebastes auriculatus) Location: Brookings-Harbor Coastline, OR Date: September 10, 2009 Rashomon Effect 2-of-6: My Heart  The dark majesty of the Oregon Coast rests in it’s rugged, untamed power. The shaded mystery of the forest and what lies within speaks to the adventurer in all of us. The whistling nocturne played by whipping winds over the…

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Species #14 — Green Sunfish

Species: Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) Location: Lost Creek Lake, OR Date: July 27, 2005 Every day, we woke up and went on a run. We’d come back, grab breakfast, do some sort of running game, take a break, and run again. Lunch would come around, we’d have a short reprieve for the afternoon, then we’d go on an evening…

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Species #9 — Black Rockfish

Species: Black Rockfish (Sebastes melanops) Location: Brookings Coastline, OR Date: May 25, 2005 Elementary school was terrible, junior high was better, and high school was all right. As a freshman, I was awkward in the way most freshman are, but I was also extra awkward in my own, special way. I’m not sure I really knew what I wanted,…

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Species #8 — Black Crappie

Species: Black Crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) Location: Hoover Ponds, OR Date: March 22, 2005 Geez, I didn’t fish much back then. I hadn’t wet a line since the previous October. In my journal, a 14-year-old Luke wrote: “I fought the fish close to shore. Thinking it was a perch, I didn’t pay much attention to it; however, I soon saw…

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Species #6 — Largemouth Bass

Species: Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides) Location: Hoover Ponds, OR Date: July 31, 2004 Bass fishing is the closest thing the fishing community has to professional sports. A handful of the top competitors even make a living off of it. The millions of dollars spent on endorsements, the fact that people actually watch it on television, and the sponsors lining…

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Species #5 — Yellow Perch

Species: Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) Location: Hoover Ponds, OR Date: July 31, 2004 The Bluegill were lined up in the shallows, but slightly larger, more insidious fish skirted the edge of visibility, feinting in and out of the shadows in a cruel tease. I had no idea what they were, but Dad thought they might be perch….

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Species #4 — Bluegill

Species: Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) Location: Hoover Ponds, OR Date: July 31, 2004 Baseball is like Trump’s Twitter: hard to watch. For that reason, I decided to take a break from my brother’s game in White City to walk around. As I neared the back fence, I caught sight of a pond. It wasn’t large, but I saw…

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Species #3 — Bull Trout

Species: Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus) Location: Various Southern Oregon Streams Date: May 29, 2004 This isn’t my photo. I desperately wish it were, but I haven’t captured a Bull Trout on hook and line since high school, and the few populations remaining in Southern Oregon are heavily scattered and/or inaccessible to anglers. Update: As of late 2018, I found a…

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Species #2 — Brook Trout

  Species: Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) Location: Various Southern Oregon Streams Date: May 29, 2004 I caught dozens of these between my first fish and 2004; however since I didn’t keep records and don’t have pictures, I must defer to the journals I started in 2004 to determine species order. Brook Trout were widely introduced to Oregon nearly 100…

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Species #1 — Rainbow Trout

Species: Rainbow Trout (Oncorynchus mykiss) Location: Howard Prairie Reservoir, OR Date: Uncertain This is hazy. I’m not sure what day or even what year it was that I caught my first Rainbow Trout, but I have a picture, and I have a memory. My dad used to take me fishing with him, using an old canvas…

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