For the trout angler, Central Oregon offers limitless opportunities for fantastic fishing experiences.

Its vast variety of streams, natural lakes and man-made reservoirs makes it a region one can explore for years and still not see it all.

Last weekend I continued our family tradition of visiting a few favorite fishing spots in the area.

My good friend Matt Schwanebeck joined me to brave the unpredictable Pacific Northwest weather and seek out Oregon’s legendary monster trout.

Upper Klamath Lake

Our first stop was just over the California/Oregon border at Upper Klamath Lake.

The headwaters of the renowned Klamath River, the lake covers a vast surface area even larger than Lake Tahoe.

However, the deepest hole in the entire lake is little more than 30 feet, and the average depth is around six feet.

The entire lake was once an immense marsh before a small dam was constructed near the town of Klamath Falls.

The north end of the basin is still a sizable wetland, teeming with wildlife.

This is also where giant rainbow trout live.

Along banks of reeds and willow trees that would seem ideal habitat for largemouth bass, we catch only big rainbows.

And when they’re on the hook, there are no depths to which to dive so they leap out of the water in a fantastic display.

Descended from Klamath River steelhead trout landlocked behind the dam over 100 years ago, the rainbows average 4 to 5 pounds, with 10- to 15-pounders not uncommon.

Over the years, lucky anglers have landed lunkers in excess of 30 pounds out of these waters.

For us, the bite was unfortunately slower than we had hoped.

We had several on the line but only landed one, a respectable 4-pounder.

It was released back into the lake so we could pursue it again when we return next year.

We stayed that night at Rocky Point Resort, where we enjoyed very friendly service, a delicious prime rib dinner, and a comfortable night’s sleep.

The next morning we hit the water again for a couple of hours, and then it was off to the next destination.

Wickiup Reservoir

Near the town of LaPine, Oregon flow the upper reaches of the Deschutes River.

There are several dams along the river, behind one of which is the home of huge German brown trout.

Wickiup Reservoir once relinquished the Oregon state record brown trout (that is, until this writer beat the record at another lake 15 years ago — but that’s another story).

The reservoir features large areas of water less than 15 feet deep, surrounded by steep river channels dropping off quickly to over 50 feet in some places.

The big browns like to hang on the edges of these channels in hopes of ambushing a small trout or kokanee salmon swimming by.

The Memorial Day weekend brought out thousands of campers to the pine-forested shorelines, but the threatening skies and intermittent showers of rain and hail kept all but the die-hards off the water.

That left all the more prime spots for us!

We found the action very good here, as we landed six nice browns between 2 and 5 pounds (all were photographed and released).

My uncle Joe Moritz joined us for one of the two days we fished here, after he and his wife Pam had graciously hosted us at their home in Bend.

After some memorable fishing we said goodbye to Wickiup, and after a wonderful visit with family, we bid Joe and Pam farewell as we set out for our final stop.

Newberry Crater

The largest brown trout ever caught in Oregon came out of a dormant volcano.

The rim of Newberry Crater stands up to 10,000 feet high today, a shadow of its pre-eruption glory when it reached nearly twice that height.

Within the crater lie two lakes, Paulina Lake and East Lake.

We started off the day at East Lake, which had just recently become free of its winter ice.

In fact, small icebergs could still be found floating around near the center of the lake.

East is home to a great variety of trout and salmon, including browns, rainbows, kokanee, Atlantic salmon — and, as we discovered this year, cutthroat trout.

Fish in this lake have some of the most brilliant colors I’ve ever seen.

We each caught a couple of nice healthy trout, then loaded up the boat and hopped over to Paulina.

Paulina Lake holds dear memories for this writer, having landed the fish-of-a-lifetime here 15 years ago.

The 27.75-pound record-breaking brown still adorns my wall, even after my record was beaten just a few years ago.

(The new record was also caught out of Paulina, a mere half-pound larger).

The weather caught up with us in full force here, as we kept out rain gear zipped tight nearly all day.

We watched snow flurries blowing through the trees above us near the crater rim, only to turn to rain by the time they reached lake level.

It would not have been the first blizzard in which I’ve fished this lake!

We had reserved a cabin at Paulina Lake Resort for the night.

The resort has a dozen quaint cabins of various sizes, perfect for a fishing crew or a romantic summer getaway.

Many are set right along the lakeshore.

There are modern comforts such as refrigerators, microwaves, and full plumbing, but the hardwood walls and pot-belly wood stoves give it the feel that you’re tucked away in a deep forest (which you really are).

Browns up to 3 pounds found their way into our boat, but there were no records to be found this day.

Regardless, their lure will bring us back again next year!

Adventures like this are what I look forward to all winter long.

To get away to a land of endless forests of ponderosa and lodge pole pines, to be surrounded by snow-covered mountains and lush green meadows, to watch eagles cruise the treetops and osprey dive into the water from a hundred feet up in the air to snatch a trout, to enjoy long days in the outdoors with great company and fantastic fishing opportunities, this is what I live for.

Guy Carl is a CPA and partner with BDCo Accountants and Advisors in St. Helena (www.bd

cocpa.com). Contact Guy at GC.outdoors@sbcglobal.net.