More on satellite images
http://www.info-fx.com/vfb/wickiupflat.jpg
Another cut-and-paste satellite map. This one is Wickiup Reservoir, at 11,200 acres, the second-largest body of water in Central Oregon behind Lake Billy Chinook. Wickiup is primarily a boater and bait/gear chucker lake located on the east slope of the Cascades Mountain Range. Wickiup is too large to cover effectively with pontoon boats and float tubes.
Lots of lunker browns here, plus rainbows, kokanee, bass, and a wide variety of forage fish.
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The image itself has about a dozen different satellite views tiled together.
A technical note: I have begun using Netscape 7.2 for Mac as one of my primary web browsers. I have used Netscape extensively in the past, but over the last few years haven't paid much attention to it. The NS7.2 has the best image rendering engine I have seen. The display of photos is astonishing. It also has a nice feature that allows the option to automatically shrink large photos to fit the size of the browser window. (this is really evident in viewing the North Platte River image sent earlier). It simultaneously supplies you with a magnifying glass icon to instantly blow up desired sections of the photo to maximum resolution though then you need to scroll to view the entire image. Very cool.
About the satellite view: the upper Deschutes River enters at the top left draining from Crane Prairie Reservoir. The round lake near the inlet is South Twin, a water-filled volcano vent. Snaking in from the bottom left is the Davis Arm. The wide white line that slashes across the right side is the dam, and the dark small squiggle going from the dam outlet out the right side of the photo is the Deschutes again. The river runs unimpeded for about 50 miles until it reaches Bend.
What is striking about this satellite view is, on a good monitor, you can view the bottom structure very clearly. The sun was at a perfect angle to illuminate the bottom, almost like looking at the bottom of a water-filled basin or tidal pool. I am already planning new spots to fish!
Wes Wada Bend, Oregon
