A bald eagle sits atop a ponderosa pine on the shore of Wickiup Reservoir. This eagle, or one similar to it, was aggressive late last month in trying to snag brown trout from successful anglers.

John Garrison sat in his boat and watched his bobber disappear below the surface of Wickiup Reservoir.

Still seated, he emphatically set the hook and shouted in excitement.

He fought the fish, letting it take him to the back of the boat then again to the front.

I ran to get the net and reached to scoop up his catch – a 21-inch rainbow trout – which he released back into the reservoir.

”Beautiful rainbows,” Garrison said with a grin, ”are a bonus.”

Indeed they are on Wickiup, where big browns are the name of the game.

We needed a bonus on this day, when the fishing was a bit stagnant and my line broke on what appeared to be a large brown that was almost in the net.

Garrison tore into me as soon as I lost the fish.

”That could have been a state record,” he deadpanned.

But Garrison, owner of Garrison’s Guide Service and a fishing guide on Central Oregon lakes for 25 years, didn’t let me down on our trip to Wickiup late last month.

We caught four nice brown trout, one of them 18 inches long.

Garrison revealed to me that his business is up for sale and that he plans to retire soon after it sells, but that wasn’t the only reason he called me last week.

It seems that about a week before our trip, Garrison was on Wickiup with another angler when a bald eagle noticed a brown trout that they were about to land. Garrison had turned to grab the net, and when he turned back, he said, all he saw were wings.

The eagle took the fish all the way to shore, along with the fishing line – all 185 yards of it, according to Garrison.

The eagle, presumably the same one, attacked his boat several more times over the next week, Garrison said.

So we came to the Deschutes Arm of Wickiup to catch a glimpse of this eagle in action – and catch some brown trout.

Sure enough, the huge bird showed up in a nearby ponderosa pine after I caught and released a 15-inch brown.

”Hey eagle, boy did you miss that one!” Garrison yelled at the bird.

”I need to retire. I’m talking to eagles.”

It took awhile before we caught our next brown trout, and the eagle disappeared, most likely just bored.

But the fishing was still on, and the eagle missed several chances.

While many anglers in search of huge browns at Wickiup prefer to troll, Garrison likes to still-fish, with anchors dropped to keep the boat in place.

”With still-fishing, it’s numbers,” Garrison said. ”Trolling is less numbers but maybe a bigger fish. But we can still catch bigger fish doing this.”

Oscar Hoffman of Madras landed a 25-pound, 1-ounce brown trout on May 19 after hooking it from shore and then jumping into his boat to fight it for an hour.

”The whole thing with brown trout is go get a 25-pounder,” Garrison said. ”But it just doesn’t happen that way. That’ll probably be the biggest fish in Central Oregon this year. Plus, we’re catching rainbows, up to six pounds.”

We were using a piece of worm on a bobber and 8-pound test. The boat sat near Sheep Bridge, where the water depth was about seven feet.

It was a warm day with high clouds, and we seemed to have the whole Deschutes Arm to ourselves.

I was glad for that. I didn’t want anybody to hear Garrison chiding me when I was about to land a brown trout but the fish spit the hook.

”I love this whole thing,” Garrison said. ”There ain’t nobody here. It’s my own private lake. People want to be in the middle of the lake trolling for kokanee.”

Indeed, kokanee fishing is a popular pastime on Wickiup. There is also an abundant population of native whitefish, and an opportunity for brook trout near where we were fishing on the Deschutes Arm.

But pursuit of brown trout, often in the 5- to 8-pound range, is what makes Wickiup a favorite fishing locale in Central Oregon.

”There’s a mystique about them,” Garrison said of browns. ”It’s a carnivorous, very aggressive fish. They fight, but they won’t jump like rainbow trout.”

Two bald eagles now soared high above us as we watched our yellow bobbers on the calm, glistening surface of the water.

Our patience paid off, as we soon caught three brown trout within a half-hour. Then we called it a day after Garrison landed the 21-inch rainbow.

”This lake is tough,” Garrison said, ”but we did good because we stuck it out.”