Ghost holes

[Jennie@ifish]

I have been taken to many fishing spots that used to be popular, and no longer are very much fished.
One of those places is in Brownsmeade. (sp)
It is a slough that used to be heavily populated with perch fishermen along the bridge.
I took my kids there to fish for carp a couple times. It was great fun. They used to call them big goldfish!
I was taken there by an old fishing partner.
Christmas, the holidays, dredges up memories of fishing partners and fishing stories I have been told.
Ben, my old fishing partner, told me how the whole bridge used to be covered, elbow to elbow with fishermen and their families. They'd bring lunch, talk, visit, and catch perch by the ton!
Everytime I visited there, I would look up to the vacant bridge and nearly see them all. Where have they gone?
I thought I'd start this thread on "ghost holes". I love to hear about old times... I think about the 12th avenue Bridge in Seaside Oregon... I wrote this about it in April of 2000:

Sometimes I lay in bed and ask Bill to tell me fishing stories. They comfort me and take me away from life stresses so I can sleep.
One particular story I love to hear about most are the stories of the 12th Avenue bridge in Seaside, Oregon. I can relate to this one, because I, too, have fished the 12th avenue bridge and listened to other fishermen tell stories about this legendary bridge.
You still see people carrying on the tradition of fishing on the bridge to this day. Somehow they represent a ghost of what once was the social center for kids and families vacationing, or living on the coast.
Starting in the late forties, Bill Hedlund stood up to the bully of the bridge, Bob Gammon, and earned his rights to fish for many species including the Tom Cod, a fish that has mysteriously disappeared from the Necanicum river. Depending on season, they would catch Shiners, Piling Perch, Pink Fin Perch, Sea Run Cutthroat, and Coho Salmon. The Chinook were introduced in the late 60s by the state, but after initial plantings, were propagated by some of this very group of fishermen who grew up to form The North Coast Sports Club. They made sure that Steelhead and Salmon were plentiful in the Necanicum.
"The 12th Avenue Bridge".
Fade to black and white.....I can just visualize the home movies.
The bridge was made of wooden planks, and when they were replacing the bridge planks at times, you would need to totter across one 2x12 plank to make your way across the water. Easy for the loggers with corks, but as a child, you just might want to walk up to the next bridge!
The 12th Ave Bridge is closest to the ocean, therefore, by far the most popular. Funny thing, the lure of choice for Fall Coho remains the same... What we now call the size 30 Hot Shot.
The bridge was a busy social center for crabbing, fishing, and gathering to find out the latest gossip. Ladies with babies in buggies would stroll by. Tourists who had traveled far would be welcomed by all, unless you ran into Bob. Bob holds the record for catching the most coho there, and almost always had his choice of fishing spots.
There was the Fourth of July tradition of catching the plentiful mud cat, stuffing it with a M-80 firecracker and throwing him back in the water. The police would cruise the bridge and holler at the boys who would repeatedly, and gleefully throw their unwanted catch of mud cat on the wooden planks of the bridge for passing motorists to flatten.
Bikes would gather at the side of the bridge even before the sun came up, as they would, day after day, year after year, gather at the bridge, forming a friendship and a bond that will never die.
Last Tuesday some of the gang came back The bully was there too, and now will remain at the spot that was his home.
It was his right to be there, it was where he wanted to be.
After trading stories and remembering Bob Gammon, his brother, Dick, slowly released his ashes into the Necanicum river. Some stayed in the river, and some headed out to the Ocean.
You can still fish on the bridge today. But watch out where you fish, the bridge belongs to Bob.

----
I also think fondly back to the raft on the Necanicum, and how we would cram 11 or 12 people on that little raft, lines strung close and far, rod holders drilled into the raft and bells ringing everywhere!

I'm feeling a bit nostalgic.... Share some old fishing stories with me... PLEASE!
:smile:
Jen

[Jennie@ifish]

Oh! And Bill was telling me stories about the mouth of Sucker Creek. Anyone know of this place? He said it would be just packed!
I want to know more about Sucker Creek when everything else was all muddy and high, you could fish there.
Jen

[David Johnson]

Jennie, I know Sucker Cr. but can't talk about :smile:

[Tanner]

Jenny,
Are you talking about the Sucker Creek by where I live. I was fishing for crappie there one summer day and hooked into a hog of a steelhead on a bobber and 16th OZ crappie jig. Unfortunately I was using an ultralight rod with 4 lb test so it was a battle that did not last too long. I have heard stories of big runs of winter steelhead running up into there and all holding up at the dam at the East end of the lake. Some older guys I know used to catch a lot of fish out of there.

[Jennie@ifish]

Yip... Closed in the winter now.
Bill used to catch tons of steelies there!
Jen

[Pete]

Perhaps the best ghost hole I know of is at Wapinitia Rapids on the Deschutes. 25 years ago a friend showed me the thin scratch of a road down the west canyon wall to an old barn where a tin can on the fence asked for a nickle to enter the land. We walked the last 1/2 mile down the rattlesnake infested rocks and crossed over the railroad tracks to an old camp with a woodstove half buried in the rocks and some crude furniture fashioned from scrap wood hidden in an alder thicket. From here we could fish, and catch, like crazy, then retire from the midday heat to the encampment. I learned, sitting in the shade of the alders, that an old hobo had lived here for many years. The story told that he would walk to town (Maupin) for a newspaper and necessities. It was always a comfortable and nostalgic place to fish and camp until the floods a couple years ago ripped out most of the alders. The river is still the same, and so, I suppose, is the fishing ... but there's nothing left of the old camp and just rocks where the shady campsite used to be.

[Troutinator]

Two come to mind... both were the scenes of many childhood memories.
First... Diamond Lake. Regardless of what plans may be in place for recovery it will never be the place of my childhood memories. if for no other reason than the development that has taken place along the shoreline. And I can't imagine it ever returning to the fishery it was in the 60's.

Second Ghost Hole would have to be Tchesinkut Lake in northern BC. Many summer vacations were taken here, limits daily of huge rainbows taken mostly on a fly. I can say I learned the joy of sight casting here. And am ashamed to look back and realize we contributed to the demise of this lake by over-fishing it. It's now fished out except for the planting they do.

Sad.

[brushpuppy]

Sandy River...park at the hatchery...walk the trail...take the first right hand path...carefully navigate the steep grade...your'e there. The fish have just climbed up the 40 yards of stepladder rapids and are now resting, right in front of you. Some times you bang one as it eases in from the tail out,taking you right back down the fast plumes and into the Okie Drift (yet another ghost) only if it failed to wrap you around a boulder in it's frantic dance. At the head, below the island, fish could be found waiting to run up either the left or right channels. In high water, they had a penchant for the soft water in between. Then there was the meat of the run. A nice holding ledge right in front of you, a couple of alley ways right up the middle, nicely augmented by a few fish protecting boulders and at the other side, a fast chute that kissed off a very large boulder, creating yet another fish resting spot. You start at the top and work your way down. Covering every inch, changing your weight every few casts, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. Always looking, rarely disappointed,often rewarded with six or more hook-ups.
Well, the flood of '94 scraped that canyon down to the bedrock. At least the river is still there.
Funny thing. One day when another angler and myself were in the process of cleaning the limits we had both landed, he proceeded to tell me that years ago this hole used to fish better. I can only imagine.
Alot has changed, and it took me two seasons, but I finally hooked a fish in that same stretch. I have never been so delighted to watch a steelie snap my line in a mid-air leap. There is hope.

[Fin]

Williamson River at Collier Park. I grew up in Klamath Falls and the Williamson was my favorite hang-out. If I didn't catch a rainbow over 5 lbs, then I really wasn't fishin'. I stopped by this spot this last summer and enjoyed the river and thought of my dad, many good friends, and lots of fish enjoyed at this spot.

[ 11-26-2001: Message edited by: Fin ]</p>

[salmonlips]

The campsite Pete remember's so fondly was called Cunningham ranch. As teenagers we would take the old road down to the barn, dodge the snakes and camp next to the Hobo's. There were actually two or three there most of the time. During salmonfly time, bait was still legal. All you had to do was drop a couple of bugs into the eddy water for all the trout you'd want. One late spring my partner and I went down there. The main hatch was over so we were using spinners. We'd walked to the flats below (rattlesnake flats) and I hooked and landed a 27' springer. We were pretty sure it wasn't legal and the hobo confirmed it. We packed it out of the canyon anyway only to get stopped on the way home for a traffic violation. The head and tail of the fish were sticking out of a gunny sack in the back of my truck. My partner distracted the police and we kept their interest to us instead of the back of the pickup. I don't know if he didn't see the fish, or if he felt sorry for a couple of stupid kids but he left us with a warning for the traffic thing. PS this area has had great fishing since the 30's. The old gentlemen that told us about it used to fish there back then.

[Pete]

Salmonlips, that's the spot! Did you ever hear the story about the train dropping off a newspaper every morning?

[Tanner]

Dang Salmonlips, a 27 foot springer? I'd like to see that. :shocked: :grin:

[WaterDog]

Back when I was kid there used to be a hole just below the boat ramp where Three Rivers dumps into the Nestucca at Hebo. This was back when the Nestucca River ran more on the south side of the trees that now forms the south bank. Some of you that have fished that area in the early 80’s know what I mean. If you walked down the ramp and headed down stream through the brush and trees the was a little spot craved out for two, maybe three rods at the most on the little point that was formed there. There was a nice little back eddie and slot that ran right passed the point and was the perfect plunking spot. The old man and I would get there over an hour before daylight waiting to plunk a gob of eggs and a spin glow in an attempt to catch a winter steelie. Sometimes I even got to skip school. :grin: We caught a lot fish in that spot. As the years went by the river changed and the hole slowly disappeared. It’s completely gone now. :depressed:

Once in a while I’ll stop in just to take a look and remember all those cold mornings and all those bright fish. This was the hole that forever changed me and lit the fire that burns within most of us.

If there ever was a Church of the Bent Rod (Pilar’s church :grin: ) that hole was my pew.

[Pilar]

Hey Jen, how did the 'Ghost Hole' in Tillamook Bay get its name?

There's a little lake on a dirt road off the highway to Detroit that passes by Ripplebrook Ranger Station. In the '70s my Dad and I were cutting Cedar for fenceposts in that vicinity. The road is the first left off the highway just a mile or two past the Oak Grove Clackamas river bridge. There is a road there at the bridge that leads to Pyramid lake and the upper part of Oak Grove Fork of the Clackamas. This gravel road is the next left as you drive towards Ollalie lake and Detroit lake. Near the top of the gravel road is a little lake off to the left. The lake is full of windfall timber.

30 years ago it was also full of huge cutthroat trout. They wouldn't hit anything though. It became an annual summer pilgrimage to try to catch a 2' cutthroat. I finally got hooked up when I used a peeled crawdad tail on a hook, no weight. This lasted until the trout swam through a pile of logs and broke me off. My Dad finally got one with a flyrod and landed it. What a beauty, 23" long and fat. Why the big fish in this little (3 acres) lake is a mystery. I have looked for it recently and cannot find it now.

[drifter]

1. The "North" side of Oxbow Park on the Sandy across from the boat ramp for winter steelhead.

2. Rock Creek in Vernonia for Sea-Run Cuts.

Too many Ghosts, not enough fish. Drifter.

[hawgcatcher]

Jen,
I remember LO Sucker creek when I was a teen. We used to fish the hole below the dam for silvers. There used to be a fair run there, enough to keep up teens happy. Wonder if they still come up there. Probably can't get to them anyway. Oh well another hole bites the dust.

[BillH]

I started fishing the Sucker Creek falls in Sept. l953-- a 2 1/2 mile walk from my house. I fished it multi days a week through high school and frequently for years thereafter. The silvers swarmed up there in the fall -- my latest bright one about Dec. 22 but the peak was in late October. A few cutthroat even showed up -- I recall a guy getting a 21" one year. Steelies started in Nov. through May. We didn't know what were hatchery v. wild because nothing was clipped back then except the strays from Johnson Creek. I recall getting a stray summer in October with a JC Ck. clip one year about '58. Steelies were peaked in March after the lake was refilled and overflowed. --- Some of my most memorable days were on that water!! I wish it was still open but it , as is Johnson Creek is now closed in winter season, I really miss that place. When everything else was a washout, Sucker Creek would be fishable. Most fish were caught up at the falls but sometimes we got them down as far as th4 mouth--- some rally great days. The Lake Oswego Lake Commission now restricts the inflow to the lake from the Tualatin River to almost nothing because they fear pollution in their lake so even if it were open, there would not be the outflow to attract fish as there was in the 50's and 60's so the fishing would be occasional at best. Even now I sometimes drive down and just check the waterflow when I am in the area -- and just wish for the old days!!!

Bill H.

[SteelieSteve]

Waterdog
I remember that spot well. Back then the Nestucca produced more fish than all except for the Rogue. Crowds would line every spot and many would get limits. The Sandy would produce lots of fish too. Like 3000? in the month of December. Now thats more than it gives up all year. What has changed the fishery so greatly? Hatchery programs? Ocean conditions? Habitat? Lack of hatchery plantings would seem the most likely suspect. I know we pay more for everything fishing related but the dispersal of funds isn't focused on fish for the fisherman.

[Gus Orviston]

OH, yea the 3 River drift on the nestuc... I slept in my car there many many times. I caught my first steelhead limit there, packed packed packed it was. The day before there were 40 or so on the bank, the run was kegged up. I got to make 5 casts to catch two hatchery fish, then i was done! My buddies were still rigging up.... gawd what a morning. I really frustrated some people, it was about time for me though. Use to sleep all over that area. Above Rocky Bend Campground there is a sharp corner, my buddies put his mom's vovlo in the river, whoa..... back then it was all gravel. Basically I grew up there,I miss that entire river.

[RIPPLE]

My father-in-law used to tell me stories about buying his first fishing reel in the feed store in downtown "old" Tigard when he was a young boy. He would then ride his bike to somewhere around where the Tigard Home Depot is and pull 12"-16" trout out of Fanno creek. That surely seems like a ghost hole from a different era...
:grin: RIPPLE :grin:

[salmonlips]

Pilar, I read in an old book of Tillamook county history how the Ghost Hole got it's name. Apparently,sometime around the turn of the century a logger spent a little too much time and pay in one of the saloons in Garibaldi. It was pitch dark when he started the walk back to his cabin near Bay City. When he rounded the point where the big rock sits he came face to face with a strange apparition in the dark. It looked like a woman repeatedly bowing down, and then rising up, spreading her arms and looking toward the sky. The logger was so scared he ran all the way back to the saloon, swearing there was a ghost down on the beach. A crowd with torches marched out of the bar, around the bay and down the beach. They came face to face with a large white ox that was bending it's head, taking a bite of food then raising it's head to look at the crowd. Don't know if it's true, but that's the story.

[myco-mike]

I loved reading this thread. I wish it had more posts. Could the crowded rivers be somewhat attributed to people moving on to different types of fishing/holes? And leaving behind now underutilized fisheries, such as Jen mentioned (12th street)?

I often wonder why poeple stopped fishing the ocean from the beach? In some old pictures you'll see hundreds of people fishing the surf for salmon. Why wouldn't the same methods be effective today? If you could catch fish in the surf (and I know you can) think about all the open space to spread out.

I'm mostly burned out with all of the first, biggest, most, best, fish stories/adventures :whazzup: . Maybe it's time to re-discover some of the "Gohst Holes"

My ghost hole-The entire Abiqua drainage. :sick: :depressed:

Jennie, I finally found the thread. Thanks.

[rojo]

Most of these bring back memories, from sucker creek and the perch to Seaside. For me though it was Barview below the old CG tower before south jetty was built. Use to catch ling there as well as a silver once in awhile along with sea bass. The south jetty seemed to change that.