Chum King
08-22-2002, 12:08 AM
Okay, so now that I realize that there is an initiation ritual to this forum, I guess I'd best get to it and provide my introduction "fish" story.
The only problem is that it seems that about the only good stories that I remember all the vivid details about, are the trips where everything went wrong. Or maybe that's just the way all my trips end up. Have to mull that one over a bit more.
The setting for this story is the maiden voyage down the Siletz River in my FishRite driftboat, the "Chum King", back in early September of 1987. I had essentially no experience in driftboating at that time. I had to look through my "Hennings Guide to Fishing in Oregon" to figure out where the put in's and take out's were on the river, and invited an old buddy from high school, Dan, along for a exploratory day of fishing for fall chinook.
Looking through the Hennings Guide, it was obvious that the "Town" drift which is considered a half day drift wasn't going to provide enough time on the water to really test the "Chum King" out. So we elected to put in at the top of the "Town" drift and fish all the way to Morgan Park (For those of you as ignorant of the Siletz as I was at that time, that is the equivalent of 2.5 full drifts).
We parked Dan's car at Morgan Park and launched at the top of Town at about 8:00 AM. Oddly enough, there weren't any other rigs in the parking lot. Within a very short distance, I began to get the distinct impression that the river might be a tad bit on the low side. The primary indicator of this was the high pitched screeching sound as the boat ground to a halt on every riffle... and about half the pools. Oh did I forget to mention that I hadn't learned about "GluvIt" yet either?
All in all it was still a beautiful day, we were getting our lines wet on occassion, the river was all ours, and we were making progress downstream. Still no hits. At about 3:00 PM we finally reached the take out... for the Town drift. Hmmm, I was beginning to think that we might need to speed it up a bit if we were going to make Morgan by nightfall.
We started doing more rowing through the "frog water" and a lot less fishing. Although I think Dan was trying a reverse trolling technique as we headed on down river. By 7:00 PM the sun was giving the evening salute, and by 7:30 PM the dusk was getting well settled in. Now we finally started to see some chinook as they barrelled past us heading upriver. No matter, we finally had the Ojalla Bridge launch in sight.
Oh wait, I forgot that we parked the shuttle rig at Morgan. Never mind, we obviously have to take out here and learn our lesson. I climbed the cliff at the bottom of the Ojalla launch, and was beginning to wonder how a person is supposed to get the boat back up the hill and onto a trailer. It was at this point that I realized that Ojalla was obviously designed as a launch site only, and that it fails miserably as a take out. The launch lane stops about 20 feet above the river, and it is near to a shear drop for that final section.
Certainly something to consider for the future, but for now I had a long walk back to get the rig. Fortunately, our luck was obviously beginning to change, as I was able to hitch a ride back to town and get back to Ojalla Bridge with the truck and trailer by about 9:00 PM.
By this time, Dan has also come to the conclusion that this little cliff might pose a problem. Dan began to lobby heavily for driving to town for a pizza and camping at the boat. In hindsight, that was a damn good idea, however, I didn't give it much validity at the time.
The next obstacle to overcome was that the strap on the trailer was woefully inadequate to reach the boat, I didn't have any long ropes with me, and the bowline on the boat was just long enough to get to the edge of the cliff. I inched the truck down to the edge of the cliff, and we were just barely able to get the line attached to the front tow hook. I was able to back the truck up the hill, towing the boat back up to the highway.
The lessons learned on the maiden voyage were legion. Some of the more important points were:
1.) Drift the Siletz when the river is between 4 ft and 6 ft. On this outing the river was something less than 2 ft.
2.) GluvIt is your friend. Invite him on all your drifts.
3.) When there are no other rigs in the parking lot, pay attention, there is a good reason for it somewhere, and it is your job to seek out that reason.
4.) A drift as described in the Hennings Guide really is generally a full day, and longer when there isn't any water in the river.
5.) You can never have too much rope.
and
6.) Trolling in tidewater isn't such a bad idea afterall.
Hope that fullfills my initial membership requirement.
I generally spend more time hunting than fishing anymore, but this forum may help get me back on track. The "Chum King" and I have boated a fair share of ocean coho and bottomfish out of Sunset Bay, Charleston, Pacific City, Newport, and Depoe Bay. I have put a couple of halibut in the boat from the 30 fathom fishery out of Newport (back when I was young and foolish), and a handful of fall chinook from Tillamook Bay and the Yaquina River. Have also drifted parts of the Umpqua, Rogue, Wilson, and the Kilchis over the years... and yes I have been back to the Siletz numerous times since the maiden voyage of the "Chum King", but only for winter steelhead.
I live in the Newport area. I keep hoping to convince my wife that we need a bigger boat for my ocean trips since the "Chum King" has a definite affinity for only the nicest days. Of course with all the memories, and the versatility of the "Chum King" I could never part with her.
If anyone needs a rider on a tuna trip this weekend, I am available. Never have been able to get the "Chum King" to troll fast enough. :tongue:
The only problem is that it seems that about the only good stories that I remember all the vivid details about, are the trips where everything went wrong. Or maybe that's just the way all my trips end up. Have to mull that one over a bit more.
The setting for this story is the maiden voyage down the Siletz River in my FishRite driftboat, the "Chum King", back in early September of 1987. I had essentially no experience in driftboating at that time. I had to look through my "Hennings Guide to Fishing in Oregon" to figure out where the put in's and take out's were on the river, and invited an old buddy from high school, Dan, along for a exploratory day of fishing for fall chinook.
Looking through the Hennings Guide, it was obvious that the "Town" drift which is considered a half day drift wasn't going to provide enough time on the water to really test the "Chum King" out. So we elected to put in at the top of the "Town" drift and fish all the way to Morgan Park (For those of you as ignorant of the Siletz as I was at that time, that is the equivalent of 2.5 full drifts).
We parked Dan's car at Morgan Park and launched at the top of Town at about 8:00 AM. Oddly enough, there weren't any other rigs in the parking lot. Within a very short distance, I began to get the distinct impression that the river might be a tad bit on the low side. The primary indicator of this was the high pitched screeching sound as the boat ground to a halt on every riffle... and about half the pools. Oh did I forget to mention that I hadn't learned about "GluvIt" yet either?
All in all it was still a beautiful day, we were getting our lines wet on occassion, the river was all ours, and we were making progress downstream. Still no hits. At about 3:00 PM we finally reached the take out... for the Town drift. Hmmm, I was beginning to think that we might need to speed it up a bit if we were going to make Morgan by nightfall.
We started doing more rowing through the "frog water" and a lot less fishing. Although I think Dan was trying a reverse trolling technique as we headed on down river. By 7:00 PM the sun was giving the evening salute, and by 7:30 PM the dusk was getting well settled in. Now we finally started to see some chinook as they barrelled past us heading upriver. No matter, we finally had the Ojalla Bridge launch in sight.
Oh wait, I forgot that we parked the shuttle rig at Morgan. Never mind, we obviously have to take out here and learn our lesson. I climbed the cliff at the bottom of the Ojalla launch, and was beginning to wonder how a person is supposed to get the boat back up the hill and onto a trailer. It was at this point that I realized that Ojalla was obviously designed as a launch site only, and that it fails miserably as a take out. The launch lane stops about 20 feet above the river, and it is near to a shear drop for that final section.
Certainly something to consider for the future, but for now I had a long walk back to get the rig. Fortunately, our luck was obviously beginning to change, as I was able to hitch a ride back to town and get back to Ojalla Bridge with the truck and trailer by about 9:00 PM.
By this time, Dan has also come to the conclusion that this little cliff might pose a problem. Dan began to lobby heavily for driving to town for a pizza and camping at the boat. In hindsight, that was a damn good idea, however, I didn't give it much validity at the time.
The next obstacle to overcome was that the strap on the trailer was woefully inadequate to reach the boat, I didn't have any long ropes with me, and the bowline on the boat was just long enough to get to the edge of the cliff. I inched the truck down to the edge of the cliff, and we were just barely able to get the line attached to the front tow hook. I was able to back the truck up the hill, towing the boat back up to the highway.
The lessons learned on the maiden voyage were legion. Some of the more important points were:
1.) Drift the Siletz when the river is between 4 ft and 6 ft. On this outing the river was something less than 2 ft.
2.) GluvIt is your friend. Invite him on all your drifts.
3.) When there are no other rigs in the parking lot, pay attention, there is a good reason for it somewhere, and it is your job to seek out that reason.
4.) A drift as described in the Hennings Guide really is generally a full day, and longer when there isn't any water in the river.
5.) You can never have too much rope.
and
6.) Trolling in tidewater isn't such a bad idea afterall.
Hope that fullfills my initial membership requirement.
I generally spend more time hunting than fishing anymore, but this forum may help get me back on track. The "Chum King" and I have boated a fair share of ocean coho and bottomfish out of Sunset Bay, Charleston, Pacific City, Newport, and Depoe Bay. I have put a couple of halibut in the boat from the 30 fathom fishery out of Newport (back when I was young and foolish), and a handful of fall chinook from Tillamook Bay and the Yaquina River. Have also drifted parts of the Umpqua, Rogue, Wilson, and the Kilchis over the years... and yes I have been back to the Siletz numerous times since the maiden voyage of the "Chum King", but only for winter steelhead.
I live in the Newport area. I keep hoping to convince my wife that we need a bigger boat for my ocean trips since the "Chum King" has a definite affinity for only the nicest days. Of course with all the memories, and the versatility of the "Chum King" I could never part with her.
If anyone needs a rider on a tuna trip this weekend, I am available. Never have been able to get the "Chum King" to troll fast enough. :tongue: