Scappoose Bay Marina

[Grits]

I saw this launch listed on my charts and it looks to be pretty convienent to where I fish but when I called the number nobody was answering their phones.

Have any Ifisher's launched there? If so can you share any info on it.

Thanks in advance.

[24 on/ 48 off]

GREAT place to launch. $3.00 launch fee. Wide ramp, well maintained. Lots of parking.

Just take it slow going out of the bay into Multnomah Channel. The channel in the bay is well marked, but skinny.

--spud-- :smile:

[Riverliver]

Grits,
I live up stream on the channel near scappoose bay. If you need any help email or call me. GNMCvey@earthlink.net :cool:

[ 11-29-2002, 04:38 PM: Message edited by: Riverliver ]

[Dipnet]

Yes, Scappoose Bay is a great place to launch. Like 24/on 48/off says watch the markers and stay in the channel. It gets really shallow outside of the channel! :smile:

[Rauly]

I5 north
405 north
Hwy 30 west
Turn Right on Benett Rd.(it is well marked)
Go 50 feet(over Tracks) Turn Left
Go 500 yards turn Right into the parking lot
There is a pay machine for parking.

Rauly

[ 11-29-2002, 08:21 PM: Message edited by: Rauly ]

[Pete]

Scappoose Bay is an awful place to launch. It's over crowded, dirty, poorly maintain, the people are unfriendly, the ramp is steep, there's a nasty hole at the end of the ramp, the docks are dangerous, the store is out of everything and it's expensive. :wink: Don't go there! Just stay away!

Of course, I'm kidding! It's one of the nicest launches in Oregon! and until now was a well kept secret.

[Captn]

Is that also called Brown's landing, or is there another place called Scapoose bay?

[graybeard]

No, not the same as Brown's Landing. Brown's Landing is not user friendly if you are launching a boat for the day. They cater to their moorage customers.

[1pump]

Pete had me goin' for a second. It sounded like he was describing the ramp the way it was in the 80's. I moved back here from AK in '95 and I didn't even recognize the place when I went back. It's now a top-notch facility, although it still gets a bit crowded during the summer. 90% of the people that use it are Columbia County locals, so you don't get the Portland fair-weather boater types like at Gleason or Willamette Park. You know, the ones that take 20 minutes to launch a 19' ski boat, yelling and screaming the whole time. :hoboy: That's while turning a 2 lane ramp into 1 lane by hogging the middle, of course.

[ 11-30-2002, 01:22 AM: Message edited by: 1pump ]

[Bill Monroe]

When you leave the marina and head out to the bay, there's a sign on a piling, above an arrow pointing to the left...it says "keep left Bill"...
Jack and Jan Gronholm, who used to have the store there (but couldn't do anything about the old ramp and finally retired), put that sign up after I spent an hour or two on the mud, watching boats and ducks fly by...
It's well worth the run out of the bay and is used in higher water (if we ever get any) by duck hunters to get to the North Unit on Sauvie...
When I retire, I'll go get the sign...

[Miss B Haven]

Bill- LMAO... :grin: :wink: Graybeard, just for the record Browns does not own/maintain or anything else that "launch. It is owned by the city of Scappooose. Browns (no longer owned by Brown) tried to get the city to let them put in a dock, improve the ramp, buy it whatever. No dice. So.... In their infinite wisdom they just let it go to heck. I ruined a trailer axle their, and of course you know there's know dang dock to get out on with the boat. :mad: graemlins/berry.gif

[graybeard]

Here's my experience with Brown's Landing:

About 40 years ago we were pulling out our 23 ft. cabin cruiser. Backed the trailer down, loaded the boat on it Couldn't pull it out, the trailer was hooked on something. We spent most of the day there, had to finally get a huge tow truck to winch us off whatever it was that we were hooked on. Nice people that owned it then, but the ramp sucked.

Fast forward to 4 months ago. I just bought my 19' Stryker and was taking it for it's maiden voyage. The Honda outboard had a specific break-in procedure, and I thought that cruising around Sauvie Island would be just the ticket. I went to put in at Brown's Landing and found the parking lot empty at 9:00 am in the morning. The office was locked and there was no one around. They had a sign in the parking lot that said to pay at the office (if there was a problem to call a certain phone number.) Nice, I don't carry a cell phone. Oh well, I can pay when I get back from my boat ride.
I launched my boat (I'm by myself) had to drag it up on the rocky shore because there is no dock access from the ramp. Then I parked my rig in the empty parking lot and went for a boat ride. Things were going well, I fished kelley Point for awhile and decided to make the run down the river to St Helens. About 2 miles downriver the wind picked up and river got about a 3+ ft. chop on it. I was running with my windshield wiper on and had to slow way down. Several hours later I was back at Brown's Landing. As I was pulling up to the ramp the yuppie owner/manager came out and yelled at me "Is that your truck in the parking lot? I almost had it towed. Why didn't you check in and pay at the office? blah. blah blah." I explained to him that no one was around when I put in. He seemed shocked to find out that I didn't carry a cell phone. He charged me $7 for parking. I didn't mind paying the $7, but I did mind the lecture. I won't go back there again. :hoboy:

[HOGTIDE]

I believe the ramp at Browns Landing is actually provided by the State Marine Board. Browns simply has the surrounding parking locked up and charges you to launch. You can park down below the dike and not pay. It's about a 50 yard walk.

The guys at Goble run the same operation...a free State Marine Board ramp, but they charge you to park 'after' you launch. They too make sure all of the surrounding parking is tied up. We wrote the SMB many times about a decade ago and finally got them to change the sign from 'Launch Fee' to Parking fee. Big difference when there's no longer a place to park, huh.

Yes, Scappoose Bay is a great ramp. I live about 1.5 miles away. Unfortunately 'all' of our fishing brothers and sisters have discovered it in the past 5 or 6 years. It is very busy throughout both spring and fall salmon seasons these days. the St. Helens Port Authority has enjoyed its popularity, too. Annual Launch passes went from $30 to $50 this past year :depressed: