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Tales of Jim Erickson

62K views 78 replies 42 participants last post by  Grandpa Lynn 
#1 ·
I'd be interested in hearing some Jim
Erickson tales. I am sure there are
hundreds of them. Here's mine:

Part 1

Several years ago the salmon bite was on between the fork and the 101 bridge, and we were off at first light. The Tilly Co Sheriffs set a trap just above the bridge, pulling over the majority of the boats for not showing light 1 hr after sunrise. There was a huge queue as we waited at a dock to be written up. Jim Erickson got snagged, "Catch up with me later," he shouted to a Sheriff, they waved him off, and he continued onward to fish.

Part 2

I wrote a letter to the Tilly judge saying, among other things, that it didn't quite seem fair to be held up for an hour while Jim got a wave. I also pointed out that visibility was absolutely endless that morning at that time and that I didn't understand the Sheriffs' motives. I also told the judge that I had added lights to my driftboat. (Lights on a driftboat?)

Part 3

I received a refund for the entire fine, a letter of apology for the ridiculous process, and a hand-scrawled note at the bottom saying, "Jim Erickson was ticketed." And then I heard from Jim Nielsen at the Wheeler Marina that everyone was pardoned. Not quite...

Part 4

I ran into Jim Erickson and said, "Wasn't that a waste of our time when the Sheriffs pulled us over?"

"Cost me 80 bucks," he replied. "I went to court and told the judge what I thought about the Sheriffs' behavior. He asked me if I was planning to use the lights on my boat in the future and I told him, 'No.' The judge asked me, 'Why not?' I said I didn't need lights because the Sheriffs are far to lazy to get up early in the morning for years to come."

* * *

Like several others, Jim introduced me to the Nehalem North Fork. He taught me how to run the upper river, he showed me the only place a woman could change clothes in privacy (another story!), and he showed me how to find spare anchors that he had cached along the bank. What a wonderful man he was.

So, what's your favorite Jim Erickson tale?
 
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#53 ·
If you look at the page source, it says:

<!--last modified on Wednesday, March 01, 2000 04:28 PM -->
That's one page I wish I'd have kept up on!!!
 
#55 ·
Back in the late 1980's, we were fishing the nfn in what i call the gorge from the bank, we found a hot spot that looked real fishey, so i made a rope ladder to climb down the cliff. we were fishing and i said i think i hear someone drifting down above us, so we are casting into the hole and around the corner come's "sir jim in a raft and he look's at us and said how did you guy's get here without a boat and i point to the rope ladder and jim said good luck, you are fishing my #1 spot. I just put a new fir tree in sir jim's name at the front of my yard in my new house in nehalem. When i go fishless for more than two day's, i will stand in front of the tree and ask "sir jim" what i'm i doing wrong.:smirk:
 
#57 ·
I for one really enjoy these "Tales of Jim Erickson". I am sure there others reading this that have good stories about Jim.

If your not a ifish member and would like to post a story it is easy to become a member. Your membership would be welcome and your stories would be treasured.

I am sure other ifishers have stories and even those that have posted stories have yet untold stories that would be welcome by all.
 
#58 ·
I for one really enjoy these "Tales of Jim Erickson". I am sure there others reading this that have good stories about Jim.

If your not a ifish member and would like to post a story it is easy to become a member. Your membership would be welcome and your stories would be treasured.

I am sure other ifishers have stories and even those that have posted stories have yet untold stories that would be welcome by all.

:agree:
 
#62 ·
Glad to have you aboard Mac. I wish the circumstances were different. Your grandfather touch many of us deeply, as you can see. He will be remembered well for a very long time. He taught us, he made us laugh, he made us shake our heads, he made us think and wonder. And he set an example we can only hope of attaining for his commitment to his family, to his river and to the fish.
 
#63 ·
This is Mac Erickson, Jim’s grandson.

I just had to dart in here to tell ya some things that I remember about the man. I must have had a humdred trips with him down the north fork, and every one was magical. I can’t ever remember not learning something when I was around him. I learned to row, fish, **** off bank maggots, stash anchors, and to hunt cormor…. Black smolt killers. Hahaha.

If you judge a book by its cover then you would have thrown my grandad in the trash at first sight. If you were to just open the first page then you would find a masterpiece. Everyone has so many pages of that book written in their own history, that I thought I’d share some of my own. Only one for now as I am getting things ready for the funeral.

Grandpa and I were having a slow day on the river just below hurlimans hole on the lower NF. He had just learned how to call crows in so that we could shoot at em in the fields. We both took our ecology tubes with us so that we could try our hand at this new activity. We crawled up the bank and hid under some spruce trees. Called the birds in and started shooting. Well, we heard a truck in the field and we thought that we had better make a quick exit. We started shimmying down the bank and grandpa rolled himself forward and broke his leg. I was only 12 at the time and really didn’t know what to do. We splinted his leg and I was to row the rest of the way.
We got to the take out and he wasn’t able to get out of the raft. I didn’t know how to back the trailer down the ramp yet, so I had to go and get Grandma from the house. Thank God grandpa taught me how to drive a stick shift on HWY 53 at age 9, so this wasn’t anything new. I went and got grandma and we got him out. He rode the whole 2 miles home in the back of the raft on the trailer. It looked like a parade. Haha . We eventually got him out and to the hospital.
Teaching a 9 year old kid to drive on a hwy isn’t really any parents idea of a day out with the grandparents, but not every kid had a grandpa like me.

I’ll post more stories tonight when I have more time.
God bless,
Mac James Erickson
 
#64 ·
thanks guys, its a pleasure to be in such good company. I'll write more in a couple of hours. Thank you for much support. You will never know how much it means to me to read all of your e-mails. So many nice things have never been said about 1 man.'

thanks again.

Maco
 
#66 ·
Wow, alot of good memories of jim being posted. I have kinda been in a daze since reading about this on oregonlive last week, it has brought back alot of memories of encounters with jim over the years most of which i was with my dad who passed away in 1999, we used to see jim on the river alot. Wheather we were trolling for salmon or sturgon fishing or back fishing on the north fork there was always a wave and hello, most times a short chat about how the fishing was going. The most memerable encounter was a year or so after my dad passed away, i was at jims fixing his phone line and helping him get his computer set back up for his internet. We were sitting there and he was surfing the net and testing his speed when he asked me how my mom was doing and told me that my dad will always be missed and that he did alot for the community, this coming from the grumpy old guy that wasjust 15 min earlyer being very grumpy about his internet service really touched me. I for one will always remember jim for his kindness to fellow fishermen, even though sometimes it is hard to tell from looking at him if he was being kind or not..lol..:smirk: :smirk:

Jeff Brown

formerly from Nehalem for the first 40 years of my life.
 
#67 ·


Thought I'd share this. I found it in my old files. Don't know what it's from, though! :)

Jen
 
#68 ·
I just got asked to play piano for Jim's memorial service.

This will be incredibly tough to do, but I think I can... I think I can.

I played for his 50th Anniversary, so I can do this, too.

Ya know... if I put myself in the right frame of mind, it's almost like people who do that 'speaking in tongues', playing music for something like this. I don't speak in tongues, of course, but it's the same kind of thing. Music just comes spilling out, and I don't read or need music written out.

I played for my Mom's Memorial, and I don't remember much of it. I didn't even cry. I just played music. Music is the only language I can speak during times like this, when I would just cry, otherwise. My brain just goes into auto and out comes music that reminded me of her, and that she would have liked.

I think it will be the same, with Jim. I have a couple songs I wrote for the NF Nehalem, that I wrote after fishing it with him. Those will be sure to be played. Also, I keep hearing the "Fishing the West" theme song, mixed in with some hymns that Loretta would like... kind of in a George Winston style. Hm. This will be interesting.

Anyhow, I hope you will all be there to pay your respects to the legend. I will look forward to seeing everyone, despite the sad circumstance that brings us together.

J
 
#69 ·
Hi Jen. Hey I have had to speak at many close friends service, it is hard, but, if you have to stop and take a breath or wipe your eyes so be it. I beleive it adds a lot of feeling to what you are saying or in your case playing. Trust me folks understand. Play it from your heart. If you miss a note I can only think of one person that would give you a bad time about it,,,,,,now who would that be,,,,,JIM,,,of course. See you sat. and looking forward to hearing you play. Jerry
 
#71 · (Edited)
I was first introduced to the North Fork Nehalem by a co-worker in the late eighties, or was it early nineties? No matter, it was back before I had gray hair anyways. I was a gangly kid who loved to fish. Steelhead were a fairly new quarry for me since I grew up in a place where we didn’t have the opportunities as much as could be found on the West side of the state.


I cut my teeth on the Wilson, Sandy and Clackamas and that was about it for my knowledge base at the time.


I worked night crew at a well-known grocery store and one day we got a new hire, short little guy with a mustache. As custom dictates it was the duty of the rest of the crew to make the new guy’s life hell, in a fun sort of way of course. One particular evening I told one short joke too many and I thought we were gonna’ brawl. Oh man, was Rich ready to kill me, and I probably deserved it.


I left Rich alone for a while but one day we happened to start yacking about fishing. It became apparent we had the same fire in the belly over steelhead and became fast friends, fishing many rivers together for years to come.


I think it took Rich a few years to trust me enough to show me some access spots on the NFN and was sworn that I would be unceremoniously disemboweled if I ratted out directions to anyone else.


I began making forays down to the NFN on my own and fast learned how to get to places I previously thought inaccessible. From the start of Silver/Chinook season to the end of Winter Steelhead season I was up and down that river like a mad man.

Every once in a while I’d see a raft float by with some old duffer on the sticks, sometimes alone, sometimes with folks in front. I usually paid him no mind and went back to the task at hand. I had not started to learn how to row a DB or raft yet so I really had no appreciation of what seemed like a casual endeavor to that old fella’.


Fishing was my number one priority back then. Things got a little confusing though when I woke up one day and realized I was head over heels in love with a pretty blonde lady who very fortunately liked to fish also. Angela accompanied me on many, many visits to the NFN and by that time I had a bit of knowledge about who Jim Erikson was and always waved when he went by.


On more than one occasion he would stall the boat and ask me,

"Why in tarnation are you casting THERE??? Those fish are almost at your feet son."


I have to credit him for quite a few fish landed that I probably never would have even known were there.


My fondest memory of Jim is one that sticks out like the first jump of a chrome steelhead on the hook-set.

It was a beautiful fall day, the river was on the drop after a rainstorm, the sun was playing hide n’ seek with puffy clouds and the falling leaves were a magnificent chorus of colors. I had my best gal with me looking fine in her neoprenes, Silvers were thrashing about and we were parked in a spot with no competition. If you fish the NFN enough, you can sorely appreciate THAT.


My lovely fiancé was pretty good with her Mitchell 300 and the big Blue Fox spinners but she had a tendency to put some serious hang time on them with the cast. We were about 1/3rd of a mile below the hatchery on the North bank, a straight riffle with tree branches challenging our lure chucking skills. As luck would have it, she fired a red n’ brass #5 about 20 feet up to a formidable branch. The lure promptly wrapped itself around the branch a half dozen times and dangled there, taunting us evilly.


At that time in my life, a Blue Fox lure was not something you shrugged off if you lost it.


I dug around in my vest and found a Mitchell spool of 25lb maxima, loaded it on my rod and tossed a slinky with a hook stuck in it towards the tips of the branch. After a few tries I got the thing to stick, dropped the rod, grabbed the line and started shaking the branch hoping to break it off and get the lure back.


I was so absorbed in what I was doing I did not notice the raft close to the south bank, two guys pulling plugs and watching my efforts with stifled mirth. I shook that damn branch, pulled on it, cussed at it and even tried to knock the lure out with a rock. I also was putting some serious fall foliage into the river.


When it became obvious that I wasn’t going to give up, the guy on the sticks pulled in the lines and headed our direction. Of course I wasn’t going to give up, I had a gal to impress!!!

As they drew closer I recognized Jim and his passenger was Larry Schoenborn. Jim stalled the raft and Larry smacked the lure from the branch with a net.


When Larry tossed the lure to us he exclaimed, "Wow, you’d think that lure was made out of gold, the way you were going at it"…

As grateful as I was I couldn’t resist a smart-arsed come back.

"Yeah, at the prices Larry’s charge they might as well be gold"

Larry threw his head back and snorted. Jim, without missing a beat commented,

"Well, he’s got to pay me somehow."

And then they were gone.





I fished the NFN faithfully until 2004’ when I moved back to NE Oregon. I have a treasure trove of memories from my days haunting the North Fork Nehalem. I ran into Jim on many occasions. One time he gave he directions to an overlooked logging road on the upper section of the river and those directions paid off in a big way, even though the drive scared the bejezubuz outa’ me!


For someone who knew that river better than anyone you would think he would be very guarded with respect to giving help to just any ol’ person standing on the bank watching him go by.


The NFN was a popular stream before I found out about it. Population increases and the information age are putting exponential pressures on many rivers.

This didn’t seem to bother Jim, he would help anyone….

Whether they asked for help or not. ;)

That kind of unselfishness is almost unheard of in this day and age.


Rest in peace Mr. Erikson, you have no idea how many lives you have touched.

Godspeed.


Mike Cowdrey, La Grande
 
#73 ·
If you didn't know, Jim lost his beloved Tripod months ago. It was a nasty little dog, who growled and bit at people, but we loved Tripod! Anyhow, he was very sad at losing Tripod.

If anyone doesn't know this writing, you should read it if you have lost and beloved pets. Rainbow Bridge

I said to Bill yesterday morning as this thought came across me. "You know what? Jim Erickson is at Rainbow's Bridge! With Tripod!!! But, Tripod isn't three legged, anymore! Tripod is all fixed up and is now Quadpod!"
 
#74 ·
The thoughts and prayers of the extended Gray family were with Jim's family today and with all of you. Tim was surely in attendance, representing our family. Scott and I both regret that we could not be present at his services today, but we were both thinking of him, and the members of his family and community who mourn his passing. Be well, and keep fishing. He seems like the kind of guy who would want it that way. JLG
 
#75 ·
No special story to relive just thoughts on the many mornings I shared the river with Jim. We would be setup in our special spots down under the alders when Jim would float down and find a place for him and his clients to give the water a few quick casts before moving down, oops I got another one of his special green spinners. Many morning getting the drifter setup on the SFN with Jim running a few minutes behind us. Oh that man liked to be there first but so did we and we'd gotten up earlier. Most trips there was plenty of fish to share. God bless you Jim. You'll be missed, you were a special man on these rivers. :angel: :angel:
 
#78 · (Edited)
I fished with Jim many times through the last 23 years. Sometimes in his boat, but most the time I in mine finding him somewhere on the river and having a good laugh. He would always pull up and ask how many.
When my husband came home from the local coffee shop Friday morning and told me Jim was missing and what happened I just couldn't believe it. I spoke with Mark later in the day after Jim was found still not wanting to believe the news. It's just so hard to get through the shock.
The services yesterday were real nice a great tribute to a great man
whom I always called Jimmy, and he always called me hey kid. This is for you my friend.

FOLLOW ME AND I WILL HELP GUIDE YOU THROUGH
You went to sleep Jimmy
Drifting down your favorite river.
Dreaming of all the adventures those waters had given to you.
The great friendships you had venturing down those waters.

The vision of your line being cast into your most favorit holes.
Spoken words that would soon follow. ( FISH ON )-(NICE FISH )-(CHROME ).
Time after Time never to Tire of this Great Thrill.
Your passion in guiding others to have had shared this same Exciting Thrill.

Your dear family and friends must know you went to sleep in your most favorite waters, but you awoke in the arms of the most loving GOD.
He smiled at you and welcomed you home.
Now your next Legend is to guide all of us home.

I will miss you Jimmy.
I feel blessed to have had you as my Great Friend.
I loved you much,
Your Fishing Bud, Pam
 
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