Thursday ideas?

[wife&3kids]

I shouldn't have admitted to the 14' Valco.. Let's Try again. ------
I would love some advice from other small boat owners as to how to safely manage the Valco in the Columbia. I have purchased an anchor lift, buoy, and 300' feet of line to help.
Don't feel bad for me though. T-man takes me out once a week in his 21 ft Super Vee and I get to feel important when Im with him.
Still going Thursday -- Thinking Bachelor? Any ideas?

Might look like this after Thursday if rain continues

[Pete]

Unless the Willamette and Sandy stop puking into the Columbia really soon, you might be pushing it at Bachelor. Until things clear a little, you might try further east. The river was predicted to stay high, with the annual smolt flush from the Columbia dams, but the warm rain on the mountains seems to have melted a lot of snow. Columbia flows are higher than predicted.

[Thumper]

Word from Fin is that the Bachelor area put out essentially nothing yesterday, probably due to high flows. Even the bankies got skunked, and that is rare.

[AngleThis]

I'm not familiar with your type of boat, but I operate a 17.5' runabout on the Columbia all the time. I see lots of tiny boats out there, many smaller than mine. It seems to me that, with the exception of Bonneville, you should be fine in a 14' boat, at least on decent days.

I think the most important piece of optional safety gear a small boat owner can have is a VHF radio. There are some darn good water resistant hend helds out there for about $150

Any more specific questions?

[Uncle Bob]

W&3K,
********* boat is much bigger then yours.
I have a 15 ft Gregor with 25hp Merc.
I spend a lot of time in my boat. The one thing I have really found to be true is, everything must be in its place - when something happens, it happens really fast and you don't get a second chance.
Meaning that if you make a mistake in a little boat, it's magnified.
Netting a fish - guy with fish needs to be in the center of the boat so that the net guy can be by the edge of the boat.
Gotta go pee - just standing up will make the boat shear one way or the other.
Barge traffic - They sometimes leave wakes that will make you wet your pants.

Yes, I fish the Columbia in my boat. There are times when I know I don't belong out there. Whereas the lower Columbia is much calmer, it is still big water.
Free board, how much do you have?

Let me guess, you're married and have 3 children.
Just remember that when you're in the big water.

UB

[AngleThis]

In light of other posts, I have a new suggestion. Launch at St. Helens, tiptoe across the channel (5 MPH zone) to the docs at Sand Island, hike across, and fish the main channel from there. That way you never expose your boat and passengers to wakes or big water, and get to fish the main channel for big fish, just like bigger boats...and the counts indicate perfect timing to fish the lower Columbia this weekend. The downstream end of the island has a very steep drop off and has a sand precipice ideal for casting and plunking from. Less than 100 yards away you have a nice big sandy beach for the kids to play on. The hike across is maybe 1/4 mile.

[ 04-16-2002, 04:34 PM: Message edited by: ********* ]