14ft Valco- Sauvies, Willammette, or Columbia

[wife&3kids]

I have a 14ft valco with a 15HP prop. Decoys and a friend ready. Where to go? unted Sauvies a few times, but never with a boat. I feel the Columbia could be too big. How about Willammette - say at Kelly Point or somewhere over there?

[bigshark]

W&3K

The Columbia isn't my first choice for your boat.
I was thinking you might want to explore the backwater down around Wheatland Ferry. Just down stream from the ferry are a few islands that produced some reasonable hunting. I have not heard of any reports from that area this season. The north unit of Sauvies is an option. Go up to Cunningham Lake. The Lewis and Clark Refuge is an option as well but its a long drive.....about 90 miles. If you try this stay
in the backwaters. There have been some good shoots down there this season. Best of luck to you and stay SAFE.

[1pump]

To get to Cunningham Lake you have to go up Cunningham Slough. It's chock full of deadheads, so you might want to run it your first time in daylight. It usually has enough water year-round, but when you get to the lake, it's a different story. Right now it's gonna be one big mudflat, especially when the tide's out. And there's some private property on the east side of the lake you might want to avoid. If the water comes up, and you're feeling adventurous, there's quite a few little lakes along the lower slough that get some birds. It usually takes some effort to find a way in to some of them. You might have to drag your boat over a few logs and through flooded timber, but half the fun's getting there.
I had a 14' Gregor that I used to take out on the Columbia year-round, but I've got more testosterone than common sense. :grin:

[bigshark]

W&3K

I just had another thought for you. Go up Mult
Channel and walk in to the west side of Cunningham Lake. I have not shot it in years but I use to do that on a regular basis because I could get there in a hurry. I did hit a deadhead in Cunningham Slough and ripped a hole in the bottom of my wood boat. I have to believe that with all the hunters today the old path into the lake should be like a road. The west side of the lake had large puddles the bird would hit even when the lake itself was very shallow and had too many hunters on it.

[bigshark]

W&3K

1pump is giving good advice about staying away from the east side of the Slough's private land and lake. That club is called "Flights End" and strange things occured in the area years ago. I spent a day in there and found the slough blocked off by a log with chains across it when I tried to leave. This was across the main slough and I had not been on their lake but Cunningham itself. Fortunately I was not alone and we were able to go over the top of it with some effort.
The club is still a buy-in membership and I know a guy who knows some of the members.
He says they are OK guys but may have pranksters among them. I hope that that kind of stuff doesn't go on anymore. Might want to keep an axe in the boat just as a precaution.

[ 11-02-2002, 01:42 PM: Message edited by: bigshark ]

[1pump]

I knew a guy years ago that had similar problems up there. He started carrying a chain saw in his boat.
The private land is poorly marked with a couple of rotted-out signs that are probably gone by now. There's a couple of permanent blinds in the trees built up above high water. They don't seem to hunt there all that often, at least not every hunt day like the other clubs. Most people that venture up the slough don't even know that there's private property up there. There's also a few houses on the south shore that belong to ODFW.
A lot of people walk in to Cunningham since it's close to where the road ends. I usually hunt the north end of the lake by boat 'cuz nobody's dumb enough to walk out there.