[bob'r down]

What is the minimum river flow/height for a jet sled on the Clackamas?

Does it differ for the stretch of river? ie:

Mouth to Safeway
Safeway to Carver
Carver to Barton

Also is there any certain areas not to go thru when the river gets low?

Thank you for any info.

 

[Chris Nordling]

If you have not run your sled before, you might just want to stick to the Riverside Park area( Safeway). The river is running below 12' now, so be careful !

Here's what a quick trip thru the archives came up with:

Start here

Then Here

Have fun, and be careful and courteous.

Chris

 

[Tilla]

Hull length, width and deadrise play a role.
Closing your eyes through the scary parts helps too! :shocked:

I have learned it a little at a time and through repetition at different riverlevels. Still I managed to come down on a rock while I was squinting in the rain last time out. I knew about where it was kinda approximately.
I see quite a few shiny new boats getting lucky. The Clack has some rocks in unusual places.

[ 06-04-2003, 04:20 PM: Message edited by: Tilla ]

 

[Lund]

These guys are lots of help.

If you are a rookie, leave it alone till you run it with a pro. You'll be another stat. It is not an easy river to run in low water.

 

[Hogmaster]

brd -

If you ask this question it means that you have not run it in low water. The bottom line is that unless you have a 14-16' flat bottom boat and really know the river, it is not wise to run any of the stretches at less than 12'. All the sections have spots that are hairy if you know them, doable if you're an expert on them and potentially disasterous if you don't.

I ran the lower end in my 22' Willie Predator on Sunday morning at about 11.8 and will not be doing that again. Bumped the impeller twice (nothing serious thankfully) and scared the heck out of the dog. Scared the heck out of me too as I had to take lines that in higher water would be avoided because of things like boat eating rocks being right next to them.

The channels get very shallow and very narrow. Hard to pick out at speed, coming down stream especially.

If you don't care about your equipment, go for it. But you may want knee, elbow and head gear in addition to your PFD for when the boat stops and you don't...

 

[Captjohn]

Unfortunately we see many boat accidents on the Clackamas River especially when it drops below 12’. These accidents can at the least damage your boat but more over could lead to injuries or deaths. Swimmers come out in force when the temperature is conducive to swimming. Add some glare and wind on the river and you can easily have an accident that will change your life.

Running rivers like the Clackamas are formidable tasks and should be respected abilities especially in the lower water levels. If you are going to run rivers please take this next statement to heart and it will lead you in the direction of safe and enjoyable operations.

“Don’t learn the river or have someone show you the river; Learn how to read the water”

Unfortunately this concept is often not applied and something drastic happens. Many accidents occur when the good intending person got a ride from someone or remembered to turn here and stop there. The river changes, levels drop or you come around a corner and are faced with a raft of swimmers or floaters. By reading the water you find the proper channels as you come to them and you also find the escape routes in tight situations.

I hope this helps, please be safe out there.

 

[Lund]

GREAT POST!

Couldn't have said it any better!

Read the water!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[R Jackson]

Hogmaster, what area were you in when you bumped?

 

[Get Bent]

fwf1 said it well if you dont know it dont run it

hog master i want to wellcome to the 2003 you dont need a flat bottom to run this river when its low i run it with a 14 degree in fact you will hit or get in trouble faster in a flat bottom with a out board than you would vee bottom with a delta pad and a inboard like NorthRiver with asportjet or a v8 if your a rookie make sure you call your insurance co. and the river rescue first

 

[David Johnson]

I ran it today @ 11.7 and I could see rocks that I never knew existed.

There are some real shallow spots in the mouth to Carver and Barton to Carver streaches this spring, and at this level I'm staying away from running above there.

You got to be on the ball and read the water real well.

 

[Hogmaster]

Scott -

You, however, are an expert. No argument, it was more a statement made from the fact that someone will likely have less invested in a 14' flatbottom than most other hull designs. Since it will likely be on the rocks and all...

Sunless, I bumped above the eddy hole above the (we used to calll it the Winery hole) water intake hole above the 205 bridge. Really skinny there now. Instead of the normal line it almost requires one to shoot up the white water and into the funnel.

I also bumped on the way down coming into the water intake hole which was a real shock since I didn't even know it was shallow on the line I have always come in there on. There is a rock at the head of the hole in the edge of the whitewater.

Both those were minor bumps, but what was really scary was the bottom of Cross Park coming down. The normal line there looked way too shallow so I took the Gladstone edge. The issue with that is the bottom forces a hard port turn to stay off the rocks that the current throws you right at. On plane and powered up the dog and I were amazed that somehow I pulled the tiller hard enough to miss those rocks. Really didn't think we would. To miss there would likely have severely ripped the bottom of the sled.

Be careful out there!

 

[FastAction]

Another Question... how does the river fish out of a DB at below 12' flows? I had a hard time pluggin at 12.something last month. Just curious.

 

[Flatfish]

Fast Action. It fishes very well in lower flows. When I was running it in a drifter I would wait til the sleds were off the river before I even started.Somewhere in the low 11' range.

Run kwikfish/flatfish in the slower waters of summer and fall. They dive well enough to get bit.

Mark and the dog.

 

[FastAction]

Thanx Mark, that is kinda what I was thinking.. I fished it last fall when the silvers were in and it was low but fished good, better than it did in Decmber.

 

[bob'r down]

Thanx for all the info guys. I guess I should have said that I have run the areas up and down from Carver and the mouth to the pumphouse quite a bit in winter water. Went down from Carver last Sunday and hit once mildly. I know how to read the water, I was just looking for some more insite when the water gets this low.

I put in at Carver this AM and fished the boatramp streches with no luck :depressed: We went upriver a couple of corners including the area that has three channels. I took the right channel(going up)and bounced once at the top. Is this the correct channel to take?? Anyway turned around at the next pool and came back no problem but I think I'll stay off the river until more H2O.

Boy do the summer swimmers leave the banks TRASHED or what Had my wife bring my Boy Scout down before I came in and we went to the first corner above Carver. Picked up about $25.00 of cans and bottles and a FULL garbage bag of trash :hoboy:

Keep the sunsceen on today and tite lines

Bob

 

[R Jackson]

DJ, some of the crowd from High Rocks has moved to the clif above Carver. The Sheriff knows about it but the CCSO Marine Patrol is doing Rose Fest. patrols on the Willamette as part of Homeland Security.

 

[David Johnson]

The spot Hogmaster mentioned hitting, the spot bob'rdown hit as well as just below car body and at the island below Carver are all spots of real concern. They all have a pucker factor of 10. Too much lower and they will be a problem.

After running them yesterday with the river @ 11.7 I would say 11.3-11.5 might be the minimum for me, and at those levels it's not a matter of if but when I'd hit. 12-12.2 would be a good level to stop running it without years of experience.

:depressed: Sorry to say but those people that hang out on that corner above Carver give a new meaning to "White Trash". I wish the Sherif would go up there and bust them, you know he could pick up some MIP's.

[ 06-05-2003, 12:39 PM: Message edited by: David Johnson ]