Marty's Drift
May 2005 |
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ClackaCraft Demos and Some Fishing
In order to get ClackaCraft boats introduced over a wider area we have started a series of demo days at different locations in the Pacific Northwest. Last month we took some boats to Forks on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula. The Olympic Peninsula is world famous for several reasons. It is home to Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park. From the National Forest and Park flow some of the best salmon and steelhead streams in the nation; the Queets, Quinalt, Hoh, Bogachiel, Calawah and Sol Duc. All of these rivers offer excellent fishing and challenging white water. Olympic Pensinula rivers are renown for their large strain of winter steelhead. Fish over thirty pounds have been caught in these rivers. In addition to winter steelhead there are spring Chinook/king salmon, summer steelhead, fall king salmon, silver salmon and cutthroat trout.
Herb Jacobsen sets the hook on a wild winter-run steelhead
in The Upper Sol Duc River. |
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Herb Jacobsen and Bob Piggott with an Olympic Pininsula wild winter of about 24 pounds, caught while fly-fishing late in the season. |
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The successful fly pattern |
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During the course of four days a number of the local guides tried ClackaCraft boats on a number of different drifts. This resulted in several guides getting a ClackaCraft boat for their guide work and the addition of a new ClackaCraft Pro-Shop. Three Rivers Resort will now be a ClackaCraft Pro-Shop. You will be able to go there and see a ClackaCraft drift boat. The model we will have there will be the 16’ Fly Fishing Bench. If you are interested in buying that boat, you can contact me at marty@clackacraft.com or 503-655-9532. Scott at Three Rivers will also give you a referral card with contact information.
Three Rivers Resort is located eight miles from Forks and very close to river access on the Bogachiel, Sol Duc and Quillayute. |
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Three Rivers Resort offers a number of services; guided fishing trips, cabins, campsites, RV hook-ups, grocery store, gas, café and close access to the Olympic National Park beaches at La Push and Rialto. (These are beautiful beaches with tons of driftwood piled at the high tide/storm line, scenic offshore islands and small, water polished pebbles.)
Driftwood at Rialto Beach |
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Buster playing at First Beach in La Push
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While I was at Three Rivers Resort I floated the lower Sol Duc and Quillayute rivers. Spring salmon were beginning to enter the Sol Duc system. We fished a little, but mostly the guides were simply trying out the boats.
Zak Greenwood and his friend Colin stop and wade to fish a spot on the lower Sol Duc. |
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Some of the productive pools on the lower Sol Duc. |
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The Quillayute is the joining of the Sol Duc and the Bogachiel rivers. It is a wide river that enters the ocean at La Push on the Quillayute Indian Reservation. |
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I always enjoy the coming of the spring wild flowers. While I was on the Olympic Peninsula, trilliums, wood violets and salmonberry were all beginning to blossom.
Salmonberry
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Trillium
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Wood violet.
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Our next boat demos will take place on the McKenzie River, birthplace of the drift boat. The dates will be Friday, May 20 through Monday, May 23. If you are interested in trying a ClackaCraft boat, you can contact me at 503-655-9532 or marty@clackacraft.com. Brian Marz at McKenzie Angler uses ClackaCraft boats for his guiding, and McKenzie Angler is a ClackaCraft Pro-Shop. We try to keep a boat in stock there, and we will center the demos from McKenzie Angler. You can contact Brian for more information: McKenzie Angler 541-736-5045.
Spring Fishing
Currently in Oregon we are experiencing runs of spring Chinook (king) salmon, summer-run steelhead and shad. The spring Chinook appear in a number of our rivers. In the southern part of the state the Rogue has a substantial run. In the central part of the state on the west side of the Cascade Mountains the Umpqua River has some great springer fishing. On the north Oregon coast the Nestucca, Wilson and Trask rivers provide exciting spring Chinook fishing in smaller water. The Willamette and McKenzie rivers in the Eugene/Springfield areas both have good returns of spring Chinook and are good rivers for drift boat use. In the Portland vicinity the Sandy and Clackamas rivers are terrific for drift boats and good spring Chinook rivers.
Summer steelhead also appear in most of these rivers and they are wonderful fish to go after with fly gear. There are some anglers who pursue Chinook with fly gear and experience success. Both summer steelhead and spring Chinook can be difficult to catch. More than anything they seem to get moody and go on and off the bite. Critical to success is putting in your time. Successful results, when they happen, are well worth the effort.
Shad runs are strong in the Umpqua, Willamette and Columbia rivers. Most shad fishing on the Willamette takes place between Portland and Oregon City. It is certainly possible to use a drift boat in this area, but you don’t see many unless they are using an outboard motor. The Columbia is huge. When the wind comes up, even 20’ and 24’ sleds leave the river. Some areas are simply not appropriate for drift boats. The Umpqua River is great for drift boats and the shad fishing can be tremendous. Dean Finnerty, at Five Rivers Guide Service, fishes for shad, steelhead and salmon on the Umpqua with both a drift boat and a jet sled. His phone numbers are 541-942-2535 and 541-731-9649.
Gladstone High Salmon Derby
On Saturday, April 30 the Gladstone High School Boosters Club held a Spring Salmon Derby to raise funds for school activities. Bruce and I decided it would be fun to participate for a good cause. We decided to fish the Clackamas River and do the float from the Upper McIver boat ramp to the launch in the lower part of the park. The hot spot on this float is below Dog Creek. Since we were fishing for Chinook we were set up with diver and bait rigs and diving plugs. We worked the deep salmon pools for several hours without any action.
Time came to start floating down to the take-out and as we went we fished with diving plugs. Just above the lip of a tailout Bruce’s rod went down. We were testing a new rod holder by Folbe, and we were really happy with the way the rod came out of the rod holder so easily. It wasn’t a Chinook, rather a nice bright summer steelhead. It put up a strong fight, with several long runs. Bruce played it perfectly. The fish began to tire and I was ready with the net. Just as I made an attempt to put it in the net, it made a dive catching one of the trebles in the web of the net. It should have been lost, but somehow it stayed hooked as I lifted it into the boat.
Folbe rod holder with rod |
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Folbe rod open in the open position |
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Bruce with summer steelhead |
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On the Clackamas River only hatchery origin salmon or steelhead may be kept. This steelhead had a missing adipose fin so it was legal to keep. When steelhead are this fresh, they are delicious. I like best to barbecue them with some alder leaves on the coals to give them some smoke flavor.
We made it to the derby check-in and enjoyed a great spaghetti feed. The steelhead didn’t count for the derby, but we still had a great time and considered it a worthwhile experience. The winning fish was a 26-pound, 9 ounce Chinook caught by Dave Pierce out of a ClackaCraft drift boat rowed by Hal Boldt.
Give Marty a call at: (503)
655-9532
You can also call
Idaho Falls at (800) 394-1345.
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