Stories

Not every trip goes smoothly, but this just adds to the stories around camp. Here are some of the more memorable ones:

• • Forgot our Fishing Poles...Almost - On a trip with Paul Pharr, we stayed the night in Condon before heading to Service Creek. We were about 20 minutes down the road when I noticed the fishing poles had stopped rattling. I looked at Paul and asked him if saw the fishing poles in the back of the car. A worried look crossed his face and then mine as we realized we must have left them in the motel room behind the door. With no place to turn around for miles it took a while to get back to the motel. When we got there the room was locked and no manager around. We tried to see if we could break in to the room but no go. Finally after about 15 anxious minutes the manager poked his head out and we were able to secure the poles and be back on the road.
  • Family Vacation - This trip started with a shopping excursion in beautiful downtown Fossil to replace Cory's clothes which he smartly left sitting next to the front door at home. With not a lot to choose from, a sweatshirt was about all we could find. The trip was going great until a pretty scary incident in Russo Rapids.  Chris hit the big hole in the middle of the rapids and it pinned her boat against the rocks. With no choice but to jump off,  the pontoon boat flipped upside down, pinning Chris against the rock. She didn't panic and used her White Salmon rafting training to push side ways off the rock instead of straight down river. Once she was free it was kind of fun from the point mainly because she was wearing her life jacket...Cory. Oh back to the part about her pontoon boat being upside down, well it wasn't as bad as it could have been, the boat went through the rapids upside down and most of the stuff stayed put, great bungee job. We lost a fin and some sunglasses. The real problem was the not so dry bag with her clothes and sleeping bag in it was completely soaked. It took Tyler and I all we had to try and pull it out of the water, probably weighed well over 100 lbs. Luckily we were close to camp and had some sunlight to try and dry things out but it was a little chilly sleeping that night.
  • More Fishing Pole Stories - If the John Day river every dries up I am going to ride my bike down it and pick up all of the lost gear. There are several fishing poles in there Scott, Andrew thank you very much. On one trip Scott had lost one so I loaned him one of mine. He started to see that one sink away and said not on my watch and dove in after it, but clipped the foot peg on the way in giving him a permanent scar to this day. I like that kind of dedication in a client...Andrew I'm just saying. I also have had my share of pole foul ups. On one trip with Tyler and Andrew I was screwing around trying to free my lure from a log and snapped my pole in half. Thanks to having an engineer and a designer on hand we fashioned the FrankenPole using local vegetation. The pole still worked and I am convinced caught more fish due to channeling the local spirits.
  • Pontoon Rip - The pontoon boats have held up very well given all of the use they get. I bring plenty of patch kit material but have not needed it to date. However, after one trip I got home to find a 4 foot rip down the underside of my pontoon which had fully exposed the bladder. I probably floated a whole day with it like that and was lucky I didn't have a catastrophic failure. Looking back I must have ripped it when pulling my boat up on shore. So as a reminder always check the shore for sharp rocks and be sure to lift your boat if it is fully loaded when moving it around shore.
  • I Always Find the Fish - On one Service Creek to Twickenham trip with Chris and I, the flow was close to 5000 so we started 4 miles up river at Wooden Bridge to give us more float time. The water was muddy and I was worried about the fishing since our dinner was going to be fish tacos with the bass we caught. After only about 10 minutes fishing I catch a bass and think the fishing will be decent so I throw him back figuring we will have plenty. Well 4 hours later I have no fish. The fast, muddy water made the fishing very tough. We get to camp with no fish so after we set up camp I walk down the bank to try and provide for the family. After 30 minutes I have 1 dink so I figure it is fish sticks for dinner. Before heading back disgraced, I make one more cast into some very brackish looking water and my line goes tight and 2 minutes later I have 16" bass on the bank...I Always find the fish!  I'm feeling pretty cocky and decide to go get another one so I head down the bank to be stopped dead in my tracks by that unmistakable rattling sound. It was a perfect encounter...he rattled, I stopped, he went one way and I went the other.  When walking near the river, big deliberate steps and you will be fine. In 8 years of going to the John Day I have only seen 2-3 rattlesnakes, it is probably because the Cougars scare them all away.
  • Rain - Unfortunately weather in June in Oregon is unpredictable. We have been very lucky over  the years but there have been a few days of rain. One trip with the family it was a little miserable because none of us (except Chris) brought proper rain gear. It started raining about 2 am and continued until about 11 am when the sun came out and the temps were back in the 70's. We were all wet and ready to stop early to let everything dry out. If the forecast calls for a "chance" of showers best to bring some rain gear. Also the nights can get cold so bring layers...and whiskey!
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  • The Flip - Never underestimate the power of the river as this veteran floater discovered. A casual float can turn into a wild ride in an instant. All worked out in this case except for the lost fishing vest. In the process of drying everything out we ended up leaving and left the vest behind which had all of his fishing gear, wallet, money, etc. By the time we discovered it we were too far down river to turn around. Luckily we planned an emergency trip for the following weekend and the vest was still drying out on the rocks.
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  • Ingenuity - River Guide Dave prides himself on planning for any contingency on the river but this was a new one. We had just launched on the first day and Gary noticed his boat wasn't sitting right and pulled over to adjust his straps. I was going to keep going but decided I had better stop to make sure all was OK. After looking at his straps they looked fine but the pontoon was still not sitting correctly. Looking closer discovered that the frame was cracked. Ouch! Did not bring the arc welder this trip, but did have the foresight to pack a rocket scientist. Andrew explored several possible solutions including mining for Bauxite and setting up a make shift Aluminium smelter but we discarded this idea due to the lengthy permit process. We settled on collecting driftwood on the beach and building a makeshift platform. After lucking upon a perfect sized plank we were able to bolt the seat back on and the boat was saved!
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  • Fire - June of 2018 the hills burned...pretty much most of Eastern Oregon was on fire at one point in time that year. Our last trip of the season involved dodging flames and helicopters. Luckily the burn was on the opposite side of the river from where we camped. It will be interesting to see how the river recovers in a year.
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  • The Raft Trip  - for the boys trip we decided to do a different stretch of river (Twickenham to Clarno) and rented a raft for the first time to accommodate the large group. It was nice having the extra room to store gear and lighten the load on the Pontoon boats. Tyler was the master rower for much of the trip including the last 1 mile into a 20+ mph head wind. This stretch of river shorter in distance only 33 miles so we had more time at camp to fish, relax, and invented a game called boulder bocci to pass the time.
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  • The River Level  - the John Day is the third longest free flowing river in America. With no damns to control the flow the river level can vary quite a bit from year to year. This tree is on the Thirtymile to Cottonwood stretch.
    • • <===800 cfs===>                    <===12,000 cfs===>                       <===9,000 cfs Cottonwood Take Out Parking Lot===>
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• More to Come....