posted 08-09-2005 03:11 PM ET (US)        

If anyone shows up without their boat, I would be willing to take them out Salmon fishing for the day...

Let me know if you plan to show up with or without your boat...

posted 08-09-2005 09:57 PM ET (US)            

http://users.sisqtel.net/jkriz/RogueRiver/RogueRiver3/10-20-01.html

posted 08-15-2005 01:10 PM ET (US)            

That is the mouth of the Rogue River. Every day the tourists take the JET Mail Boats and go up the river for the tour.

I have taken the Jet boat ride going downstream from Grants Pass, Oregon but I have not taken the trip upstream. You can't go all the way up or down because of a very narrow stretch that the big Jet Boats can't get through.

posted 09-05-2005 04:45 PM ET (US)            

I will have 3 people in my Outrage 18, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday so those days are full as I don't take more that 3 total including myself.

If anyone wants to show up on Friday the 9th or Sunday the 11th, I still have room if anyone is interested...

I have a 3 bedroom house on the beach rented for the entire time so there is an extra bedroom those nights also...

posted 09-06-2005 08:03 PM ET (US)            

The jet boat trip is the best tourist thing I have ever done - as long as you go the full way up to Blossom. We used to go with Court Boice but I am not sure if he is till running trips. On one trip I rowed for the outfitter with a bunch of chiropracters (unforgettable - they had to bring along an exam table to keep everyone adjusted on the trip - we just brought the tequila) we traded a six pack of Henry's for a real life Spring Chinook!!! I swear - these dudes must've been dry as a bone.

If any of you all can make it - don't miss southern OR coast it is so fine down there.

IF you want a great trip besides the mailboats - say a day trip fishing contact Denny Hussem - I think he is still around and has like #3 guide/outfitter license. It is worth going with Denny and he is a great guy and trips accommodate anything you want to do, jet boat fishing, rafts, drift boats, kayaks.

I love that place and miss it.

posted 09-07-2005 02:34 PM ET (US)            

Too bad you can't jump on a plane and make it over here... :-)

I'm amazed more people here on the West Coast are jumping at the chance to try something different. Oh Well. I guess the timing isn't right for them but they are going to miss a chance at some large West Coast Chinook.

Every year after Labor Day I schedule a 'Man' trip and this is it. At the end of September my wife and I go over for about a week and usually do pretty good on both the Chinook and the hatchery Coho. The Coho usually come in near the end of the Chinook run so, during the transition, you never know what you are going to get.

July and August are usually very good for Chinook fishing but the crowds are way too much for me to handle. After Labor Day, the kids go back to school and most people go back to work so their aren't nearly as many boats on the river as July and August.

The Chinook are running late this year by about a month. Now is the time to go as the reports are saying that the fish are starting to come up the river. A little rain might help intice them to start their journey up the river too.

posted 09-08-2005 03:22 AM ET (US)            

The salmon in Bodega finally went red hot...during heavy wind and seas. I hope you slam them up there. I wish I could get away for the trip. I am doing sound for my company 25th anneversary.

Take lots of pics.

posted 09-13-2005 04:15 PM ET (US)            

Court Boice is still running boats, as are other Boices. Justin Boice used to run them quite a bit, but he's been involved less as he's been intermittantly involved in trying to build welded alunimum boats. He built quite a few boats under the Boice name (Boice-jet)but I think he's done with that. Last year at the Portland boat show Justice was promoting "Edge" boats, the product of a partnership between Justin, Reuben (the former North River painter) and one other guy. (The Edge also looked similar to the North River design he modified to create "Boice-jet", except it had an odd euro-like transom.)

The jet boat ride up from Gold Beach is still a tourist-thriller. There's plenty of slow "frog water" down low, but it's a quick run up to Lobster Creek, and there's plenty of interesting water between there and Blossom Bar. (I used to run a bunch of guys up that stretch of river in June each year to watch the annual jet boat races. That was one of my two annual "boy trips".)

posted 09-15-2005 11:31 AM ET (US)            

Here are a few photos and a great commentary from Tony.

http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/010711.html

I will be posting more photos later.

The fishing was the slowest I had ever seen it.
Even the guides who have been on the river all of their lives said they had never seen it this slow. Don't know why. Whether the fish just aren't coming in or they are just heading up river without stopping. I did manage to put on a nice 35.5 lb King Salmon, rounded off to 36 lbs of course.. :-)

I will be heading back up their with my wife the first part of October. Hopefully the fish will be coming in and holding up in the river while they get used to the change from salt to fresh water.

Alex,
There are still a lot of Boice Jets and North River boats on the river.
Would enjoy having you come over next season.
I have a little story about Tony that I will probably post on the other thread.

posted 09-16-2005 03:24 PM ET (US)            

The whole Oregon coast had bad salmon fishing this year. It was bizarre. When silver season opened we had water temperatures in the 60 - mid 60! The ocean looked like a desert on the fishfinder. No bait fish, no salmon - el zippo.

At one point we heard from the guys tracking fish numbers at Comumbia/Willamette dams. One reporter said that they had expected 250,000 fish...and they had counted fewer than 12,000. That's pretty scary.

Friends who were persistent got into small groups of fish, often as far as twelve or fifteen miles off-shore where they found some pockets of cooler, richer water. When the in-shore water temps dropped there were some decent fishing days too, but the season never really turned around. I read a report from a couple weekends ago: over 100 boats out of Winchester Bay, Oregon. Recreational fish count at the docks: 12 Chinook. That's abysmal.

posted 09-16-2005 03:48 PM ET (US)            

Yes, the bait fish aren't even in the river.
Last year you could walk on top of the water over the bait fish they were so thick. When trolling, the line would bounce off all of the bait fish making it look like you were getting a strike on your rod.

This year, I saw one anchoive jump out of the water. Absolutley no bait fish.
The water temp was between 63º and 64º...

I feel very fortunate that we landed two fish and one of them was the 36 pounder.

The Silvers are due to come in anytime in the Rogue. Late September and October is usually the Silver run along with some stragler Kings... I hope the Silvers come in but I am not going to hold my breathe..

posted 08-23-2006 03:50 AM ET (US)            

Dont think I havent considered takin you up on your offer but bad timing man. thanks. I would definitely cover the gas bill. I dont think we would be out there very long.

Was in Astoria this morn, the fish arent in the river yet either...well, Dean (Englund Marine) sez "fishing is spotty and it should be goin full bore right now."
I agree. The springers were late this year but when they came in, it was good fishin...maybe something outside thru em off course (earthquakes?) like throwin a rock into a fish pond...they all split from the area and maybe they just arent here yet.

michael k