Comments from Laurel Adams

Have you ever planned an outing that turned into a truly extraordinary event?  Ken and I had the pleasure of going on a jet boat tour with Hells Canyon Adventures on their full day Kirkwood Tour yesterday.  Talk about the perfect day!  We arrived early so were able to hang out and shmooze with ‘Captain’ Butch and Joe, his right hand.  Butch made the rapids look easy to navigate (HAH!) and, with 18 years’ experience, can read the river in all her moods.  He is also knowledgeable about the geology, geography, settlers, wildlife – in short, not only was the trip a heck of a thrill ride, it was also educational and interesting!  Stopped for lunch at the historical Kirkwood Ranch (it’s on the National Historical Register) and wandered through the museum, around the grounds, and took lots of pictures.  And the rapids themselves (some are Class IV!) – holy CATS – scary and wonderful and I’d do it all over again tomorrow!

Seriously – if you’re looking for something that’s different and exciting, I highly recommend Hells Canyon Adventures. I think getting a bunch of people together and chartering one of their boats would be SO much fun and something you’d never forget.  Next time Ken wants to try rafting (yikes!) but we will definitely be going back.  I can’t wait!

 (Did I mention we got to see a fisherman bring in a STURGEON!?!???  Coolest thing ever; they are the weirdest combination of SO ugly and yet, strangely, so beautiful – I’d never seen one that close before!)

Great Article about Rafting in Hells Canyon

Check out this great article written by the Cameron Clan. They also have some fantastic photos of their rafting trip. http://www.digitalgraphics.biz/Cameron_Clan/Travel/2009_Oregon/Index_Oregon_2009.html

BIG WATER in June

We have had big water and crazy weather this whole month. Check out our photos on Flickr. Two of our crew members spent Sunday kayaking in inflatable kayaks through Wild Sheep and Granite rapids. The water flow was 30,000 cfs.

4th of July in Halfway, Oregon

If you don’t have plans for the 4th of July head to Halfway, Oregon. 4th of July activites will start at 4:30 PM at the Fairgrounds. Children activities, music, food and drinks will be available. All proceeds purchased at the Hells Canyon Chamber of Commerce food booth will go to the fireworks fund for this year and 2010. Don’t Miss the FUN!

Weekend Fun in Halfway, Oregon

A lot of activities are occuring in Halfway, Oregon this weekend. The Hells Canyon Junior Rodeo starts tomorrow and runs through Saturday. There will be a parade at 11:00 AM on Saturday. The Hells Canyon Motorcycle Rally starts today in Baker City, Oregon. Many motorcycle participants will venture out to Halfway and Hells Canyon on Saturday and Sunday. Also, the Hells Canyon Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a Fireworks Fundraiser on Saturday in Halfway from 10:00-2:00 PM. There will be great food, entertainment, and even a pie auction. You definitely don’t want to miss out on all the FUN in Halfway, Oregon!

What are you doing for Father’s Day?

TREAT your dad to a relaxing yet awe-inspiring day in Hells Canyon. This family bonding experience will take you through attention-grabbing white water and the deepest part of Hells Canyon. Munchies and drinks included. Adults $65 and kids 11 & under $45. Check out our website: http://www.hellscanyonadventures.com.

Dad’s Ride Free on Father’s Day

Give your dad the day off. TREAT him to a relaxing yet awe-inspiring day in Hells Canyon. This family bonding experience will take you through attention-grabbing white water and the deepest part of Hells Canyon. Munchies and drinks included.

Adults $65 and Kids 11 & under $45

Depart 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM

You must purchase a minimum of two seats in order for Dad to ride FREE.

What to Bring

What do I need to bring with me when I am fishing in Hells Canyon?

For bass fishing, I really like using Plastics this time of year. I recommend about any shade of green with a red flake, My personal favorite is “watermelon” or “Motor-oil” with a red flake. The size I like is 3 1/2 inch tubes and using a 1/4 oz head on them.

I like the red flake all year long, the red I think looks a lot like the crayfish that the small mouth bass feed on in the Snake River below Hells Canyon Dam. I recommend Getzitz ( I think that is how you spell it) they can take a beating and keep on ticking “catching fish”. It is not uncommon to catch 100 or so fish in a day when bass fishing. We also have a few tricks that we can share with you that really give them a great swimming action in the water. This will help in getting some of the bigger spawning small mouth bass to bite.

In addition to the plastics, about any crank bait will work well. I really like the smaller cranker that will work in about 4-8 foot of water. I recommend about anything that looks like a little fish or a crayfish.

For Sturgeon fishing, we have all the gear you need to do battle with these brutes. But if you want to think about bringing a Sturgeon Rod, about any “Heavy Action” rod 7-11 foot long will work. The rod is easy but the reel is what is what is going to take the pounding. These fish are BIG, some fish in the canyon will go over 9 foot. When one of these big boys takes off they can run 200 yards of line quicker than we can get the boat untied from the shore. What you really need is line capacity, the more heavy braid or 50 Lbs mono the better. For hooks, I like to use a 7/0 hook and a big old piece of trout or squid. For weights, I recommend 10-14 oz sinkers. Please understand that the river has a very rocky bottom in spots and you can go through a lot of lead. One thing that we use is rail road spikes. They are inexpensive and all you need to do is drill a hole in them to attach them to the slider.

As far as the Salmon fishing, as of today we have had about 20081 Adult Chinooks and 8896 Jack Salmon over Lower Granite Dam. I like to use magnum wiggle worts, Black with silver flake or red with a black back. In addition, I really like to pull roe behind divers and a spin and glow.

I hope this helps in getting you ready for your trip with us in Hells Canyon. I will say it is some of the best fishing in the Northwest. We have big fish and big water.

Time To Fish

Well folks, spring time in Hells Canyon is underway so that means one thing.

 

It is TIME TO FISH.

 

The bass fishing in the river below Hells Canyon Dam is red hot right now. On a recent outing we managed to get well over 100 small moulth bass to the boat and they are big. I really enjoy fishing for the pre-spawn smallmouth bass. They are aggressive and fight like they have a reason. 

 

If you go you might have to deal with some higher water but that will not slow the bass fishing, it just makes the boat ride more exciting. If you take your jet boat please remember that high water makes the navigation more tricky-the rocks that were out of the water are now just under the surface. For the most current river flows please visit the Idaho Power web site.

http://www.idahopower.com/RiversRec/WaterLevels/Hellsrivflw/default.cfm

If you are not familiar with the river in high water conditions I would recommend that you gain some local advice or book a trip with us. Repairs after hitting a rock can be spendy.

 

If you want to get a kid hooked on fishing this is the trip for you. I would recommend that anyone that likes to catch fish to make plans to be in the canyon and give this a try.

 

My recommended gear list is as follows:

7 foot medium heavy rod with 12 Lb. test line.

Small Crank baits are working well but you can not beat a day of bass fishing using plastics (getzits and grubs). One thing about the high water is that you will need to step up the size of the heads to 1/4 oz. About any color will work but I think that a motor oil with a red flake are my top pick for the canyon just about anytime of year and I know they will work great in the spring. If you use plastics bring a bunch of them. You can go through 50 or so in a day. You lose about 1/2 of them in the rocks but that is the risk when fishing for bass. The other 1/2  the bass will bite the tail off them and you will need to replace them when that happens.

 

The high water and the spawn bring the bass into the shallower water 4-7 feet in depth; so this means that a chance at a 4 pounder is good. However, this creates some challenges. Rig your grubs to be weedless. This will allow you to fish a rocky bottom and have less chance that the hook will snag up on a rock that will keep your gear. (If you have any questions about this please send me an e-mail and I will help you with a weedless rigging.)

 

One more thing that I need to mention is that the primary season in the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area is about to begin. The primary season runs from May 22 – September 10 and that means that you will need to contact the US Forest Service to obtain a permit for boat access to the river below Hells Canyon Dam.

Please visit the US Forest Service web page for additional information.

http://www.fs.fed.us/hellscanyon/things_to_see_and_do/snake_river/permits.shtml 

 

The current water temperature at Oxbow dam is 53* so that makes the water about 50* below Hells Canyon Dam. Don’t forget your sturgeon gear, but we can talk about that another time.

Big Water and Big Fish

It was a big water and a big fish kind of week in Hells Canyon.

 

Let me start by saying that Tom and his crew from Utah were top notch fisher folks and some of the most fun clients I have ever been around on the river.

 

Fishing in Hells Canyon can be tough when the water is over 30,000 CFS (cubic feet per second) but I must say that the Utah crew was up for the challenge.

 

In two days of fishing, they managed to catch well over 100 small mouth bass and more trout then I can count. And yes, they got two nice sturgeon to the boat. They are truly die hard fisher folks. I think that the only time I noticed them put the pole down was when they stopped for a sandwich (my kind of fishermen)!

 

We had some weather come in and a bit of Hells Canyon liquid sunshine came down for an hour or so but seeing the clouds over the canyon is incredible. We watched Cliff Mt. and Barton Hights play hide and seek for most of the day as the clouds came in and out. The views of the canyon were truly spectacular.

 

The wildlife made an appearance also! Deer, Bald Eagles, Chukars, and my favorite- a family of Mountain Goats were spotted from the boat. It was so exciting to see the babies and ewe (the momma) look around the rocks and the bushes to get a glimpse of what we were doing. The Big Billy goat (the daddy goat) watched us from high on the ridge- it was so neat to see him move around on the cliffs above us. They are amazing animals, I will never understand how they climb up and down the cliffs that we have in Hells Canyon. They move over the near vertical rock outcrops and never slip or stumble As if it was a final gift of the trip, on the drive back to the shop our clients spotted a big sow bear and two cubs. She sat there and watched us watch her as her cubs played in an open rock slide not having a care in the world just like a couple of kids.   

 

So, I mentioned it above but let me take a second to tell you about the river. Wild Sheep and Granite were BIG, Captain Butch did a outstanding job running the boat. Our company has truly some of the best jet boat captains that have ever run the river. He managed to run the Idaho side of Wild Sheep going both up and down stream and never got a drop of water on the windows-amazing jet boat driving. When it comes to Granite Creek rapids he dove off behind the pour over rock in the middle of the river and made the 18 foot drop look easy. Coming up, he snuck up the Idaho side of the river and let the 650 horse power Diablo do the work, climbing the waterfall we call Granite. High water in Hells Canyon is more exhilarating then about anything you can do and in the boat with Captain Butch makes it even better.

 

I could go on and on about this trip, but I must say I am looking forward to seeing Tom and the Utah crew again next year on another trip.