The Labor day weekend has passed, and I was lucky enough to spend one of the days on the Rogue River here in Oregon.
Not getting to be a “tourist” in my own backyard very often, we treated ourselves to an exciting day on one of the jetboats that travel down and up the middle section of the Rogue below Grants Pass.
This is a bit of a change in river travel for me, as my usual mode of travel is either in a driftboat, walking, or rafting.
The jetboats offer a fast lane adventure-usually for tourists with limited time, and looking for the “Readers Digest” version of exploration on the Rogue. We had company visiting and since fishing is not an interest of theirs, this was the perfect trip for them to get to know the Rogue River a little better.
First off, let me say the trip is really enjoyable and exciting, with even the old and young whooping and smiling enthusiastically as the jetboats go into their patended 360 degree spins that almost always leave the passengers soaked, giggling, and begging for more spins. In fact, if someone was to start an operation of “mad tea cups” that could spin endlessly up and downstream, they would assuredly be filled with happy customers.
Puking customers– but happy!!
The trips are also very informative, with the knowledgable guides/ boat drivers giving history, pointing out wildlife and entertaining everybody with some canned “diatribes” that you would expect from this form of river entertainment.
” Yeah, I once had a Dallas Cowboy fan on board-who kept giving me an earful. I told him I would get even with him, and when I flew under this flock of Canada Goose… well they let go right on HIM….can you believe it?”….
We saw Otter, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Herons, Egrets, Deer, Ducks, Geese, and million dollar homes with park like settings.
We also saw Salmon and Salmon fishermen.
Being in the midst of the fall Salmon run on the Rogue, we encountered fishermen the entire trip. The drivers are very courteous and always slow their 1100 horsepower motors to an idle as they pass. This helps to keep a very shaky co-existence between non-motorized boats, bank fishermen and motorized boats at a balance that even the United Nations would admire.
They of course don’t tell you this on the trip, but there are some “turf wars” when it comes to river use.
Jetboats have operated on the Rogue River for a number of years-in fact- a lot longer than I have been in these parts- and there has always been some conflict between fishermen and the boats that fly up and down the river at ninety miles an hour!
I have read passages in older “river books” that talk about fishermen getting “swamped” or “bankies” hurling lead weights as the jetboats streaked by.
Everyone claimed”they owned the river”.
Arguments always ensued over the importance of jobs and tourist dollars, versus fishing rights and effect on the Salmon.
By past standards, todays co-existence is mild and really quite civil.
More than once we would pass fishermen who would either have a fish mid battle or would hoist a nice 40 pound fall Salmon into the air, drawing applause and admiration from the jetboat crowd.
I could hear some of the “tourists” exclaiming how great it was to see the highly regarded Salmon being caught by these hearty river souls. Of course a lot of them didn’t know that a portion of these fish are snagged and harvested illegally.
Having just returned from Alaska, where snagging is legal(from the gill plate forward) and is considered standard fishing practice, it was interesting to see the different mindset between the Alaskan rivers dwellers and the” lower 48″ river dweller.
Our guide/driver more than once commented on the snagging going on and the illegal harvesting they see every day on their trips up and down the river. He even spun the boat around once so we could see a drift fisherman net a “foul hooked” fish that he correctly predicted would not be landed until we were out of view. That way the fisherman could keep the snagged fish and brag about his fishing prowess back at work on Tuesday!!
He was right on!
The only issue I had with this “holier than thou–I’m a fish conservationist attitude” was that: here you have a 1100 horsepower,ninety mile an hour,wake producing water rocket traveling up and down the river–sometimes in six inches of water– calling out these fishermen, without also saying that the cause and effect of these powerboats are sometimes not in the best interest of the migrating fish either!!
More than once in the history of jetboats, nice bright chrome Salmon and Steelhead have been “ambushed” by powerboats leaving them with more than a headache and causing them to float to the surface with an aborted spawning effort.
Dead fish don’t spawn.
As a card carrying fish thumper, it would be hypocritical of me to overly critical of the jetboats-but it would be nice if they presented the facts IN FULL , to their customers, especially since most are “out of the area” tourists.
My guess, is that jetboats have been the cause of more dead fish than the “average Joe” who occasionally snags a Salmon and whacks him on the head. Of course, I still don’t condone snagging.
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I read the morning newspaper today, and an article mentioned that the prospect of “wild Salmon” disappearing in the next century was almost assured. It also mentioned that even if we that live in the areas where Salmon have historically carried out their time honored traditions of — river-sea-river lifecycles–, were to become good stewards of rivers and tributaries, we might still not be able to reverse the inevitable loss of one of the most admired creatures on this planet.
Pretty bleak–and I hope we prove the “experts” wrong!!
What is the answer??
Don’t ask me– but I hope the conflict between jetboat, fisherman and “wild fish, remains a problem forever….. because that means we will still have the wild Salmon to fret over..
A.J. Klott
Author, writer of fishing humor,and “fly tack” peddler.A.J. writes about the people,characters and modern day events that surround the fishing world. His first book is due out in December of 2005.
If you need a laugh or a fun gift, visit his website at: