River cruising & fishing

[Doryman]

The discussion about the guys from Germany that want to take a C22 down several rivers in Canada reminded me of a question I have long wanted to have answered:

On the big rivers of the PNW, such as the Columbia, the Skagit, etc., how feasible and/or foolhardy is it to take a prop-driven C-Dory on them? Are there guidelines as to which sections of the rivers are navigable for our boats and which are not? Are there tips and techniques for successful river cruising?

I'd like to take my Tom Cat up some of these rivers but truth be told, I am intimidated by all the snags, logs, bars, etc. that I see when driving by these rivers, and assumed that I would have to buy a sled to safely explore them.

Thanks,
Warren

[TyBoo]

Most of the Columbia is no problem for your TC at all. Here's the best story you will find about navigating it right here on El & Bill's site (and a lot of other rivers). Be sure and let me know when you will reach my end of it and we will have a party for you like we did for them!

[thataway]

There is general navigation (maintained by the Corp of Engineers) up the Columbia to the Snake and to Lewistown ID about 460 miles. Trawlers take this route easily as do tugs and tows.

I have small boated on the Snake in its upper reaches and found that fairly easy. But there are stretches which are easily traveled in a C Dory.

[oldgrowth]

Warren – I have been wanting to launch at Olympia, WA and go to Lewiston, ID. I thought of doing it next year, but it is more likely to happen in 2008.

Never thought of asking anyone else if they would like to make all or part of the journey with me. Anyone interested?

[DaveS]

Warren,
If you look in the photo album for "Cruises", you will find two albums of pix for cruises on the Snohomish River out of Everett, Wa. One album is on page two and the other on page three.
We'll try to put another Snohomish River Cruise together in the early spring.
The Snohomish River is navigable up to Snohomish and there are quite a few "back water" channels that are navigable. I normally cruise in there during high tidal waters, so I'm sure to have additional depth.
Just a few weeks ago, there was a movie producer filming a segment at night back in the sloughs of the Snohomish River. They had a Viet Nam era river patrol boat they were using. Obviously, the subject content had to do with an actual event that occurred during the war in Viet Nam.

[Doryman]

[Doryman]

DaveS -- Just looked at the pix of the '04 cruise and was wondering how you got the trailers and tow vehicles to the takeout point (I am assuming you did not return to your put-in location.)

Thanks,
Warren

[starcrafttom]

Dave is right about the snohomish and the others are right about the big c. The skagit on the other hand is not for prop boats. From the town of mount vernon down river is doable in a cdory but you have to take it easy. And you can only cross the flats in skagit bay during high tide. There is a channel on the south fork into skagit bay but I hear that it is only usable at high tide. From mount vernon up is best left to jet boats. the sand bars and snags move after every big ran and flood. A lot of people fish the lower section in prop boats and skagit specials. A skagit is a home built flat bottom floating camper used for anchoring out while fishing for kings and sturgeon. some have wood stoves, t.v.'s and bath rooms in them. I have seen a few around and a guy at work,andy, has one he shares with his dad. I have not gone up the skagit yet but have been thinking about it. I have a drift boat and the c-dory but may need a jet boat for the rivers.

[Pat Anderson]

Nope, we did the 2003 Snohomish River cruise, wonder where we were when the 2004 cruise happened, looks like we weren't there, but we cruised up to Snohomish, turned around, and cruised back down...and it was REAL exciting getting under the bridges at (what the heck slough was that, Dave?)...

[DaveS]

[DaveS]

[iggy]

One of my main reasons for wanting a C-Dory (among many, many other reasons!) is to cruise the Snake and Columbia rivers. There are great guides available for the San Juans, Gulf Islands, inside passage, etc., but hardly anything available for the Snake/Columbia. Maybe there's really not much to see, but on various motorcycle trips in the area, the scenery is spectacular.

Also, it finally dawned on the Army Corps of Engineers, and others, that Lewis and Clark really didn't travel down all the highways from Lewiston to Astoria, they travelled down the rivers! This may seem rather obvious, but there are hundreds of hiway signs, campgrounds, info centers, etc. on the -ground-, and almost none on the rivers themselves. . . duh! This is being rectified over the next few years - I'll try to dig out the information and post it here.

If I'm boated up by the time others are ready to do the Snake/Columbia, count me in! A combined nautical, natural history, geology, fishing, historical tour would be a blast!

e.g.

PS: See related thread on group transport of trailers.

[lloyds]

There is actually a spiral bound book, rather small, maybe 80 pages, that describes the columbia from astoria up to idaho. It is probably better to run it in the summer and fall, before the runoff starts but it is doable pretty much year around. It does get windy in some places though, so plan on doing a lot of travel in the early morning. I used to run the willamette on a weekly basis. Most of the area from corvallis to salem. This was pre-1976 or so. Then the last log raft made its' trip down the river and the corps quit dredging. We also used to run from salem to portland. The locks at willamette falls are very interesting and historical. Not at all like the Bonneville locks or other upstream locks on the columbia. We used to party down on the willamette west of salem on summer weekends pre-end of dredging and there was a guy from oregon city in a twin inboard 36' boat, like a luhrs, that used to run up the river every summer as he had race horses he kept at the fairgrounds in salem and he spent the racing season on the boat. Now, running that stretch of river in late summer took a lot of effort in my 13' boston whaler, how he did it in that boat, and running in the dark is beyond me. The willamette is a really pretty river but unfortunately when the corps quit dredging the river started to die. The sloughs are silting in, the river is flattening out and getting wider and shallower, and the temperature is going up in the summer. Most of the sloughs where I used to fish and hunt will now barely support a meager group of carp, let alone bass and crappie. And the corps will have you believe they are so environmentally concious. Not in this case. The people of oregon reclaimed that river in the 60's, only to watch it die again. But, off the subject, there is a comprehensive guide for the columbia out there, and it is a great river to explore. Something about the canyons and desert draws you in.

[iggy]

Lloyds -

Are you referring to the Evergreen Pacific River Cruising Guide? (138 pp; $39.99 at West Marine). This is mostly charts, with some local info tossed in along the way (marina phone numbers, fuel locations, etc). Invaluable, of course, but not much on local history, attractions, etc.

Or is there something more like a mini Waggoner Inside Passage guide? Lewis and Clark history (dates; abridged journal entries), not just camping sites. When were each of the dams built? Pictures of each stretch before and after? Native American history? Petroglyphs? Local land tours available from the marinas? Geology? (spectacular!) Missoula floods? Marmes man? (Oldest human site in W. hemisphere, I believe; at Lyons Ferry, Palouse/Snake river confluence; discovered in preparation for the adjacent dam, and then flooded anyway!. Never fear, whatever's there will be there long after the dam is gone . . . ! Someone will find it again.)

That kind of river guide?

e.g.

[lloyds]

No, it was more of a homegrown production as I recall. I will look around home tonight and see if it is there and let you know. It had hand drawn maps of marinas and things like that. Pretty informative, had some good pictures as well.