Reviewed by Benjamin Hart
I'm a freak for rivers, and when I had the
chance to review Floating and Fishing
Oregon's Wilderness River Canyons by
Melinda Allen, I jumped on it. I live in western
Montana and Oregon isn't that far away so I've
had the opportunity to float a few of the rivers
discussed in this book. I have tried to float
some of the other ones and been downright
intimidated by the logistics of a few.
Floating and Fishing Oregon's Wilderness
River Canyons is a great reference for
anyone who has it in mind to float any of the
rivers discussed which are: The Deschutes, John
Day, Grande Ronde and Walolowa, Rogue and Owyhee.
These rivers are all amazing and for an outsider
like me they all epitomize the kind of thing I'm
looking for in a river trip, they're remote and
beautiful and all of them offer fishing. As a
river enthusiast and professional I read this book
looking for the kind of information that I want
and need to know: river flows, launch information,
permitting, gradient, length of float, rapids,
difficulty, fishing information. I am used to
looking for this stuff in different books and I
find this one to be very thorough and well thought
out. I like that the author didn't overdo it with
the quantity of rivers and went berserk on the
quality and depth on the rivers she chose. From
clear driving directions, to where to take out
and how long the trip will take at certain flows,
this book covers just about everything one should
know to plan a trip. There are lists of shuttle
companies and their contact information for every
river, one more thing I don't have to call around
or surf the net to find out.
Running unknown water always puts butterflies in
my stomach. Will I flip my boat? Will I wrap it?
How much gear will I loose this time? There's no
excuse for being unprepared for a situation or a
rapid that could take your life and even with a
book and pictures and descriptions there's no
guarantee that you're going to hit that one line
that's your only hope. I always want to know the
history of a rapid and what it's known to do. The
detailed descriptions of each rapid will aid any
reader, and comparing those of the Rogue and Deschutes
to my own experience, I can say they are right on.
There are several pictures of more difficult rapids
explaining the lines and exactly how to hit them.
Many of these rivers have class IV rapids and some
have bigger, so it's wise to listen to whatever
anyone says about hitting a certain rapid, or a
rock that's known to kill, this book explains many
of the more difficult ones well and will increase
my chances of a safe return.
There are things in this book intended for
beginning boaters too. Chapters explaining
equipment and other odds and ends will benefit
novice boaters. Many stretches of water will
appeal to the beginner, those with little
difficulty are easy to reference throughout.
There is a whole chapter on "The Basics" which
is a comprehensive package that is a great place
to start learning the lingo and techniques that
could make the difference between a fun trip and
a disaster. Safety is stressed throughout which
I also like. Nothing can replace training and
experience but anything will help and I think
this book can help make the right decisions
from the start. Beginners won't want to try
and run Widowmaker on the Owyhee and it's good
to have something that tells them that.
Many excellent photographs and charts help
with planning. There's even a "Solitude Chart"
that can give you an estimate of how much peace
and quiet you can expect on these rivers at
different times of the year. There are topographic
maps that will aid in driving and shuttling, they
are basically USGS quadrangles, only showing the
river and general surroundings. Included for each
river is the industry standard river log for mileage
and landmarks to help you know just how far you've
gone and what's around the bend, and if it's Blossom
Bar on the Rogue you better heed the advice and scout
it first.
The fishing is described reasonably well for
each river. I cringed at the suggestion of night
crawlers or scented lures as bait during conditions
that don't favor fly-fishing. There are many helpful
suggestions as far as which stretches of rivers have
the best fishing, and what optimal flows are for
fly-fishing, but there's not much detail on it.
Melina does point out the species and the regulations
and a little bit about how to target them with
spinning gear, but that's about it. I suggest
you start with a black wooly bugger and go from
there. The fishing on these rivers is extensively
discussed elsewhere and usually not rocket science
in these remote places, steelhead excluded. The
smallmouth fishing information interested me the
most and there are photos to prove that Oregon
produces some nice ones.
I imagine this book will end up a dog-eared
river companion on trips to come, hopefully
on the Owyhee if there's enough water next
spring or on the John Day to go after those
smallies that I keep hearing about. Amato
Publications was wise to put this winner
on the shelf. ~ BH (benjo)
Floating and Fishing Oregon's Wilderness Rivers
Melinda Allen
Frank Amato Publications
8.5 x 11 inches, 144 pages, color
ISBN: 1-57188-321-5
Price:$29.95
About Benjamin:
When not suffering serious injuries
resulting from romantic mule rides and
backcountry snowboarding disasters, Benjamin
Hart is on the river. The former owner of a
whitewater rafting company, he is now a
fly-fishing guide on the rivers in and around
Missoula, Montana.
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