Question for Dworshak area members

[Mad Angler]

Hey folks,

Thinking of heading up your way around the end of February for some slimerocket fishing near Orofino, was wondering how safe it is in your neck of the woods for unsupervised boats on trailers. Planning to run on a guide boat out there one day then fish on my own the next few days, maybe hit Dworshak since I'm right there, but I'm a bit uncomfortable just leaving my boat in the hotel parking lot!

Anyone interested in making 20 or 30 bucks to let me drop my boat in your driveway for the day I'm out on the guideboat? 101notworthy2101

Chris

[crazcougg]

Hey folks,

Thinking of heading up your way around the end of February for some slimerocket fishing near Orofino, was wondering how safe it is in your neck of the woods for unsupervised boats on trailers. Planning to run on a guide boat out there one day then fish on my own the next few days, maybe hit Dworshak since I'm right there, but I'm a bit uncomfortable just leaving my boat in the hotel parking lot!

Anyone interested in making 20 or 30 bucks to let me drop my boat in your driveway for the day I'm out on the guideboat? 101notworthy2101

Chris

I’m not close enough to be useful for the parking probably but your right to be nervous about leaving your boat in that area unfortunately.

[Mad Angler]

Well, thanks for confirming that for me Cougg! Guess I'll be stripping the boat of everything and locking it up under the boat cover, as well as adding some locks on the wheels and tongue. Maybe I'll call the police station and see if I can leave it in their lot or something...
Chris

[crazcougg]

Well, thanks for confirming that for me Cougg! Guess I'll be stripping the boat of everything and locking it up under the boat cover, as well as adding some locks on the wheels and tongue. Maybe I'll call the police station and see if I can leave it in their lot or something...
Chris

I personally wouldn’t worry about the boat itself (I’d still put a tongue lock on it) but definitely people going through the contents.

[Mad Angler]

Wow! Forgot to post a follow-up here! We did make it down to Orofino for 4 days of fishing, it was mostly fantastic! No issues whatsoever with the security of the boat, stayed at Helgeson Hotel in town, the parking was really lacking, but we did manage to slide the boat into the small lot next to the bank behind the hotel. There was also lots of parking at the courthouse, but we needed to be out of there before it opened up in the morning.

Fishing was fun, but that week just sucked overall for weather and bites. We fished through a pretty good snow/ice/sleet/hail storm the first day, and I think that crazy weather/wind killed the bite for the next 3 days. Glad we landed 6 slime rockets, but every one were wild so we had to throw them back in. The next 3 days was spent with at least a dozen other boats catching nothing!

The bad about this trip? Yeah, we trashed a brand new stainless prop and cracked the front center window on the boat (heater must have gotten too hot in there and might have had a chip on the edge of the glass, it started under the rubber seal), but that's about it. New prop on and my buddy is replacing the glass for me (he owns a glass shop in Boise), so just chalking these items up to the cost of fishing up north!!! Next year, jet bottom end for the boat and a bit less heater usage!!! thumbsup

[crazcougg]

Wow! Forgot to post a follow-up here! We did make it down to Orofino for 4 days of fishing, it was mostly fantastic! No issues whatsoever with the security of the boat, stayed at Helgeson Hotel in town, the parking was really lacking, but we did manage to slide the boat into the small lot next to the bank behind the hotel. There was also lots of parking at the courthouse, but we needed to be out of there before it opened up in the morning.

Fishing was fun, but that week just sucked overall for weather and bites. We fished through a pretty good snow/ice/sleet/hail storm the first day, and I think that crazy weather/wind killed the bite for the next 3 days. Glad we landed 6 slime rockets, but every one were wild so we had to throw them back in. The next 3 days was spent with at least a dozen other boats catching nothing!

The bad about this trip? Yeah, we trashed a brand new stainless prop and cracked the front center window on the boat (heater must have gotten too hot in there and might have had a chip on the edge of the glass, it started under the rubber seal), but that's about it. New prop on and my buddy is replacing the glass for me (he owns a glass shop in Boise), so just chalking these items up to the cost of fishing up north!!! Next year, jet bottom end for the boat and a bit less heater usage!!! thumbsup

Yikes! Definitely not prop water, sorry I didn’t think to mention that!

It was definitely an up and down year on the Clearwater for me and people I know. I only made it out a couple times and lost one, never landed a Clearwater fish this year, well outside of the confluence in town.

[Mad Angler]

Heh, its all good! We knew what we were gettin' into when we launched from Pinkhouse, although the previous day on a guide boat showed the area was 3+ feet of water where we were heading, and my boat is good down to 18". Unfortunately, it looks as if the water was running a bit low the next morning and we snagged a couple rocks, so pulled the boat out of pinkhouse and dropped back in by the hatchery. No problems there the next 3 days, but no fish either.
Gonna try a bit earlier in the upcoming steelhead season, and I'm already looking at the jet kit from Honda for our engine!