TR: Salmon R., other stuff

On Oct 21, 5:12*pm, daytripper wrote:
On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:43:42 -0700 (PDT), rb608
wrote:
Dave P. slipped on the trail and did a complete full layout
in a mud hole the likes of which I've rarely seen.

It's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye. :-)

As a continuation of the slipping and falling theme, I'll add that I
was having a lot of trouble keeping my footing in the water on
Saturday & Sunday. I'm usually quite sure-footed, and I was beginning
to consider the passing years as the reason for my unsteadiness until
I gave some serious thought to my Korkers. They're pretty old, and
almost half the studs are gone; but I thought the many that remained
would do the job. In taking a critical, strategic look at them,
however, it was clear that the studs I relied on most were among the
missing. By Sunday afternoon, I ditched 'em & relied on the felt
soles.

The difference was amazing. No wonder I was slipping, I was walking
on bare rubber. The wading boots alone brought me back to comfort &
confidence. Shoulda done that the first day.

Joe F.

On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:55:33 -0700 (PDT), rb608
wrote:

On Oct 21, 5:12*pm, daytripper wrote:
On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:43:42 -0700 (PDT), rb608
wrote:
Dave P. slipped on the trail and did a complete full layout
in a mud hole the likes of which I've rarely seen.

It's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye. :-)

As a continuation of the slipping and falling theme, I'll add that I
was having a lot of trouble keeping my footing in the water on
Saturday & Sunday. I'm usually quite sure-footed, and I was beginning
to consider the passing years as the reason for my unsteadiness until
I gave some serious thought to my Korkers. They're pretty old, and
almost half the studs are gone; but I thought the many that remained
would do the job. In taking a critical, strategic look at them,
however, it was clear that the studs I relied on most were among the
missing. By Sunday afternoon, I ditched 'em & relied on the felt
soles.

The difference was amazing. No wonder I was slipping, I was walking
on bare rubber. The wading boots alone brought me back to comfort &
confidence. Shoulda done that the first day.

Joe F.

Dave P. didn't come equipped with studs. He spent the entire time on straight
felt - and all but the last day, the dam was running at 750CFS, and by my
calculations there was nearly double that flow from the lower FFO section and
below due to runoff from the tribs (it had rained fairly heavily before our
arrival). So the wading wasn't easy (unlike the extraordinarily low flows we
all experienced last year).

While I didn't spend a lot of time observing how well going studless was
working out for him, the only time I detected severe slippage was on that
trail ;-)

I bought these a couple of years ago and couldn't be more pleased with their
performance. They stick like a kitten on curtains, are very durable, and the
straps are much more secure than the laced models.

http://korkers.com/product.php?recKey=28

The first thing I did when they arrived was to unscrew all the carbide studs
and blue LokTite'd them back in (that's my O/C side talking). I checked them
at the end of our week, the third season I've used them: still haven't lost
any studs, and only two of the studs need replacing, so I've ordered a bag of
replacement studs (10 for $6).

I originally had bought a pair of the push-through studded Korkers cleats, not
being knowledgeable about such things. After one day on the river I had lost
over a dozen studs! Korkers customer service told me to return them to the
retailer and they'd credit his account, and recommended the threaded model
above...

/daytripper

On Oct 21, 9:33*pm, daytripper wrote:

the dam was running at 750CFS, and by my
calculations there was nearly double that flow from the lower FFO section and
below due to runoff from the tribs (it had rained fairly heavily before our
arrival).

IIRC, we had 335 cfs. Very manageable.

I bought these a couple of years ago and couldn't be more pleased with their
performance. They stick like a kitten on curtains, are very durable, and the
straps are much more secure than the laced models.

Thanks for the rec. I'm wondering if I could retrofit mine to
accept the screw-in stud replacements. OTOH, maybe I'll just spring
for a new pair, tho I'm pretty good at the laced model.

BTW and FWIW, we're looking at 10/23 thru 10/26 next year. Wanted the
week after Col. Day, but Malinda was booked.

Joe F

On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:44:15 -0700 (PDT), rb608
wrote:

On Oct 21, 9:33*pm, daytripper wrote:

the dam was running at 750CFS, and by my
calculations there was nearly double that flow from the lower FFO section and
below due to runoff from the tribs (it had rained fairly heavily before our
arrival).

IIRC, we had 335 cfs. Very manageable.

I bought these a couple of years ago and couldn't be more pleased with their
performance. They stick like a kitten on curtains, are very durable, and the
straps are much more secure than the laced models.

Thanks for the rec. I'm wondering if I could retrofit mine to
accept the screw-in stud replacements. OTOH, maybe I'll just spring
for a new pair, tho I'm pretty good at the laced model.

BTW and FWIW, we're looking at 10/23 thru 10/26 next year. Wanted the
week after Col. Day, but Malinda was booked.

Joe F

I don't think there's any practical way to retrofit the soles, the receivers
for the studs are molded into the material, and in any case you'd have to find
something to act as the receiver.

I'll pass on those dates to Paul - our trip coordinator ;-) It sounds a little
later than might be optimal - would you consider staying at the Salmon Heaven
lodge if you could get in a couple of weeks earlier? It was roughly $45/nite
there. It might be just a tiny bit more upscale than Melinda's - but you'd get
used to it quickly ;-)

/daytripper

On Oct 21, 9:55*pm, daytripper wrote:
I'll pass on those dates to Paul - our trip coordinator ;-) It sounds a little
later than might be optimal - would you consider staying at the Salmon Heaven
lodge if you could get in a couple of weeks earlier?

I agree that it's past optimal, date-wise; but we have a long history
and friendship at Malinda's that I'd hate to give up. Also, the
steelhead fishing picks up a bit as the salmon fishing winds down, so
that's not a totally bad thing. Still, I'd expect her to tire of the
whole thing eventually. She works pretty long hours between the lodge
& the shop.

I've given an alternate location some thought & considered the SHL for
when Malinda throws in the towel. How many rooms do they have there?
I'd hate to book rooms & block you out for the dates. We do have a
standing policy of never going up on Columbus Day weekend because of
the crowds, & usually shoot for the week after rather than the week
before.

Joe F.

On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:26:04 -0700 (PDT), rb608
wrote:

On Oct 21, 9:55*pm, daytripper wrote:
I'll pass on those dates to Paul - our trip coordinator ;-) It sounds a little
later than might be optimal - would you consider staying at the Salmon Heaven
lodge if you could get in a couple of weeks earlier?

I agree that it's past optimal, date-wise; but we have a long history
and friendship at Malinda's that I'd hate to give up. Also, the
steelhead fishing picks up a bit as the salmon fishing winds down, so
that's not a totally bad thing. Still, I'd expect her to tire of the
whole thing eventually. She works pretty long hours between the lodge
& the shop.

I've given an alternate location some thought & considered the SHL for
when Malinda throws in the towel. How many rooms do they have there?
I'd hate to book rooms & block you out for the dates. We do have a
standing policy of never going up on Columbus Day weekend because of
the crowds, & usually shoot for the week after rather than the week
before.

Joe F.

I'm fairly sure Salmon Heaven has 6 guest rooms, ranging from the largest that
sleeps 6 to the smallest that sleeps two. All have their own bath room with
shower.

I've never been up there during Columbus Day weekend, but given how many peeps
are there on the other weekends in October, I don't doubt it'd be the wrong
weekend to be fishing the Salmon ;-) I think you might see more fish the
weekend before vs the weekend after, but with weather/rainfall playing a big
factor who knows for sure.

If it ever comes to the point that Melinda throws in the towel, don't worry
about displacing us out of Salmon Heaven. The owners once scrambled up a
camper for us to stay in for a weekend when a group over-stayed in our
scheduled room :-)

/daytripper