A16
Sports/Outdoors
wallowa.com
March 22, 2017
Wallowa County Chieftain
Getting to steelhead poses a challenge
By Tim Trainor
Wallowa County Chieftain
A snowy winter combined
with more than a week of rain
and warm weather have blown
out local rivers just when steel-
head fi shing should be at its
peak.
Before area waters rose
sharply, the Wallowa River
had been hitting full swing for
steelhead, according to the Or-
egon Department of Fish and
Wildlife. Beadhead nymphs
tied below a jig or bait were
doing a number on steelhead,
trout and whitefi sh.
But the steady rise in tem-
perature and precipitation kept
most anglers away and kept
Wallowa River fi sh pinned
down trying to stay out of the
main current.
That’s also the case for the
Grande Ronde River, which is
best for fi shing when fl ows dip
below 5,000 cubic feet per sec-
ond. But on Monday, the river
gauge at Troy measured water
passing at more than 20,000
cubic feet per second, and that
was on the way down from the
weekend high near 30,000 cfs.
Mid-March is usually the
time steelhead reach the Im-
naha River in signifi cant num-
bers, but good fi shing will
have to wait there as well until
high water comes back down.
Much of that high water is
covering what is a below-ex-
pectations run, according
to ODFW. Warm water last
summer, when most fi sh were
traveling back to the ocean, re-
duced the numbers of one-salt
fi sh. But the two-salts have
done fairly well, so while num-
bers are below expectations for
quantity, what fi sh are there are
of larger than average size.
Harvest on each of these
rivers is limited to three hatch-
ery steelhead per day and must
be recorded on the combined
angling tag. A Columbia Riv-
er Basin endorsement is also
required. Wild fi sh must be
released.
But the high rivers don’t
mean that Wallowa County an-
glers are out of luck.
And although it is less
sporting, a good option for har-
vesting a meal is at Marr Pond
in downtown Enterprise.
Workers at the Wallowa
Fish Hatchery placed 100
steelhead caught in their weirs
into Marr. Those fi sh can be
caught from the bank and no
salmon or steelhead endorse-
ment is required, nor must it
be recorded on the combined
angling tag. The limit, how-
ever, is one fi sh larger than 20
inches per day.
Chance for youth to win guided
turkey hunt on private ranch
Photo courtesy Oregon Department of Fish and Widlife
ODFW has set the 2017 free fishing weekends.
ODFW announces free
fi shing days for 2017
Anglers and would-be an-
glers can enjoy a weekend of
free fi shing April 22-23.
On these two days, Ore-
gonians and visitors can fi sh,
crab and clam for free any-
where in Oregon without a
license, tag or endorsement.
This free fi shing week-
end, as well as to two other
free fi shing holidays Nov.
25-26 and Dec. 31-Jan. 1,
2018 — is in addition to
the traditional free fi shing
SPRING
Continued from Page A10
Coach Johnson is originally
from southern Oregon, but has
called Wallowa County home
for the last 37 years. Baseball
is more than a hobby for him.
weekend on June 3-4.
“April 22 is also Earth
Day, and what better way for
Oregonians to get outside
and celebrate the natural
world than by taking family
and friends out for a day of
fi shing,” said Mike Gauvin,
ODFW recreational fi shing
manager.
While
licenses
are
waived during free fi shing
days, all other regulations
still apply.
His grandfather played profes-
sionally while a grandmother
played “League of Their Own”
ball in the 1940s.
“I was pitching instructor
at Joseph for fi ve years, and
I coached Babe Ruth in Wal-
lowa for 17 years and helped
out in little league whenever
Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife is offer-
ing 10 hunters younger than
17 the chance to win a guid-
ed turkey hunt on a private
ranch in Jackson County
during the spring 2017 tur-
key season.
Ten hunts will be raffl ed
off on March 31. Winners
will receive one day of tur-
key hunting on the C2 Ranch
in Jackson County, accompa-
nied by a guide who will help
locate wild turkeys.
A parent or other family
member may also accompany
the youth on the hunt.
“The ranch has a lot of
oak savannah and brushy ar-
eas, which makes for good
wild turkey habitat,” says
ODFW wildlife biologist
Vince Oredson.
Spring turkey season runs
April 15-May 31 statewide,
and youth hunters also get
their own two-day season
April 8-9.
Hunt applications are
available online at http://
www.dfw.state.or.us/lands/
AH/hunting/index.asp
Applications must be re-
ceived at the Central Point
ODFW offi ce by 5 p.m.,
March 31, and may be sub-
mitted by mail, in person, or
by emailing Vince.J.Ored-
son@state.or.us
There is no cost to enter
the raffl e, though winners
are still responsible for pur-
chasing a hunting license and
turkey tag before hunting.
Winners will be notifi ed on
April 3.
Youth without hunter ed-
ucation certifi cation may
apply and hunt under the
Mentored Youth Hunter pro-
gram by visiting http://www.
dfw.state.or.us/education/
mentored_youth/index.asp,
but only during the regular
spring turkey season (April
15-May 31), not the two-day
youth season.
I could,” the baseball veteran
said.
Despite the lack of spring-
like weather, Johnson is op-
timistic about the upcoming
season.
“We’ve got a pretty good
group of core ballplayers,” he
said. “We haven’t been out-
side enough to get our pitch-
ers working or our defense
going or our hitting. We’ve
been cramped up inside dif-
ferent gyms. We’d get started
and they’d tell us we couldn’t
practice there, and we had to
go someplace else. It was a
constant hassle to get anything
done.”
Johnson longs for the days,
years ago, when baseball was
king in the county..
“I had over 30 kids out,” he
said. “We had a varsity team,
an A team and a B team and a
junior varsity, and they all had
schedules. We had good teams
and good ballplayers. A lot of
kids went on to play college
ball.”
For the moment, the coach
is focusing on drilling funda-
mentals into his team.
“Over the years, we’re
lacking in fundamentals.
That’s the key to good base-
ball. Any team without fun-
damentals won’t do good,” he
said. The Eagles strong points
are speed and good arms. Not
just on the fi eld, but the mound
as well. Johnson said that hit-
ting was questionable because
gym hitting pales in compari-
son to hitting “out in the show,
where you’ve got more light
and have perspective on the
whole thing.” The following
day saw the Eagles outhit the
Pilot Rock Rockets 17 hits to
10 in an afternoon twinbill.
Coach Johnson believes
that aggression in all aspects
of the game will be key to the
team’s success this year. John-
son expects all his players to
carry that trait if they expect to
spend time on the fi eld.
Photo courtesy Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Oregon youth hunters can apply to win a guided turkey hunt in Southern Oregon.
ek
Jennifer Kassahn
We
Student of the
360-601-4302
Joseph, Oregon
ANTLERRANCHBP@GMAIL.COM
Mom has always been so patient, but now
when I ask her questions she gets angry.
IT’S NOT LIKE HER.
Malichi
Roberts
JOSEPH CHARTER SCHOOL
Malichi Roberts is the son of
Corri and Willy Roberts and is
a freshman at Joseph Charter
School. He is actively involved
in FCCLA, FFA, and the
Class of 2020 Vice-President.
He is also an integral part of
our band program. Malichi
plays basketball and baseball.
Malichi is a student who makes
our school a better place. The
staff and administration would
like to congratulate Malichi for
being an outstanding student
and citizen.
Proudly sponsored by
Joseph
432-9050
Enterprise
426-4511
Wallowa
886-9151
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