Access to north bank gone - just a heads up

[n8r1]

The hike-in access below the hatchery on the North side of the NFN has been shut down. No trespassing signs have been posted and all people (including fishermen) are prohibited from advancing past the locked gate.

I guess there was some theft and vandalism caused by a few people that have ruined it for everyone.

Looks like the hatchery crowd will be even worse this season.

 

[steelie_killa]

Down by the spill out (waterfall) area? Thats bites...i was gonna go there this Saturday

 

[n8r1]

As long as you come in from the hatchery you will be fine. All the bank access below the waterfall on the North side is now closed though.

 

[halibuthitman]

It will only last a month.. Its happened before, its even been illegaly posted in the past.

 

[troutmasta]

That place is like a more picturesque version of Cedar Creek....

Its the only place Ive been straight jacked for a fish, by a girl...

But hope it all clears up so there's a tad more space-

 

[n8r1]

You should go fish the Hospital Hole on the Trask in late October. I've done it once, never again. It will make Cedar Creek and the NFN look peaceful and serene.

 

[DrTheopolis]

You should go fish the Hospital Hole on the Trask in late October.

A year ago October, I went with a friend who has fished the Poor White Trask tidewater over 30 years. As we puttered the driftboat past the Hospital Hole on a busy Saturday, he backed off the motor, and asked the barbaric horde "mind if we anchor here?"

I just about fell out of the boat laughing. The guys on the bank didn't think dude was nearly as funny as I did. F'em if they can't take a joke. If you're looking to get away from uptight, selfish anglers, go to the Hospital Hole... anywhere you go from there will be a good start to getting away from uptight, selfish anglers. North Fork Hatchery is like the graduation ceremony at a charm school compared to the HH (and a couple other places on the PW Trask).

 

[n8r1]

My Hospital Hole Story:

Like I said before, I have been to the Hospital Hole exactly once, in a late October. The slough was literally stuffed with fish. Big dark Chinook everywhere. The bank was lined with anglers. Like every 3 feet. I'm not kidding.

It was a bobber and eggs show. There were probably 100 bobbers in a little stretch of water at any given time.

Normally during combat fishing situations, once someone gets a fish on, everyone reels in and lets him land his fish. Not at the Hospital Hole.

One guy gets a big Chinook on, and yells "Fish On!" Instead of reeling in, the people around him start casting, over and over again, a few feet from where the fish was being fought.

Predictably, lines are getting crossed and bobbers tangled. Anyhow, while this guy is fighting his fish, another guy foul hooks the same fish in the tail. So now we have 2 guys, 40 feet apart, fighting the same big Chinook.

The salmon manages to spit the hook, so now he is only foul hooked in the tail. This goes on for another 5 minutes or so (still people casting all around the snagged fish), when inexplicably the fish bites another wad of eggs. So now we're back to 2 guys fighting the fish.

The fish then shakes the tail hook and is back to 1 hook, this one in his mouth again. Only problem: the guy who has hooked him has no clue what he's doing, and is trying to yoke him in by reeling as hard as he can. Of course the fish won't budge, so we're at a standoff. 3 minutes...5 minutes...10 minutes go by, and this guy has made zero progress on landing this fish. People are getting annoyed. Some start yelling to hurry up. Finally a complete stranger to the guy walks up, says "you don't know what you're doing. Gimme that rod" and takes the rod out of the poor guy's hands and proceeds to correctly land the fish for him, and walks away.

At that point I was out of there. I headed up North to the Nehalem and fished the afternoon in solitude. I didn't catch a thing, but at least I didn't have to deal with Joe Banker and his 100 friends.

 

[DrTheopolis]

Not the Hospital Hole, but farther upstream:

Way back when, when I was a young, eager salmon angler, unfamiliar with the Trask, circa 1992, I went with a buddy who was better versed than I was. It was a very low-water year through early October, then during the week, it rained the perfect amount. This brought the river into prime shape (it actually cleared immediately after the rise) on a sunny, warn Saturday morning -- the perfect storm, river jam-packed with fish. We headed to the Trask, and scouted holes. We forgot to bring our own rock, so we kept heading upstream. Since there was nowhere to park anywhere on Trask River Road, we finally found a spot, and took a walk down the trail to at least see if any of the 287 people were hooking anything. It was a narrow spot in the river, and a shallow riffle. Both banks were elbow-to-elbow flossers. Then one flosser tangled up his 43 feet of floss with a flosser on the opposite bank. Mind you, we had just walked down the bank to take a look, and immediately saw this go down. Instead of the usual "sorry," then the "more guilty" party releasing his spool, these guys started having a tug-o-war across the river for the gear. Well, they were having a tug-o-war, until one of the parties became irate... and (bear in mind it's elbow-to-elbow) pulls his piece, and starts putting rounds in the bank next to the guy.

I can't tell you the final outcome, since we ran like scalded banshees up the bank, and head for the Wilson. I do know by the time we got up the bank, there was at least 20 other guns being brandished.

That stream attracts a rough crowd.

 

[ChezJfrey]

n8r1 and Dr T., those are some awesome stories. Unnerving, but a spectacular glimpse into the group psychology involved in the combat fisheries.

I actually caught my very first steelhead on the NFN, and have fished the closed area, but that is not where I actually got my fish, nor did I get it at the hatchery...just sayin'...

 

[OnTheDrop]

My Hospital Hole Story:

Like I said before, I have been to the Hospital Hole exactly once, in a late October. The slough was literally stuffed with fish. Big dark Chinook everywhere. The bank was lined with anglers. Like every 3 feet. I'm not kidding.

It was a bobber and eggs show. There were probably 100 bobbers in a little stretch of water at any given time.

Normally during combat fishing situations, once someone gets a fish on, everyone reels in and lets him land his fish. Not at the Hospital Hole.

One guy gets a big Chinook on, and yells "Fish On!" Instead of reeling in, the people around him start casting, over and over again, a few feet from where the fish was being fought.

Predictably, lines are getting crossed and bobbers tangled. Anyhow, while this guy is fighting his fish, another guy foul hooks the same fish in the tail. So now we have 2 guys, 40 feet apart, fighting the same big Chinook.

The salmon manages to spit the hook, so now he is only foul hooked in the tail. This goes on for another 5 minutes or so (still people casting all around the snagged fish), when inexplicably the fish bites another wad of eggs. So now we're back to 2 guys fighting the fish.

The fish then shakes the tail hook and is back to 1 hook, this one in his mouth again. Only problem: the guy who has hooked him has no clue what he's doing, and is trying to yoke him in by reeling as hard as he can. Of course the fish won't budge, so we're at a standoff. 3 minutes...5 minutes...10 minutes go by, and this guy has made zero progress on landing this fish. People are getting annoyed. Some start yelling to hurry up. Finally a complete stranger to the guy walks up, says "you don't know what you're doing. Gimme that rod" and takes the rod out of the poor guy's hands and proceeds to correctly land the fish for him, and walks away.

At that point I was out of there. I headed up North to the Nehalem and fished the afternoon in solitude. I didn't catch a thing, but at least I didn't have to deal with Joe Banker and his 100 friends.

That might be the best story I've ever heard. Straight up hilarious!