I was hoping to get out and float from Schaefer park on the Satsop to Hwy 12 tomorrow. I've not spoken to anybody that has done that drift this season. Does anybody out there have an info about this drift? Is it do-able and/or does anybody have any advice on which routes are safe?

Any information would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance
Twig

i have not been down it this year but when i drove over it yesterday it was mud and raising the river flow on the net shows it is starting to drop in but will muddy for a day or two .

Se my post for a report from today.

The visability was not a problem today at all, however the flow was a bith higher than I would have wanted. made it easy to get a round for a rooky on this river

I was in a sled, and there were no obstructions from the highway up to about 1.5 - 2 miles into the east fork.

SA

That is a very long drift, you will have to make good time...(12 miles if my memory serves me).

Can't tell you much about recent conditions but Good Luck...

Thankyou everybody for helping. I'll be sure to post a report about river conditions when I get back to help anybody else I can.

Thanks!!!

SA are you sure about where you were at? Sleds have no buisness above the West Fork. Ran into one of your buddies coming through the Riviera a couple weeks ago while drifting down in my DB. It's going to take someone getting killed before those fools running the county pull thier heads out of thier asses...

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should...

Is there a put in below schaffer? That would shave a couple of miles off the float? If so, How do you access it....

Brian

Trailrat77,

Couldn't have said it better!

trailrat77

Chill dude! The river is self regulating. When the lower stretch is blown out the area up to the Turnow Branch is eazily navigable to a seasoned sledder. I've fished this drainage since 1970. Every year we share the resource with more people. There is plenty of water to share when the river is up.

B-12
There is a put in off east satsop rd. that is about 3 miles below the park. Very nice drift from there down to the highway, but still a full day!
TR77- when the water is up there is plenty of room for everybody...however when the water is down the sled should and pretty much have to stay below the forks. I know SA well and he would not go anywhere where he thought he may have put anyone in harms way!
CM

You might also find out the dept of fish and wildlife take there sled up in the east fork also
so keep that in mind!! If the water is up there should be no problem with a sled in the East
fork!!!

TR77 IF YOU CAN HANDLE BEING IN THE EASTFORK WITH SLEDS THEN MAYBE YOU SHOULD STAY AWAY. I RUN THE EASTFORK ALL THE TIME IN MY SLED AND HAVE NEVER PUT ANYBODY IN DANGER AND I AM ALWAYS COURTEOUS TO THOSE THAT ARE COURTEOUS TO ME. FOR THOSE THAT ARE NOT THAN JUST STAY AWAY.

SAME GOES FOR YOU ERIC.

chromefish... No need to SHOUT!
We should just move along if someone is fishing in our lucky spot. Perhaps you'll even find another one.

Slab sometimes we need to shout to be heard. I have no problem sharing the river with driftboats, it just seems its the other way around most of the time. Just get tired of the comments some of the driftboaters make sometimes. My bad if I upset anyone.

Rumor has it that this issue will once again be revisited by WDFG. Remember the proposal to ban sleds on the east fork as well as the Nooch.

Schaeffer to Hwy 12 is about 9 +/- miles of river. It's a longish drift, but much shorter than the 7400 to White Bridge drift on the Nooch.

I have a sled and stay out of the East fork there is plenty of fish and water below the forks and always have tried to respect the river and driftboaters above. The erosion on the upper east fork is real and I expect sled use will end up there shortly! One thing is for sure the sleds running around up there do turn the bite off instantly as I experienced this many times.#2 I have yet to see a sledder that doesn't run over my water or lowhole up there yet chrome you may be the exception but odviosly we have not meet yet so this is not addressed to you but all the other yahoo's up there give us all a bad taste as I have talked with a few other regular guys drifboating up there and seem to feel the same!!!PEACE

Thanks to the information I received, I did the float today. It is a long drift!!!

The first 1/4 mile or so is pretty skinny, but there was enough water to do the float. I would imagine that if th water drops much more, one would have to walk their boat down.

There were lots of chum and out of the 10 boats that I spoke to, only 1 had got a couple of silvers. The clarity was pretty good in the first half of the drift, and continued to deteriorate in the lower sections. Even at it's worst, it was still 3 feet or so.

It's been said before but that take out at the hwy 12 bridge is a biatch!

Fast if you fish the satsop very much then I am sure we have met. I will have to disagree with a sled turning off the bite. There are many instances I will drift a stretch a few times and not get a bite. The next time I go up I will run my boat over the water I want to fish and the next drift down I will get fish. I make this a regular habit no matter what river I fish. Bank errosion on the East fork is not from boats. That is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard. Obviously you dont fish the river enough to realize how the high waters erode and change the course of this river two or three times a year. You could run sleds 24/7 up and down the east fork and not come close to what one high water will do.

Having a sled myself and running and learning various rivers with the sled for the last ten years or so I have definetly learned that there are places for sleds and places for drift boats.
As far as I am concerned the Tribs of the chehalis are driftboat waters.
Yes there are times during high water flows that I can run into the tribs but why should I run into the tribs and do nothing but piss off the dritboaters and bankees just for a chance at a few more fish.
I have bank fished both in the nooch and the sastop and have had sleds running by, cut my line, ruin my fishing experience and basically ruin my day.
I think we should all respect each other and use a little bit of that thing between our ears.
Ramprat

oh man, is this going to turn into another sled versus driftboat thread! lets get ready to rumble!!!

Well, if we're going to do this, let's get it on!! Being a seasonal fisher on the Sop - generally late Oct, Nov, & December - I believe that sleds have no place on this River above Cook Creek. The water is skinny and the only way a sled can navigate safely is to be on step and be running fast. This part of the river is well suited to wading and in fact, crossing the river. I believe that it is an inherent safety issue as waders and crossers work the river (which is quite bendy in this section). If you have never been washed down by a jet boat when you are in the river above your knees, you have never lived. Because of the curves, the wader has very little warning that a jet is bearing down on them. Certainly, there is some jealousy on my part, because I can't afford a sled, but there is so much water available to the sledders where folks aren't crossing the rivers, I can not see why they can't concentrate on those sections. As our rivers get more and more crowded, the inevitably of someone being hit or drowned by a jet boat is becoming increasingly likely. Flame on!!!

Except of course, the preceeding 5 minutes of,
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR (sound it out)
G

Grumpy, It is not inconceivable that you have that good of hearing, I know I don't.

i have owned a sled and a drift boat and i do not believe that sleds should be taken above the forks

Seems this discussion is a bit early this year. Usually starts up about the time winter steelhead begin to show. My opinion is that the east fork, (mid flow, 1500-2000) is just too skinny for sleds above the forks. There is plenty of fishing to be had below the west fork. I have a sled and have been guilty of running the east fork in the past. I won't do it again. If boondoggin is your thing the lower river has several great drifts. You stay low in your motorboats and I promise not to anchor in the middle of the drift...Deal?

I am so tired of hearing its a safety issue, its an errosion issue, blah-blah-blah. Why don't you guys get some balls and tell it how it is. Driftboaters just want it to themselves. Whats next, the lower river too. Too many times I have stayed out of the East fork only for a driftboat to anchor right in the middle of a drift. So if sleds should stay off the East fork then drifters should stay off the rest of the river. Thats a deal I might agree with. By the way I too fish this river from a drift boat and would never go above Cook creek in my sled.

YOU GOT YOURSELF A DEAL!

Too bad you dont speak for all driftboaters, and by no means do I speak for all sledders. As long it is legally possibe I will continue to be courtious to drift boats in the East fork, but if they no longer allow us up there courtesy is out the door even on the main river.

my 2 cents: just because you "can" physically take a sled up this small river doesn't make it right ... take your damn machine to the chehalis...

MaxMad said : If the river was accessable to fish from the shore I would have no problem with that. However, that is just not the case. Unless you know the propery owners up and down the river there is no way to access the water without a boat. The launches suck allready! (Perhaps that's what WDFW wants.) What more could you want?

chromefish I was sledding the sop back in 1985 and I was sledding the sop in 2004 but not once have I been above the east fork in my sled just respect for other people is what it is about!!!!!PEACE not WAR!!!

I have sledded this river for a long time. It has only been the last few years, with the influx of boats of all kinds, that it has ever been a issue. I am just saying that as long as I am allowed and river conditions permit you will find me in the East fork. You are right about it being about respect, but what about respecting my right to go up there. I am nothing but respectful when encountering driftboats, whether it be up there or on the main river, however this same respect is rarely returned. It will remain this way until they take my right to do what I have been doing for years.

has the sweeper been removed below the hwy launch?

I have a question and would welcome all comments. I have a drift boat and fish many of the rivers both in the PS area and the OP. I always try to be respectful of everyones fishing water be in bankees sleds or other driftboats. From the sleders perspective or even the bankees perspective, what can driftboats do to make sure we are being respectful. I always try but maybe I don't know everything I should about how you fish and what I should do in different situations. SO if you could, please tell me the top three things a drifboater can do to make a sledders day more enjoyable.

Heres my perspective on the respect issue. I think that sleds should respect the waters that bank fisherman and driftboats are fishing. Sleds should move on to other waters and dont fish these waters. A sled has much more mobility. All I ask from both bankies and drifters is not to hear all the negative comments about me fishing from a sled. Nothing ruins a day faster than a heated confrantation. I personally will not let these comments go unchecked, maybe its a personal thing but thats the way it is. Instead how about a friendly greeting and talk about how the fishing is. I just get tired of hearing that sledders are jerks and take my boat to the cow or chehalis. So in short I think it is the sleds that need to show the most respect and drifters need to chill a little instead of trying to keep us off the rivers.