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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Advertisement Email Story to a Friend April 27, 2006 Angler kept secret his springer catch By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Willie Boatwright has been sitting on a fishing story that occurs in the upper Rogue River about as often as someone gets hit by lightning while holding a million-dollar lottery ticket. Boatwright, 41, of Eagle Point, hooked and landed a 30-inch spring chinook salmon April 5 while fishing for steelhead in the upper Rogue’s Hatchery Hole along the Cole Rivers Hatchery dike. The oddity is that only three spring chinook had been counted over Gold Ray Dam as of that day. Considering how difficult it is to catch a springer when 30,000 of them are in the upper Rogue, the odds of catching that fish are quite slim. Then Boatwright ate the evidence without snapping nary a single photo. "I didn’t want anyone to know," Boatwright says. Advertisement To Boatwright, a little publicity for spring chinook fishing wreaks havoc on steelheaders. "The last time we did this was two years ago when we got one March 22," Boatwright says. "We took pictures and (the Mail Tribune) did a story on it. All of a sudden, everybody was up there salmon fishing and we couldn’t fish for steelhead any more. "That’s why I kept this one quiet," he says. Besides, he says, a guy he knows only as Mark caught a spring chinook the day before at the Slide Hole, a popular upper Rogue salmon hole just downstream of Casey State Park. Mark has since caught another, Boatwright says. Another confirmed spring chinook was caught Tuesday evening at the Hatchery Hole. Carl Wilson was using roe and fishing for late-run winter steelhead when he hooked and landed an 18½ -pound, hatchery-bound spring chinook, says Susan Billows, co-owner of Pat’s Hand- Tied Flies, where a picture of the fish now rests. Through Friday, only 22 spring chinook have been counted over Gold Ray Dam, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The first four spring chinook were collected Monday at Cole Rivers Hatchery, compared to 63 fish by this time last year. Fish biologists say the early run component of the Rogue’s wild spring chinook are considered very depressed, suffering primarily from the location and operation of Lost Creek dam. The ODFW has conducted a spring chinook advisory committee to help it draft a spring chinook management plan that addresses ways to help conserve this segment of the wild spring chinook run. A draft of that plan is expected this spring or summer. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail Angler kept secret his springer catch ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Pharmacy Advertisement s