McKenzie River Wooden Boat Festival and Dave Helfrich Memoir

VIDA, OR —  Each year fishing guides and wooden boat fans gather on the opening day of fishing season to swap stories while admiring the McKenzie River and the unique wooden boats that were designed for these crystal-clear waters.  This year’s festival will be April 28^th, 2018 at Eagle Rock Lodge which is located at 49198 McKenzie Hwy, Vida, Oregon on the McKenzie River at milepost 35, just upriver from Silver Creek boat landing.  Come, relax and learn about the river and the history of this influential double-ended boat from 10AM – 4 PM.  Admission is free and there will be a lunch available; proceeds help provide a free lifejackets loan program so everyone can safely enjoy being on this white-water river.

The McKenzie River Drift Boat is designed for fishing in the pools and rowing through the rapids of Oregon’s McKenzie River.  In 1925 Guide Veltie Pruitt built the first very light board and batten Drift Boat that began to resemble those in use today.  Later, Tom Kaarhus was the first to convert from spruce planks to new marine plywood.  These McKenzie’s were made wider with a wide square end on the downriver side so two anglers could fish at one time.  It was Woody Hindman who built the first boats with a prow, or pointed end, on both ends and then in the winter of 1946, he added a squared transom on the upriver end creating the final design that most modern Drift Boats use today.

At the show you will be able to see several examples of these boats from the past, as well as modern wood drift boats built by professional boat builders and other lovers of this unique boat design.

This year a special treat will be the debut of a memoir from Dave Helfrich, a lifelong McKenzie River resident, guide, and legendary campfire storyteller.

“Around the Campfire with David Prince Helfrich”, is set to be released on Saturday, April 28 at the annual McKenzie River Drift Boat Festival. Dave Helfrich was a Northwest river legend whose roots run deep in the McKenzie River Valley. This book is a treasure chest of stories about his early years including the wilderness characters he knew, tragedies he observed and many hilarious moments as well. As a backcountry pilot, pioneering river guide and expert marksman, Dave guided many lives on and off the river, never losing sight of the pioneering Helfrich family values he represented. The book is the posthumous publication of Dave’s life and tales told in his own words. With help from author Roger Fletcher and Terry Sambrailo, Dave’s life partner, Dave’s stories were recorded, transcribed and edited to retain David’s unique speaking style. With contributions from family, friends and longtime river guides, this book contains an abundance of complementary images.

Dave Helfrich slipped out of the river current into the Eddy on October 7, 2016. Several of his immediate family and friends will be at the Wooden Boat Festival for conversation and reminiscences. The book sells for $20 and can be purchased at DaveHelfrich.com beginning April 28^th, 2018.

McKenzie River Guides Association Press Release
April 17, 2018
The US Corps of Army Engineers (Corps) will no longer approve distribution of hatchery fish evenly throughout the McKenzie River where fish stocking is permissible. Wednesday April 18, stocking will occur only at 3 locations in 10 miles of the river between Leaburg and Hendricks Landings.

Today, Steve Mealey, president McKenzie River Guides Association (MRGA) learned that a planned release of hatchery trout into the McKenzie River via a “plant boat” operated by MRGA volunteer guides had been cancelled. Mealey was informed by Jeff Ziller, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) South Willamette District fisheries biologist. Failure of the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the ODFW to reach agreement on a process for transfer of trout for placement in the McKenzie was cited as cause for the cancellation. Direct release of hatchery fish into the river at Leaburg, Deerhorn and Taylor landings, supervised by the Corps, will replace the plant boat operation which would have distributed fish evenly throughout the 10-mile stretch of river between Leaburg and Hendricks. The major point of disagreement concerns the role of the McKenzie Guides as ODFW Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program (STEP) volunteers operating the plant boat. The Corps disagrees with ODFW that the MRGA guide volunteers meet the Corps’ requirement that hatchery fish be delivered to “an ODFW boat operated by an ODFW employee.” MRGA guides have been volunteer partners with ODFW operating the McKenzie plant boat for nearly 70 years.
Direct release of fish at only the 3 landings means that hatchery fish will likely remain concentrated near the points of release until harvested. Fishing pressure is certain to be concentrated at these locations with likely adverse consequences for parking, sanitation, garbage, poaching and law enforcement. With the loss of the plant boat to evenly distribute fish between Leaburg and Hendricks, the long-standing legacy and tradition of guided and non-guided drift boat fishing for hatchery fish on part of the McKenzie is in jeopardy. Mealey noted “with most fish concentrated around a few crowded landings, people who love to fish the McKenzie—especially those with kids—from their own or guided drift boats, with a high expectation of catching hatchery fish on long reaches of the river, will be highly disappointed. Eventually folks could quit fishing because of reduced experience quality. That would hurt everyone including the local economy. This all doesn’t line up with the Corps meeting its mitigation responsibility for replacing lost recreation fishing opportunity caused by Cougar and Blue River dams”.
The MRGA has offered to fund an ODFW employee that meets ACOE requirements.