Deerfly Diaries

Video: Herman the Sturgeon at Bonneville Fish Hatchery east of Portland, Oregon

I was able to take a day of sightseeing today on a trip up to Portland, Oregon. I drove out the Columbia River Gorge to Hood River where I took in the sights, enjoyed talking with the locals and had 8 incredible ounces of Full Sail Brewery's Full Sail Wassail Holiday Blend. Yummy!

On my way back to Portland I exited the highway to check out the Bonneville Fish Hatchery. The folks at Columbia Sportswear told me I had to check out Herman the Sturgeon. Herman is a 450 pound, ten foot long, 70 year old white sturgeon that was taken from the Columbia River in 1998 when the hatchery was built. Unfortunatley, I couldn't get Herman to show his face. The other more brightly colored fish are rainbow trout.

Bonneville Hatchery sits on Tanner Creek in the Columbia River Gorge about 40 miles east of Portland, Oregon. Tanner Creek flows into the Columbia River about 145 miles upstream from the ocean. The hatchery, run by the Oregon Department of Fish and Game, raises salmon and steelhead for sport and tribal fisheries in the lower Columbia River and along the northern Oregon Coast. 

Sue Melus handles public relations and communications for hunting, fishing, shooting sports and resource conservation. Check out her website at Melus Outdoors, LLC.

Video: Pan & Fork 4-H Youth Shooting Club blasts their way to the state finals

Each Monday night in Basalt nearly a dozen local youths from the Pan & Fork 4-H Shooting club practice their skills at the trap and skeet range at the Roaring Fork Valley Sportsman's Association. This year several of these youths qualified for the state competition.

Last weekend in Pueblo local Jesse Wagner took 3rd place in the individual .22 rifle hunt class and overall the team took 3rd place in the Junior .22 rifle open class.  Congratulations to all who competed!

Good luck to the shooters who will compete on September 5, 6, and 7 in Colorado Springs in the shotgun events: skeet, 5-stand and trap. 

Read more about the program in the August 27 edition of the Carbondale Sopris Sun. Article by Sue Melus of Melus Outdoors, LLC, public relations and new media communications.