Posts: 358
Threads: 0
Joined: Jun 2008
Reputation:
0
Where is Orofino?
[signature]
Posts: 1,119
Threads: 0
Joined: Apr 2008
Reputation:
0
[shocked]
Google is your friend...
Orofino ("fine gold" [ore] in Spanish) is a city in Clearwater County, Idaho, along Orofino Creek and the north bank of the Clearwater River. The population was 3,247 at the 2000 census, and the city is the county seat of Clearwater County[1]. Nearby is the historical "Canoe Camp," where the Lewis and Clark expedition built five new dugout canoes and embarked on October 7, 1805, downstream to the Pacific Ocean. Just 4 miles (6.4 km) north of town is the Dworshak National Fish Hatchery and the Dworshak Dam, third highest dam in the United States, completed in the early 1970s.
Originally the name was two words, Oro Fino, applied to a gold mining camp established in 1861 two miles (3 km) south of Pierce, that is now a ghost town. When the Nez Perce reservation opened to settlers in 1895, Clifford Fuller set up a trading post on his new homestead and the town (Orofino-on-the-Clearwater) was established the next year. The railroad, later part of the Camas Prairie Railroad, arrived from Lewiston in 1899.[2]
Orofino is home to both the Idaho Correctional Institution - Orofino and Idaho State Hospital North. These two facilities are located adjacent to another Orofino institution: Orofino High School. The mascot for Orofino High School is the Maniac, one of only two "Maniac" mascots in the country. The town hosts the annual Orofino 4th of July Celebration as well as the Clearwater County Fair and Lumberjack Days in late summer.
[signature]
Posts: 358
Threads: 0
Joined: Jun 2008
Reputation:
0
Nice. Thanks prvrt. [cool]
Next question:
How is the steelheading on the clearwater compared to the steelheading on the salmon near challis?
[signature]
Posts: 466
Threads: 0
Joined: Jul 2007
Reputation:
0
That's a loaded question. The Clearwater consistently produces bigger fish (B-Runs) than the Salmon, and the Clearwater has fish in it long before Challis sees any steelies (like now). The Clearwater fish turn dark earlier than Salmon River fish, starting in December.
[signature]
Posts: 358
Threads: 0
Joined: Jun 2008
Reputation:
0
Ah, I guess my real question is:
Is it possible to fish from the shore on the clearwater and catch fish like it is on the salmon near challis?
[signature]
Posts: 63
Threads: 0
Joined: Jun 2010
Reputation:
0
Not really the same at all. You can certainly catch steelies from the bank, but it's a much bigger river than the Salmon near Challis, you won't be able to cast all the way across in most places. While there is often a good drift at a lot of the bends in the river, the highway that runs along it is narrow with steep mountain on one side and concrete barriers on the other-not conducive to pulling over and parking in most stretches. That being said, I fished it from the bank for years before I ever got my boat and did well using a combination of side planing plugs, standard drift fishing and bobber/jig.
[signature]
Posts: 466
Threads: 0
Joined: Jul 2007
Reputation:
0
DTB is correct, but I gotta add that the river above Orofino has decent access, and the South Fork of the Clearwater has great access.
I do a lot of fly fishing on the main Clearwater from now till the first of November, and do not have any issues finding access. There are pull outs every mile or so. Yes, you may have to walk a bit, but that weeds out some competition.
[signature]
Posts: 358
Threads: 0
Joined: Jun 2008
Reputation:
0
Great, now I just have to talk my wife into letting me drive 8 hours for a 3 day trip or so..
[signature]
Posts: 2,212
Threads: 0
Joined: Dec 2008
Reputation:
0
are you wading in with your fly rod on the clearwater? and what weight fly rod are you using?
[signature]
Posts: 1,319
Threads: 0
Joined: Jun 2007
Reputation:
0
Nice history of Orofino, prvt. I used to live there when I was working as a psychologist at State Hospital North. One memory I have always had was when I visited the newly built national hatchery--they were still pouring concrete at Dworshak. There was a visitor's log, and a 4th grade class had just made entries. Most of the kids said how cool the hatchery was, and how neat it was to see the fish. And then there was this entry written by one of the 4th grade boys. His simple statement read: "God didn't make fish to live in concrete ponds". Wow! I would love to know if he is still so perceptive. No, I am not opposed to hatcheries;; thank goodness for them. But, what a powerful statement.
[signature]
