well Know Expert Fly fisher drowns

Very tragic. That river has claimed so many boats and lives. I also had an incident on that river with my jet boat and won't be going back up it. A friend of mine also got his boat pushed under a log jam by the current, launched his boat into the air and he luckily escaped with his life barely.

One of the biggest issues with the Pitt is that it changes course so many times a season. With every big rain the little shoots and branch arms change and crisscross in different patterns from days before. So even experienced jet boaters who think they know the way they went up last time can come around a seemingly familiar bend in the river then run smack into a log jam or gravel bar that wasn't there just days before. There are so many shallow bars all the way up the river. Drift wood easily piles on them and in back eddies on the river.

The word has spread so much now about the great fishing and scenery in the upper Pitt and with so many new jet boat owners out there it is inevitable these tragedies will keep happening.
I'm sure a lot of us have done some crazy, not too safe things while chasing fish but there needs to be a line drawn somewhere; especially on rivers like the upper Pitt.

I can't imagine how horrible the others feel that were with Ron that day. Not something we ever want to witness or be apart of. Play safe out there guys things can happen in the blink of an eye.
 
I knew Ron a little from Sea-Run. He was a great guy, always helpful with gear, technical questions and information. Very sad.
 
I also knew Ron, a great guy for sure. Two boats down in two days up there. I was up there two weeks ago, beautiful scenery, but just to dangerous. Not going back.
 
I also knew Ron, a great guy for sure. Two boats down in two days up there. I was up there two weeks ago, beautiful scenery, but just to dangerous. Not going back.
My understanding is that their boat was considered a solid platform navigated by an experienced pilot. When I had my jetboat I was up the U.P. many times but never made it to the canyons. My old Hewescraft was just not thick enough in the hull to bounce off the bottom and I was too chicken to push it to the limits. The U.P.is a river that needs your 100% attention all the time in both directions and even then it can be sketchy. I had to constantly turn and review where I had just come through and keep the sections numbered to make sure I knew my way back down. Usually the U.P. is in full flood in July but with the weather this year, it clearly started early.
 
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Also with the upper Pitt it's not just dangerous when a boat loses power, it's very dangerous during low water conditions because when you are jetting down river you don't always have the deep water, or proper course to use your jet power to maneuver properly. Like the Vanc Sun article said it is very different coming down a river in a jet boat than going up it.
I've been in some very sketchy white water situations and low water conditions in my jet boat where I turn my boat around and slowly back down the river using forward thrust to safely control my downriver course; instead of half haphazardly letting the river take me down stream on it's own while pointed down river.
I learned that on the upper Stave when I was spun completely around in a 180 degrees and smashed into a log jam hard. It was by mistake that it happened and it was one of the best and quickest learning experiances I've had in that boat yet. I've never seen any guys doing this on any rivers yet except the Fraser Canyon and by a guide on the Stamp.
It would definitely ruffle some feathers if the upper Pitt was restricted to drift boats only but I personally think it is the right thing to do with the way things are up there.
There's no pre-requisite for jet boat owners pass a course on running shallow, or white water rivers so more and more of these sad accidents are going to keep happening. And if the captain experiences engine failure or jet flow problems then he is at the mercy of the river.
In the Sun article they mention guys should carry grapple anchors in case of loss of power. That's a good thing, yes, only if you are on a straight course and have no other obstacles in the way etc. or log jams. Tossing a grapple at the wrong time can also cause the boat to have the bow or sides forced downwards under the fast moving water which will inevitably sink the boat. So much can go wrong on a jet boat so quickly. I've had my steering cable bust on me twice in about 6 years. Thank god they were at times where I was in a semi safe situation. If that kind of thing happens when you are hard steering around a rock or dead head then you will be in big trouble.
 
There's nothing special about the U.P, it's actually a nice run.Treat all rivers with respect.
 
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