TILLAMOOK, Ore. — This week, we visit with a longtime angler who has decided to call it a day. He has achieved legendary status for the sheer number of years he’s been a part of the Oregon fishing scene — more than 60 in all — and now, he’s calling it a day. Retired!
As a fall sunrise cracks the horizon, the water, the weather and tides are in sync. It's a time when newcomers who fish with "the legend" know they’re in good hands.
John Krauthoefer owns a lifetime of experience with big fish, and he’s relied on it to make angling dreams come true for thousands of clients. For more than 60 years, the legend has explored the nooks and crannies of Oregon’s bays and rivers.
“Yeah, a long time and it’s gone so fast," Krauthoefer said. "It’s crazy! I don’t feel that old, like I’ve done it that long. Thousands of salmon and I still get a thrill out of every one of them!”
You can be sure of that — Krauthoefer loves everything about this sport. The “guiding life,” he calls it, and it hooked him a long time ago.
As a youngster of 7 or 8 years old, he remembers fishing with his dad aboard a commercial troller, fishing for salmon in the ocean. As a young man, he fished commercially along the West Coast to Alaska and explored Oregon’s salmon-rich rivers.
In the 1960s, Krauthoefer responded to a call to duty and served two tours in Vietnam. He joined special forces units and served in places he still can’t talk about.
Back home in 1971, he found more service to his community fighting fires and a chance to blend adventure with service.
“It was never boring! I never had two days the same with the fire department,” he said with a smile. ”You might get a heart attack patient in the morning, deliver a baby in the afternoon and have a house fire that evening. Yeah, I did my service for 26 years, and I enjoyed it.”
When he wasn’t serving, he was on the water: guiding fishermen. He did it season after season, despite 16-hour days that started and ended in the dark or brutal coast weather that turns on a dime or fickle clients who didn’t always show up.
He made his Firefighter’s Guide Service a lifestyle — sometimes, a scary lifestyle.
Over the years, we caught glimpses of that life. One summer morning we found ourselves in John’s fishing boat surrounded by walls of fog on the Columbia River. GPS showed John that he was in the right spot, but a second sense told him to move.
Approaching was a 200-foot-long ship that wasn’t supposed to be in such shallow water, but there she was — and thanks to John’s instincts, we were not there — but we were safe!
One other time, first light found us under an explosive sky filled with brilliant lightning, strike after strike. The bolts arced across the river, followed by explosive thunder. Despite a red-hot salmon bite, safety was first on Krauthoefer's mind, and we moved out of the prime spot he had planned to fish.
“Well, my first thought was 'I’m in an aluminum boat and I have five graphite fishing rods out, both of which conduct electricity,'" he said. "Not a safe place to be at all!”
PHOTOS: 'The legend' John Krauthoefer
We’ve also been there for the legend’s most satisfying times, like when his client, Shirlene Warnock, caught her first salmon ever. It was a brilliant fall morning that found us trolling for Chinook salmon.
“I couldn’t believe how strong it was! Thank goodness for your directions and patience, John. Now, I get fishing,” said the first-time angler with a broad smile.
Words like that reflect a guide’s success.
The legend found other rewards too — like in the classroom. It’s a project called Eggs to Fry: salmon and trout eggs are raised by students and provide a foundation for writing assignments, science vocabulary, math lessons and even art projects.
John has provided financial support for the Eggs to Fry program that’s a part of grade school classrooms everywhere, including Banks Elementary School.
The lessons are not limited to the classroom, but outdoors too, when the eggs develop into baby fish and are released into Scoggins Creek. It’s an annual capstone adventure and a terrific hands-on learning experience that hasn’t been lost on the legend.
“We need to get kids involved at an early age," Krauthoefer said. "This just teaches them so much more than just fish, teaches them what we need to do to protect those fish. Just a tremendous program. It’s just a little payback and everybody should get involved.”
But it’s out on a river or an estuary or the ocean — after more than six decades of adventures — that mean the most to the legendary angler. It’s where John has helped so many others discover the simple joys of fishing, according to longtime friend, Trey Carskadon.
“When you’ve done it 40 or 50 or 60 years like he has, he’s seen a lot," Carskadon said. "Think about the thousands and thousands of customers and salmon and just the days and days out here in his office on the water.”
John Krauthoefer’s thousands of clients were the famous to the average Joe. He blazed a legendary trail for them to follow, and provided enough memories to last a lifetime.
“I wouldn’t consider myself a legend,” said the modest fisherman. “I’m still going to fish and you can bet on that. It’s been a wonderful career, and I don’t have any regrets. I’d do it all over again if I had the chance.”
Be sure to watch the weekly half-hour program of Grant’s Getaways. The show airs each Saturday and Sunday at 4 p.m. on KGW.
For something different, you can follow my Oregon adventures via the Grant’s Getaways Podcast. Each segment is a story-telling session where I relate behind the scenes stories from four decades of travel and television reporting.
You can also learn more about many of my favorite Oregon travels and adventures in the Grant’s Getaways book series, including:
- "Grants Getaways I," Photography by Steve Terrill
- "Grant's Getaways II," Photography by Steve Terrill
- “Grant’s Getaways: 101 Oregon Adventures,” Photography by Jeff Kastner
- “Grant’s Getaways: Guide to Wildlife Watching in Oregon,” Photography by Jeff Kastner
- “Grant’s Getaways: Oregon Adventures with the Kids,” Photography by Jeff Kastner
The book collection offers hundreds of outdoor activities across Oregon and promises to engage a kid of any age.
You can reach me: Gmcomie@kgw.com