Thick fog blanketed the skies all day as we traversed the mouth of the Rogue River along with 12-20 other boats. Our guide Greg is skilled and never disappoints. We caught some nice chinooks, threw back some wild silvers that cannot be kept, and also lost a couple off the hook. All in all a nice day.
Greg told us that Gold Beach shut down in march and april but has since gone back to business with precautions. There have been only a few cases, mainly prison employees. He said none of the guides have had covid and he dies not know anyone who has. His daughter is a nurse in Medford and they have only had a few cases there as well. Being in town gave us a feeling of normalcy as well, cautiously venturing to the local grocery store and Jot’s for ice. It made us wonder if we have been too extreme in our behavior, or maybe the media has played it up too much?
Hearing Greg talk has given us a perspective on how middle America thinks. Greg is hard working and self employed. Health insurance for him and his wife is $1,800. He is saying why should people who don’t work or those who have never worked here, get free health care. He doesn’t get free care if he goes to Mexico or Canada. He says people who are destroying property and looting need to be punished. He thinks it is shameful that arsonists started the fires near Medford where over 2400 homes were lost leaving Talent and Phoenix ghost towns. He complains about power companies being held accountable for fires when they are not permitted to cut trees down, and Fish and Wildlife not releasing more hatchery fish in order to get the wild population numbers up. I asked if there were a lot of environmentalists in the area and he said no, it is the board members in Portland. It is the covid numbers in Portland keeping their schools closed. So there you have it, small town resident feeling like they get screwed because of all that goes on in major cities.
