Two men out fishing along the Columbia River were rescued after their boat became stranded on a sand bar.
The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of two men needing assistance in a stranded boat west of Irrigon on Tuesday, March 19 around 10:30 p.m.
The two Idaho men, ages 81 and 73, stranded their boat after running into a large, shallow sand bar. The men, according to the sheriff’s office, were staying in Umatilla while on a fishing vacation. The two were fishing different sections of the river when they became stranded.
Sgt. Rowen Hayes and Deputy Rick Carter responded and launched one of UCSO’s jet boats from the Irrigon Marina. With assistance from a deputy with the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office, they located the stranded boat, rescued the two fishermen and drove them back to shore.
The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Marine Patrol Unit patrols the waters and shore lines on the Columbia River from the Umatilla-Morrow county line to the Washington state border, as well as the McKay Reservoir, Cold Springs Reservoir, and the Umatilla River.
