COOS BAY, Ore. — Mike Helfrich knew the curves of the bay and the nature of the ocean here so well that he could position his boat just so, not far from the others, fish for a few hours in a few spots and end the day with a boatload of crabs and fish.

One of his favorite spots was near the rocks, where fish would gather to seek shelter from predators. Other fishermen would avoid the area, fearing they would lose their expensive anchors. But Helfrich had fashioned his own anchor out of rebar, chain and tubing. It looked like a grappling hook, and he would toss it into the rocks and sit there reaping the benefits, having outsmarted everyone else.

Helfrich caught so many crabs and fish that he often just gave them away. He went around town handing them out to friends, neighbors, players at the local baseball field. Sometimes when he went to visit his youngest son, Mark, at his various stops as a college football coach, he would take some then, too.

Coos Bay is small, sleepy logging town on the Oregon coast, the kind of place where people like to raise families, the kind of place where you can forget the rest of the world. Eugene, the home of the University of Oregon, is about two hours north.