Russian River kayak drift - Feb. 25 & 26, 2006 (PICS)

Got an invitation from Mike / Mickfish that I could not refuse...a 7 mile drift on the Russian  John/jdyak and I drove Sat. AM to meet Mike at his cabin - just a 50 yard stroll to the riverbank - VERY COOL . DAY ONE: Mike guided us up and down a mile section of our "secret launch" and I'm proud to say that I'm now the current leader of the kayak salmon pool = pics and measurements to follow  . We did not hook up with any steelies but the small mouth action made up for it. I caught two on my new secret lure = the mighty wiggle wart - the biggest one measured 15 inches. Mike got one as well - another 15 incher! SMALL MOUTH ROCK 
DAY TWO: We drove JD's suburban at the end of the 7 mile drift and then headed back to our launch - right by Mike's Cabin. We launched before noon and as soon as we crossed the fish ladder, Mike hooks up on the first Steelhead of the day - a beautiful native - released after a few photos. Mike will chime in with more details. JD saw a couple of monsters but could not get 'em to bite - he'll chime in as well. It started to rain soon after and we continued our drift. We all caught and released few dinker salmon on the way down and the scenery was unreal we hit a few rapids - which were fun to experience with unconventional kayaks. Mike's Fish n Dive was a far better drift kayak campared to the P15's John and I were paddling - in my opinion at least. I was also surprised to see that the locals who were fishing the banks were very friendly and were eager to share their honey holes. We saw a few of 'em with some nice steelies on the stringer. Half way down the drift we saw less and less people and had the river entirely to ourselves. And at the last mile of the drift we were joined by a flotilla of driftboats - some of which had a few steelies as well. The fishing was slow but the trip was EPIC and it will definitely not be my last. THANKS TO MIKE for guiding us and sharing his know-how about steel head fishing - definitely learned a lot!

ohh....and Mike's grilled steak was DA BOM!!!! JD - thanks for driving brah!


lot's of pics to follow!!!

I'm proud to say that I'm now the current leader of the kayak salmon pool = pics and measurements to follow 

   Joel I thought you said you won't fish for River Salmon? You have to watch out for Joel I was hoping to lead the Smallmouth pool, but I had Joel take the pics and it's so easy to accidentally hit delete OOPS  Joel I caught the steelie above the ladder right under the RR bridge. I hope Joel posts the picture of John and I fishing one of Sean's spots I don't know why people were yelling at us?

Thanks for coming up guys I had a great time. It really amazed me how much the current could push the kayaks around, the eddys didn't look that strong but unless you hit them perfect and with some speed they would just turn your boat and spin it. I think a kayak with a totally flat bottom would handle much better in the current. I had just come out of a rapid and was paddling thru a narrow fast chute when out of the corner out my eye 2' off the side of my boat a huge seal breached I could have reached out and touched him freaked me out for a second , I guess I scared him too and he took off down stream I could feel his power as he swam under my boat.

I found the kayak to be much more comfortable than my 8' drift but much harder to fish from, I was getting a little frustrated not being able to fish the spots the way I do in my drift boat. In the drift boat my oars are as long as the boat so I can position myself any where except in the fastest rapids. I can row against the current and come thru a rapid or slot at any speed I want. About half way down I figured I just had to alter the way I fish from the yak and it seemed to work, couldn't really tell as I think most of the fish were holding in the upper section we fished.

I'm excited to try it again and again. Definitely need to rig up a good anchor system that hangs it off the back of the boat. It's too bad we got so much rain last night pretty much ends the season for Steelies.Looking forward to a Shad and Smallmouth Bass drift in a month or 2.

Mooch and JD yesterday when we launched the river was flowing at about 500cfs its already up to 3300cfs.
I'll post a picture later you won't even recognize it.

Joel I thought you said you won't fish for River Salmon?

True..but this specific salmon was NOT a spawner (hint-hint) 

Hey Guys,  Had a great time!,  Saturday was a sunny, warm day.  I caught a small salmon trolling upstream and then joined Joel who was on a sand bar casting into a deep current.  Mike then took us over to a hole, out of the current and that's where Joel hooked into his smallmouth. 

Sunday was a different Story,  Our foul weather gear was put to the test, first hour no rain, Mike caught his steelie and then I briefly hooked a large steelie at the side of the boat, but he came off the hook.  After we did a portage next to a dam that had a fish ladder.  This is when it started to rain.  For the next 5 hours, it rained non stop and towards the end of the float, hard.  There was water coming from everywhere and I could tell the river was picking up current.  The kayaks handled the rapids no problem, although I did see an o'shit expression on Joel's face on the first set of rapids.

Will post pictures later today!

John

my kayak fishing entry for salmon for 2006 

john / jdyak heading upstream....

JD taking a break....

my small mouth bass....
15 inches - verified by Mike / Mickfish

Mooch-Your "salmon" is definitely a hatchery steelhead smolt.  They do a great job of breaking up the boredom.   Beauty smallmouth!!!

this was the Private launch spot  from Mike's cabin.....

Mooch-Your "salmon" is definitely a hatchery steelhead smolt.  They do a great job of breaking up the boredom.   Beauty smallmouth!!!

Sean - I thought if had a "fork" tail - it was a salmon and not a steelhead?

Mike / Mickfish searching for the elusive Russian steel head....

Mike's small mouth bass....note that Mr. Mickfish is trying to pull the lower lip to stretch it out to 16 inches 

Mike's fish sniffer pose....

check out the "demon eyes" of this SMB 

NOTE: these are all Day 1 photos.....Day 2 photos to follow...