RPT Russian River 12/29

The Russian River is looking like it will be in prime shape for this weekend. I got out to steelhead beach for a little bit today. The water is still a little off color with visibility of 1-2 feet, but it's improving quickly!

I know of 2 steelhead caught at steelhead beach today. 1 on a plug and one one roe. Both from drift boats. Neither by me.

I did see some bad things going on today though.....

 3 kayaker in the high flow river launched while I was there. Jeans and hoodies. Not a life vest among them, I hope they stayed safe!

Oh remember the steelhead I said were caught? The county ranger caught one of the catchers without a license, apparently the guy never bothered to buy one, or a steelhead card either...

At any rate I had an enjoyable few hours along the bank. I decided to just hang out and "plunk" for a bit. I didn't get totally skunked, the squawfish were willing biters! If I didn't have other obligations this weekend I know where I would be with my kayak...

Thanks for the info.

Thanks for the report! I'll be hitting Steelhead Beach a time or two this season.


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Thanks for the report! I'll be hitting Steelhead Beach a time or two this season.


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If you need a quick river update just shoot me a pm. It's only a few minutes from my house and I'm usually out there almost every day during steelhead time.

Thanks! I'll do that.

You mostly fish it from shore?

I grew up near Graton, so I spent a lot of time on the Russian when I was younger. Caught lots of smallmouth bass and a few steelhead. Now I'm getting serious about steelhead, so I look forward to trying out some new techniques I'v been reading about...


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I do a lot of fishing from shore, but prefer to use the kayak and cover more water. It's just a matter of arranging a shuttle to get me back to my truck at the end of the day!

Sat in a drift boat all the next day. Nuttin'. Saw two other boats, one went up and one down. Also an Asian couple catching something small. One shore guy. We all ended up with zero. Talked to a ranger who told us there were nine guys at Mirabel doing the same.
The water looked fine. Just no fish.

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ThreeMoney, could you explain the setup you have on that pic? Is there a name for that I could Google to get a diagram for? Thanks the help with my newbie questions.

Thank you for the info 3$J!  Hope to see you up there soon! 

ThreeMoney, could you explain the setup you have on that pic? Is there a name for that I could Google to get a diagram for? Thanks the help with my newbie questions.

Google "plunking for steelhead"

Basically it's upsized powerbait fishing for trout. It's a way to fish when the river is too high or muddy for other methods. You use a heavy weight on a slider to keep your rig in place. Then 2 feet of leader, a big spin n glow, and bait. You toss it out into the high water travel lane (usually near shore) and hope that a steelhead runs into it on his way upstream. It can also produce pretty darn well when the water is clear.

Excellent, thanks again for sharing some knowledge!