3RD Time Was A Charm on the Russian

My Son (Holy Toledo) and I were on the water at the crack of dawn for a drizzly drift down the Russian River this am. We could  hardly wet a line out of respect for the bank fishermen lined up at every decent stretch of water from  Healdsburg to about half way to Wholer. We drifted a few holes for nada. We finally came to my favorite hole on this drift (two fish landed on one day last winter) only to find a flyfisherman  smack dab in the middle of it. We paddled back up to the hole above and fished it for awhile then drifted back down where the fly guy was........just as we neared top of the stretch he lost his fly and turned to the beach. We  had about half the hole left, spun and tossed our baits. My bait bounces once........bounces twice.............WHAM .........FISH ON!!!! The steelhead cleared the water a good three times and then started some impressive runs. It was all I could do to keep her from entering the fast riffle below. Finally she tired..... coaxed her to the kayak for a quick picture and back into the water. Apologies went out to the flyfisherman .............. who took it kinda well beings he  had fished that stretch for a couple of hours. I fished the rest of the way to Wholer with a big smile and a  celebratory cigar. After two prior drifts the season I guess what "they" say is true.....third time is a charm.

great story and pics, thanks!

WTG..

 Nice Fish, I was thinking of making there Monday,  should have went today

  Congrats!!!!!! ........ Danglin

Nice lookin' fish, Allen.

THATS A BEAUTY!!!.................................i want one. what kind of bait were you using?

Chromey sweetness!   

Our bait selection for today was a #6 g-katsu hook with a tiny piece of pink yarn in the snell, a small pink puff ball and and a small bit of pink "stripper glitter" powerbait  placed just under the yarn and over the puffball. We usually switch to this when we tire of messing with roe.

Nice looking wild fish!

Right on! Good job!

Beauty!

Excellent report and pictures.  Thanks! Love those Hobies too.

Congrats!! They are always worth the effort aren't they? Curious, what's the black nob on the side of your kayak for? Never seen that before.

Congrats!! They are always worth the effort aren't they? Curious, what's the black nob on the side of your kayak for? Never seen that before.

Looks like a Ram ball for a Ram mount.

Jonesz.......Ganoderma is spot on..... the black ball is a Ram Mount.  Those on the sides of the kayak are to mount pole holders. We mounted them on each side of the Hobies due to the pedal drives especially on the Revolution which has limited deck space. The mounts are really flexible which comes in real handy when I am in the trees..... which I seem to be alot when on the river. We are able to push the tube down parallel to the yak or even lower to avoid most branches or when serious paddling is required. Ram mounts also makes all kinds of mounts for just about anything for fishing, motorcycles, and cars, etc. Google "Ram Mount Industries" and you will see all the cool stuff. If you search the right distributor you can get decent pricing and shipping otherwise it's pretty  pricey.

Thanks for the SWEET pics and report!  gotta get up there and try that!