Russian drift 3-7

     Launched from memorial beach extra early this morning.  Dad and I were greeted by sunshine on the water which has been quite rare for us lately.  The plan was to hit the upper part of our drift real hard since we had heard reports of fish moving through that area in the last few days. 

    The river flow was really high just about 1000cfs, this made for a fast drift and some crafty navigation.  We were tearing down the river playing leap frog with a couple of drift boats and trying to keep the bankies happy by picking up and stealthing through there coveted walk-in holes. 

    Dad had one on in the fast water just below the 101, but it soon came unbuttoned.  Then about 1/2 mile downstream from Dry Creek in a narrow chute my rod loads and my reel screams... Fish On!  The first run was incredible, straight up river.  It took everything I had to keep tension on the fish and stay pointed upstream while I watched her effortlessly zip away from me.  The fish took advantage of the entire river darting into snags only to come firing back across my bow as if to send a message, this was her river.  She took one huge jump but most of the time was spent racing back and forth and up and down...
   
    After chasing her downstream 40 or 50 yards I finally found an eddie to slip into as she tired.  Got my first real good look at her when she cruised right along side my kayak in calmer water, hatchery hen.  Still having some fight left the fish went back and forth under my kayak a few more times before being apprehended.  Fish in net and adrenline still at maximum levels (for both of us) we paddled to find a suitable photo op. 

    After a photoshoot worthy of only the super-est of supermodels (which she was) we continued our way down river with giant smiles.  Just below Redwood hole we met Sherrif Blenker and his partner doing safety checks and the like.  One owned a kayak and was excited to hear about the site.  They checked the goods and snapped a few photos for an upcoming DFG presentation or something, as they shot away they joked about needing  "profile shots" for my on water booking...

    Chatted with the boys in uniform for awhile, lit my celebratory cigar and escorted Dad downstream.  Hugs galore at the takeout.  This was and will be one of my favorite days on the water, everything just felt right all day...


-Patrick
   
 

mas...

CONGRADULATIONS PATRICK!!!!! You are the man.....

NICE FISH PATRICK, was that your first steelie from the Yak?

Ryan

Nice 

Rock and roll, Patrick!  Great report and photos.  Thanks for sharing.

You and Allen are like a pro tag-team!   

Way to go Guys! Congrats!

OMG thats a beast!

A maxed out Hawg trough is good stuff!! The fight sounded super fun. Nice!!

Z

 Amazing fish and a stellar report.
strong work Patrick!  and thanks for the inspiration.

Nice score patrick, beautiful shot with kayaks behind

         Fine looking steelie Patrick. Made the same drift in a drift boat the day of the last big rain. Lunched at 5am from Memorial beach and draged bait without stopping except for fish all the way down to the Eucalyptus hole. Then hogged that hole for couple hours in the rain, same thing happened to us meet the sherrif, boy was that refreshing, not like DFG, they seemed most interested in a fishing report. Why can't all on the water checks be that social.
                      Dale

Nice fish and roe to boot!

Super nice! Way to go.

Beautiful fish, congratulations