Merced river

I hit the Merced river with Cousin Rick last Saturday. We fished from Schafer Bridge to Sante Fe ave. 6.77 and 10 hours on the water.
we caught 10 LM total between the 2 of us. No top-water action but caught most fish on a red or green rattletrap. We didnt catch any small mouth which was surprising. Rick did lose his shoes in the first 10 minutes of fishing, while he was trying to get a lure unstuck he slipped and fell in the water and his Crocks floated off. I pretty much laughed the whole day every time I thought of it happening. It was Ricks first time fishing on a  kayak and he had a great time. I had even a better time I have been wanting to fish this stretch of river for the last couple of years. I am going to try and get 1 more trip in b4 the river closes but have a possible slight tear in my Achilles tendon. I have a MRI scheduled for tomorrow and am praying my fishing season is not over yet!!!

Look like a great time!!!

Hope your achilles is OK!

Thanks for sharing the report and pics!

Sincerely,

Jim

Great report and pics, badog!  It's easy to tell you guys were having a blast from the looks on your faces.  Good Times!   

Kool,   I guess you guys are doing a drift?

 and..  whats the average size of the SMB you catch there?   

We drift and my wife drops us off and picks us up, pretty sweet shuttle!!! We caught LMB this trip, the avg being 10 inches. We didnt catch any fish until we saw some red crawdads around and put on a rattle trap. Also alot of the grass is dying off in the Merced so Iam not sure where the fish are hanging out. I still am learning to fish for LM and have only caught them my last 2 trips. The Tuolumne is full of SMB and a 15 inch SMB is a hog on that river, but on the other side there are lots of SMB to catch. I absolutely love these rivers and never tire of fishing them!!!

  Great report, thanks for the pics!  Why could you not track the crocks down the river on the yaks?  Sorry to hear about your foot, not good at all! 

Hey Baddog,

Sounds like a cool trip. I've never drifted it but it sounds like you ended up out by cressey?  That's one heck of a drift.

I grew up out that way and remember going over that old bridge everyday.  I was out there a couple of months ago taking pictures, that area sure brings back a lot of memories.

I think I read in one of your posts that you work for the schools out there, you might know my cousin (actually my cousins husband) Pedro.  I think he used to do maintenance at the schools but may have kind of changed roles recently...I think he works as some kind of liason with the kids.

Next time tell your cousin to get some velcro taped to the inside of the shoe and the bottom of his foot. 

hey, Dave -
thats quite a drift!    Its beautiful out there.   I have to get out there again with you one of these days.   
I hope your achilles is OK. 

Lawrence

Pacifico, are you talking about Pedro and Nancy Galvin, very nice People, I have known them for years!!!!

Lawrence, Iam  hoping to hit 2 rivers for some striper action if my foot allows it , hope you can make it!!!!!!

Yep, that would be them.

dude, if you hit 2 rivers let me know, i'd be interested in taking a look around for some stripers.

Thanks for the report, always looking for new places, looks like you guys had a great time,

Nice balancing act on the yak there.

Looks like good time OTW!  Thanks for the report and pictures Dave.

Great pics, looks like fun.  There is a spot on the Merced where GF and and I have found a really deep hole somewhere near where the rock slide that everything sealed off and diverted.  One of the biggest brownies I ever saw was just waiting for stuff to come his way.  This was before I had the pocket fisherman, and I was on the HD without any gear.  I was looking for a safety pin and some dental floss (improvise if you need to right?), but I didn't have jack.  So Sir Brown got a way that day.