Winter Steelheading on the Eel - January 2016 - Video at bottom of page 2

Awesome ... as usual.  Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the awesome pics, getting me juiced, I will be up soon.

Short story:  I caught and released a nice wild steelhead today from my kayak!

Much longer, more heart-felt version:

I looked at the hydrograph this morning and was pleased to see the Eel and tribs basically unchanged after the bit of rain off of the storm to the south.  After a forecast two days ago that had everything blown out by yesterday, I was looking at potentially kickass conditions - it doesn't always go like the weatherman says it will.  Got the kids dropped off at school and it was on - time for a few hours on my favorite run.  Worked my way upriver on 101 and the showers were starting to become more consistent - it wouldn't be a dry trip, but everything I saw confirmed that the green water was holding.  I was 30 minutes on the highway and a short 4x4 route across the bar at a public access and I arrived at the same spot I hit up yesterday, geared up and got on the water by a little after 10AM.  There were a couple bank fishermen and a driftboat in the run at my launch, so I headed straight upriver, hoping to get some good water all to myself.

Wish granted!  After a ten minute paddle I got up to the first good riffle and run and it was vacant.  The rain was coming down steadily, but the temps weren't too bad at around 50 degrees - when you know the truck is downstream of you it allows for pushing your limits in many ways, temperature and wetness being common denominators of your considerations for personal safety.  Cruising up along the eddy at the base of the riffle, I readied my gear for the first runs through the hole - the first run means a lot. 

I casted a spoon several times, letting it flutter down through the bottom of the riffle, and then I spent some time backtrolling a plug all the way down the swift water.  No bites or signs of fish, so I bounced some roe down through it before moving up to the next run.  One of the beautiful things about this fishing - especially with the river green from bank to bank - is that you never really know whether there are fish present or not.  You're going on faith much of the time.  "I know there is potential for there to be a steelhead here right now", is a common refrain of mine...  and you need to believe it.  Yes, you look for slots and runs where steelhead are known to hold, but it's really the case that you never really know where they'll be - especially in the greenest water. 

What I'm trying to say is, you need to love casting and trying different methods if you wish to pursue this sport.  It's all about the number of times that you put a nice presentation in the 'zone' where the fish should be (near the bottom, in the current is the classic steelhead target).

It's no big surprise to be on great looking water and not getting any bites.  These are anadromous fish - they live in the ocean much of the time.  There may actually be no fish where you're fishing!  But when they are present, you're in for the potential ride of your life!  Think about hooking a 20 pound steelhead - it's a real possibility on the Eel and a few other north coast streams - I'd say most people who've hooked one have lost it.  The power you'll be dealing with is hard to fathom...  These are good goals to have, and it's very important to be able to fish for hours/days with no bites and still be ready for that ultra-powerful bite and run that could happen at any time.

Over the next 45 minutes I paddled and hauled upstream to some of the best holes I know of, and I had a couple hours to spend on trying to scratch out a bite.  I approached each hole in a similar fashion to the first I'd come to - spoons tossed and fluttered down through the run, plug backtrolled slowly down through, and then bounce some roe. 

On our trip two days ago when we had no bites all day, David and I ran spinners, spoons and plugs, and I took a few casts with roe.  At the bottom of our drift we spoke to the driftboat captains in front of us and learned of 6 fish hooked - all on roe.  Years ago when I got into pursuing this fishery I was against roe.  I thought it was crude and potentially exploitive and wasteful.  I still think it has its drawbacks and wouldn't mind seeing the Eel go to all artificials, but I've come to know fishing with roe as an amazing experience.  The hooking, presentation, bouncing/drifting, perception of bite and feel for snagging bottom of this kind of fishing is an intricate skill to develop.  I've seen a few fish that swallowed the hook - that's a big argument against roe on catch and release rivers - but it's amazing how the hook is usually in the corner of the mouth on most hookups - when you do it right...  I see it as all about the drift and bounce where you're constantly feeling for movement and a bite - as opposed to toss and soak, where much more often the bait is swallowed. 

Anyway, I do love using roe and think it should be done with the health of the fish in mind.

The rain backed off for the first time as I worked my way up through the next great run, still no bites, so I moved all the way up to the top of my haul.   Did my usual tossing of spoons, but I skipped the backtrolled plug and decided to go right to the roe.  I put together a special roeberry, snapped a pic because it was so good lookin'!, and proceeded to side and back bounce it down through the run.  I'd gotten just below the main hole and was thinking about how I'm now just drifting my offering along the bottom along a swift run and is it worth losing that ground for this, when I got slammed!!!!

I got my rod in the air and felt the pressure of an adult steelhead on the other end!  As the fish started to dart around feeling itself against my line I reached for my camera in front of me on a tripod mount, turned it toward the action, turned it on, started the video and got my hands back on the rod as soon as I could.  I have an obsession, it's clear.     Getting footage of the hot times is good stuff - I recommend it.

This hookup had come at a pretty great spot as I could drift while fighting the fish and not have to worry about much for about 5 minutes.  Those hookups that occur right above strong tailouts can be very challenging, so I was thrilled to be able to work this fish for a few minutes right by me in current before I had to plan to get to shore to deal with releasing it.

I managed to net this hen pretty gently in my new fine mesh release net, and that made the paddle to the edge and removing my hook that much easier and safer for the fish.  I was using a pretty small hook for my roe setup, and I was stoked to see that it had only penetrated the corner of her mouth.  I got her revived - didn't take much - and she swam off strong.  What a blast!

The rest of my time was about having a multi-hookup outing, but it wasn't the case and that was fine with me.  Catching steelhead - even getting a strike - is not easy.  If it is, then you're in a really good spot!  And this is worth consideration too - it's harder from the kayak.  Years ago I started out on this obsession because of AOTY, so I was extremely intent on hooking, fighting and landing steelhead and everything else from my yaks.  I came to know the pursuit as an ultimate challenge, and I pride myself for going with no anchor - I see it as a danger and an unnecessary diversion from being fluid with the stream.  I work for every inch I get on the river, and I am intimate with the features along it that can help me fish it while in transit.  I have retained this obsession of hooking, fighting and landing fish from the kayak whenever possible, because it's an incredible challenge and results in a great rush!  The videos are fun too.   

This steelhead means a lot to me, and I thank you for viewing my postings.  I feel that fish that I catch can help me to attract people to my guide service, but I hope to attract those that are out for the whole experience of challenge, discovery, exercise, learning...etc., and fish are just one of the potential positive aspects.

That said, and meant, I hope to get someone on a 20 pound class Winter Steelie on my home waters!   

 

Damn! Beautiful!
 

Keep it coming E!
Nice fish!

That looks like heaven!  Any heaven worth my time has beautiful wilderness and 24" steelhead on the line.

Congratulations Eric, persistence does pay off. It doesn't hurt you have such beautiful stretches of river to fish. Your 20 pounder will come.....

"You will live eternal, shiny and chrome." 

What a beauty Eric!  Congrats!  Looking forward to seeing more chrome from your home waters this season.  Steelhead are my favorite fish.  How can anyone not like a fish that's not only elusive and beautiful, but can grow to over 20 pounds and is the fastest fish in freshwater?  Keep on rockin' AbKing, and keep taking these amazing photos!

Beautiful write up and fantastic photos Eric!  That big mature steelhead is gorgeous and well earned!

Awesome fish! What a privilege to live in such beautiful country. Thanks Eric and see you in May.

thanks for the pictures. i don't even care about the fish... i just want to paddle through there. (well, also the fish too.)

beautiful!

+1

Awesome video!

"Angling for a better perspective on life" That's a very catchy caption!