Eel River Steelheading - 1/1/17 - Vid low on page 1

Short version: Fishing Success!!

Longer version:

So I just spent the last two days drifting a lot of miles with my guests and cumulatively we spent 30 hours or more fishing for Winter Steelhead - had a blast both days but no adult fish hooked. Got home last night and the forecast had ramped up - river's scheduled to blow out again by Tuesday night.

Slept in today and lounged a bit before deciding to head upriver for a couple hours before I'd be due at my in-laws' for dinner. I can't stay away from the green water!

It had actually warmed up, as it was a whopping 43 degrees at 11:30 when I launched onto a longtime favorite run. Paddled upstream and soon the classic Humboldt Liquid Sunshine was drizzling off my gear - when you go out in these conditions an upstream run is a good mode because you can always turn around and land right back on the truck in short order.

Made my way up to the fishing zone and worked it with multiple methods for an hour with nothing doing - we'd just hit this area hard yesterday on our trip, and nothing seemed to have changed. Moved further upstream, walked over a couple riffles dragging the yak along the margins. Even with a bit of rain and the cold temps it was stunning out there today - always worth the trip.

Got to the top of my favorite run and worked my way back down, putting extra time in on spots where I've had luck in the past. Another round of liquid sunshine moved through, and of course a rainbow showed up with the end of it on one of my favorite runs... I was now up against the clock and didn't want to be late for dinner, so I did a last drift down through the hole and was going to ride out the swift chute... I couldn't have scripted it better - I was suddenly ON!

Powerful fish runs hard as I turn the vid on and point the camera toward her. She does a couple tailwalks and has me worried that she'll go down the swift water with inundated Willows all along the margins (disaster zone), but then she turns and runs right back to me! Just a couple one armed paddle strokes and I'm secure in the eddy and able to fight this beauty while drifting the yak. The vid is less than 5 minutes long - first run to release, but I was lost in a world of euphoria - could've been 2 minutes or 10 minutes for all I knew...

Once again, I was SO stoked with my fine mesh release net - it's hard to do a fast scoop with, but once you have a fish in there it prevents them from damaging their fins - they seem to just mellow out as they can't see safety through the black screen of the fine mesh. She was about 12 pounds and absolute chrome - perfection with fins.

Now grinning ear to ear or even further, I drifted out of the hole and let the swift current cart me down toward my truck about a half mile away. I took some casts, but I needed to just get going and be on time... You know what comes next, right? Hahahahaha...

I get down to the last run - can see the truck in the distance - and I'm ON AGAIN! Wow - two in 10 minutes!!

I get the vid on again, she does some short runs and surface breaches, but this fish isn't as strong as the first. After some yak-side wrangling and the typical net-avoidance behaviors, I had another beauty all mellowed out in my Lovebag - that's how I'm referring to my net from now on. 8>}

Snapped a couple pics and sent her on her way, and by this time I was about 150 feet from my truck. What a thrill!

Thanks for reading my story - I'll enjoy making a video of the action this evening and will try to post it up soon.
Let's go fishing when the river comes back in!

Lovefest:

Wow! 

Gorgeous water, pretty fish, nice splash shot.

Yea!!! That's the good stuff right there.

Wow, happy effin New Year!!

Wow, happy effin New Year!!

I know, right?! 

WHEWWWWWwwwwwwwwwww...   

All that with a rainbow.  [emoji304] .  Beautiful river

Thanks for taking us along Eric!

Thanks for the trip report Eric anh happy new year to you & family too.

Beautiful fish Eric
Congratulations!

Great story and beautiful fish.  I'm taking my son for his first steelhead trip. Looks like a pretty simple set up you were using. What was it?

Thanks.

Appreciate the kind responses, guys. 

Great story and beautiful fish.  I'm taking my son for his first steelhead trip. Looks like a pretty simple set up you were using. What was it?

Thanks.

Thanks, Gary.  While I really wish to hook fish on spoons, spinners and plugs and would like to develop my bobber skills, I have taken to using roe.  Some years back I decided to learn about the method when I gave in to the reality that others around me were outfishing me with it most of the time.  I admit that I considered the use of roe as pretty much barbaric - why would bait be allowed at all on a catch and release only stream? 

As I sought information and started playing with the various techniques (and there are many associated with roe), I came to know that there are ways to present bait that don't necessarily have the fish swallowing it - no one wants a wild fish to swallow the hook.  Without going too far into the ins an outs of the methodology, I will offer this:  there are ways that you can 'bounce' your roe presentation down the thalweg that most often result in a fish being hooked in the corner of the mouth.  It has to do with your gear being on the move, and it can be a dynamic and exciting way to fish.

I imagine you guys will head up to the Russian for your trip, and I wish you the best of luck.  If you're interested in a kayak steelheading trip on the South Fork of the Eel I encourage you to contact me by email or phone.  I love showing people around on water that I know well in a world class natural setting.

The setup has a weight that slides freely on your line above a barrel swivel, then about 3.5' leader to a 'bait loop' hook.  There's a bead and a little corky type float on the leader above the hook, a piece of yarn tied to the bait loop, and the roe is cinched up on the shank where it melds with the yarn so the roe retains color as it washes out toward a sinewy looking hunk of tissue resembling a piece of chewed up bacon fat!  That particular leader was store bought and comes with the 'bling' (bead, corky, yarn).  I've also often used just a plain bait loop leader with no corky or bead or yarn, and the roe is held on the hook by a "Fish Pill".

There are many considerations in terms of technique when it comes to roe, depending on flow volume and water clarity.

Happy New Year!

Such amazing fish and surroundings, great job Eric, love that you got it all on video!

Such amazing fish and surroundings, great job Eric, love that you got it all on video!

Thanks, Matthew.  You know me - obsessed with the vid!

I've lost a fair number of fish due to fumbling with the camera right after hookup - more often salmon in the ocean than steelies on the rivers.

It's worth the risk of losing fish when I do capture the moment on video, and the choice to vid all of the catches that I can keeps my game at a high level.  I aspire to have a high level game at all times, and the prospect of sharing and showing all my moves and decisions puts me in a mode that I really enjoy and feel good about.

Our lives as members of society and contributors to our communities are very much represented within the choices we make as fishermen.