So as usual I've been working a lot of weekend as well the wine industry is pretty busy. Couple that with some vacation/trips and the fact that I found a small aluminum boat for cheap I haven't gotten much fishing time. I was able to change that up a bit this past weekend. This year the salmon run on the rivers has supposedly been epic. I've been reading numerous reports with people nailing them of kayaks and I haven't been able to get out. So finally had a day free and called a buddy from work who was in so off we went. We ended up launching off the American River in Sacramento....I think we pulled in super early like 9:30-10:00am and there were a number of boats/yaks on the water. We loaded up and took off. They have a pretty decent ramp. I had read some reports and looked at a number of photos so had a general idea where to try first. We paddled a ways up river and I guess the recent rains helped keep the water up pretty good. It was still a nice peaceful paddle which is surprising since you are in the middle of Sacramento. Again reading the reports it seemed that roe was good as well as flatfish and of course the standard spinners. I had a few spinners from when I was in Alaska so I stuck with those all day. About two hours of paddling/drifting and seeing a number of salmon roll, it was getting a little frustrating. I was winding in and had only about 15 feet of line out when I get ripped hard. Woohoo fish on as I see the sucker just take off. We were fishing near another guy who was anchored who actually took a few "action" shots so that was pretty cool. It keeps dragging me down and awfully close to some fallen trees but I manage to keep it in the open. As I get it close I realize I have a big problem. My net which was a small collapsible one is too small. This is gonna be tough. I took a swipe with the net and of course miss and it takes off for another run. I'm trying hard to turn its head into the net here. Finally I manage to net half and flip it into the boat. Victory! I've drifted a ways down and try to get a photo shot with not much success. Here is a better lap shot. Unfortunately as you can see its not a fresh silver fish. I remember when I was in Alaska these were the fish you avoided. The guy that took the photos said that it would still be good so I figured I would keep it. I also figured after the fight it probably wasnt in the best of shape. My first American River Chinook! We ended up fishing the area for another couple hours with no luck. We went down a bit and again encountered nothing. It sounds like I was fortunate for the day since no one else we talked to caught anything. At the car I put it on the scale and it was just shy of 18 lbs. (pardon my buddy's butt) I took the fish home and when I cut it open still had fresh orange meat and was still firm. I ended up smoking it and it was delicious. Makes me mad that I had to get in at the end of the season.... Here is what the fish bit on. A Mepps Flying C that I had picked up in Alaska. Caught it on one of my favorite set ups....Daiwa CVX and a cheap Ugly stick....This set up has caught a ton of quality fish.
Sound like a lot of fun, Jeff. "we're gonna need a bigger net". Ive heard that before. I'm glad yours ended successfully. that water looks like it could hold some bassies, too.
Thanks for such an awesome report, A good report always makes me want to go fishing....this is one of those
Nice report and some great pictures, thanks.......................................... Big- D and the Dog
