Fishing the Lower Mokelumne River

 The crew arrived at Headwaters Kayak shop at 7:00 to carpool and grab and last minute supplies. We piled all the gear into one truck and made our way up to Stillman McGee park. From there we all piled into the Headwaters work truck and drove to the day use are at the Mokelumne Fish Hatchery. The weather was mild and overcast, but the river was low and clear. After a short walk we got to the river. We did a brief per trip talk for the guys who were new to kayaking on rivers and from there we hit the water and worked our way upstream. The beginning of the trip was all about getting the crew familiar with paddling in swift current. We worked on pealing out into the current, catching eddies, and ferrying across the current. Everyone caught on quick and it wasn't long before the lines were wet! 3 out of 4 of us were using spinning gear, and one guy (Bill) used his fly gear.

We bounced down stream across shallow gravel bars, stopping to fish whatever holes we could find. I quickly realized that our 4 hour float was going to more like 6 or 7 hours. The second big hole we got to was swift and had a nice deep pocket. I threw in my worm rigged up with a 4 lb leader and sliding weight, and hooked up after just a few cast. As soon as I got it into shallow water it broke off. This is when I learned the lesson that if you are targeting big fish use a heavier weight leader. DOH! After a dozen more cast we decided to head down stream to another woody hole. Again we parked the kayaks and casted from an island so we could position our bait right behind a big snag, and let it drift with the current. After just a few cast I hooked up with this nice 13" Rainbow Trout.                                                            

Next thing I know I see Victor untying his spinner and grabbing for the worms. As I started paddling down stream I pass Ed, who also hooked up to a small trout. We all got back into the boats and floated some more down stream fishing from spot to spot by side drifting int he current.

I took this shot while fishing an island, and you can see everyone else drifting down the river. We hit one more spot called Cow Beach. From what the local guide says, if your going to hook a big Steelhead, this is the spot. The river makes a bend and all the current gets pushed right into fallen tree. In order to get your bait to the fish you run a high risk of snagging up. Well we must have been fishing hard because we all had to retie a half dozen times. On one cast my worm dropped under the tree and I thought I got snagged again. I reeled hard to release the snag and then the snag started taking line. "Oh s%*t its a fish! A big fish!" I fought hard and prayed my leader wouldn't break. I yell to Victor to grab his net. We could see him just a few feet in front of us. He was well over 18 inches which puts him into the Steelhead category. Just as Victor gets in place to net him SNAP! He gave us the wink and swam back under his log. Broke me line and broke my heart. Moral of the story? Next time use at least a 6lb leader. 

The rest of the trip was just a fun laid back float. There was one instance where a low hanging branch snagged a pole and caused Ed, to take a dunk, but we quickly got him out of the water and got him to shore. He did however lose one of his poles. Which was a reminder to me to not get complacent, and always leash down my rods when I'm not using them. Thats one thing I like about my Jackson Coosa, There are nice Rod Stagers on ether side where I can easily clip my rods and still have easy access to them.

I hope we get some rain soon to dirty up the water and make the fishing a little better, but the great thing about kayak fishing is even if you don't catch a single fish, you still had a great paddle. Thanks Vwool, Ed, and Bill for making the trip.

Paddleboy