Jackson Coosa in "BIG" water.

Anyone who has followed this blog for a while knows how much I love my Jackson Coosa. The Coosa is all about fun. Some of my best memories fishing are on my Coosa floating down some new stretch of river. Last Monday Mark and I did just that. We scout out the Electra run on the Mokeumne for fishing. Most area's of this river are rarely hit by anglers due to the class two and three rapids along the way. It had been years since I had done the run but I remember most of the rapids being strait forward, and there was always the option to portage is something looked to sketchy. So on a cold January morning I met up with by buddy Mark for scouting mission on the upper Moke.

Mark with the kayaks at the put in. 

We put in at around 10:00AM and it was still only 28 degrees. The Mokelumne sits low in the canyon so it wouldn't be till after noon when we got our first sun. The wet sand on the banks was frozen, and all the low handing trees along the river hung low with icicles.

Frost lining the hills. 

I have been using a Coosa for 3 years now and have become very comfortable with the kayak in most conditions. I enjoy surfing it on small standing waves, and catching eddies, etc, however during the drive up to the launch I was looking over some of the rapids we were about to run and I had a moment of hesitation. I had ran some big water in the Coosa before, but this river was smaller and more technical. The rapids were not huge, but the water was low and there were some consequences if you got off line. I decided to scout each rapid before we ran it and then make the call on wether I wanted to run it or not. 

After the first couple of riffles both Mark and I were starting to warm up. The only real part to suffer was our hands. Next time I'm bringing Pogies for sure! 

The river was beautiful. Surrounded by a mix of oak and pine trees covering the rolling hills. The river starts off flat with just a few riffles.

After about a half mile we got to the first Rapid. Before we ran it both Mark and I got out to scout the rapid. It dropped off to river left and had a good sized hole at the bottom. You had to run this one right up the V to avoid a submerged bolder on ether side. Mark decided he didn't like the looks of the rocks and wasn't willing to get wet so early in the AM, so he decided to portage and take photos. I hit my line just right and shot through the rapid without a problem. I was getting loose and realizing that the Coosa was going to take good care of me.

As we made our way down river I began to look for places to play. Small waves, or hard eddies to peal out into. I wanted to push the boats limits and see what it was capable of. I started off on a small wave and enjoyed a few minute surf. 

Mark also enjoyed the fun.

Rapid #2 was a bit more tecnical because it went around a bend and it had a chunky hole at the bottom. After looking at it from shore I decided to go wide and hit the meat of the hole. I was able to keep a strait line, and make any micro corrections I needed to while in the rapid without being pushed off my line.

Punching through the hole at the bottom.  

After I successfully ran the rapid I thought it would be fun to try and surf the hole. 

I took a few runs at it but this is as close as I got to surfing.

The last big drop of the day! 

The last drop of the day was a class 3 below the 49 bridge. The rapid was a big drop with a zipper type wave up the center. The Coosa bobbed right through without a hitch. I thought for sure I would swim without thigh braces, but the boat handled the drop with no issues. I had so much fun I decided to portage back up and run it again. 

Run #2

So now I have a whole new level of confidence in the Coosa. It opens up so many amazing fishing opportunities for us around here. Bill and I will be headed back up to fish the Electra soon, and we are going to continue to scout out new (to us) fishing grounds throughout the foothills.

NuCanoe Frontier 12 Rigging

Early this week I got a message from a guy in San Jose asking about more info about kayak fishing.  He wanted a kayak that was good for fishing, and could be used as a solo or tandem. He wanted to be able to mount a trolling motor, and also stand up. Furthermore he wanted the kayak to be adaptable for both solo and tandem fishing, which means all the rod holders had to be able to side, adjust and interchange between multiple mounting positions. The only kayak I know that would be capable of all this is the NuCanoe Frontier 12. After a few emails, and phone conversations we developed a plan to rig up the Nucanoe to the max using Yak Attack Mighty Mounts, backer plates, rigging bullets and Ram Screw Balls.  In addition to that we added a Sealect Designs Anchor Trolley system, NuCanoe Swivel seat, NuCanoe Casting Bar, and a NuCanoe Tiller Extension. 

If there is one thing I love more than fishing, its building up someones dream kayak for them, and for Jean Pier, this was it. He went all out to make sure the job was done right. Here is a video I put together of the whole rigging job. Hopefully I can update it soon with pictures of Jean Pier slaying the trout on some Sierra Lake, or hauling in bass out on the Delta. Very fun project and I hope you will enjoy it.                

Merced River Trip Report Take Two

After having a relatively slow, crowded day last Tuesday, I was looking forward to hitting the Merced again, especially since I was going out with another angler who admittedly, is a better fly fisherman than I am.

Beutiful morning, with Jesse anxiously rowing out ahead of me.

Since we are both thouroughly addicted to fishing we decided on an early start time of 7:00. We were rigged up and on the water by 8:00. Jesse recomended we try an egg pattern, since the san juan worm didn't produce on Tuesday. I started my day trying to swing a streamer across the current, which usually yields bigger fish. While I was wasting time doing that, Jesse hooked 2 nice fish on the egg pattern. Needless to say, I immediately switched to that. We both enjoyed a good egg bite until about 10 am and then things slowed down. Time for a change of flies. I saw a some mayfly activity so I opted for a pheasant tail. Jesse ties his own flies, and switched to a hare's ear with a bit of flash tied into it, representing either a sow bug or a mayfly. We both caught fish, including a nice 14 incher I hooked while side drifting, which is always a bonus.

Fish caught side drifting. The the ultimate kayak fly-fishing experience.

Note the spawning colors on this fish (dark red stripe and cheeks and gray belly), indicating that although it was only 15 inches long it was probably a steelhead

We ended the day with about 6 fish each. My biggest was a 15 incher and Jesse's biggest was about 17. All in all a great day on the river.

Opening day float on the Merced River.

Met Bill and Drew at the shop at around 5:45 for what was supposed to be an epic opening day on the Merced. Bill Becket works as a fish biologist on this river and knows it as well as anyone. He was our guide for the day. We launched at a turn on on the road and paddled down to Snelling. The river on this section is stunning. Lots of neat shoots, bedrock shelves, and braided sections that should holds tons of trout. It was my first day using a fly pole, and I loved it. I wish I would have started using one earlier on. We were nymphing with an indicator bulb (bobber). We through what we had at them, and we hooked a few, but the only one to land a fish was Bill. He got two to net and hooked about a half dozen. Most were caught on sow bug or San Juan worm. The paddling was amazing. I have been on almost every valley river and I would have to say this is one of the best for class 1 kayaking. It was always interesting, but never two challenging. I would highly recommend checking it out. 

Bill is testing the new Jackson Cruise 12, a 12' price savvy sit on top that is very adaptable to fishing. Bill will be doing a full report in a future blog. For now Check out more info on the boat here: JACKSON CRUISE

Drew and I were both using the ultimate river fishing kayaks, the trust Jackson Coosa. Check it out: JACKSON COOSA!
Here are a few pics from the day

Bill Was our Guide for the day. 

At the launch ready to go. 

Bill in one of the many braided river sections 

It looks warm, but it was clear and COLD! 

Drew working an Eddy. 

Spent a lot of time just enjoying the beauty of the river. 

I was teaching Bill how to surf on this very friendly standing wave. 

Bill lining up for to catch an eddy. 

Bills catch. 

One of the biggest holes on the trip. I could imagine this being very fun at higher flows

Netting a trout. 

Enjoying the fly pole for the first time. 

Drew did amazing in the Coosa on his first trip out. 

Drew running one of the drops. 

Bill casting setting up to side drift a hole. 

My Coosa beached on a gravel bar. 

Another cool shot of Bill doing his thing. 

I love this boat! Can't wait to get on the river again. 

Trip Report: Merced River on the Fly

Yesterday I got the opportunity to fish my favorite river in the valley, the Merced. The Merced is far enough off of the beaten path that almost no one goes there to fish, and even those people that do fish it don't float it, so the only access a very small portion of the river. Now I know what you're thinking,"Isn't the Merced closed to fishing from October 31st to January 1st?" It is true that the portion of the river below Crocker-Huffman dam (anadromous waters) is closed to fishing from October 31st to January 1st to protect the salmon that spawn in the river, but we found a stretch that runs from Merced Falls to Crocker-Huffman Dam. Since this portion of the river is between 2 dams, no salmon spawn there so it is never closed.

Brrrr! Got out to my truck in the morning to leave and it was totally iced over.

Drew, one of my co-workers, and his buddy arrived at the put in promptly at 6:00am. In order to access this stretch of river you have to paddle across an afterbay of lake McSwain and protage around one of the dams, so I wanted to get there early so we could start fishing at first light (my WAF account was low, but since the co-worker that invited me isn't available often, I was allotted a half day and wanted to maximize my fishing time).

Our launch. Beautiful day.

Once our paddle and portage was complete, we arrived at the promise land. In the hole below the dam there were trout jumping everywhere! We spread out and started fishing. My co-worker, his buddy and myself were fly fishing and Drew was throwing a spinner, so we had the artificial bases covered. Within 5 minutes we had all caught and landed our first trout. We then proceeded to catch another and another and another.

First fish. Caught on a San Juan worm.

Even with technincal difficulties we still caugh fish.



Doing some rigging.

Working the hole below the dam.



Double!

It was literally either hooking up or at least getting a strike every cast. From that first hole we caught and landed 20 plus trout, although I will admit that we caught so many I lost count. The fishing was even better than anticipated! On top of the fishing being great, the hole below the dam had a perfect eddy for side-drifting in my Coosa, so I got to land several fish while in my kayak. All happy campers, we proceeded to float the rest of the river. Being that this was the first time I had floated this stretch of river and I was on a time crunch, I only brought one fly rod and it was rigged to nymph, which allows me to fish deeper water. Most of the riffles and runs we encountered were broad and shallow and would have perfect for swinging streamers, so less fish were caught in the rest of the river than could have been. Oh well, I will be better prepared next time. I still picked up about 10 fish during the rest of the float, bringing my overall total to around 20 fish landed and around 60 fish for the group. You can't ask for a better day than that.

Drew with a 14 incher.

Nice fish with Coosa in the background.

Look at the tail on that thing.

This stretch of river is broad without very many overhanging obstructions. Not only that, but, there are several eddies which allow those in kayaks to safely side-drift, allowing avid kayak fishers to catch fish while in their boat. Overall, this is the perfect kayak float. See you on the water.

-Bill

One happy fisherman.