American River Fish and Cleanup

The American River Fish and Cleanup was the brainchild of Headwaters Fishing Team member Adam Koons. Adam and I had talked about doing a "Fish n Chill" event on the American when the Salmon started running. A Fish n Chill is what the Nor Cal Kayak Anglers club calls a non competitive event geared toward getting new and old members together to fish, relax and potluck. We wanted our event to double as a river cleanup, an idea originally brought to us by fellow NCKAer Jim Meier. Jim host a kayak fishing tournament series called "Fresh Kats" (freshwater kayak angler tournament series). This was his way of promoting and rewarding good stewardship of our fisheries. Usually at all Jim tournaments there is a large prize for the most trash collected. We decided to make this part of our event, and the Headwaters Kayak Shop got on board and donated a Wheeleez kayak cart to whoever brought in the most trash.

Soon after the event was posted interest started pouring in from all over Nor Cal. We had people RSVPing all the way from Paradise, the bay area, and surrounding cities. We quickly realized that we would need to get in touch with the parks and to get a permit and make this a ligament event. Thankfully Adam made the call and talked to the parks person about our plans. Not only did he make it easy to get our permit, but because it was based around a river cleanup he waived the fee, proving doing the right thing really has it rewards. Adam also got in touch with local artist Skinner to design a really awesome shirt for the event. A zombie salmon with some trash in his mouth. Gross sure, awesome absolutely!

The Fish n Cleanup took place on Sunday October 6th at Howe River Access on the American River Parkway. We all started rolling in at dark and watched the sun rise over the river. Mist was rising of the water and Salmon were rolling everywhere. Everyone quickly hit the water and begin working spinners as they drift down the river. Right off the bat as I was side drifting through the first bit of current and I got a hard hit. I was still half asleep and didn't set the hook in time, but it was enough to wake me up and get my attention. Unfortunately for me that was the only action I would get all day. My fishing partners and fellow team members Bam and David continued toward the Pump House near Sac State. This is where a lot of the guys were anchored up jigging the deep hole near the pump.

Bam standing and casting spinner in his Jackson Kilroy

Father and Son fishing the pump house.

Soon after we stopped by the pump house we saw James headed up river with what looked like loaded down kayak. As we looked closer we saw that James had two wood pallets strapped to his back deck. It was obvious James had given up on the fishing and went strait for the trash prize. 

We fished the pump house for about a half hour with no love so we decided to make our way down stream to scope out some trash. Team member David Fowler spotted a section of bank completely littered with trash. The two of us stopped and filled our entire kayaks with bags full of trash. It was simply amazing to see how people just throw everything right on the ground or into the river. 

Trash man David Fowler doing his thing.

Soon after David and I paddled off a young family walked down the beach and had a nice clean fishing spot, and a safe place for their kids to play. It felt good to see our small efforts immediately pay off. 

Soon after this we saw James roll by with his second score of the day. A partially submerged shopping cart.

Our crew spent a few more hours casting around and enjoying the beautiful fall colors before heading back to the launch. On our way back we heard some VHF radio chatter about someone boating a nice salmon. We quickly paddled up to the pump station to find our good buddy Ron with a 36" Salmon on board his yak. He caught him on a spoon, jigging near the pump house. This was Ron's first ever river salmon off a kayak and needless to say he was stoked. It towed him all around the river before he finally was able to net it and get it in his yak. 

One stoked kayak fisherman

                           

The best time of year to be on the river. 

Fall colors are intense right now.  

Mirror reflection.

With a nice fish in the cooler most of the crew decided to get back and get to the BBQ. As with all NCKA events the fishing is only a small part of the fun. The party really starts when the food gets rolling. We had smoked tri tip, ribs, baked potatoes, bacon wrapped jalapenos, BBQ'ed salmon, and more sides and deserts than we could count. As everyone enjoyed the food and conversation, we announced James as the winner of the trash pickup and presented him with his new kayak cart. 

Tim doing his thing

Can you say amazing! 

So when it was all said and done only one salmon was caught, but as a group we removed several hundred pounds of trash off the American River. Everyone really enjoyed the day. The weather was stellar, the water was flat, and the food camaraderie was as good as it gets! I'm always proud to be a part of these events and proud to be a member of the NCKA family.

Albion Open 2013. First Kayak Salmon!

Every year 100+ kayak fisherman migrate to the Albion River Campground for a four day ocean kayak fishing festival. The Albion Open is hosted by NCKA Member and Ocean Kayak team paddler Craig Davis. This years event was huge! Over 150 registered anglers and probably 150 more friends and family. The entire campground was filled to capacity, and the energy was electric the evening before the big tournament.

Bam and I got in Friday evening and set up camp. We made our rounds saying hello to old friends and introducing ourselves to new friends. We both planned on getting up before the sun to get to our spot so we hit the sac early. We tossed and turned with excitement and I don't think ether of us got much rest. Dispite our sleep we woke up early and finished rigging our kayaks. We had a little bit later start than we wanted, but we were still out early and the whole team with the exception of Adam Koons (Had a wedding) were on the water together. We had a plan to paddle south about a mile to some structure we knew had good fishing.

Along the way stopped a couple times when we spotted a lot of activity on the fish finders. We got into several schools of Black Rockfish and even a couple small lings. Then all of a sudden the fish finder started blowing up. I dropped my 8oz swim bait down with a small white shrimp fly tied on the leader. We were in about 80ft of water, and when it hit about 50ft.. WHAM. The fish took off. I knew I had something big when I started noticing a bow wake forming and I wasn't paddling. I fought the fish for about 5-10 minutes before I saw it flash under water. A big SALMON! The pressure was on because I've never caught a Salmon in my kayak and this one was big. The salmon took a few more runs before it wore itself out. The net I brought was big, but not big enough for this fish. Thankfully Victor was close by and let me use his to boat the fish. I put it on my game clip for a quick picture and the released it back into the wild. Why you ask? I caught it on a barbed shrimp fly while jigging for Rockfish, and it would have been an illegal catch. I was more than happy to get the shot and the release video. The rest of the day was stellar.

 

We each had a highlight for the trip. For me (Dan) was catching the Salmon.

Bam Caught a bunch of nice Ling Cod on his first trip to the Salt.

Bill landed a nice Cab and a bunch of Blue Rockfish on his fly rod.

Victor had a nice stringer of rockfish for fish tacos later that night.

As always the Nor Cal Kayak Anglers scene was incredible. Everyones willingness to share info, gear and food is unlike anything I have ever seen. The beer was free, the prizes were amazing, and as always the potluck was epic. We really could not have had a better weekend on the coast.

Thanks to Craig Davis for hosting this amazing event year after year. A lot of hard work goes into it and it really shows.

Here is a video of our trip including some cool underwater release footage.

                                         

A little bumpy water around the rocks. 

Bam and his first ever ling cod! 

Party Time at the Jedmo Nation. 

Catching Rockfish with a Fly Rod at Albion by Bio-Bil1

I'm always looking for something new to try when it comes to fishing. My latest goal has been to catch a fish in saltwater with a fly. Sounds simple right? Those of you who fish know that attempting a new technique can be a daunting task. Add to that the unforgiving conditions that are often encountered on the Pacific Coast and I figured it would easily take me a year of attempts to accomplish my goal. Fortunately for me Nor-Cal Kayak Anglers hosts their saltwater events at some of the best places to catch fish along the coast of California and so far this year all of the events I have attended have had ideal weather conditions.

Going into the weekend I was hopeful that I would be able to break out the fly rod, but at the same time I was being realistic and brought along conventional tackle as well. On the morning of the Albion Open the sea was totally flat. I though to myself," today is the day." I met up with Dan, Victor, and the latest edition to the team, Bam and we headed out. As we exited the mouth of the cove we had launched in we headed south. Right away Victor and Dan started marking fish and bait. Determined, I broke out the fly rod first thing and cast out, counting down to a depth of 40 feet, which took 80 seconds with the fly line I was using. It may as well have been an eternity. The other guys were into fish almost immediately, a school of black rockfish. I kept trying, but no luck. Swayed by the fact that everyone else was catching fish and I was getting skunked, I stowed the fly rod and deployed a swimbait. We all started catching fish, but I will let Dan tell you the details of that.

First Saltwater fish for me on the fly! A blue rockfish.

I started paddling in at about 10:30, since at this point we were fighting a pretty strong tide and paddling a fishing kayak isn't exactly a speedy process. I arrived at a cove with a bridge spanning across it and stopped to ask another angler if this was the cove we had launched from or if it was the next one to the north. I noticed another angler to my left catching small blue rockfish non stop. I paddled over toward him and out of the corner of my eye saw several white flashes as a school of rockfish darted away abut five feet below my boat. I grabbed my fly rod confident that I could catch at least one of these. I tied on a size 2 clouser minnow and chucked it out about 40 feet and let it sink for 10 seconds. I began stripping in the fly and within seconds I could feel fish trying to grab the fly. I paused my retreive momentarily and then stripped hard. Fish on! I saw the school dart away as the fish I had hooked tried to frantically free itself. I couldn't believe it. I had actually done it. The fish measured about 10 inches, but to me it was a trophy. I mean, how many people can say that they have caught a rockfish on a fly rod? Of course I didn't want anyone to say that it was just a lucky fluke, not to be repeated. So I continued working kelp edges, much like working weedlines for bass.

Beatiful colors! The facial pattern reminds me of a smallmouth bass

I ended the day having hooked 7 blue rockfish, and boating and releasing 6 of them. I could not have been happier. This was a day I won't soon forget.

One of my biggest of the day at 11.5 inches. Even though its small it still puts a good bend in a nine weight fly rod.

Spicer Meadows Night Paddling, Camping and Fishing

                                              Spicer Meadow Reservoir  July 27-29^th

^{Over the weekend I had a chance to mix two of my favorite hobbies kayaking and camping, which I have done many times separately but never camped out of a kayak.  I also threw in a little fishing when Bam and I went up to New Spicer Meadow Reservoir.  On Saturday the 27th Bam and I loaded up our Headwaters shop borrowed kayaks, the Jackson Cuda 14 and the Eddyline Caribbean 14 and set off for Spicer.  The Caribbean is one of my favorite boats in the shop for its light weight and sleek design.  I knew the 7 mile paddle to the other side of the lake wouldn’t be as tough with this great boat.   Dan Arbuckle came through for me with dry bags and showing me the proper way to load the Caribbean 14 with all of my gear.  The important thing is to make sure the load you are carrying is as close to the middle as possible so the weight is not all in the bow or stern.   I was able to put all of my gear inside or on top of the boat with plenty of room to spare.}

Geoff and Bam ready for adventure!

Loaded up and ready for a late night paddle. 

   

^{We left Lodi Ca, at 6:30 pm and were at the lake by 9:30 and on the water by 10:15.  This was my first night paddle without the help of a full moon.  The paddle was exhilarating and really gets your senses going when you cannot see that well.  Good thing Bam knew where to go!   Spicer is a smaller canyon type lake and the stars were out in force that night with the Milky Way very prominent in the sky.   Another cool aspect of this lake is the back half does not allow motor boats of any kind even trolling motors.    We made it to the end of the lake around 12:30 am found a great campsite started a small fire and grilled up some food before heading to bed.  The beautiful part about Spicer is there was nobody at the back of the lake.  We could have chosen anywhere to set up camp.}     

Geoff enjoying a little down time around the fire.

^{I woke up to lots of buzzing around my tent and realized the bees were working hard carrying pollen from the tall green plants surrounding the shore and wanted no business with us.   When Bam and I checked out the lake the trout were reacting well to hatching Callibaetis.  There was no wind in the morning and conditions were great to fish.  We quickly got to the lake and Bam set up his fly and me with a panther martin.   I think we slept in too much though as soon as we got going the wind picked up and the callibaetis took of for the shores.   We paddled to the where the creek came in to the lake and Bam hiked a bit to check out the creek and I stayed in the lake and kept at it with my panther.  I finally caught my first fish in almost two decades when I caught a nice trout.  We tried a little trolling but by the early afternoon the wind was really picking up and never died down till well past sunset.} 

Bam trolling a fly line. 

12"er

Geoff doing his thing. 

^{We ended up cooking up that trout with some scrambled eggs and potatoes and had a great breakfast.  Sleep caught up with the both of us and I woke up and Bam had a rainbow trout on the stringer.  He tried a bit of trolling with the Cuda 14 but still the wind would not let up.  We feasted that night on trout, grilled chicken and sausage.  Life just seems so much better when you have skewered meats sizzling over an open fire out in the middle of nowhere.    The next morning had us scrambling to break down camp load our boats and get on the water before the winds showed up.  We made it about two thirds of the way back before we got walloped with the wind.  We made it to the boat ramp and loaded boats and headed down the hill after a great camping trip.  Bam was great at getting me set up for fishing and I enjoyed camping with someone who loves it as much as I do.  If you are looking for a great place to kayak and camp with no crowds, and throw some trout fishing in, Spicer is my recommendation.} 

Great fishing with a beautiful backdrop. 

Advertising for the Headwaters. 

Our site. 

Headed out early to try and beat the wind. Get up GEOFF! 

Geting packed up. 

Loaded up and headed back. Amazing place and we will be back! 

Yellowstone Lake Fishing Expedition.

Yellowstone National Park Road Trip

 

Summary

Once a year my brother Mark and I pick a location to do an “epic” backcountry adventure. The last couple of years we have headed from Roseville California to the Bridger Teton Wilderness area. From a trailhead in Bridger we would start our 30 mile hike to the southern border of Yellowstone, base camp at Bridger Lake and then hike from there fishing the Yellowstone River for Cutthroat Trout. The experience and fishing have been phenomenal.

This year, 2013, I purchased a Big Tuna from Headwaters Kayak and started thinking about kayaking and fishing across the Yellowstone Lake, dropping our kayaks and then heading into the backcountry to fish the portions of the Yellowstone River that we have not yet gotten to. I brought this idea up to Mark and we thought this might be a new and exciting trip, something that we haven’t done before.

The problem was that most places only rent kayaks for the weekend and what they rent isn’t something I would want to take across the Yellowstone Lake. I was still in the process of ordering my Big Tuna and talking with Dan on how best to set it up when I told him of our trip and asked if he would be willing to rent us a Cuda 14 for two weeks. I told Dan the specifics of our trip and he said “sure ill rent you a Cuda 14”, Dan sat back and thought about it for a bit and said he would do one better.

Dan (Headwaters Kayak) decided he would like to Sponsor our trip by lending us a Cuda 14, a Go Pro and a waterproof camera to help document our trip!!!!! How awesome is that????Huge thanks to Dan and Headwaters for helping us and being a part of a trip that we are very much looking forward to.

On July 26^th we leave Roseville California heading to Yellowstone for what I hope to be an awesome kayaking, hiking and fishing trip. I will be documenting this trip via Go Pro, a camera and daily tracking via the Spot Device.

We will return to Roseville, on August 4th, 2013 and will share our pictures and video’s with Dan and the Headwater’s crew and other folks.

Yellowstone, here we come!

 

The Fishing

We have hiked into the southern part of Yellowstone a couple of years in a row. The hike takes us 30ish miles to get to a small backcountry lake (Bridger Lake). This spot is the most remote spot in the lower 48 states. We base camp there and then start hiking out and fishing the Yellowstone River which is about 20 miles from the lake itself. This year we are kayaking and fishing across the lake and then will hit the river and fish sections we have not yet been able to get to from hiking in from the southern border.

 

Fishing in Yellowstone National Park is different than the last trip because we were mostly in the Bridger Teton Wilderness area. Being in a wilderness area has fewer restrictions than being in a National Park.

 

For example:

You cannot fish in the national Park (Even though we will be deep in the backcountry) with ANY lead based products!!!  (One exception: Lead core line and lead weights greater that 4LBS )

 

So….

I have been on a mission to get the lead free gear I need to be able to fish both the river and the lake. Here is what I have found:

ACME fishing lures are all lead free – who wudda known…..They include

-       Spoons

o   KO Wobblers

o   Kamlooper

o   Little Cleo

o   Phoebe

o   Thunderbolt

o   And More

-       Kastmasters – not my favorite but hey they are not made out of lead

 

Rapala – Most of the divers are balsa wood and lead free

Eco – Makes Tungsten spinners

-       http://www.ecoprotungsten.com/eco-pro-spins/

-        

Dave’s Tangle free steel weight

-       1oz, 2oz and 3oz Steel with a plastic covered weight

-       http://www.davestanglefree.com/

 

And of course, my fly fishing gear is lead free

 

And a variety of other spoons and gear that took me awhile to figure out that they were lead free!!!!! A lot of research and extra money to make sure I was lead free!!! Well, I did cheat a little. I am using a couple of dipsy divers as well.

 

 I will be using three different rigs for fishing on this trip

-       Trolling rig  with 10lb test

-       Ultra light 6’6’’ pole for light casting and river use

-       Fly pole with both sinking and floating line

Here is what I am after!!

 

The Big Tuna – or as my wife now calls it – “The Big Kahuna Tuna”

-       I will post an updated pic soon

 

This kayak is bad ass!!!!

 

-       Fish Finder - Went with a Lowrance 4 Elite

o   With Dan’s help we installed the fish finder (Dan took pics if you want to know how it was installed – came out very clean)

o   Battery – I went with a 10amp/hr batt and ran the cables to a black pak that I purchased from Dan

o   See how I installed the battery

§  http://palmettokayakfishing.blogspot.com/2011/09/kayak-battery-box-for-2012-ride-135.html

 

-       Dan Installed a pulley anchor system

-       Dan Added Gear Tracks on the left and right side of the boat for a trolling mount and the mount for the fish finder

-       Yak Attack Black Pak – again, purchased from Dan

o   http://www.yakattack.us/Products/Products.html

 

The Details

The drive is going to take us approximately 14hrs (881 Miles). We will start driving as early as possible on July the 25^th and arrive sometime on July the 26^th. When we arrive we have to stop at the ranger station, check in, get our boats inspected, get our boat permits, watch a safety video and get our fishing permits. We will launch out boats from Sedge Bay and start the kayaking portion of our trip sometime late afternoon on the 26^th.

From Sedge Bay (5K4)

-       7/26/2013 Kayak and FISH!!!!!! to 5E9

-       7/27/2013 Kayak and Fish to 5E2

-       7/28/2013 Stay and Fish from the kayaks @ the southern arm 5E2

-       7/29/2013 Beach the kayaks and hike to 6C2 fishing the river along the way

-       7/30/2013 camp at 6D1 fishing all the way

-       7/31/2013 continue fishing the river and make our way back to either 6D1 or 6C2 – we are going to try and make is as far south as we can to fish the river and be able to make it back. We have made it as far as 6Y2 ish when we have hiked in from the south in prior years

-       8/1/2013 Make it back to our kayaks

-       8/2/2013 fishing along the way, make it to 5E9

-       8/3/2013 fish our back to the starting point.

-       Start driving whenever we get to the vehicle

 

Map(s)

 

 

 

Links

http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/upload/bctrip-planner_2012.pdf

http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/upload/YELL474_2012-02.pdf

http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/upload/13FishReg.pdf

 

 

 

Taking Someone out for their First Fish By Bio-Bil

I had a cousin visiting my wife and I last week and we needed something to do for a couple of hours while my wife went to Baby Gym. I asked her if she would like to go fishing and she said she would, so we loaded my Jackson Bid Tuna into the truck and headed to the Cosumnes, since I knew the bluegill were biting there from my Kilroy review.

Since I knew that flies would work and my accomplice had never been fly fishing, the deal we made was that I would hook the fish and she could land it. I really like using fly gear in this type of situation for beginners, because fly reels are very simple and intuitive to use. There is no need to worry about line twist or backlashes.

After about 20 minutes had gone by and no fish, I could tell I was starting to lose her. Luckily I spotted a bluegill in the water about 10 yards away and managed to get it to grab my fly.

We ended the trip after about 2 hours and six bluegill landed. Mission accomplished. She could not have been happier to catch her first fish.

Kirsten's first fish.

Best fish of the morning.