No fish today...

[rogerdodger]

but a great practice run for fall Kings-

dropped at Tiernan launch at 9am, trolled a variety of lures and my GPS had me covering 9.5 river miles, stopped and tossed spinners several times, picked up at 1pm at Florence Marina. all my kit worked perfectly.

Pepper was great on the back today, no concerns in 1ft wind waves but she will not be going along during the salmon run- I will have my hands full dealing with other boats and more wind/weather and then (hopefully) a big fish to deal with...cheers, roger

 

[eugene1]

Nice to do a scouting run before the hordes of fish and folks arrive. The yak looks like it's well outfitted as well. There are lot's of boat wakes that you'll want to meet bow-first on that stretch! I've taken water over my transom due to boat wakes down there before, so be watchful. Just because there is a boat dock nearby means nothing to some of the sporties and even some of the guides.

What happened to your boat? Did you sell her or just want to get a second rig?

Best,

 

[rogerdodger]

Nice to do a scouting run before the hordes of fish and folks arrive. The yak looks like it's well outfitted as well. There are lot's of boat wakes that you'll want to meet bow-first on that stretch! I've taken water over my transom due to boat wakes down there before, so be watchful. Just because there is a boat dock nearby means nothing to some of the sporties and even some of the guides.

What happened to your boat? Did you sell her or just want to get a second rig?

Best,

the "Crab Bandit" (our old 16' Alumacraft) is fine and I added an actual seat at the driving position and another seat on the quad pedestal that Cabela's sells so it can move around. My goal is to focus more on getting family and friends into big fish with me on the net, sort of a "Family Fishing Guide"....

I have been pleased with the PA12 behavior in waves/wakes. It is 36" wide, 500 pound capacity, designed for big lakes, rivers, tidewater but not big ocean swells. The hull underneath is like 2 outer pontoons connected together, see image taken from behind with the rudder down. So it rocks a little like any small boat but then it really resists tilting further as you either must push one side down or raise the other. It is technically a SOT kayak in that it has an enclosed hull for floatation, sculpers to self drain the deck and it glides through the water with little resistance but it also behaves like a small boat, sort of a kayak and Livingston smashed together....

I also found that unlike trolling in a larger boat, I can make quick turns into waves and then back again without really upsetting my trolling run...and getting wet from rain or spray is part of the deal being low on the water, I have a great Kokatat dry suit (with relief zipper) for cold/rough conditions or splash pants when I just want to stay dry from the waist down....

I plan to use the kayak to fish mostly the stretch below the bridge (dropping a crab pot also), fishing off old town and across/up slightly from the marina, and also making the downstream run from Tiernan to Florence. And since I can solo launch/retrieve out of the back of our small SUV, when the Florence launch parking is full by 6am, I can launch whenever and use one of the "single car only" spaces and not end up parked half a mile away...cheers, roger

 

[bass]

Thanks for the report Roger. Sorry to hear that there were no fish, but it sounds like an operational success!

How much time did you spend on the pedals vs the electric?

 

[OnTheDrop]

That's sweet! Going to be a blast for the fallies.

I personally can't get 'em OFF my mind. It's almost here...

When is the earliest you guys get into them in tidewater down here? I assume a fish would be a rare bonus this early, but I do know they poke in here earlier then from where Im from up north.


Good luck and be safe out there,

 

[eugene1]

Sounds great Roger, I'm sure you'll be posting up pics of nooks in her soon.

Best,

 

[rogerdodger]

Thanks for the report Roger. Sorry to hear that there were no fish, but it sounds like an operational success!

How much time did you spend on the pedals vs the electric?

I was pedal trolling most the time, used the electric several times to keep speed while doing stuff, probably a total of 30minutes on electric while trolling, then the last stretch, from the N.Fork mouth to Florence Marina, put the pole away and used pedal and 50% electric both going dead into wind and light chop for about 30minutes....my 22amphr bat was at 12.6V when I got home (75% full), now thinking 14amp-hr probably would be plenty (I am running my sonar now off a LiIon bat that I build from 2 B&D 20V drill batteries, ~1 pound and ran my 1.1amp Elite7-HDI for exactly 4 hours with no interference from the MinnKota Digital Maximizer)...

my next reports should include fish, just about done with my engineering work... just one more experiment to test out a larger rudder, that is planned for early August...

 

[rogerdodger]

When is the earliest you guys get into them in tidewater down here? I assume a fish would be a rare bonus this early, but I do know they poke in here earlier then from where Im from up north.

others on OFF have way more experience with the Siuslaw but each of the last 2 years, I have hooked up a nook near the bridge in late August, the 24th last year (rat ran under the boat on our first netting attempt and I hesitated just slightly and the line cut...). I basically consider August 15 about the earliest to really think about getting one.

 

[OnTheDrop]

others on OFF have way more experience with the Siuslaw but each of the last 2 years, I have hooked up a nook near the bridge in late August, the 24th last year (rat ran under the boat on our first netting attempt and I hesitated just slightly and the line cut...). I basically consider August 15 about the earliest to really think about getting one.

Niceee. Well that isn't too long of a wait. Im drooling.


Tight Lines,

 

[mikeredding]

I basically consider August 15 about the earliest to really think about getting one.

DING......hit the nail on the head!

 

[bgdel]

Roger
bringing my PA12 to Winchester Bay for a couple of months starting8/1. Coming up from Las Vegas and would appreciate any direction you could offer on crabbing and fishing from the rig in the rivers. I would really like to see your rudder upgrade if possible, it needs it.
Thanks, great post and good luck with the fishing

 

[rogerdodger]

Roger
bringing my PA12 to Winchester Bay for a couple of months starting8/1. Coming up from Las Vegas and would appreciate any direction you could offer on crabbing and fishing from the rig in the rivers. I would really like to see your rudder upgrade if possible, it needs it.
Thanks, great post and good luck with the fishing

bgdel- you are coming up at a great time of year if you like salmon fishing and good crabbing, kings first and then coho start in later September and right through Oct. (Siltcoos lake is between Winchester and Florence, great lake for Coho starting mid-Oct, 1 per day, 5 total for the year, I plan to be casting spinners there from my kayak many days, at least until I am tagged out)....

Winchester Bay is larger than our tidewater here on the Siuslaw (our tidewater is just a wide river right down to the ocean, we can get 2' wind chop but no big swells unless you get into the mouth/jaws), and you will deal with lots of big boats at Winchester. Best crabbing is probably down near the ocean, you probably would have good salmon trolling water above Reedsport where it narrows but I have not fished the Umpqua yet....lots of people on this forum know that water well and can help, post a thread under the Umpqua and you should get lots of replies...I have a couple of kayak guys thinking of coming over for a kayak outing at Siltcoos, waiting on their schedules, I can PM you if we set a date for that in case you want to come up and join us, keep in contact if you want to coordinate some king trolling on the Siuslaw...cheers,roger

 

[bgdel]

Thanks for the thoughts about the area and I would be interested if you get a kayak outing going. I will get back with you on doing some trolling for Kings
Don

 

[JeannaJigs]

That looks awesome, but haha no way I'd be out there battling the boats, tooooo many idiots. So it's pedal and electric power, that's pretty interesting I didn't even know such a thing existed.