Willamette trip out of the kayak 4 February 2012

[bass]

Hit the Willie with a fellow kayaker on Saturday for some C&R sturgeon fishing. The bite was good. I landed 7 and my friend landed a couple in about 5 hours of fishing. We ended the day with a double, but unfortunately my friend's fish wrapped him up on something. I also had my first jump from a hooked sturgeon and that was really exciting.

Here is a picture of my best one for the day.

 

[Kevinb5688]

Nice fish man.

 

[alm21]

Nice, must have been a great day to be on the water in a kayak. Fishing from those looks fun. Man, I bet that river will be slammed once it opens for retaining them.

 

[PNW Sam]

Very nice!

Did you see any logs floating down? I was surprised today to see a large log floating down in Salem, seemed like a long time after the flood for debris that big to be coming down still. Seems like it could be quite a hazard for people in small boats, but I guess maybe not as bad as some guy in an 18' jet boat cruising along at 45 hitting one.

 

[bass]

It was an amazing day to be on the water. There was some debris (trees, etc) coming down but it was not too bad. The worst is certainly when the river is rising. I am not going fast enough when moving for debris to be a big danger. The biggest danger is to have one pull you under via your anchor rope. Thus, I always anchor facing upstream so I can see what is coming and I have a quick release on the anchor. Between those two I feel pretty safe.

I certainly am enjoying the relative solitude of the river now. I am sure that for the few days the Willie is open for retention that it will be a might busy

 

[joesnuffy]

I am sure that for the few days the Willie is open for retention that it will be a might busy

If I'm driving across the state to fish the opener, you know a lot of others will be too.

See you on the water!

 

[minnowmagnet]

good job on catching all those fish. I have been fishing a lot in the Sellwood Bridge area from my kayak. A lot of big logs and such broke free somewhere and came at me while anchored yesterday. Luckily the current was not too fast, but I didn't notice all of them in advance. I was wondering how you manage to fish in the current while anchored from the bow in your kayak. It seems like you would get an awfully stiff neck. Anyway, nice catching out there. I think I might have to brave the circus next Friday and take one home.

 

[bass]

good job on catching all those fish. I have been fishing a lot in the Sellwood Bridge area from my kayak. A lot of big logs and such broke free somewhere and came at me while anchored yesterday. Luckily the current was not too fast, but I didn't notice all of them in advance. I was wondering how you manage to fish in the current while anchored from the bow in your kayak. It seems like you would get an awfully stiff neck. Anyway, nice catching out there. I think I might have to brave the circus next Friday and take one home.

It is not as nice as anchoring from the stern but it is not bad. I tend to cast a bit to the side and keep my rod perpendicular to the kayak off that side. Also, I have a rudder on my kayak. Sometimes I turn it a bit give me a bit of an angle. The actual fishing is no big deal. The hard thing is fighting the fish (if you do not drop off anchor). Since I am facing the "wrong way" I have to push my rod (instead of pull on it). In the end it is easy to re-hookup to my anchor drop off anchor most of the time for keeper sized fish and above. For me I think the safety aspect is worth it.

 

[minnowmagnet]

It is not as nice as anchoring from the stern but it is not bad. I tend to cast a bit to the side and keep my rod perpendicular to the kayak off that side. Also, I have a rudder on my kayak. Sometimes I turn it a bit give me a bit of an angle. The actual fishing is no big deal. The hard thing is fighting the fish (if you do not drop off anchor). Since I am facing the "wrong way" I have to push my rod (instead of pull on it). In the end it is easy to re-hookup to my anchor drop off anchor most of the time for keeper sized fish and above. For me I think the safety aspect is worth it.

thanks for the response. Maybe I'll try anchoring that way next time out. My anchor trolley makes it easy to switch positions whenever I want. I'm with you in that I like to unclip from my anchor-line for just about any fish in the keeper range or bigger. I have been unclipping A LOT lately!! It is also nice to unclip when massive wakes come at me, for instance, when the Oregon State Police boat comes by right next to me plowing at 12 miles an hour. Perhaps they are desperate for someone to rescue. Maybe I'll see you out there. I'm in the green Native Ultimate 12 with the rod bent over.

 

[bass]

A lot of the guys anchor from the back, but I am willing to give up some comfort for greater safety. I usually do not unclip for wakes, but sometimes I turn into them. There will be a lot of kayak anglers fishing around George Rogers park during the open days. This is a nice place to launch since powerboats can not launch there. If you want to meet some of the guys come on up while it is open. I am sure there will be folks out all the time. I am hoping to get out this Saturday.

For the Sellwood area do you launch from Sellwood park (that is where I demoed my boat)? I need to give that area a try one of these days. I keep looking at Ross Island Lagoon and thinking that it must hold a lot of bass in the winter. See you out on the water one of these days. I will be in the yellow Outback - I will not be able to wave because I will be needing both hands to hold onto my rod

 

[minnowmagnet]

A lot of the guys anchor from the back, but I am willing to give up some comfort for greater safety. I usually do not unclip for wakes, but sometimes I turn into them. There will be a lot of kayak anglers fishing around George Rogers park during the open days. This is a nice place to launch since powerboats can not launch there. If you want to meet some of the guys come on up while it is open. I am sure there will be folks out all the time. I am hoping to get out this Saturday.

For the Sellwood area do you launch from Sellwood park (that is where I demoed my boat)? I need to give that area a try one of these days. I keep looking at Ross Island Lagoon and thinking that it must hold a lot of bass in the winter. See you out on the water one of these days. I will be in the yellow Outback - I will not be able to wave because I will be needing both hands to hold onto my rod

I launch from Oaks Park on the east side, which is free to park and has no PB launch. I would love to meet some other kayakers, but am pretty serious about getting a keeper this year, so I will be in the Sellwood area, which has been good to me. If you see me, feel free to swing by. I'll be anchored off of Dog Fight Beach this Friday. Any kayakers are welcome to join me as well.

 

[bass]

I launch from Oaks Park on the east side, which is free to park and has no PB launch. I would love to meet some other kayakers, but am pretty serious about getting a keeper this year, so I will be in the Sellwood area, which has been good to me. If you see me, feel free to swing by. I'll be anchored off of Dog Fight Beach this Friday. Any kayakers are welcome to join me as well.

You should post a shout out on the NWKA site. You might be able to get some folks down to meet up with you. There are a ton of folks who are planning on heading out. The only time I was at Sellwood park was when I demoed some kayaks last fall. Out of curiosity, at this time of year do you need to launch from the dock or is the shoreline accessible?

I doubt I will be able to meet up with you this during keeper season since at best I will be putting in a short day on Saturday and I can not take the yak out the following weekend at all since my daughter will be at the state championship swim meet. However, I will definitely make an effort to meet up with you one of these days soon. Best of luck on Friday!

 

[Noahk]

Hey guys. I plan on fishing GRs on Friday but was thinking about heading down to sellwood in the afternoon if we don't have any luck up river. How deep are you anchoring off of dog fight beach? Is that just down river from the bridge?

 

[Hendo30]

Sweet fish, man that looks like fun out there on a Kayak just cruising around and doing what we love to do. Nice going. Thanks for sharing

 

[minnowmagnet]

Hey guys. I plan on fishing GRs on Friday but was thinking about heading down to sellwood in the afternoon if we don't have any luck up river. How deep are you anchoring off of dog fight beach? Is that just down river from the bridge?

I will be anchoring in about 80 ft of water downstream from bridge. Listen for unleashed dogs trying to kill each other