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Spring Chinook are nearly as mythical as steelhead. Persistence, skill, tools and a really lucky day are key to success. My recent trip to the Willamette River was heavily weighted on the last one. Work had consumed me for the past month and I needed a day in the kayak. I woke up Sunday morning torn between fishing for trout or salmon. Based on my previous salmon trips, I was leaning more towards trout. But, I also wasn't interested in driving two hours in hopes of catching a couple large trout that had recently been stocked in Timothy Lake. Besides, it was cold on the mountain. I spent an hour getting ready and as I pulled out of the driveway with the trailer and kayaks I decided I would mull it over on my way to get coffee. I had two fly rods, a sturgeon rod and a salmon rod and gear so no matter what choice I made, I was prepared. I walked into Safeway, grabbed three nearly expired yogurts that were 50 percent off, and stepped up to the Starbucks coffee stand. I ordered ...

So far this winter has set records for warm temps and little snow in the Oregon Cascades. Drought is not in the picture so far since there has been no shortage of moisture. However, instead of snow, we have seen a lot of rain and rivers that flow high and muddy or low and clear. Monty, a new kayaker, joined me on a couple trips this winter. the first on the Willamette during one one of the high and muddy flows. The second on the lower Sandy River during a break between the rains. Both were learning experiences. The Willamette provided me a chance to secure two boats on one anchor. I chose this idea because anchoring a kayak in a big, cold river in winter is one of the most dangerous parts of kayak fishing. Since Monty was a rookie kayak angler, I wanted to be as safe as possible which meant anchoring my kayak and then having him bring his kayak alongside mine and lashing onto it. The idea proved effective, although it took a couple tries to get the anchor to stick. When it fin...

The spring fishing season started with a surprising successful trip to Hagg lake on opening day. The surprise was finding a pod large of rainbows on Scoggins Creek arm. The Hobie proved its worth that day easily pedaling from the Sain Creek arm which had frustrated me that morning.      The following weekend wasn't nearly as successful but I did land another big stocker. During the next couple months, trips to Harriet Lake, Benson Lake, Willamette River, Tillamook Bay, Deschutes River, Columbia River and Swift Reservoir were all mixed with some days outstanding while others a total bust. The trips are all recorded on my YouTube channel.             The weekend before 4th of July was the highlight of my summer so far when my son, Sam, and I joined friends of Western Rivers Conservancy on a four day float trip down the John Day River. The canyon was stunning and the guiding and support from Little Creek Outfitters  made it a trip that...

A calm morning fishing for sturgeon on Tillamook Bay. I n my desire for new adventures in the kayak, one topping the list is catching a sturgeon on a fly rod from my kayak. I have told many fellow anglers about this quest and most looked surprised, skeptical or intrigued. None have laughed.       It's a complicated task and there are many people, including me, who have caught large sturgeon from their kayaks. There is even a handful of people catching sturgeon on fly rods in British Columbia on the Fraser River. However, I have yet to find anyone combining the two.        With the Willamette so close to home, I have ventured several times to the "willy" in hopes of catching one of these ancients on my 12 weight. Last summer I had identified the "perfect low tide" and marked the calendar. On that beautiful fall morning I launched my kayak from the Milwaukie boat ramp a couple hours before the low tide. With the low water and ...

I rarely am ever satisfied with my hobbies and I am always trying to make things complex and interesting. When I first started kayak fishing, I took a very basic Old Town Otter and transformed it into a complex boat that helped me take third place in my first kayak fishing derby - which took place while the Willamette River was nearly at flood stage. Needless to say I was totally hooked and the next weekend I bought a real sit-in fishing kayak. I tricked it out, bought another, modified it (I still have it) for fly fishing and sold the sit-in. The Hobie Outback is proving to be my favorite ride so far and I keep modifying it as I continue to explore kayak fly angling. My current obsession involves shooting video while fishing on the kayak. Of course I started with one camera (an Olympus Stylus 1030), and shot some great video and stills. I then borrowed the GoPro Hero my wife had. I then decided I need to capture audio so I bought a Kodak PlaySport and added the wide angle lens....

First a quick update on the boat. The fix worked and boat is not leaking. I am fairly certain it will hold since I have spent more than 30 hours in the kayak since I fixed it. Regarding the rash, I switched to my breathable waders and the rash is no longer and issue. When the cold weather returns, I should have calluses. Now to the important topics. I have spend many hours since my last post fishing for spring salmon in the Willamette River. With the water visibility at less than 20 inches I spent significant time trolling herring with a flasher. In the main river, the closest I got was when I reeled up my line and the herring had bite marks. A couple of my boating buddies landed fish so I spent a day in my sled trolling herring and spinners but that proved pointless as well. On every trip, my 12 weight, the Deep Water express tips, and a variety of large flies accompanied me and were tried in rotation with the bait. One day, that included a short incoming tide (I always try to f...

I have fished for 40 years but I still keep discovering I have much more to learn about fishing, especially kayak fishing. Last week while salmon fishing from my Hobie on the Willamette, I noticed that the kayak was acting unstable. Instead of remaining flat in the water, it was wobbling as I moved side to side. I opened the hatch in front of my seat and discovered the Hobie had about four inches of water. I would later discover I had a tear in one of my scupper holes (click here to see a video of the tear on the kayakflyangler Youtube Channel). What I guessed happened was that the cart slipped down while I was unloading the kayak and got bound up in the scupper hole. I did some research and found out that Hobie's current cart has a pin system that keeps the cart in the scupper hole until the cart needs to be removed from the scupper holes. This was not something that was part of my original design. My new design includes this design element. And, with the reinforced scuppe...

Spring break meant a couple days off and after waiting for the storms to pass, I headed to Tillamook with my son to do some "research."  It's always great to do fishing research and the coast offers many opportunities. Primarily, I wanted to check out some kayak launching areas that I had scoped out on Google Maps, but wanted to see first-hand, especially at low tide. I also hoped to do a little fishing in Cape Meares Lake with the Hobie Outback. I brought along the Redfish 10 hoping to talk Sam into some kayaking. Click here to see the video. Driving down the Wilson River canyon, the river looked like chocolate milk in a blender - brown and frothy. Although the river was wild, the canyon was spectacular with little waterfalls dotting the canyon walls, adding to the existing torrent. Rain splattered the windshield during the hour drive to Tillamook, letting up only when we reached the west side of the bay. There we were met with stiff winds creating white caps on Cape ...

One of my quests this spring is to catch a spring chinook on a fly from my Hobie Outback kayak. In this quest, I have my Okuma Guide Select 12 weight, Okuma 10/11 Integrity fly reel loaded with 300 yards of PowerPro braided line, a Rio T20 sinking head, an 850 grain SA deep water express sinking head and, arriving today, a set of salmon trolling flies. I posted the details of my quest on the Northwest Kayak Anglers with a mention that I would even use "gravy" if the opportunity arrived. That comment generated the most posts and a good discussion of what constitutes fly fishing. With the arrival of these flies I expect the use of any "gravy" will be limited and likely not necessary. I am excited to see how these flies react in the water. They are designed to run behind a flasher or dodger that would create more movement of the fly. Since I will be running them without  such hardware, I am hoping that the fly will at least spin, especially since I plan on using ...

When I was looking at the Hobie kayaks earlier this year, one of my primary goals was to use the drive to pedal backwards while fly fishing in the kayak. From the first time I fly fished from my little Otter kayak, I realized kayaks offered the potential to fish water unavailable to the those in float tubes and pontoon boats, the type of personal boats most fly anglers use. The primary advantage of pontoons and float tubes is the ability to  keep tension on the line when a fish grabs the fly (I talk about this in an earlier post). At Henry Hagg lake outside Forest Grove, I had my first opportunity to really test the mirage drive in reverse. I was quickly rewarded with a beautiful wild fish. You can see the video at my YouTube channel by clicking here . When I caught the fish, I was able to feel the take immediately, keep tension on the line and feel in control of the boat the entire time. The drive easily fit the slot in the kayak but I had to reverse the pedal settings so tha...

The first voyage with my new Hobie Outback proved a wonderous kayaking experience. I spent the previous week modifying my new boat in anticipation of this first trip. Once I launched, put in the mirage drive and started pedaling, a new world opened up. I was quickly going 3 and 4 miles per hour both up and downriver. I was able to turn on a dime and basically went anywhere I wanted. My first trip was in the bay off the Milwaukie boat ramp. I pedaled for an hour looking for sturgeon on the finder but saw only salmon. When I did find a group of sturgeon on the bottom of the river, tossed the anchor. My modifications worked flawlessly and I was quickly anchored in the Willamette. I tossed the line in and immediately got hung up on the rocky bottom. I unhooked the anchor release line, retrieved the fishing line and easily went back upstream and retrieved the anchor. I decided to try another location downriver and again easily anchored up and started fishing. What amazed me was the tr...