Kayak Steely Doggin

No love from the springer God’s the day before so we battled ice, snow, sleet & rain to launch on an unnamed dropping coastal river. Bobber doggin from the kayak allowed access to drifts otherwise out of reach from the bank. A great camaraderie of experienced fishermen; I had the pleasure of witnessing a skilled veteran navigate & fish most corners of this river with the grace of a drift boat. The stars aligned for me this day & a personal record from the kayak emerged.

Hen

The Predator.


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Very impressive!!

No love from the springer God’s the day before so we battled ice, snow, sleet & rain to launch on an unnamed dropping coastal river. Bobber doggin from the kayak allowed access to drifts otherwise out of reach from the bank. A great camaraderie of experienced fishermen; I had the pleasure of witnessing a skilled veteran navigate & fish most corners of this river with the grace of a drift boat. The stars aligned for me this day & a personal record from the kayak emerged.

excellent, beautiful fish.   I'm still looking for the right stretch of steelhead river here on the central coast to bobber dog from a kayak...

Fantastic!  Way to score on such clean fish, and hatchery clipped at that!  I used to kayak fish for steel in NorCal, and man it's a kick hooking one of those beasts from the 'yak.

I'm still looking for the right stretch of steelhead river here on the central coast to bobber dog from a kayak...

Same here.  I'm alright with bank fishing, but I really want to get my boat on one of the larger systems for some good ole side-drifting and boondogging.  Or bobber-dogging, since that seems like a popular method on the snaggier rivers.

Fantastic!  Way to score on such clean fish, and hatchery clipped at that!  I used to kayak fish for steel in NorCal, and man it's a kick hooking one of those beasts from the 'yak.

I'm still looking for the right stretch of steelhead river here on the central coast to bobber dog from a kayak...

Same here.  I'm alright with bank fishing, but I really want to get my boat on one of the larger systems for some good ole side-drifting and boondogging.  Or bobber-dogging, since that seems like a popular method on the snaggier rivers.

Roger the Siletz, Alsea, & Siuslaw are good rivers for this method as well.

Right on Clayman, looking forward to your report! I don't make it to float down south as much as I should anymore.

Side drifting/boondogging is one of my favorite ways to fish but from the kayak, especially paddle, bobber doggin is really so much more effective for me for many reasons including less snags. I prefer long stretches of water, dragging my business through the zone at a speed that matches the current for as long as possible without effecting its natural drift by poor mending or not mending at all. The bobber acts as an indicator for my drift lanes & with my gear dragging behind it I know exactly where I'm fishing. Reading the behavior of the bobber when your effectively doggin, it will tell you exactly what water column it’s fishing & the depth of the section it’s in. In a yak there’s boat control & multitasking while trying to mend your line & that bobber acts as a buffer for error between you & your terminal while you paddle & fish. This method is effective with almost any type of terminal & this winter it even worked on the Deschutes using fly gear, stoneflies & nymphs.

That's so excellent!!

Beautiful fish MS!! You've been on fire man!!

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Incredible! Great job guys


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Fantastic!  Way to score on such clean fish, and hatchery clipped at that!  I used to kayak fish for steel in NorCal, and man it's a kick hooking one of those beasts from the 'yak.

I'm still looking for the right stretch of steelhead river here on the central coast to bobber dog from a kayak...

Same here.  I'm alright with bank fishing, but I really want to get my boat on one of the larger systems for some good ole side-drifting and boondogging.  Or bobber-dogging, since that seems like a popular method on the snaggier rivers.

Roger the Siletz, Alsea, & Siuslaw are good rivers for this method as well.

Right on Clayman, looking forward to your report! I don't make it to float down south as much as I should anymore.

Side drifting/boondogging is one of my favorite ways to fish but from the kayak, especially paddle, bobber doggin is really so much more effective for me for many reasons including less snags. I prefer long stretches of water, dragging my business through the zone at a speed that matches the current for as long as possible without effecting its natural drift by poor mending or not mending at all. The bobber acts as an indicator for my drift lanes & with my gear dragging behind it I know exactly where I'm fishing. Reading the behavior of the bobber when your effectively doggin, it will tell you exactly what water column it’s fishing & the depth of the section it’s in. In a yak there’s boat control & multitasking while trying to mend your line & that bobber acts as a buffer for error between you & your terminal while you paddle & fish. This method is effective with almost any type of terminal & this winter it even worked on the Deschutes using fly gear, stoneflies & nymphs.

Some really good points on the bobber-dogging technique.  The only bobber fishing I've done is drifting eggs for Chinook, but that was from the shore.  You running your baits/jigs a foot or two off the bottom?

Since I'm new to this area I'm pretty foreign to all the big rivers around here.  So my kayak steelheading might have to wait until next winter, after I've scouted the rivers during low flows in summer and IDed the ideal floats.  Unless, of course, someone here with river experience wouldn't mind showing a new guy a little 411  .

Great looking pair of fish. Congratulations.  The weather doesn't look to bad either.  Looks like a new photo of the month to me.

In a yak there’s boat control & multitasking while trying to mend your line & that bobber acts as a buffer for error between you & your terminal while you paddle & fish. This method is effective with almost any type of terminal & this winter it even worked on the Deschutes using fly gear, stoneflies & nymphs.

For trout or steelhead?

Yeah buddy!   

Awesome!
Rivers let alone steelhead, are not easy out of a kayak!  Great job!

I have never caught a steel head before and looking at your pictures I just can't get over how big a tail those guys have.  Looks like they would put up a heck of a fight.  I am going to have to find a place to go fishing for them.

Nice catch, congrats