Umpqua or Sunset Beach....

I haven't posted since introducing myself a while ago.  I am a NCKA veteran and am in the process of moving north.  I just arrived today at my father-in-law's place in North Bend.  I figure the next day or two will be spent helping him around the house.  Hopefully this will result in gaining some points with my wife and getting a day to fish.  If granted, I need to choose between the Umpqua for smallmouth or Sunset Beach.  I used to fish the Umpqua when I was in college and fell in love with the smallmouth there.  I had a 51 fish trip once that took all of 3 hours.  Plus I've never had my kayak in a river, so that would be a blast too. 

On the other hand, it is always fun to go after lingzilla.  Of course, anyone who wants to go will be welcome...if I choose the salt I am hoping that coosbayyaker will be able to show me the ropes at this locale.  I'll post again when I get permission from the boss.

P.S.  I just got back from alaska...I'll save anybody who doesn't want to read about that....it begins below

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was born in Alaska and my mom and several other family members still live there.  All of my family lives in the Wasilla area, which is about 40 miles north of Anchorage.  My family and I arrived on June 11th, so getting a few kings on the local rivers should have been a given.  Unfortunately, this part of Alaska is seeing record low salmon runs.  One of the best rivers in the area (the Deshka) was completely shut down a few weeks after I arrived due to low salmon numbers.  When they shut it down, the run was about 1/8th of average.  I did fish it twice, once with a group of brothers who are friends of mine and guides on the river.  One of the brothers was off duty, so I fished with him and the other two brothers had clients.  A full day on the water with 3 boats and 10 anglers = no fish.  Unheard of at this time of year on the Deshka.  I also fished the Little Susitna hard for a day with one hit and no fish.  I pretty much gave up on king fishing after that and focused on family activities which included a wildlife boat trip out of Seward.  The wife, kids, auntie, grandma, and I had a great time, but I kept wishing I had a rod in my hand.

I also had a chance to spend a couple of days floating the Kenai river with a group of high-school buddies as part of a bachelor party (thats how we roll!  ).  We were fly-fishing for rainbows.  We ended up with a few each, but again, not normal fishing.  I can attribute this lack of fish to the water being high and the salmon not socked in yet, so it wasn't as depressing as the king fishing.  We did see a nice sized black bear and a small griz.  I wasn't the photographer and I am still waiting for the pics, so I appologize for not passing them on.

Hey Nomadic, I moved up here from the Monterey Bay area(Santa Cruz) five years ago. Are you moving to North Bend?

Conditions are looking pretty bad for the Big Blue the next few days. Friday or Saturday might be the soonest days and early in the morning until the set your clock winds come up.

but i'm sure there would be 2-3 of us that would fish the Umpqua with ya. I hear the flow is coming down and the SMB fishing is picking up. I've never fished the Umpqua and i am looking forward to racking up one of the big smallies that i hear are in the Umpqua. Let me know what day your thinking, hit me with a PM the day before or something.


TONIGHT...N WIND 25 TO 30 KT. WIND WAVES 7 TO 9 FT. NW SWELL 5 TO 6 FT AT 10 SECONDS.

TUE...N WIND 20 TO 30 KT. WIND WAVES 6 TO 9 FT. NW SWELL 4 TO 5 FT AT 10 SECONDS.

WED...N WIND 25 TO 30 KT. WIND WAVES 7 TO 9 FT. NW SWELL 3 FT. 

THU...N WIND 20 TO 30 KT. WIND WAVES 8 TO 10 FT. NW SWELL 3 FT. WIDESPREAD FOG.

FRI...N WIND 30 KT. WIND WAVES 9 FT. NW SWELL 3 FT.

SAT...N WIND 30 KT. WIND WAVES 9 FT. NW SWELL 3 FT.

Nomadic, I almost forgot you were slowly on your way up here.  Hope the move is happens smoothly.  Good luck on the fishing, try and hook up with Roy if you can.

Brian

After organizing the garage, a trip to the dump, and installing new baseboard heaters, I have earned a half-day fishing trip.  I will be able to make it to the Umpqua around 1 pm tomorrow.  Anybody want to go?  I haven't floated the river since I was in college, so I will have to do some scouting on put ins and take outs unless any of you have recommendations on a good float.  I may just have to pick some frog water to stay close to the truck if I am by myself. 

After organizing the garage, a trip to the dump, and installing new baseboard heaters, I have earned a half-day fishing trip.

 

Your WAF building formula seems about as stringent as mine, enjoy your half day of fishing.