Klickitat Kings

The Klickitat is a fantastic river that holds some of the biggest fish and most scenic landscape in the southern part of the state of Washington. This place is special to me & it's always a pleasure to drift & fish it's waters.
If anyone is interested in getting into some giant kings and steelhead on some river water, you're welcome to join me for a drift fishin experience of a lifetime. Weather, water, & woman permitting, I will be floating a 12 mile stretch of the upper river on Thursday the 23rd. This part of the river is through a canyon & has limited road access & therefore almost no pressure. I have floated & fished this section in a drift boat but this will be my first time in a kayak. Si dios quiere, I'll be putting in at sunrise at Stinson flats & floating to Klickitat. Tight lines gentlemen!

Hugh

PM Sent!

Tight lines,
Chris

Sounds like good times 😊 Wish I can join you.
Have fun and hope you catch em!
Take care

Can't wait to hear the report!

I made this trip a week early due to a poor forecast from both the weather and the woman. I was just aching to get that Klick fix.  Fred & I arrived at the Klickitat Canyon Market at sunrise and dropped off an extra set of keys to have the 4Runner shuttled down to our take out spot at “The Slide” just upriver from town. Contact Carl # 509-369-4400, they conveniently open at 06:30AM. It was a beautiful day of sunny clear skies around 62 F when we finally put in at Stinson Flats and were greeted by a pack of wild tom turkeys. Flashbacks of “Deliverance” passed through my mind as we unpacked our gear for the ride of a lifetime. Several fly fishing guides were loading gear & clients into their DBs. They were the only people we saw on the river all day.
Considering my general lack of experience, I was apprehensive about the quality of my egg cure so I had a Klickitat old timer take a look at them. I felt more confident after he gave me thumbs up & sent me on my way with more pep in my paddle. I was excited to try my first batch of cured eggs that were harvested from a native hen I picked up on the Nehalem in August. Fred in a Hobie Mirage (pedals out), & me in my humble Trident 11, we set off down the river rigged to back troll a Brad’s diver above a Spin-n-Glo with bait, drift Vibrax spinners, and float bobbers with bait. The first mile after Stinson has a couple of hairy rapids with some nice holes scattered between them. Not a friendly place for our kayaks & Fred immediately began to have difficulty controlling the Hobie in the strong currents. The Hobie is just too heavy & bulky with a slow reaction time to maneuverability…wrong tool for the wrong job.  White knuckled & teeth gritting, Fred left the rod holstered for most of the float & stayed focused on staying “sunny side up.” October river levels had averaged around 600 CFS, although I would later learn that it had climaxed at 800 CFS this particular day.  Riding the class 2 to 3 rapids in a sit-on-top kayak is not for the inexperienced, ill-equipped, or faint-hearted. This was one of our lessons for the day.
As we floated along I frequently would spot huge dusky chinooks darting out of the way while I cruised over the top of them in 2 feet of water. There are so many fish in this river it’s incredible. With super fishy holes around every corner, each one is so difficult to pass up because you just want to make that one cast to see what she’s holdin. Fred would stop every now & then to repack & down size the clutter that was weighing down his Hobie. All the fallen trees & limbs hanging over the water threatened to snag any equipment protruding from the kayak, especially the salmon net & free rods. Minimizing your gear & storing it appropriately was yet another essential lesson for the day. (KISS Method).
Meanwhile, I took advantage of our rest spots & worked on finding an effective method of presenting the diver & bait while safely maneuvering the fast currents. The contour of the Klickitat riverbed is defined by its’ extensive basalt strata that promotes fast moving water with deep holes & overhangs. I was having difficulty back trolling because the river was moving way too fast to anchor or back paddle. I focused my efforts on areas where the river narrowed into fast runs of water that slowed & pooled on the inside bend while running deep against basalt rock on the outside. Facing upstream, I began paddling to maintain stationary along the seam of the current while dropping my line in the fast water and watching the diver dig as the tip of my rod danced. Employing my rudder & paddle, I found I could gracefully weave in & out of the fast current to present my bait throughout the edges of the run. Adjusting your paddling speed allows you to slowly drift back down stream to drop your bait throughout the length of the run.
   
It’s important to note that this could be very dangerous if the current takes control of your kayak, quickly flipping you over & dragging you downstream. It’s also essential to make sure you have a long enough “runway” to turn & fight the fish before entering another major rapid downstream from where you’re fishing. This method seemed a little unorthodox at first but felt right as I studied its’ presentation throughout the current. It wasn’t long before my rod buried down & started peeling off line behind me. Fish on! I dug deep with my paddle & simultaneously pulled hard left with the rudder as I grabbed the rod & proceeded to be dragged down stream sideways. I fought the fish down a series of currents and haphazardly attempted to make my way to the bank. My “runway” was coming to an end as I saw the next rapids quickly approaching. Somehow I was able to turn the kayak downstream in time to stabilize myself against a tree on the bank, much like a bug desperately hanging onto a windshield. I let the fish continue to peel off line and subsequently fight against the fast current when she attempted to rest. Using this time wisely, I organized myself & deployed my trusty salmon net just in time to free myself from the tree. I reeled in fast, praying she wouldn’t run again, and swung the net under her as I pulled in with all the gusto I had left in me. Quickly securing the netted fish with my foot, I continued to ride out the rapids until finally settling on the opposite bank down river. There was a split moment where I actually debated cutting the line to save myself…but what the hell was I thinking. There’s definitely easier ways to catch fish and by no means was this the hardest fighting native Chinook I’ve ever had on my line. Although, it was definitely the hardest fish fight I’ve ever been in & the adrenaline rush took quite some time to wear off (oh shit that’s the addiction).
Fred & I decided to cover some miles to make up for lost time. In the last mile of our float the current slowed to a nice 3 mph flow that offered some good opportunity for bobber fishing. It wasn’t long before Fred hooked into a hard fighting Jack that had some nice bright red meat. This was a nice finish & a great surprise considering Fred actually didn’t get much time in fishing. Despite such a beautiful stretch of pristine river, the Klickitat offers a vast amount of fishable water and it was completely unnecessary to float the entire 12 miles of river by kayak. We could have stuck to a 3 mile stretch and fished that all day. Yet another hard lesson learned.  I will be back, but it’s going take some time for me and my gear to recover from such a wild river. 

Now, that's a report!

Thank You!!!

-Mark-

Great Fun Adventure! That river is so beautiful :]
Thanks for the wonderful read.