A thanks, and recommendation

Nice catch Lee, I was also on the Nooch yesterday.  Zee and I got off to a late start and ended up paddling/drifting the last 2 miles in the dark.  Great day to be on the river though.

Scott

Wow Lee, that is really exciting!! Well done and very encouraging!!
holt

Awesome Job!  Glad the clinics could help out a bit.   If anyone is interested in going to a Salmon university clinic comming up (March I think) I'll have about 10 tickets.  All I require is a gentlemans agreement that you will share whatever knowlege you learn guiding HOW events this Spring/Summer

Brian

Very well done, Lee! From start to finish, from obtaining the right info, going all the way to fishing a new technique with confidence on a new river....Awesome results! Your results are due to more than just "beginner's luck!" Thoughtful preparation, hitting the river when the fish are present, and at near-perfect river conditions ...all that is a pretty good formula for success. Those river levels were perfect for a first trip there, too! You might note that the Nooch gets a little swifter at higher flows, so you probably want to hit it again at similar levels, or definitely under 2,000 cfs in a yak.

 My buddy and I jumped the gun last Tuesday, going at least a day too early when the water was still too high and dirty with no vis. Then he went out with his son-in-law to the Satsop over the weekend and they got into some fish, too. He said the water was "gin clear." He showed me photo of a decent sized native buck that they released.
I've got to go replenish my tackle and rig up! We are going again later this week!

Again, Lee...AWESOME! Thanks for the report and pics!

Good job on catching a couple beutiful fish.  The fact that they were your first steelhead makes it that much better.  From a AOTY standpoint I believe getting out of the boat to fight the fish to the bank does disqualify them.  (not sure on this and ruling on the matter is not my call)  The other thing you should probably make a point to show in AOTY pictures is a kayak.  The pictures clearly show you, some fish, and a drift boat, but there isn't a kayak in any of them.  I'm not saying you didn't catch them from your kayak just making a friendly suggestion about the pictures you submit.  A word of advise from someone who lost points last year due to "questionable" entries is to try your best to leave no doubt about your entry.  That way at the end there won't be any surprises or hard feelings about lost points.

I hope this post doesn't come across like I am accusing you of anything cause I'm not.  If I were you I would ask the administrators for a quick ruling on your Steelhead that way if the points are taken away you still have lot's of Winter Steelheadin time to go and catch a bigger one. 

Yeah I see what you're saying and I asked BSteves all those questions when they popped up in this thread.  That river is easy to get down safely with a kayak, but there are tons of obstructions on the sides, mostly downed trees, and it would have been dumb for me to keep drifting while fighting the fish - not wanting to go swimming and/or get hurt, I got out and stood up.  It seemed logical to get out, and I don't have a drift anchor to stop myself.  If it's ruled that we can't get out for it to count, I'll just paddle up to the bank next time and pull it in sitting down!

Can't really say anything about my yak not being in the picture except that you'd be hard pressed to fish 5 people from that drift boat?  (and it's still sitting in my trunk, wet, cuz I've been lazy!)

None of these things crossed my mind at the time.  Once I got those fish on the line all I could do was be excited and think about keeping the line tight so they didn't get off!  I really didn't even think I'd catch anything that day.

None of these things crossed my mind at the time.  Once I got those fish on the line all I could do was be excited and think about keeping the line tight so they didn't get off!  I really didn't even think I'd catch anything that day.

It's amazing how that happens, huh?   

-Allen

If it were up to me I'd let you keep the points.  Making sure you land your first steelhead is way more important than AOTY points anyway. 

I think anchoring in a hole and fishing from the kayak is a popular way to deal with the floating with a fish problem.  I think BSteves and SPOT even admitted to anchoring in knee deep water to keep it all legal last year.  I just pull the boat over and fish from the bank most of the time cause I catch more fish that way, but they don't get entered in AOTY though.  My "tourney" fish get caught in the frog water at the mouth of the Umatilla.  There it's easy no anchoring or current.

Getting a useful measurement on the kayak is often difficult, and I have taken my official measurement photos from dry land (my driveway).  Currently there is no kayak inclusion requirement in the AOTY photo rules.  If the rules are going to be changed they need to be changed now rather than later. 

Personally, I am willing to trust the participant to enter only fish caught from a kayak, though this thread has pointed out what it means to be "caught from a kayak" needs to be defined.  I think "caught from a kayak" would require hooking and landing from a floating kayak.  "Floating" includes "floating while anchored".

Anchoring in 6" of water seems to be really silly to me.  If that's the case, when salmon season comes back around, I could just walk down to the Puyallup, anchor my yak at my favorite hole, and sit in it, right beside everyone else who's standing in the water in their waders.  Is that really the spirit of kayak fishing we're after with this?

I think safety should be the first consideration.  We're not talking about a large, slow moving, obstacle free river here.  Fishing from an anchored yak in 6" or even 3 feet of water seems like an excessively purist technicality. 

Anyone else who's been to the nooch, feel free to comment on the obstacles and safety issues.  Although negligible if you're drifting along with your line in the water, once you have a fish on, particularly a big one, you need to rapidly ensure a safe and manageable position - and I don't have an anchor. 

Zee? kykfshr? your thoughts on the safety of uncontrolled movement down this river with a 32" steelhead in charge of your destination?

I agree with Lee's train of thought.  However, it makes it more of a judgment call, and that is very hard to regulate in a tournament situation.  The line has to be drawn somewhere.  So, it is what it is ...

-Allen

Lee

You did the right thing by getting out to fight and land these fish.  Not having an anchor your only other option would be to paddle to the bank and hope the fish stayed on.  Freedrifting the Wynoochee or any other small to medium river while fighting a fish isn't a safe option. Too many sweepers, root balls, chutes, bends, and back eddies that will get you before you could land a fish.  No disagreement on the silliness of anchoring up in a foot of water.

Again congrats on a fine day of fishing

Scott