Kayak River Fishing?

Greetings.

I'm curious if there are any river fishing kayaker's on this board. I just went out yesterday and did a 6 mile drift fish/paddle and had a blast! I am definitely planning on doing it again.

I am wondering though— how people land fish from a kayak in a river situation?

Not only are you battling the fish, but you've also go to keep you eyes out for obstacles in the water (rocks, fallen trees/stumps, etc) while also managing a down stream current.

If I were to install an anchor system, that would be the first logical step but then the fish has the current to it's fullest advantage. When I'm playing the salmon/steelhead I just don't foresee how I can keep my hook set and also use my paddle to get myself to the rivers edge, which also assumes that I'm in a stretch of river that has a landing spot.

What techniques do you all use to land salmon/steelhead from a kayak in a river?

Thanks!

Cheers
Fshrmon

good question, I haven't run my yack down the river yet, but I'd probably do it the way I do my canoe, paddle down, find a secluded spot, & either beach & wade, or drop a weighted line, with a quick disconnect, their is stuff in that water that can take you out in a heartbeat, make sure that anchor line will let go, before it can pull you under, you may not even have time to cut it away.
small zip tie, or light twine to hold the anchor line to your anchor trolley, put some kind of float on yer anchor line to allow for recovery

   Fshrmon,
  You could try doing a "Bill Dance" number and just lip em.....wear kevlar gloves if you do......

   Seriously,I have done that and paid a bloody price.A smarter way would be to use a net.If you are planning on keeping the fish--wear it out,bring it to your boat,and scoop it up.Done deal.
   If you plan on C&R,then you will need to change tactics to protect the fish.Bring it in as quickly as possible,keep the fish in the water beside your boat,and gently remove the hool with long nose pliers or hemostats.Simply enough...
    If you are fishing fast water,say class 2 or better,things change in a hurry.Look as far ahead as you can and make whatever adjustments needed to safely land your fish.No fish is worth puting yourself at risk for.
    If this is an option for you--consider fishing estuaries and tidal water.The fishing can be fantastic and generally you'll be in bigger pieces of water where obstacles won't be too much of an issue.Bays and sloughs might be available too.There is always Puget Sound near your location.Good luck out there.

Most of the faster rivers offer the option of dropping your anchor.  For every fast corner, there's an eddy and for every rapid, there's a soft edge. 

Most of the faster river fishing is done on anchor (ie drifting eggs, bobber n jigs, tossing spinners).  Side drifting and pulling plugs aren't the easiest things to do from a kayak.

If you're fishing on the move, you're already in the softer water.  With a proper drift anchor, you just pull the line out of the cleat and let'r drop.  Don't forget to scope out some line so you don't slip.  If the fish decides to head for the ocean, pull anchor and follow.  This is the exception to the norm though.

Do a search on "Drift Anchor" for more info.

-Spot-

Greetings.

When I did a 6mile drift in my kayak down a local river with a buddy. The largest rapid we went through was at most a class 2.  We fished as we drifted in the non rapid sections where it was slower water, but still a current. When we found holes that we wanted to fish, we beached the kayaks and then just fished from the shore. Either method the kayak provided great access.

I don't know if I'd wanna pull plugs from a kayak, but I could rig up a scotty rod holder, drop anchor in a hole, and then pull a plug if I wanted two I guess.

Beyond plug fishing, I think one could totally drift eggs under a float just as you would in a drift boat but from a kayak. The greater challenge that a kayak presents vs a drift boat, is that once you've got the bite, you've got to manage your hook set as well as the positioning of the kayak. Unlike being in a drift boat where often times the person on the sticks will then take care of the drift boat while you play your fish.

My intention of this thread was that most of the people who kayak fish here do so in the salt, and I think the kayak is such a great vessel that it would also work well in our river systems here in the NW and I wanted to start a dialog about such an activity.

Cheers
Fshrmon

There are a few of us here who regularly hit coastal streams in the Fall and Winter.  Good idea to bring this back to people's attention.

To catch you up, here are a couple of links to old threads on the topic:

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,3905.0.html

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,764.msg5182.html#msg5182

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,2081.0.html

Hope that helps!

-Spot-

Thanks Spot!

Thanks for the links, those look like some good anchor systems/set ups. I gots me mind wandering now.

Cheers
Fshrmon