johnhogg
08-20-2011, 09:38 PM
A few days ago I rafted this stretch with my son Robby who is a professional whitewater raft guide and a licensed and insured fishing guide. He works out of Cal River Adventures, (calriver.com).
We used a 16 foot self bailing raft with oarframe, and a nice casting platform designed for standup casting in the bow. A 5 gallon bucket serves as a stripping basket - very necessary in a raft with all of its straps, and hooks and other potential entanglements.
We dressed expecting to get wet - which we did - as the stretch includes several attention getting Class III rapids, including the famous "Troublemaker", and a lot of Class II's as well.
All of the gear was kept in a big storage box that the rower sat on, and so our stuff stayed dry and safe.
This particular day we focused on streamer fishing, and a 300 grain 24 foot sink tip fit the bill just right, getting fly down quickly, and once it had swung into the pool or run that was our target, you just stripped like mad as fast as possible.
We caught both rainbows and browns. The takes were very hard, and we quickly learned that the fish would follow the fly right up to the surface, and if you pulled your fly out prematurely, you would miss a strike.
Attached are pix of a couple of nice brownies that we landed.
All in all a fabulous day, not only for the great fishing, but also the excitment of a white water rafting trip, and a scenic stretch of the river that is absolutely breathtaking.
We used a 16 foot self bailing raft with oarframe, and a nice casting platform designed for standup casting in the bow. A 5 gallon bucket serves as a stripping basket - very necessary in a raft with all of its straps, and hooks and other potential entanglements.
We dressed expecting to get wet - which we did - as the stretch includes several attention getting Class III rapids, including the famous "Troublemaker", and a lot of Class II's as well.
All of the gear was kept in a big storage box that the rower sat on, and so our stuff stayed dry and safe.
This particular day we focused on streamer fishing, and a 300 grain 24 foot sink tip fit the bill just right, getting fly down quickly, and once it had swung into the pool or run that was our target, you just stripped like mad as fast as possible.
We caught both rainbows and browns. The takes were very hard, and we quickly learned that the fish would follow the fly right up to the surface, and if you pulled your fly out prematurely, you would miss a strike.
Attached are pix of a couple of nice brownies that we landed.
All in all a fabulous day, not only for the great fishing, but also the excitment of a white water rafting trip, and a scenic stretch of the river that is absolutely breathtaking.