Posted on Dan Blanton's forum:

Posted by Bill Hutchinson on 2012-01-23 14:19:45

Now that the Russian River is blown out for a month, I can post a fishing report about my home waters without getting a ration of crap and dirty looks from my fishing buddies – they hate crowds and I can’t blame them. The Russian will not be fishable now for 3-4 weeks …assuming it doesn’t rain again.

Most of us who have fished the Russian River believe this year’s run was the best in over 30years. The no rain December and the dry first 15 days of January allowed us to see and fish this once great Steelhead fishery daily – and witness 1000s of fresh fish enter the system on a consistent basis.

The season started off good in December, but once the mouth was opened up on 1/11 after being closed for about a week and river backed up 12 miles …..the schools of Steelhead poured in like we have never seen. It was like we heard about the conditions in the 1950’s when the Russian had runs up to 80,000 fish per season …and those were WILD fish. Today’s run are probably 80%+ Hatchery.

The week of 1/12 – 1/19 had EPIC fishing. Many Anglers had 4-5 fish days …some 10 fish days on Flys. I heard about one guy landing over 20 on Spoons last Thursday before river got blown.

My best day was fishing with my buddy Tom …fishing out of my Pram. We both landed 5 per rod, and hooked over 15. We had 2 doubles!! Each day I took a new friend and only 1 guy got skunked.

I hope this season can produce many more in the future. We had a good year in 2007, maybe these fish were the offspring of that spawn …..hopefully it continues.

Enjoy the pics …the video of Tom is a real kick!

YOUTUBE VIDEO of EPIC Steelhead Fishing Day on Russian River:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5ASmMyz9QI