I’m on the Russian River near the town of Cooper Landing. I relaxed this morning and went out for brunch again. Then, on to Pink Salmon parking lot to access the river. I took my time getting all my gear ready, and befriended a guy who has been fishing here for 30 years. Case in point, he flew up since the cost of driving was so high. He is staying in a small truck with shell flush to the cab. I asked him if he was renting it, but he stated that he just kept it stashed up here.
He gave me 3 flies for this river, and I, of course, lost two of them. However, I have the materials and can them in less than 2 minutes each, three if I have a beer going. This man was awesome. He told me that finding the salmon was the hard part, and catching them was easy. However, the Red Salmon are not in the river and we are in between runs.
He did state that he saw “an old guy” catching trout in a riffle. I’m heading there tomorrow instead of swinging flies when no fish are present, yet. I am coming back next month when the run “should” be doing well.
On to my story. I got my gear on and slowly headed out and down the stairs to the river. If you have been following my blog, you know what happened. You Know What Happened. Yes, on one step my right calf decided to seize up and spread tendrils up to my sore knee. I was hobbling in pain, but, I was Hurt and not Injured. I was able to walk to a fishing area that had a shallow riffle. I fished it for 30 minutes, losing two flies to submerged rocks, and then moved on. Of course I was too winded to move quickly, so I sauntered and tried a couple more spots.
With Advil and a muscle relaxer I plan to make it down to the riffle that held trout, and trout fish my way back to the van. As for my next adventure, I don’t know where I’m staying Friday night, but you can be assured that it is known for having fish and is currently fishable.
Tight Lines!