I dropped by the Pink Salmon parking lot at the Russian River Campground and found it about 80% full of cars and campers. It is after lunchtime so the morning run is probably over, but I’ll check out the water anyway. People are fishing, and I Can See The Red Fish. The red colored fish don’t fight like the fresh silver ones but I haven’t gotten a picture of a fish from the Russian River.
I watched these two fishermen, in the perfect holding water, land 4 red-colored male Red Salmon. I talked with one of the guys later and he told me: 1) That they were here in the morning and there were silver colored salmon then; 2) They are hanging around because they heard of a 5 PM daily surge of fish; and 3) That the red colored males are basically “zombie fish”, all spawned out.
As it was only 2:00, I laid out all my wet clothes, aired out the van, and wired in a new 12 volt cigarette plug for my hot pot to make coffee, instant potatoes, and morning oatmeal. After two hours in the sun, my merino wool clothes smelled great. I didn’t, but all is well and I make sure to stand away and downwind from people.
I got out to the river at 5:00 for the afternoon run of fish, that never showed up. After getting my waders on and heading down to the river, I, of course, fell in quickly and was too tired to fish. I gave my spot to the two men in the picture, who had no luck since no fish were there. I spent my time, not fishing, but sitting on logs, gaining my energy, to eventually head back to the parking lot.
I did get my gear on and fish. More about that tomorrow.
Tight Lines!