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It was worth a shot.

Started by JMiller, December 13, 2015, 18:43:25 PM

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JMiller

Had been watching the winter flows stabilizing on the gauge and noticed the unseasonably warm temps in the forecast, so I alerted ARonthefly to fake an illness or something so we could get the yaks out on some warm water before actual winter decided to show up and shut the brown fish down for the next few months. In truth, I fully expected it to be slow, but hoped we might dredge the deep pools and get lucky with a  big walleye. 
We'd been planning on running this section for a while. Neither of us are what you'd call real whitewater kayakers, but the American Whitewater website characterized this float as "Class 2-3" and advised paddlers to have "some skill at maneuvering and avoiding obstacles" before attempting this run, so we decided to take our chances despite the frigid water and lack of actual whitewater boats.

Always great to start a day heading down a dirt road.   

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Dropped the Taco off at the takeout and headed back upstream to get in the river.

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When we put in, the air temp was about 43. Drysuits probably would've been a good idea. Instead we just cranked down our wading belts and PFDs. If one of us flipped, we'd get wet, but we had extra clothes in dry bags. AR also brought along one of those fire logs just in case things got urgent, but like Billy Joel, we'd end up not need it. 

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We hit a few little riffles right off the bat. They were no problem, and we both started thinking this was going to be a piece of cake. We weren't having much luck with the fish, but the scenery was nice.

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After a couple miles and a big flatwater stretch, we heard a low rumble off in the distance. As we came up to, we figured we'd better get out and have a look.

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Hmm....

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Hell, might as well run it.




No idea why the quality of that video is so bad. Looks great on my phone.
Anyway, it turns out that section was a little more difficult to maneuver than it looked like. And it also turned out that the rest of our paddle would be through similar type rapids all the way down. Some a little worse. While the fishing was slow, it really wasn't a problem because just making it down the river took plenty of time, energy and attention.

Along the way, we also passed this crazy looking rock in the river that resembled some sort of ancient and mysterious grain storage structure.

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Yours truly.

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So anyway, it was a hell of a  time. And the majesty of an undeveloped river never disappoints. AR managed to catch two smallies, I got the skunk. And wouldnt you know it, the one picture I got of a fish was totally out of focus.

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Thanks for looking. Keep fishing. Mahalo.

"The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."


― Charles Bukowski

Transylwader

You speak pidgin? Small kine?

JMiller

"The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."


― Charles Bukowski

Dougfish


Transylwader

Quote from: JMiller on December 13, 2015, 18:53:10 PM
Quote from: Transylwader on December 13, 2015, 18:51:22 PM
You speak pidgin? Small kine?

Wut bra? You like die haole?
Haha. Proper kine. I lived in Haleiwa and Pupukea over 3 years and loved it. Haoles...hmmm. can't be labeled on coz I int murican! I got fucked up at Backdoor in 97' but lucked out when DaHui beach patrol saw my Saffa ass bobbing around. Aloha state is legit. Miss me my braddahs and the ono sushi. Great peeps.  Glad you got out JM. I fished the Savage in MD. Found Leroyyyyy

bmadd


JMiller

Quote from: Transylwader on December 13, 2015, 19:00:55 PM
Quote from: JMiller on December 13, 2015, 18:53:10 PM
Quote from: Transylwader on December 13, 2015, 18:51:22 PM
You speak pidgin? Small kine?

Wut bra? You like die haole?
Haha. Proper kine. I lived in Haleiwa and Pupukea over 3 years and loved it. Haoles...hmmm. can't be labeled on coz I int murican! I got fucked up at Backdoor in 97' but lucked out when DaHui beach patrol saw my Saffa ass bobbing around. Aloha state is legit. Miss me my braddahs and the ono sushi. Great peeps.  Glad you got out JM. I fished the Savage in MD. Found Leroyyyyy

Well, I got stationed out on Oahu from roughly 2001-2004, and while I definitely did enjoy my time there, I was definitely ready to come back to da mainland to experience the seasons again. I actually used to have friends go out and take pictures of the creeks I used to like to fish and mail them to me. Homesick, 19.
I did make a lot of good friends there cause I got really into riding DH mtn bikes which the locals were into. Never did pick up surfing because I don't like the beach. Like the ocean, not the beach.
"The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."


― Charles Bukowski

JMiller

Bmadd, if you or Granny or whoever else want to fish some time just shoot me a PM.
"The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."


― Charles Bukowski

Onslow

Love this shit.

Hey, whenever you run ledges, sluices, boils, keep paddling.  Your set up was perfect, but you/someone stopped paddling as soon as contact was made with the backwash.  Keep that forward momentum/paddle to prevent the boat from spinning.

Onslow

Oh, bonus points for mocking Yeti :laugh:

Dee-Vo

Very nice! I'm debating chasing the smallmouth myself.  y;

JMiller

Quote from: Onslow on December 13, 2015, 20:38:04 PM
Love this shit.

Hey, whenever you run ledges, sluices, boils, keep paddling.  Your set up was perfect, but you/someone stopped paddling as soon as contact was made with the backwash.  Keep that forward momentum/paddle to prevent the boat from spinning.

Well, that wasn't me but I did the exact same thing. So I'll just hammer on through next time. Thanks for the tip.
Was actually pretty impressed with what the boats handled in terms of standing waves and drops and whatnot. The whole thing was a lot of fun.

Thanks for the nice words y'all.
"The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."


― Charles Bukowski

NCsporksman

I like it, thought about going this weekend, thats as far as I got

Awesome shit, any mursky in that crick?

JMiller

Quote from: NCsporksman on December 13, 2015, 22:09:35 PM
I like it, thought about going this weekend, thats as far as I got

Awesome shit, any mursky in that crick?

Allegedly.
"The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."


― Charles Bukowski

RiverbumCO

I liked the political reference.
My real name is Chad Farthouse.