Sandy river kings

Not too long ago a friend and I had the pleasure of drifting the Sandy River in pursuit of coho and big fall kings with river guide Ed Fast, of Ed Fast River Adventures.  I highly recommend Ed if you are seeking a true professional guide.  What follows is an exerpt from our trip...

Remember, both my friend and I are mainly fly guys, so the casting of spin rods, and baitcast reels took us some getting used to.  I'll tell you the first 8 hrs of the trip seemed like a comedy of errors on our part.  The first run we get to had rods casting lures every which way.  At one point I somehow managed to wrap the line all around my rod tip.  As Ed began assisting me I looked at him and said, 'watch fish on'.  Wouldn't you know it as luck would have it sure enough, a nice fresh coho grabed the bait and as Ed and I struggle with the gear, which won't let drag out as its wrapped, off comes the fish!

Unfortunately most of the trip was like that, bobber downs, fish on, fish off.  However, the last hole it all came together and we got to very solid hooksets. 

Here's my result...

And Chad's...

Chad fighting one that got away...

Overall I loved the Sandy, never fished or floated it before even though its less than an hour from me.  Of course, it lives up to its name, it is very, very sandy.  I can only imagine the wear that can occur to gear if this river is fished regularly.