Kasilof in a Drift Boat

[puterboy]

Could anyone offer some pointers on running a drift boat on the Kasilof for a novice to intermediate oarsman? (Ive done to Upper Kenai several times in friends Drift boat, and dozens of times in an inflatable, but dont realy "drift and fish" /backtroll that section of the river, and the hazards while there, are fairly obvious)
Is the Kasilof pretty similar in technical skill level? Any gotchas? What are the available (public) pullouts?

Would like to take my new boat out for some kings, but dont want to push my current skill limits.

Any feedback appreciated.


thanks

puter.
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[danattherock]

Call Jimmie Jack Charters

Call Jimmie Jack Charters

I Have Jimmie Jack Charters Booked For A Float Down The Kasilof In The Last Week Of June. He Is One Heck Of A Nice Guy And I Feel Certain That He Would Point You In The Right Direction So To Speak. You May Even Consider Booking Him For A Trip On The Kasilof And Let Him Tell You Stuff As You Go Down River. You Can Find Him By Google Searching Jimmie Jack Fishing In Soldotna. Great Guy.
Dan

 

[Tom L]

I'll bet that your biggest navigational hazard on the Kasilof will be the other drift boats. There's a few rocks, but technically it's easier than either the Cooper Landing bridge to Sportsman's or the Sportsman's to Jim's landing sections of the upper Kenai.

I typically put in at the state parks launch just upstream of the Sterling Highway bridge, then float down to the private launches at either Coho Cove (off N. Coho Road) or Trujillo's landing (off Kalifornsky Beach road). I think it's $5 to launch and another $5 to park at the state parks site, and if I remember correctly, it was $7 to take out at Coho Cove last year. There's a commercial shuttle service but I cannot remember their name or number. Maybe somebody else will chime in.

Hope this helps -
Tom

 

[Bob Ball - Piscatorial Pursuits]

Not much to worry about running the river of you have any experience on the oars. Of bigger concern probably is to go with the flow with what is normal ettiquette on the river. Some holes are always rowed through w/o prolonged anchoring ... watch the crowd and do as they do

If lauching at the bridge, as I assume you will, you can pull out at Coho Cove, Trujillo's (7 AM - 7 PM only) and Kasilof River Cabins as the lowermost ramp.

 

[Bullelkklr]

shuttle

shuttle

Is cohoe cove CG up for sale? Anyone know whether they will be running shuttles this year?

Anyone have contact info for Trujillos?

 

[liv2fish87]

kasilof

kasilof

i took my drift boat on it this weekend, and ill probably never take it there again. it was extremely shallow and a huge obstacle course that got in the way of fishing. Also to add cooper landing to the jims landing is WAY easier than the kasilof. Granite i did float from tustemena down... the shallow water and slac water make for an irritating float. If you put in at the bridge and float down to cohoe that would be ok for your boat. you have about 3 obstacle courses of rocks to avoid and youll be set the rest of the way. If i go back there, which wont be till next year for steelies.... im taking my cat.

Kenai is about the easiest river ive ever floated....Dont take your eyes of the river at kasilof... your beer will fall over.

 

[Bob Ball - Piscatorial Pursuits]

Wait two weeks and half those rocks will be gone ...

Wait two more and half those will be gone ...

Wait two more and there may be only one left showing in the whole river

Bad time of year to go from the lake down unless you like bangin' in slow motion a bunch

 

[bryasch]

just to let you guys know trujillos is no longer letting people pull out

 

[Bullelkklr]

jaime

jaime

I also called Jaime and she is not running shuttles this year.


Anyone want to do a shuttle for this Sunday?

I am using my 1 man cats - so low water won't bother us much. It didn't look too bad at the bridge last saturday.

Maybe take the bicycle and just ride it back to the bridge.

Can we pull out at Cohoe? Can you float down to public dipnet access and take out there?

I may just drive it on Sunday and see what is what before we try.

 

[rippinlip]

You can pull out at Cohoe Cove.

 

[Bullelkklr]

how far

how far

how far is cohoe cove back to the bridge on the road?

 

[markw3]

how far is cohoe cove back to the bridge on the road?

Might be ~3 miles... but that's just a guesstimate.

 

[liv2fish87]

hmm we did tustemena down to cohoe the first day, and the second we did just the bridge down. if your fishing, and ill give you a very good spot...it will take roughly 3 hours, maybe 4.... but i had a fish that had to of been over 35+ inches break my dud line a couple times. he kept rising... if your just floating it will take an hr. Not much steelhead fishing in the lower as the upper though thats for sure. I think of the lower more for kings. we must have caught a dozen steelhead on the upper, only 2 that reached over 30 in. though. Still a good day of fishing. But a VERY long float

 

[TYNMON]

hmm we did tustemena down to cohoe the first day, and the second we did just the bridge down. if your fishing, and ill give you a very good spot...it will take roughly 3 hours, maybe 4.... but i had a fish that had to of been over 35+ inches break my dud line a couple times. he kept rising... if your just floating it will take an hr. Not much steelhead fishing in the lower as the upper though thats for sure. I think of the lower more for kings. we must have caught a dozen steelhead on the upper, only 2 that reached over 30 in. though. Still a good day of fishing. But a VERY long float

Did u catch any radio tagged steelhead?? USFWS has been tagging steelhead and coho for two years now on the Kasilof..

 

[Bob Ball - Piscatorial Pursuits]

how far is cohoe cove back to the bridge on the road?

Our summer residence is immediately downstream of Cohoe Cove. It's .6 just back to Cohoe Loop from Cohoe Cove and another .7 back to Crooked Creek State Rec site from there ... I'd guess that's about 1/3 of the way to the bridge, so I'd definitely say 4+.

 

[liv2fish87]

well

well

i know that it is 2.1 miles from the bridge to cohoe cove road wise. its really not that long of a float

 

[Bullelkklr]

Thanks -

Thanks -

I will google it too - that is totally do-able if we take the mountain bike to shuttle ourselves.

 

[Bob Ball - Piscatorial Pursuits]

Plenty doable by mountain bike ... outside of the first 100 feet out of the ramp, it's flat as a pancake.

We're in Anchorage for another day or so right now. When we head back down, I'll get an exact mileage for ya.

 

[Bob Ball - Piscatorial Pursuits]

Of course, as most of us knew, longer by car than by boat:

from the southern end of the bridge to the entrance of Cohoe Cove Campground, the odometer read 4.5 miles

 

[Bullelkklr]

thanks

thanks

Thanks Bob - I got 5.1 miles on googlemaps - good nuff. We will float it on sunday - hope it isn't raining down there like it is in anchorage.....

It almost looks like last summer outside right now