Russian River just upstream of Johnson’s Beach
We spent the last few days up along the Russian River. When I was much younger, I rode a bicycle from Sacramento up into Sonoma County then down along the river to the ocean and eventually across the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco. Not a bad way to spend a spring break. I never forgot that river and camping in those redwoods. I’d heard astonishing stories of huge salmon and steehead runs and promised myself I’d be back.
Nowadays it’s the wineries and resorts, not water temperature and clarity that dictate the pace of life around here. Looking for a room around Guerneville on the internet, I couldn’t help but notice the region is extremely gay freindly. “We have a dog, are pets allowed?”
“I’m sorry no they’re not.”
“Well what if I told you my dog is gay, would that help?”
“No pets allowed sir”
“OK OK! I get the message. And for the record my dog is straight.”
Hetero as the day is long
We eventually found an overpriced, run-down room that only charged us a $50.00 pet fee. Then we found out the area is still beautiful but the fishing absolutely sucks. The river is dying. Basically it’s just an irrigation ditch till it hits the resort area, where summer dams turn it into a swimming pool. I fished hard for two days and didn’t get any indication Shad were in the river. Wading upstream of Hacienda Hole, I did notice lots of small steelhead smolts drifting by in the current headed out to the Pacific.
Later in the week, the town began to fill up with people for Guerenville’s gay pride parade. We decided to head down the coast for some oysters on Tomales Bay.
