Swinging Flies and Dodging Crystal Meth Addicts on the Russian River

Nothing out of the ordinary here

It's been a while since I've done any real fishing. I've been getting my fix by going down to Crissy Field and casting for surf perch but haven't had any luck.
Today I was finally able to get a few guys together and take a day trip up to the Russian where we had heard there were some nice Chromers being caught. I was excited just to get out since I had never fished the Russian.
I was surprised at how beautiful the river was. I guess I thought that since it was so close to the Bay area it would be less scenic or something.

I was also surprised at the number of people walking around some of the little towns we went through that looked like they were either homeless, on speed, drunk, or all three. The first spot we fished was called "Johnson's" I think. It was right in town and there must be a halfway house or homeless shelter right where the parking lot is because there was a bunch of guys just hanging around, clearing their throats, hacking up lungs and bullshitting with one another. I didn't catch any of their conversations. Between the coughing and the "Fuckin A's" i don't think anyone could understand anything they were saying. It was about 6am.

There were 20 guys at this first spot that were throwing spoons and various other spinning gear. We fished for nothing for about 1 1/2 hour and hit another spot down river. Nothing...Nothing all day. We were mostly swinging little Comets and Wooly Buggers.

Big Surf at the Coast

In spite of the crowds, no fish, low water, and crazy ass junkies the day was awesome. We saw an otter eat a Coot too. That was pretty rad. I felt bad for the Coot but the otter was so happy about his kill that I had to laugh. He ate the head and then went around chasing more Coots. He must really like Coot head.