Cold, New Jobs, Flu, and a Puppy

Sorry for the hiatus. I have been busy. Busy with a new career, a new golden retriever puppy, and a long recovery from the flu that has still zapped me of my strength and energy 5-6 weeks later.

That being said, I did have two pretty awesome days on the water in March and April,

Check out the new puppy Charlie (girl)

I also added a couple new Wilderness Systems Kayaks: A Tarpon 100 angler package:

Stretching the Spring Legs 4/18/2015

My health hasn't been the best in 2015. Having a hard time getting all the way back to charging hard. The other bit is having to be on call for a couple of weekends a month. Have to stay in cell service. I made one such trip on the 18th water was up and pushing. The most beautiful Spring day I can remember.

Started out a tube bite:

This continued with chunky spotted bass and smallmouth. The tube bite kept my pace slowed. Just what my lack of strength could handle. Slow deliberate wade on a small stream. Lots of skipping casts and patience. Man, these fish fought hard in that current. Really made me remember why I fish for smallmouth bass.

Surely, there wouldn't be any monsters in this small creek?

Turns out the bigger fish wanted some rattle and speed to their crankbaits as the water warmed up. Bass were thick.

The largest fish went 19" and I'm guessing close 4 lbs, ridiculously fat.

16 SMB (19", 18", 16", 2-15")

Last Hurrah of the Float and Fly 3/28/15

High water and new winter hole I found along the road. If not for old mono, I could have had 10 over 16" to hand. All fell to float and fly dragging jig on the bottom overlined.

13 SM (19.5", 2-18", 2-17", 3-16")

AT Paddles Exodus Fishticks Review

In the past, I admit, I haven't paid much attention to paddle quality. I bought a paddle in the 100$ range that was light. Was it the right length, was it light? AT Paddles was kind enough to let my try out the Exodus Fishstix model kayak paddle designed for fishermen and kayak fishing. I used this paddle for the last 6 months on rivers, creeks and lakes.


http://www.atpaddles.com/paddles/fishing/all/exodus_fishstix

First impression, the camo color scheme was way cool. Useful if you ditch your boat in the woods for a shuttle, or making you really hard to spot on the river when "stealth" fishing. Fish might have a harder time spotting this as you paddle through the water as well. Matches my camo colored Commander 120 kayak. Next thing I noticed was how well built and unbelievably light this paddle is. AT Paddles website claims less than two pounds (30oz). Light. What this meant as I tried the paddle out, fishing is less taxing on my shoulders and arms throughout the day. I could easily one handed paddle to maintain position. 

When used to propel the kayak forward the carbon fiber paddle would kick or flex, as water was pushed out of the way. In wider kayaks produced today the paddle can be extended another 5cm via a ferrule system that locks into place.

Everyone who tried the Exodus Fishtix really enjoyed the lightness and the bend in the shaft to keep the paddle rolling off your kayak. The Fishstix stays in place. No reaching for a runaway paddle when the wind hits it.

By far the best paddle I've ever used kayak fishing. If you can afford one get one, if you can't afford one, get it anyways. AT Exodus Fishtix  paddle retails for around 350$. An absolute joy to paddle with.

Another December 30+ Smallmouth Bass Day, Hog on Hair Jigs 12/27/14

Float down, fish, drag and paddle back. Use Commander 120's ability to stand and fish to spot the "spots within a spot". River rising from slow drizzles, I knew this would push fish closer to banks, warming trend would have the bass in relatively aggressive feeding areas in the slow water. IE, on the slow seams. Water visibility to 18". Almost no sun. Again. Air temps in the 40's. Water temps seemed warm too. Employ float and fly as search or slow my  fishing mechanism. Turned out the warmer temps had fish wanting some movement. Fly jig fish on the bottom with lots of long pauses was the ticket.

First fish fell to a float drift along slower water near boulders, 14" and FAT. I hung a cast bad in a fallen thorn tree and had to retrieve, so no idea whether more were there as my boat floated over the hole. I had a feeling the normal position was mostly abandoned, so I floated down to where a water willow cleft diverted stream flow. In the dead of that eddy, a 11" fish hit right away on the jig. Next cast, I threw over by the seam. Quickly hit and a large headed fish fought like crazy, bending the 8'6" noodle rod to and fro. 17.5", then a 17", then a 15", some 13-14"er's, a fish rubbed me out on my own anchor line. My line broke on a decent one. 45 minutes later, I had 7 and a couple lost bass. These kinds of double current diversions can be a real attraction to smallmouth bass in the Winter.

Float down to the next spot took 10 minutes. Just a small cut to one side with a small eddy and undercut bank. I tossed the tiny jig up near the roots courageously, landing an inch or so from tangling roots. Inhaled quickly and a crazy battle ensued. Another 17"er eventually to hand. I climbed out of the yak and walked bank, in order to keep the jig presentation parallel to the back eddy the fish were facing downstream on. Two more bass in the 14-15" range. You don't want your line being swept along changing your presentation. Keeping out of crisscrossing fast current, crossing winds etc, is really important. Try to fish with the direction of the current and wind. Keeping the jig under total control helps to sense more bites. Before you leave a spot, always try the against current option as well. Got tired of the cell phone selfie face here:

Floated down to a major pool. It had changed. A 12" on one side (where they used to be), then just downstream a log pile on inside bend with depth. 15", dink, dink, dink, 16", 16.5". Time to head back (nearing 4PM with 5:30 "the get dark hour"). Long paddle and drag against the current. I used side channels to drag and paddle back up with less effort. The Commander 120 does this really well. I can swing my legs over the side to get out easily and it paddles upstream efficiently. Why use those rod holders so many kayaks come with? Keep your reel out of the water at the bottom of the boat. By the time I got back to the original hole, my reel had started to bind up.

So, a couple casts in, I'm fighting this dynamo of a bass all over the place. Fish goes under the boat, makes for my anchor rope, Nope.  Gets in the current. Nope. Unbelievable fish. 20" The Bass Pro Shops Microlite Float and Fly rod is a ton of fun to fight cold water bass on. I like the 8' and 8'6" versions.

Another 9 bass come to hand on the small black jig after the bruiser from dink to 15". Finishing out with 31. My second 30+ bass day this December surrounded by a string of mid teen outings. Shaping up as one of the better Decembers.

31 SMB (20", 3-17"-17.5", 5-16"-16.75", 5-15")

25 Degree Smallmouth 12/17/14

5th interview on Thursday, I set out to sow my Winter fish seed some more, before my time is taken up. 25 degrees. Water should still be warm from several days of 40's. I wanted to hit something I hadn't in a long time. I walked through the woods to a nice beaver hole. The wood on the inside bend was no longer there, but the deep (8') hole was. Caught a couple free lining on the back eddy with my 1/16th oz minnow head hair jig. One was short of 15". That was it. Too many leaves on the drop made presentation tough. I knew they were on a back eddy drop off, but that pile of leaves foiled repeated presentations. I mostly stayed warm. Another gray day, at times cold wind kicked up and I was glad I had sought a wooded stretch or the wind would have been much worse. Tried the eddy on the other side of 'beaver hole' to no avail.

Classic beaver hole report with JB: [url]http://smallmouthinyoursoup.blogspot.com/2008/03/another-high-water-bank-stomp-for.html[/url]

Not far above beaver hole is a choke point that causes an eddy to one side. I did a Hail Mary Float and Fly cast 25 yards to the still spot in the eddy. It dunked and a 14" came to hand. Nothing more for a while, so I started free lining. A dink then an 18.25" came off a near shore log. Catching at least one fish in the 18"+ range really helps me feel like the trip was a success, fires me up for a couple more, I begin to put together a hole hop que in my head, budget the time to do so, etc... Depends on the rate of catch and presentation speed.

3 spots fished and one more bass. I hit another and things get interesting. I find the school with a drift, then move to free lining the small hair jig. 7 more bass to hand including the below 17" and a 16". The last 2 bass pull free as my guides are ice and my reel is ice and my hands are ice and my feet are ice. Gear failure.

13 SMB- (18.25", 17", 16")

Winter Smallmouth Report 12/16/14

How to make these all exciting when I'm going again the next day?

Another good day. Hair jigs on the bottom. Two different spots.

15 smallmouth bass ( 17", 2-16.5", 5-15"-15.75") 4 rock bass, one golden redhorse.

Hot Winter Smallmouth Action 12/13/14

Got out with Gstump for some Float and Fly wade action, his first try. Smallmouth cooperated, if not the pigs.  Back eddies and lots of small dinks and 15"ers eating today.

BT 32 SMB-(2-16"-16.5", 6-15-15.75") Shiner, Goog

Gregg had at least 6 and 2 Rock bass, largest 15"

Successful Float Down, Catch Winter Smallmouth Bass, Paddle Kayak Back 12/11/14

Why do I enjoy fishing for smallmouth bass in the Winter? First, it's great to get outside and enjoy the outdoors. The actual fishing rewards attention to detail. It's different from the rest of the year, fish are concentrated, and if you've done your homework, rewards a very slow presentation. Dealing with all the weather can throw at you and still catching, no catching even more bass is a fun challenge.

Set out for a traditional float down/paddle back solo fishing event, or FLODPAB, if you need an acronym. I've done this in the Winter a few times on this very stretch. Each time successful, but often the distance is very much a challenge solo, paddling dragging back up. The best two holes are about 2 miles down. Large 100-300 yard pools, filled with boulders. I would paddle back, testing my WS Commander's ability to paddle against current. 32F, partly cloudy.

I paddled up and hit the first two eddies. Not much going on. Current was fast. I got to the next couple spots really fast. One was this side slot. The current seam flows right over a bunch of large boulders, which fish use. I knew from floating over one such eddy, that bass could be on the seam as I thought I saw one spook off. I parked the Commander above this notch, and here the open top kayak made an easy exit emergency beach storming the water willow jut.

 I got out and tossed float and a gray/chart/ white jig about 40" below the float. Cast it out into the fast water and dragged it into the slower current where I knew the boulders lay. Had problems focusing from the anxiety they may not be biting today, when the float sunk and my rod bent double on reaction. Win. I try to get the bass higher in the water column to avoid spooking any others. They rarely jump in Winter. This nice fight produced an 18"er.

15"er then, a fiesty 17" fish came not long after that. Seemingly picked off the shadow of a boulder I could barely make out.

Took the yak out on that seem and added another 15.75" smallie and a dink. It died not long after, So headed down to a series of two large pools. The first produced a dink and some carp spook puff clouds so I set out to the last pool, another notch in the side of a long pool. Dink LMB, then a 14" on float and fly. Lost one free lining the 1/16th oz hair jig along the current seam in slightly faster water than I'd drift. Headed back to the first large pool. Snagged 3 Quillback carpsuckers (one in the mouth). free lining. I stuck to this dead spot thinking smallies would be in there. Soon enough, my tiny jig got inhaled by a nice fish. Love the fights on this noodle rod. This bass was just short of 17". It was after 4PM. I had to paddle 2+ miles back to my car.

I soon realized there wasn't the usual eddies to paddle back upstream in. The Commander handled them well, when they were there. It was bank to bank blasting, at times, I had to wade directly against that and it was tiring. I was so happy to get back the first notch, I managed another 15"er and a second 17"er in the same spot. Ended up being an 18", 2-17", and 3-15-15.75" fish from that same spot.

Made it back to the take out with a herculean drag, paddle effort. I'm wasted today. Ahh.


11 SMB (18", 2-17", 16.99", 3-15-15.75") 3 Quillback carpsuckers to 16" (one hooked in the mouth)

Bushwacking Winter Smallmouth Bass 12/10/14

Fished a stretch I'd waded a couple times in Summers past. Good for numbers, but nothing huge. Wanted to see if I could find Winter holes and maybe a pig or two that went uncaught. Creek used to give up 20-22" smallmouth on a semi regular basis, but has seen a drop off by all accounts since 2008-2009. It's fished ok for me, but seems a shadow of it's former awesome self. Still, worth a look in Winter for that 20" plus potential.

You have to be able to fish undercut banks and tree scour holes. A lot of silltation fills in most else. So I thought I'd gallop up to a few holes and try them out. Water was pumping (nearly 200 CFS), clear to about 2.5-3'. Air temp 36 degrees. Once again, not much sun. Stunned my first high fish population area seemed to have no slow water. Bank to bank fast current. I kept going, maybe a mile. Found a pile of long dead downed trees. Out in the middle, I faintly saw some very large carp spook away and come back around. The only slack was at the tip of the roots upstream and under the logs downstream. Pricker vines thick as my hair made it difficult to get the under the downstream tree trunks. Didn't seem as deep as upstream anyway. I climbed on the middle of the logs and free lined a float and fly jig parallel to the trunk. The stillest part just down from the upturned root ball.

Finally, a thunk brings an 11" dink to hand. I had already burned too much time. Tried to get the little jig under the trunk as much as I could in the still water there, only 4-5' from blazing current. Another thunk. This time a much bigger bass, run after run and trying to unhook on roots and branches. Nope. Not while I see your every move from just above. Fat and yellow, in my hand, and 18". This changes things. Look for wood and back current.

Ahhh, was hard work, but stumbled across them. A quarter mile upstream, in an eddy created by outside bend and downed trees, my float sinks twice. First a 14"er. Then a 16", fat, goes hog wild and jumps 1' out of the water with 30's water and air temps! Crazy fish got in the current and put on a show. A micro dink and I head back to the wood, pulling another 14". I slog back and try another spot. Walking on a tree again, this time my luck isn't there. I see a couple decent smallmouth jet out from under the upstream rootball as I step down it to get a better look. Close to dark I call it quits. Lots of walking, kept the numbers down. Pretty pleased anytime I can find new wintering spots.

6-SMB (18", 16")