Some Fishing (lots of wind)

I had Monday off of school- so guess what I did! That's right! Sleeping... and then some fishing later. I went to yonder trout lake with my kayak and my dad. This time, the wind was blowing from the north, and it was flying. I gave up after only like thirty minutes, and went to the shore to try the old method of sitting and waiting on shore. We baited the hook with trout bait and corn, and set the rods on some sticks that other people had previously used in the area. I couldn't take much of that waiting junk, so I went off along the bank and tried various lures, but nothing I did gathered any interest from the fish except the trout bait. I finally got a fish- a wee little largemouth- while using a little shad rap. After waiting for at least two hours, I finally caught a little trout with the accursed ancient waiting method.

The wind died down so I got back out in my boat, and instantly caught a trout that hit only a few feet from shore. I started using a new method where I cast one rod (with a shad rap) out upwind of my position, and used a jig with a scented minnow on the other rod, and I just drifted with the wind. I caught three small catfish on the shad rap, but I had little action on the jig. When the sun started setting, I started getting hit after hit on the jig, but none of the fish hit aggressively enough to get hooked. Towards the end of the trip, I gave the trout that I caught to an older Asian couple that was on the bank. They said that they used salmon eggs to catch the trout, and they were surprised that I was catching fish with the lures that I used. They gave me a few salmon eggs to try on my next trip.

The next trip came last Saturday, on an extremely windy day. It was far to windy to fish, so I consoled myself by going to Dick's to buy some new lures. I discovered that the store currently has a clearance sale going on where all clearance items are "Buy two get one free." So I bought myself some new Rapala lures. I went to rocky ford next to see if the fish were spawning yet. At first I tried wading to see if the water was tolerable, and I quickly found out that it wasn't. There was nothing working downstream, so I moved upstream and quickly caught a 17 inch drum.

I kept fishing the same area and I caught a good 17 inch saugeye. It fought exceedingly well for a saugeye- which means that the fish are moving into spawning mode. I lost two UV lures so I decided to call it a night. 

I went back on Sunday- after the torrential downpour, and I discovered that the current had increased dramatically from the day before. I also noticed that the water was heavily stained with all the mud that had washed into the water. I fished for several hours but I only snagged one fish. It was some kind of redhorse I think.

It was a fish that I have never caught before, so that is a plus I guess.

The take-away point for this week is that this is a horrible time of year. The trout are running out, the water isn't warm enough to wade in yet, the wind is horrible, and only the saugeye are in spawning mode right now.
So don't go fishing yet, but the best time of year is right around the corner.

Got mahself a catfysh- or three

This week I only had one good trip, so that is all I will talk about (because the other one ended with me losing a five dollar lure). The trip that worked out started with lots of wind...

I carried my kayak to the second jetty only to find that the wind was flying in from the southeast so fast that I could hardly get my boat into the water. I didn't even try to get in at first; instead I started from shore. The water had started warming up, so I tried jigging a little spoon out in front of the rocks. I quickly met with success by catching a 16 inch largemouth (just between you and me, I snagged it in the side). The wind started to die down a little so I set out with one rod tied with the spoon and the other with the Shad Rap (that I mentioned last week). I went straight into the wind and paddled until I was halfway across the lake. When I reached a good point, I cast the Shad rap upwind, jigged the spoon up and down, and drifted all the way back. I noticed that no matter where I was in the lake, it was never deeper than seven feet- it didn't matter if I was in the perfect center or thirty feet from shore. I saw several fish take interest in both lures, but I didn't get any strikes. Then when I was halfway back, I felt a thump and set the hook. It was a good minute before I saw the fish and it was at least two before I could identify it. The fish turned out to be a big 25 inch catfish that dragged me the rest of the way down the lake before I could get it in the boat.

                                           (just between you and me I also snagged this one)
The catfish was the last fish I caught for the next half-hour, but I was inspired by a fish that hit the surface after missing the Shad Rap that I had in the water- so inspired that I switched both rods Shad Raps and started trolling. Before long I had a 13 inch rainbow trout that was not really ready for the fight- I don't think he knew he was hooked until I pulled him out of the water. I kept trolling and quickly caught an 18 inch catfish at the other end of the lake. The action slowed down after that point and all I caught was a little green sunfish in the next hour.

The fast was broken by a fifteen inch channel catfish that hit me on the north side of the lake. After that, I noticed that a bunch of fish were chasing flies on the surface. I tried to move in as stealthily as possible but I could not get any interest. I switched out the Shad for a jointed minnow that only dives two feet deep. It got me one good bite, but I wanted to go even smaller. I tied on a spinner to try to see if I could get any interest, but I somehow got a huge knot in the line that took several minutes to undo. By the time knot was worked out, the sun had kinda set and it was kinda completely dark outside, so I had to go. As I paddled back I kept hearing carp jumping out of the water, but they sounded more like bodies because (of my imagination) of how quiet it was out there by that point.

The take away points for this week are don't hook fish in the side and don't watch too many cop shows. So until next time- fish on

Yeah- fishing

Well this week provided me with a lot less material.

I had one trip on Friday, so I will start with that one. I started the trip like I have every time. I got all the stuff ready, like the boat and tackle, but this time I remembered to bring my camera and a tape measure. I set out to fish and tried trolling around the lake with both rods out at the same time. I am pretty sure that I didn't catch anything at first. so I moved to the sweet spot in the northeastern corner, and I caught a little 8 inch white bass just a few yards away from the dock. This was a welcome development because if the white bass in the trout lake are active, the bass in the river are not far behind. I was onto a rainbow trout in a few minutes after that, but the fishing slowed down after that.

I tried moving to the eastern part of the lake to see if any of the fish over there were interested. It was then that I discovered the terrible truth- the place is infested with snapping turtles. All the ripples that I had seen at that part of the lake were in fact turtles. Just turtles! And I made this face.

When I got over this crushing realization, I tried the northeast again, and I promptly lost my Rapala on a log- the only log in that part of the lake. I got over it pretty quickly when I caught very hard-fighting 13 inch trout. The wind started to die down and the sun had already set when this awesome silence came over the lake. The water looked like smooth glass and you could see every little disturbance on the surface. There were some people fishing on the shore in the direction I was headed, so I reeled my rod in to change direction and found a little 10 inch trout flailing around with my hook in its mouth. I released it and immediately hooked into a 10 inch white bass. I kept fishing until I needed a flashlight, but I didn't get anything more.

The next day I went out with only one broken Rapala left. The wind was entirely intolerable and I quickly lost that last Rapala- on the very same log that I lost the last one. The wind was so bad that I quit kayaking altogether and tried my luck from the shore.

I was fishing with these new Berkley Flicker shad, but all I could interest was a little largemouth that was hiding in two feet of water. I saw one big cloud coming from the north, and it kept coming until it was clear that it brought lightning into the area. There is just something about being in the middle of a lake with a rod in my hand and a lightning storm on above my head that just makes me uneasy. So I left and took the opportunity to get some new lures at Dick's. I ended up getting these two sweet looking shadbaits.

 Don't these look awesome.




There is nothing more really. The sad part is that the highlight of my week was spending $11 on new lures.

I got new line! (and a rod)

So as I have previously mentioned, I am a member of the North American Fishing Club, and because of it, I am able to test fishing gear through StuffStuff. I was selected to test some line a few weeks ago and it just arrived this week.

When the line got to me, I realized that I needed a reel to put it on (no duh). I have an Abu Garcia Cardinal SX20 that I didn't have a rod that could go with it. So I went to Dicks and found myself a Berkeley Amp rod that was in my budget. When I spooled the line, it seemed like it was pretty good line. It was Berkeley 100% Fluorocarbon line. The fluorocarbon line is designed to be better than mono in many different ways. The line is supposed to be stronger for its diameter than mono- and it is... by less than a hundredth of a millimeter. It is also supposed to have less memory than mono- this part is true. But the main selling point for fluorocarbon is the way that it reflects light. It is made to reflect light of the same wavelength that water does, and therefore become invisible when submerged. This line really works. You can see the line very well when it is above water, (in fact it looks identical to mono when it is out of the water) but when it goes under it virtually disappears.

I used it twice over the weekend and I did well both times.

The first trip was Saturday afternoon. As usual I went to the trout lake and took the kayak with me. I started out the day trying to combat the wind. The wind was blowing from the south and making it hard to keep a steady position. I was dual wielding with my new rod and my other new rod, and I moved with the wind all the way across the lake. When I reached the other side I cast both rods out to either side to try some trolling. Before I could even get my paddle in the water, I had a fish. When I pulled it in I was surprised to find that I had a white bass on my line. The fact that I had a white bass at this time of year and in that lake puzzled me. I guess the white bass are already coming out. Anyway, I could not catch any trout on the first trip around the lake. When I had finished making a loop around the whole lake I reached my dad at his spot, and I promptly caught the first trout of the day. I moved along the east side of the lake until I reached The northern bank again, and I caught two more fish. I moved out the that area when the wind started getting ridiculous and I reset at the bank near my dad. I went across the lake again except this time I was trolling both lures behind me. I was hit by a 13 inch trout right in front of a group of college students who weren't doing so well; I could see the flustration on their faces. I went the rest of the day getting plenty of bites but no more fish.

The Second trip was Sunday afternoon. This time I came alone because my dad let me take the truck to the lake on my own. The trip started out pretty smoothly and the wind was almost completely gone most of the time. This time I had less time in the day because I needed to get to youth group at six. I basically fished the same way as I did last time, except this time it started raining. I had a couple bites before and during the rain but they didn't pick up until the rain died down. I had my first fish near a fallen tree at the north end of the lake, and it was a jumper. I forgot where I left the stringer so I had to look for it while I was trying to reel in this fish. Eventually I found it and reeled the fish in. I moved to the east until I was in the very northeastern corner of the lake. I set to move back out when I got a hit from another very jumpy trout. I reeled this one in without any complications, but the same can't be said about many of the rest of the fish I hooked. All that I had the rest of the day was a 10 inch white bass even though I had a least five more bites. There was one fish towards the end that looked like a 17 inch largemouth, but it also escaped.

So to recap. I got sweet new line for free- a rod for a lot less free- and I caught some fish while kayaking from a kayak.

So pretty