I went fishing

The weather has warmed up and so has the water.

On Saturday I went fishing at the trout lake with my dad. I decided to bring the kayak because- um- why not. It ended up being a really good idea in the end though.

So I started the trip trying to carry a 40 lb. 10 ft boat along the shore as inconspicuously as possible while trying to find an open area to put all of our gear. On the way I kept getting people looking at me with an expression that either said "What on earth is he doing?" or "I want one!"

When we found an open area, I noticed that the water was really shallow- way too shallow to get in my boat without getting wet. The natural course of action was to go out into the woods and look for a log that could help me get farther out into the water, and that is what I did. I found a flimsy, thin, and rotting log that was just perfect for the job. When I put it in the water I observed that the chances of me making it out on the log without falling in did not look very good. Instead we (me and my faja) took the boat to one of the jetties that nobody was using and I jumped in from there.

My arsenal of weapons while in the boat included my shiny new rod, one of my light-action rods, grippers, a box of lures, a stringer, a fillet knife, my notebook, my handy-dandy pliers, and leaves- lots of leaves. When I got out in the water the first thing I did was set up a worm on my smaller rod. The second thing that I did was snag the lure from the new rod onto the line of the small one, and I had to deal with an evil backlash. I might have spent 15 minutes just trying to cut it out. I didn't take very long to do that again, but this time I just worked out the knot and it only took like 10 minutes. Well I had established that I needed to be more careful with my new rod and I was ready to fish (except for real this time).

I didn't get anything in the open water, so I tried going towards the corner of the lake. Well that decision paid off because I quickly had the first fish of the day, and the first kayak-caught fish ever. I was almost in casting distance by that time and I thought "Well if I caught this fish near shore- near shore must be a good place to fish." When I had moved down the bank a good ways, I saw a friend from church- Chuck Bartlett. It looked like he had brought some of his' older sons with him, but it was hard to tell exactly who. Anyway I started moving back towards the corner when I got a hit. Trout fight in a unique way. Instead of picking a direction and pulling hard in that direction, they just go into panic mode and fly forward as fast as they can- even though they can't tell witch way is forward. I didn't have it very long before it spat the hook. After throwing up my hands and crying a single tear, I got back to fishing. Before long, I had another one that was a good 15 inches. It came within a few feet of mybadself before it tossed the hook back at me. This time Mr. Bartlett saw it and he was just as disappointed as I was when I lost it. I continued combing the shoreline without any success until I decided to check on my dad.

My dad said that he had caught nothing the whole time. He said we could stay a little longer so I moved to the other side of the lake. I quickly had a bite that lasted only a few seconds before leaving me with that one look that I get when I get flustered. I moved a bit to the left because I didn't want to get in the way of the people on the docks. When I came back I got another bite in the exact same place as the first one. This time I made sure to be extra-careful during the fight because I had noticed that most of the time when a hook came loose it was because the fish went airborne. This time I kept the fish in the water and hooked it up on the stringer (Yeah I guess it doesn't do any good to release the fish in that lake because they are destined to die anyway).

I started to move back towards my dad when I hooked into the highest jumper that I had seen in a long time. He quickly lost the hook and went on his' merry way. That was the last fish that gave either of us any attention that day.

I learned on that trip that you need to keep moving if you want to catch trout in a kayak. I also learned that the second worm-toting rod is worthless, and I am really bad at cleaning fish.

competition

Hey guess what, I started a new blog! Bdubzsports.blogspot.com

Not really any fishing

This time I really didn't make it, not a single trip. (what a loser)

Well anyway, I have no material, except for my mind. I will now try to recollect a fishing trip of trips past.

The date was 5/11/12, and I went fishing. It was a morning-style fishing trip, a trip that is now rare. I was fishing at Rocky Ford with my former youth minister, Craig Patrick, along with Mattias Brouk and also some Brandon guy. It was in the spring during a high water period, and the water was just warming up.

I had a new set of spoons from China (from Wlure.com [this is not an ad {I am not getting paid <maybe I should get paid>}]). So yeah, anyway I wanted to try them out, but I knew that a little minnow-crankbait had been working pretty well recently. So I tried using a small square-billed crankbait that I had never caught anything on. Before long, I was snagged to a 35 inch gar that I brought back to show the others. They were all like "Oh, that's cool." So then I went back to where I caught the gar- across ten inch deep water. They must not have wanted to get their feet wet. So I started casting again and soon had a 12 inch white bass. I kept fishing and had a 16 inch channel catfish in a matter of seconds.

Then something happened. I caught the first walleye of the day. This is significant because I had caught only a few walleye before this time and none so far that year. The walleye encouraged me, so I kept fishing and quickly had another white bass, this one was 13 inches. I kept casting in the exact same area and saw that there were hundreds of white bass and other predators attacking a huge school of baitfish only a few yards out in the rapids. I cast again but the lure got caught up in the line and could not dive until I retrieved and untangled it. Just as the lure came over the fish, it was hit- and missed. I then decided to intentionally tangle the hook and let the crainkbait twist and skim across the surface. The results were pretty good, as I hooked an 11 inch white bass that was to be the 100th fish of the year. The area I was fishing had super-fast rapids that ran over a section of rocks and then sharply dove four feet deep. I started casting right over the rocks to let the lure float over them and then pulling hard to make the lure dive once it cleared the cliff. The results were spectacular. I started catching walleye, first one 14 inches, and then I started catching BIGGER walleye. I caught a fish that was 18 inches long, by far the biggest walleye of my life. I kept getting hit after hit- 10 inch walleye, 16 inch walleye, even a little baby catfish.

Momentum was going in my favor, so I switched the crankbait out for one of the new spoons. I had success by just letting it sink until I felt a hit- the water was much too fast to reel it in if I wanted it to get deep enough for fish to see it. I caught three decent-sized white bass before switching back to my now-favorite crankbait. I was totally going to catch like twenty fish, but instead I lost it on a rock. So then I realized that it was getting a little late and the other guys might want to go or something. When I got back over to were they were fishing I learned that they had collectively caught one fish. I also learned that I should not have tried using that spoon again, because I lost it a little- on a rock- in a place that I knew had lots of rocks.

I later found out that all of the fish I was catching were all on their spawning runs. Later that spring, I caught at least three big channel catfish, including one that was 27 inches, and caught dozens of white bass and wiper. This trip was the first trip that I actually used crainkbaits, and I found out that they work really well. I also learned that sometimes there are fish piled up in one area that you may need to ford rivers to find, and also you should do whatever I say if you want to catch fish.

Post About Fishing

"Another week- another trip!"

Someone said that I bet.

Oh boy! more fishing- this week was better than last (I promise). This week was the last week of football, and I scored the game winning touchdown!(not really- we got blown out) So I now have more time on my hands to fish and do other un-athletic things.

The day of the trip was the day that K-State played Iowa State. With K-State in such a precarious position, this guy needs to help the team out by watching the first half of the game- and by wearing a groovy hat and jersey. So after a convincing first half of football, I went to Dick's with my dad and looked around for a little bit. I left the store with a new little crankbait that I will now refer to as the "Three-Dollar Crankbait". The day started off with me telling my dad how great the UV lures had been working on previous trips. I said that all I had to do was hold the lure in the same position for a few seconds right under me. After demonstrating for a few minutes, I got a little too aggressive and lost the lure. The trip suddenly cost five dollars in only a few minutes. So the next move for me was to use the Three Dollar Lure. I nearly lost that one on a rock only a few minutes later, so I got the brilliant idea to lower the budget.

When I fish, I leave my gear all at one place and take a box of jigs, pliers, and a handful of soft plastic grubs and minnows in my pocket. Over time I keep forgetting to take the plastics out of my pocket and they go through the wash and blend colors. On this day, I remembered to bring the forgotten plastics and I used one on a jighead. (this is only a $.60 value)

I noticed some of the fish in the pond-area were acting weird, so I started fishing that side. Before long, I had what seemed to be a snagged sucker. When I brought it up to the surface, I saw that it was a flathead catfish, and it was kinda big- 25 inches long.

This picture shows the flathead that I caught. It also shows my muscular frame and admirable fashion sense.

That was kinda exciting; it actually tied my record for largest flathead catfish. When I went to grab its mouth, it felt warm, this is generally not a good sign because it means that my fingers are about to freeze off. It also means that the weather is getting colder and the fishing season is closing in a little while. But the cold water is a plus for some fish species.

After the flathead was set free, I got a taste of cold-water Rocky Ford. I got an aggressive hit from a little spotted bass. They are probably one of my favorite fish to catch because they are a really rare and pretty fish.

The spotted bass and smallmouth bass rarely hit any time of year other than the periphery of the season because of their cold-water preferences.

 This picture shows the dividing walkway between a calm pond and the speeding rapids.

So here are the notes for the week:
1 You could lose five (nearly eight) dollars of fishing lures in ten minutes, or you could use a sixty cent lure for two hours and catch fish on it.
2 Now is the time to look for spotted bass and smallies at Rocky Ford
3 Every time I watch the first half of the football game at my house, K-State wins, you're welcome.

Want more proof?

There have been many opportunities for me to test the validity of the UV lure's effectiveness recently. So if we are not all tired of hearing about the sensational new spectacle that is the UV lure, I will continue.

This week was filled with football and school, but not fishing. It seemed as if the only reason I scrapped a short trip together on Sunday was to get some material to write about. Before I joined the football team, I would go on an average of two trips per week, but now I just don't have the time. It is interesting how adding a new priority drained all of my passion for fishing. Of course, the season is still alive. the best trip of my life was in mid-November. It was then that I caught 29 fish in only a few hours. On top of that, the willow lake will be stocked with rainbow trout soon, and they will bite until the lake ices over.

So enough whining, time for actual fishing. The day started off slowly, because I didn't know where to go. My default spot is Rocky Ford so hey why not. There were only a few people there, and most of them were not even fishing, so I could basically go wherever I wanted. I started at the waterfall using that spoon that I was chosen to test. Surprisingly, I caught nothing , so I switched to the UV lure, and caught nothing. I felt the mist rising from the waterfall and realized just how cold the water was getting.

With the water getting so cold, I chose to move downstream. I was getting really lazy and just let my lure sit right under me when what looked like a largemouth grabbed it. I started pulling but it just straight-up unhooked itself. I quickly cast again and had an instantaneous strike- that I again missed. I kept on casting but had absolutely no luck. Unless losing your new UV lure is considered luck.(goodbye five bucks)

I switched to a much cheaper lure, a simple jig with a Powerbait minnow, and it payed off fairly well.

                                         This little wiper had pity on me in my time of need.

The majority of this trip was blind casting into fruitless waters, so I decided to risk it again with another UV lure. With the first cast came the second fish of the day. The little white crappie was encouraging. (Never expect me to say that again: there are times that I would rather catch nothing than catch a little crappie)

I felt that I should keep going with the UV lure. It was a pretty good idea until it somehow got caught on some line and I lost it. Fortunately, it broke free and floated downstream, so all I had to do was follow it until it stuck to a rock in the rapids. I left after that ordeal.

So this week's halfhearted attempt at a fishing trip ended up costing five bucks (nearly ten) in lost lures. Although, all but one of the bites this trip were on a UV lure, so I guess that proves that they are worth the price.

Time for a test

I am a member of the North American Fishing Club. That basically means that I pay yearly membership dues to get exclusive access to fishing content on their website and magazine, along with the ability to apply for gear to test and keep for free.

The testing process is a long waiting game. The best you can do is apply for as many things as you can and hope you get chosen to test a product that you like.

I have only gotten one test before- "Top Secret" braided fishing line (that turned out to be by Spiderwire).

About two weeks ago I was notified that I had been selected to test the "Johnson Slama Spoon". Since the shipping is as slow as can be, I got my new spoon just a few days ago.

The same day that I received the spoon was the day that I tried it out, but not before going to Dick's to see if I could use some coupons for K-State gear that I got in the mail.

When I got to Dick's, I found out that the prices for said football apparel are far outside the price range for most people ever, But I would never waste a trip there without checking the fishing section. It turns out that checking the fishing section was a good idea, as there was a good deal on one of the UV lures which I may have mentioned in previous posts.

I went straight to Rocky Ford from there and started using the new spoon that I had been given. At 3/4 ounces and 2 1/2 inches, it is much larger than most spoons that I use. Just as I was tying it on, it slipped and bounced down the rock towards the water. If it had fallen in the water, I would have absolutely no chance at finding it due to the fact that the water instantly plunges to 5 feet deep and is moving extremely quickly. With that little wake-up call, I started being more cautious while tying it on. I really thought that I had a good chance with it, but after twenty minutes I changed my mind and switched back to the UV lure. During this time I decided to move into the water as close to the waterfall as possible, and I quickly realized how cold the water had gotten in only one week of freezing temperatures. After thirty more unsuccessful minutes, I tried moving downstream into the riffles. It only seemed to get worse as I had no bites the whole trip and the water was numbing my feet.

I was getting the sense that the fish needed time to adapt to the cold. The best course of action seemed to be moving to Tuttle Creek, where the water would take more time to cool down. When I got there, the action moved at the exact same pace that it had before. After some time using crankbaits, I decided to pull out the scented minnows in a final attempt to catch something blog-worthy. After losing at least two minnows on rocks and getting a third one stu- oh wait that is a fish! I could tell pretty quickly that it was a flathead because it came to the surface before it realized it was hooked. Unfortunately the second time it came to surface the hook popped out. Nothing happened the rest of the trip.

This time of year is when you come to the realization that the fishing season will soon die and we will have nothing to do but analyze football stats and throw snowballs at the heads of our little brothers, how sad. Hopefully I can catch something with that new spoon before the season ends.

More UV

I had a pretty good fishing week this week. 

I started off the week with a short trip to rocky ford during my sisters volleyball practice. 

I noticed that the water had gotten higher. Because of the shutdown, the Army Corps of Engineers won't update their website, so we don't know how high the water is or what the output of the tubes is. But I do know that more water is a good thing, so I headed straight to the waterfall. Before long, I hooked a 16 inch wiper on the oh-so-great Storm UV lure. 

 This fish really impressed me, because normally the wiper are much smaller than this. As I kept going I had another hit. This one hit really hard and fought me for several minutes. I was amazed at how big he was- 19 inches. I have only caught one wiper that was larger- a twenty incher that I caught earlier this year. I hooked into another fish and assumed that it was another huge wiper, but it was just a 39 inch gar (aw man).So I was pretty pumped at this point and I was ready to go out again.


My grandparents had a trip planned this weekend to stay at the river-pond in their camper. My mom let me take Friday off from school so that I could fish during this time.

I went again to rocky ford on Friday and immediately tried the waterfall again- or I would have if it wasn't crowded. I started downstream and started getting some success, but I couldn't catch anything really good. When there was an opening, I quickly jumped on it and started fishing. I then hooked into a wiper which felt bigger than the others. After a five minute fight, I pulled it up and saw that it was much bigger than anything I had ever seen before. It was 23 inches long, making it the biggest sportfish I have ever caught. I kept on casting and soon had another 19 incher, but the bite just quit after that. I moved downstream and had some success before leaving.

 I went again the next day and was instantly onto the bite, meaning that I had three 20+ inch wiper in the first hour. But the same thing happened again- the fish stopped. I only had one more fish after that, a 14 inch drum (yay).

I had one more opportunity on Sunday. This time the waterfall was taken so I tried downstream. I had a good sized saugeye in the first few casts, and I eventually ended up catching a little drum, but I really wanted another shot at the waterfall. I made my way back and found the position open. On the first cast I had a 14 inch wiper (that would-on any other day-be a great fish), but I wanted more. I hooked into "more"( a 19 inch wiper)  and found myself the center of attention among many of the people there. Once again, after that the bite just stopped and the only other fish I caught was a 37 inch gar.

All of the fish mentioned in this post were caught either on an orange Storm Smash Shad or a green Rapala Shad-Rap, both of witch have the special UV paint.

So it looks like as long as the UV paint doesn't cost more, I will continue to use it.

P.S. I didn't reveal a lot of information on HOW I fished the lures, just THAT I used them. The detailed information will be revealed as soon as my fishing show airs on ESPN. (because that will totally happen)