As some of you may or may not know, my goal, if the stars align, is to acquire a boat over the winter, and begin some tournament fishing starting next spring, nothing major, just a local bass club, and take it from there. Having spent the majority of my fishing tenure fishing from shore, I have been extremely limited as to the bodies of water I was able to fish. Now, having the kayak, my options are much greater, although, still limited, but I will touch on that later. In preparation for next year, I have been trying to cover a lot of water, and a lot of new lakes, but I came to the realization, that I was going about it all wrong.
All year, I have been going to a lake, fishing it once, then moving on to a different lake, then another one, and so on, and once I have exhausted the local options, I would return to one of the lakes I felt had potential, or I had good results the first time. Being that this is New England, the weather can change drastically over the course of weeks, days, hours or minutes. Every time I would return to a lake, I would first look for the same pattern that had formed on the previous venture. Sometimes it would be there, but most times, it was different. Leaving me no choice but to start almost from scratch. I say almost, because having been to a certain lake before, I still have some idea of the lay of the land, so I'm not totally blind going in. However, trying to figure out a lake in a 3-6 hour time period, kind of causes me to rush, and I wouldn't slow down and dissect some areas as much as I would like to.
What I have decided, is that I will pick a lake for the week. I generally fish Monday evenings, Wednesday mornings, and Sunday mornings, so Monday and Wednesday will be my "practice" days, to get a feel for how a lake is fishing, and Sunday will be my "game day" if you will.
As of right now, I will only be fishing small bodies of water to avoid pleasure boaters and weekend tournaments, so that's where I'm still limited in the kayak. But once Labor Day has passed, and it starts to cool off, expect to see me on some bigger bodies of water. Now, as for how this is going to impact you (the readers), expect to see one report per week, probably on Sunday evening or Monday morning, and possibly one informational piece mid week. Rather than inundating your news feeds and twitter feeds with multiple reports from the same body of water, I will compact it down into one detailed report that will cover all 3 trips. So keep an eye out for the reports. Be sure to "Like" my Facebook Page, "Follow" me on Twitter and Instagram, and Subcribe to my Youtube Channel, you can find all my blog posts, as well as a few other tidbits, on all these forms of social media. I will also be posting on the Facebook group Fishing CT, so if you are not yet a member, make sure and join up.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Windy Wednesday - 7/23/14
Air Temperature: 68-72
Water Temperature: 76 - 81
Water Clarity: Stained/ 2.5 ft of visibility
Skies: Mostly Sunny
Wind: 8-14 Mph; Gusts to 20
Barometric Pressure: 29.98 a 29.91"
I set out on the hunt for smallmouth at a new location for a couple hours. When I arrived, the water clarity, or lack thereof, was not quite what I was expecting. After spending precious time re-tying from clear water colors to murky water colors, I was off to the races; which I did not win by the way.
I was able to manage two rather small largemouth on a chartreuse spinner bait in the first hour. I figured the bigger fish were out deeper, so I made a move to find some offshore structure that I had marked on my map. However, the wind and current made this a difficult task. I marked several fish on a deep point, but could not entice them with anything.
I picked up my anchor and began drifting with the wind and current, casting at the deep vertical banks. I made it to a large lay down that sat over 15-20 FOW, which I was soon to find out had many branches under the water. I pitched in an Electric Grape colored Berkley Power Worm, and I felt the "tic" so I layed into the fish. All I could feel was my 17lb fluorocarbon grinding against the submerged branches, and finally was able to get the fish out of the obstruction, and got it in the boat. A solid largemouth, I'll take it. After re-tying, I made my way to the down current side of the tree and pitched the worm in again. Again I felt a "tic", I set the hook, and for a moment I thought I had snagged a piece of the tree. Then it started pulling back, as I reared back on this fish, it kept pulling back towards the tree and eventually broke me off in the branches. Although I never got a look at the fish, I know it was an absolute giant. It's not often you set the hook on a fish and it just doesn't budge, and in fact hurt your back in the process. The last fish that did this to me, was a 6+ lb fish that nearly ripped the rod out of my hands on the hook set.
The wind really started to pick up, and I couldn't get anything else to happen, so it was off to work for me.
I will definitely be returning here, hopefully I can locate some smallies on my next trip.
It's hard to see in the picture, but if you look close, you can see just how frayed the line was after landing the fish. If that had been braid, I never would have got that fish to the boat.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Confidence Rebuilding - 7/21/14
On the Water: 5:30 pm - 8:45 pm
Air Temperature: 77 - 68
Water Temperature: 84 - 79 (Areas that were 80-81 were most productive)
Water Clarity: Clear / 6 Ft of visibility
Skies: Clear with occasional clouds
Wind: 3-6 Mph SSW
Barometric Pressure: 30.16 - 30.19"
After several sub-par outings, I decided I would go back to some familiar water and rebuild some confidence. This was a much needed trip as I was starting to become beaten down, mentally. The last few times I visited this lake, the pattern was much in the same. Today was no exception.
I made my way to a section of isolated lily pads, and took a few casts with a Cobra Bait Dead Bolt in the bluegill color. This color is perfect for clear water and bluebird skies. I think the fish agreed with me on my color choice, as it wasn't long before I got my first fish. I worked my way around the clump of lily pads. There is also a section of pads coming off the shoreline that form a "point" if you will, and I was able to pull a few fish off this area as well. I lost two fish in this section, and one I would guess was well over 3lbs, it dove deep and took me into some milfoil, and I came up empty. The second one I lost was not as substantial, I would guess about 1-1.5lbs, this one took my line into a single lily pad, and when the line hit it, that small amount of slack was enough to jar him loose.
I moved on to another section with some irregular lily pads, and the pattern produced a few more fish, including a 2 pounder. There was a point right there so I figured I'd at least throw something at it, so I tossed out a Texas rigged 7" Culprit Fat Max worm, watermelon colored, and landed two identical pound and a half fish.
It was starting to get dark, so I paddled back to my first area for a few more casts. First cast, I threw the worm, and was surprised to pull up a small channel cat. I also managed a couple more bass on the deadbolt. I was also broken off on a hookset and that's when I decided to call it quits.
I ended up with 12 bass and one channel cat. Nothing was particularly big, a lot of 1 - 1.5 pound fish, with a few dinks mixed in, but I didn't really care. I'm sure I could have concentrated my efforts on the deeper weed line, but I really wanted to just play to my strengths today. The sole purpose of this trip was to rebuild confidence, and I did that. I was beginning to question my ability to locate and catch fish. When your confidence is low, your attitude tends to go right down with it, resulting in poor fishing.
Please excuse the lack of pictures, but I think you've seen me catch enough average sized fish, I took a couple, but wasn't really feeling the picture thing today. I did get one video with the deadbolt however.
Air Temperature: 77 - 68
Water Temperature: 84 - 79 (Areas that were 80-81 were most productive)
Water Clarity: Clear / 6 Ft of visibility
Skies: Clear with occasional clouds
Wind: 3-6 Mph SSW
Barometric Pressure: 30.16 - 30.19"
After several sub-par outings, I decided I would go back to some familiar water and rebuild some confidence. This was a much needed trip as I was starting to become beaten down, mentally. The last few times I visited this lake, the pattern was much in the same. Today was no exception.
I made my way to a section of isolated lily pads, and took a few casts with a Cobra Bait Dead Bolt in the bluegill color. This color is perfect for clear water and bluebird skies. I think the fish agreed with me on my color choice, as it wasn't long before I got my first fish. I worked my way around the clump of lily pads. There is also a section of pads coming off the shoreline that form a "point" if you will, and I was able to pull a few fish off this area as well. I lost two fish in this section, and one I would guess was well over 3lbs, it dove deep and took me into some milfoil, and I came up empty. The second one I lost was not as substantial, I would guess about 1-1.5lbs, this one took my line into a single lily pad, and when the line hit it, that small amount of slack was enough to jar him loose.
I moved on to another section with some irregular lily pads, and the pattern produced a few more fish, including a 2 pounder. There was a point right there so I figured I'd at least throw something at it, so I tossed out a Texas rigged 7" Culprit Fat Max worm, watermelon colored, and landed two identical pound and a half fish.
It was starting to get dark, so I paddled back to my first area for a few more casts. First cast, I threw the worm, and was surprised to pull up a small channel cat. I also managed a couple more bass on the deadbolt. I was also broken off on a hookset and that's when I decided to call it quits.
I ended up with 12 bass and one channel cat. Nothing was particularly big, a lot of 1 - 1.5 pound fish, with a few dinks mixed in, but I didn't really care. I'm sure I could have concentrated my efforts on the deeper weed line, but I really wanted to just play to my strengths today. The sole purpose of this trip was to rebuild confidence, and I did that. I was beginning to question my ability to locate and catch fish. When your confidence is low, your attitude tends to go right down with it, resulting in poor fishing.
Please excuse the lack of pictures, but I think you've seen me catch enough average sized fish, I took a couple, but wasn't really feeling the picture thing today. I did get one video with the deadbolt however.
Basically what I was doing, was casting as close to the edge of the lily pads as possible, and letting it sink for a few seconds, reel in the slack, twitch and repeat.
Sunday, July 20, 2014
New Water; Poor Results - 7/20/2014
On the Water: 5:45 am - 12:45 pm
Air Temperature: 63-72
Water Temperature: 74-78
Water Clarity: Clear/ 6ft Visibility
Skies: Mostly Cloudy
Wind: 3-9 mph NNW
Barometric Pressure: 30.17-30.20
After checking the CT DEEP Tournament Schedule, I decided try the lake I attempted to go to last Sunday. It is a rather deep lake, so I figured my best bet was to try to locate the thermocline, and eliminate as much water as possible. I paddled out to my first spot, a grassy point, and immediately my Humminbird started marking fish. Most fish were between 12-16 feet, so I turned the gain all the way up, and noticed a distinct black line, at about 16 ft. This is the first time (I think) I have successfully marked the thermocline with my rather limiting electronics. I found an area on the point with a weedline stopping at about 11 ft, and it dropped off to 16. I dropped a couple marker buoys, and started fishing. I missed a few fish on a wacky rigged deadbolt, and a couple more on a super fluke. I stayed on this spot for a while and threw a little bit of everything, but failed to muster any more bites. I picked up and decided to fish some docks, and that landed me a small largemouth on a Zoom super fluke.
After catching my first bass fairly shallow (5 FOW), I decided to change my approach a little bit. I tied on a Booyah pad crasher and moved up to some lily pads with some matted milfoil on the outer edge. That first bass must have been a "fluke" (get it?), because I didn't see any sign of bass in shallow water. I fished a dead section of water for way too long before I decided to relocate.
I found my way to a nice point, that extends maybe 100 ft off the land, it was 4 ft at it's peak, and dropped off to 22ft. I wound up catching two bass off of this spot, one about 1.5 -1.75, and the other less than a pound. I caught them dragging a Texas rigged Yum watermelon seed ribbon tail worm, and hopping it every now and then.
The wind started to pick up, and the pleasure boaters started to make their presence known, so I moved to a protected area between 2 islands, and fished the outside weed edge, and "dropped" a fish on the dropshot. I went back to the ribbon tail worm, and it got hit as it was falling to the bottom. I set the hook, and I knew right away it wasn't a bass, and for a second, I thought I lost it, as it wasn't doing anything. I was surprised when I got it to the boat, it was a large crappie, that weighed in at 1.89 lbs. I think this is my personal best, I honestly don't think I've ever weighed a crappie before. So for arguments sake, we will call it my PB. I cast out into the same spot, and felt a "tic" on the line, and I set the hook, and this felt like a good fish, as it was taking a hard run down to the depths. I got it close to the boat and then realized it was just a pickerel. There isn't a more disappointing feeling than thinking you've got a good bass, and it winds up being a pickerel. Lo and behold, on the very next cast, the same exact thing, a pickerel, almost of identical size.
Generally, when I fish a lake for the first time, I don't really expect much in the way of results. For some reason, today was different. I was confident leaving the house this morning that I would have at least caught a limit. I'm not sure why, but I have a tough time figuring out these alewife lakes. The three that I've fished this year have not been good to me, whether I find the schools of bait or not. Maybe I get too caught up trying to mimic the forage, that I lose sight of the basics, I'm not really sure. But I think tomorrow evening will have to be a confidence building trip.
Air Temperature: 63-72
Water Temperature: 74-78
Water Clarity: Clear/ 6ft Visibility
Skies: Mostly Cloudy
Wind: 3-9 mph NNW
Barometric Pressure: 30.17-30.20
After checking the CT DEEP Tournament Schedule, I decided try the lake I attempted to go to last Sunday. It is a rather deep lake, so I figured my best bet was to try to locate the thermocline, and eliminate as much water as possible. I paddled out to my first spot, a grassy point, and immediately my Humminbird started marking fish. Most fish were between 12-16 feet, so I turned the gain all the way up, and noticed a distinct black line, at about 16 ft. This is the first time (I think) I have successfully marked the thermocline with my rather limiting electronics. I found an area on the point with a weedline stopping at about 11 ft, and it dropped off to 16. I dropped a couple marker buoys, and started fishing. I missed a few fish on a wacky rigged deadbolt, and a couple more on a super fluke. I stayed on this spot for a while and threw a little bit of everything, but failed to muster any more bites. I picked up and decided to fish some docks, and that landed me a small largemouth on a Zoom super fluke.
After catching my first bass fairly shallow (5 FOW), I decided to change my approach a little bit. I tied on a Booyah pad crasher and moved up to some lily pads with some matted milfoil on the outer edge. That first bass must have been a "fluke" (get it?), because I didn't see any sign of bass in shallow water. I fished a dead section of water for way too long before I decided to relocate.
I found my way to a nice point, that extends maybe 100 ft off the land, it was 4 ft at it's peak, and dropped off to 22ft. I wound up catching two bass off of this spot, one about 1.5 -1.75, and the other less than a pound. I caught them dragging a Texas rigged Yum watermelon seed ribbon tail worm, and hopping it every now and then.
The wind started to pick up, and the pleasure boaters started to make their presence known, so I moved to a protected area between 2 islands, and fished the outside weed edge, and "dropped" a fish on the dropshot. I went back to the ribbon tail worm, and it got hit as it was falling to the bottom. I set the hook, and I knew right away it wasn't a bass, and for a second, I thought I lost it, as it wasn't doing anything. I was surprised when I got it to the boat, it was a large crappie, that weighed in at 1.89 lbs. I think this is my personal best, I honestly don't think I've ever weighed a crappie before. So for arguments sake, we will call it my PB. I cast out into the same spot, and felt a "tic" on the line, and I set the hook, and this felt like a good fish, as it was taking a hard run down to the depths. I got it close to the boat and then realized it was just a pickerel. There isn't a more disappointing feeling than thinking you've got a good bass, and it winds up being a pickerel. Lo and behold, on the very next cast, the same exact thing, a pickerel, almost of identical size.
Generally, when I fish a lake for the first time, I don't really expect much in the way of results. For some reason, today was different. I was confident leaving the house this morning that I would have at least caught a limit. I'm not sure why, but I have a tough time figuring out these alewife lakes. The three that I've fished this year have not been good to me, whether I find the schools of bait or not. Maybe I get too caught up trying to mimic the forage, that I lose sight of the basics, I'm not really sure. But I think tomorrow evening will have to be a confidence building trip.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Alewife Alley: Attempt 3 - 7/13/14
On the Water: 6:00 am - 12:30 pm
Air Tenperature: 64-76
Water Remperature: 78-81
Water Clarity: Clear
Skies: Mix of Sun and Clouds
Wind: 7-19 mph SSW sustained; gusts to 26
Barometric Pressure 30.09
My initial plan was to try some new water. I did my research, marked some areas on a map, and tied on everything I felt would be effective in this new lake. Well, when I pulled up to the launch there were about 10 bass boats in the parking lot waiting to launch, and several more on the way. Seeing as how it was new territory for me, I decided to make my way to some more familiar water. Racing bass boats in a kayak is not my idea of fun, especially when I'm trying to figure out new water.
When I arrived at the next location, I was the only person there, just the way I like it. I paddled out to some offshore structure and started fishing. I noticed some fish breaking the surface, so I tossed a super fluke into the disturbance. No sooner did it hit the water, I had a bite. I set the hook, and my line came flying back at me bearing no weight. My leader knot had pulled apart.
I was in too deep of water to anchor, so I retied my leader, and the wind pushed me down the lake maybe 30 feet, when I looked back up, someone else was right on my spot, and catching fish. Talk about poor fishing etiquette.
Anyways, I moved to a different piece of structure and missed a few fish on a fluke, and couldn't hook up. I moved closer to shore and started working some ledges with a spinner bait, crankbait, jigs, worms, and was able to get a surprise brown trout on the spinner bait.
The wind really started to pick up, and was not showing any signs of slowing down. My theory was that the wind would push the plankton; the alewife would follow the plankton; and the bass would follow the alewife. So I made a move to the downwind side of the lake.
I missed one more fish on a fluke here but didn't see the amount of activity that I had anticipated.
I noticed that the aforementioned spot stealer had vacated my first area, so I went back and promptly landed a 2 pound bass on a fluke and missed a few more.
Struggling to find any consistency, I started throwing a Keitech swimbait, and got one more fish, in the 3 lb range.
Josh had shown up about 10:30, and landed 2 fish by the time I left. After I left, the bite must have picked up, he ended up with 4 more, including a 5.3 pound slob.
This lake holds large numbers of monster fish. Unfortunately, they are tough to find. If you can find a dense population of alewives, you have a good chance of catching some bass. Otherwise, you may have a tough day. On calm days you can see fish breaking the surface all around the lake. But on a windy day like we had, we saw only a couple fish break. Also, chasing bait in a kayak is quite a difficult task. I would much rather fish some sort of defined cover or structure as opposed to fishing in 30 ft of water over a flat bottom. It's hard to eliminate any water when the fish are following bait. You can only try and make sense of it, and hope for the best. 
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Just One of Those Days 7/9/14
On the water: 9:20 am - 1 pm
Air Temperature: 78-82
Water Temperature: 76-80
Water Clarity: Stained/Clear
Skies: Sunny, occasional clouds
Wind: 2-9 Mph SSW, gusts to 16
Barometric Pressure: 29.88 - 29.89
Tide: High tide was approximately 9:30
I got on the water for the last couple minutes of the incoming tide. This particular area, has a small overpass just north of the launch that inhibits your ability to pass under with the elevated water level. So, I messed around on the south side of the bridge in the heavily stained water waiting for the tide to relinquish. I moved up shallow, and threw a spinnerbait, chatterbait, swim jig, frog, square bill crankbait, and a flipped a jig around but couldn't find any fish. Once the water had fallen enough to allow safe passage under the bridge, I mad my move.
Now with the tide going out, I was hoping to find fish moving towards outside weed edges. The only problem however, was that there didn't seem to be any weed edges. It was just grass, in every direction. What was once a narrow channel, with two rather defined weed edges on either side, was now a field of submerged eel grass. Knowing I wouldn't have time to dissect all this grass, I made a move further north.
I arrived at a bend in the creek, that included a current break with an eddy, a shallow grass flat with some sparse timber, deep water, and a couple of lay downs to boot. Better yet, I found some baitfish in the area. Precisely everything you look for when targeting bass in a river, was right here in front of me. As I paddled over the area to get to the down current side, I marked several fish, all suspended, sitting about halfway down in 12 or so feet of water. I figured this was my best bet for a successful day so I hunkered down. You name it, I threw it, all depths of the water column were sufficiently covered, as well as the casting angles. I fished the grass, the trees, the bend, the current breaks, I slowed down, I sped up, I changed colors. In addition to the lures listed earlier, I also incorporated the drop shot, wacky rigged deadbolt, a DT-6 and DT-10 crankbait, a super fluke, a Texas rigged worm, and a jerkbait, and couldn't buy a bite.
It was getting to be that time, so I began to venture my way back, battling the tide and gusty wind. When I approached the south side of the overpass, I noticed that the water had cleared up, a lot, as the tide went out, it took the murky water with it.
Unfortunately, my trek towards the launch had taken longer than I anticipated, and was already cutting it close on time. But I believe, had I been able to wait for that clearer water to reach the bend, those fish would have turned on, and I would have gone home happy.
The river is funny like that, you can do everything "right" and come home empty handed. If you don't have the timing right, which today I didn't, you aren't going to have a very good outing. But that's all part of the fun of fishing the river.
On the bright side, I was able to snag a cool photo of the Essex Steam Train.
Friday, July 4, 2014
Pre-Arthur Trip 7/4/14
On the Water: 6:20am - 9:40am
Air Temperature: 70 - 72
Water Temperature: 80 - 82
Water Clarity: Clear
Skies: Overcast
Wind: 0 - 9 Mph N
Barometric Pressure: 30.00 - 29.98"
I figured I'd try to get out before the storm arrived, so I went over to a local lake/pond that I haven't been to since the pre spawn. I didn't have much luck here the last few times, and it's a place I really want to figure out. I know there are giants here.
I noticed the water level was extremely low, the launch was almost at a 70 degree angle to the water. Once I put in I began fishing the edges of lily pads with a wacky rigged Cobra Bait deadbolt and a strike king swim jig. First cast I got hit on the deadbolt but couldn't hook up. I worked my way around the lily pads and eventually hooked into a nice pound and a half largemouth. As I was releasing the fish, the bare hook was submerged in the water, when I picked up on my rod to make another cast, I felt pressure so I set the hook, and it was a tiny crappie on the other end of the line.
I moved off the lily pads trying to find the deeper submerged weed line, and after a few minutes of paddling around, trying to figure out the contour of it, I picked up the drop shot rod. As soon as I cast out, I heard two rather loud rumbles of thunder. I reeled in fast, and began paddling back to the launch. After about 10 minutes, the audible thunder had ceased, so I made my way back to the weed edge. I picked up another pound and a half bass on the swim jig as well as a pickerel. While we are on the topic of swim jigs, if you haven't made them part of your arsenal, or you just choose not to fish them, I strongly suggest giving them a look. The strike you get on these lures is so violent, and so exhilarating, it only takes a back seat to topwater, and like topwater, it can really attract giants.
I followed the weedline out towards deeper water where it comes out to a point, and caught a few more on a deadbolt, and missed quite a few on the swim jig. I picked up the drop shot rod again, and like clock work, the thunder rumbled, so like before, I started making my way back to the launch. Someone really didn't want me fishing the dropshot today. Again, I didn't hear any more rumbles, so I made my way back out and caught another couple bass. However the thunder came back, and was louder and more frequent, so this time, it chased me off the water for good.
In total I caught 7 bass and missed a good amount, plus a pickerel and a crappie. Biggest was a pair of 1.5 lbers, everything else was a pound or less. Had it not been for the weather, I would have ventured off further to the areas that I had marked on my map last night, but I didn't want to get stuck in a thunderstorm being that far away from the launch, so I stayed pretty close in case I needed to make a fast exit. If I didn't have to go to work in the afternoon, I probably would have hung out a little longer and waited out the thunder, but I didn't have much time left.
Air Temperature: 70 - 72
Water Temperature: 80 - 82
Water Clarity: Clear
Skies: Overcast
Wind: 0 - 9 Mph N
Barometric Pressure: 30.00 - 29.98"
I figured I'd try to get out before the storm arrived, so I went over to a local lake/pond that I haven't been to since the pre spawn. I didn't have much luck here the last few times, and it's a place I really want to figure out. I know there are giants here.
I noticed the water level was extremely low, the launch was almost at a 70 degree angle to the water. Once I put in I began fishing the edges of lily pads with a wacky rigged Cobra Bait deadbolt and a strike king swim jig. First cast I got hit on the deadbolt but couldn't hook up. I worked my way around the lily pads and eventually hooked into a nice pound and a half largemouth. As I was releasing the fish, the bare hook was submerged in the water, when I picked up on my rod to make another cast, I felt pressure so I set the hook, and it was a tiny crappie on the other end of the line.
I moved off the lily pads trying to find the deeper submerged weed line, and after a few minutes of paddling around, trying to figure out the contour of it, I picked up the drop shot rod. As soon as I cast out, I heard two rather loud rumbles of thunder. I reeled in fast, and began paddling back to the launch. After about 10 minutes, the audible thunder had ceased, so I made my way back to the weed edge. I picked up another pound and a half bass on the swim jig as well as a pickerel. While we are on the topic of swim jigs, if you haven't made them part of your arsenal, or you just choose not to fish them, I strongly suggest giving them a look. The strike you get on these lures is so violent, and so exhilarating, it only takes a back seat to topwater, and like topwater, it can really attract giants.
I followed the weedline out towards deeper water where it comes out to a point, and caught a few more on a deadbolt, and missed quite a few on the swim jig. I picked up the drop shot rod again, and like clock work, the thunder rumbled, so like before, I started making my way back to the launch. Someone really didn't want me fishing the dropshot today. Again, I didn't hear any more rumbles, so I made my way back out and caught another couple bass. However the thunder came back, and was louder and more frequent, so this time, it chased me off the water for good.
In total I caught 7 bass and missed a good amount, plus a pickerel and a crappie. Biggest was a pair of 1.5 lbers, everything else was a pound or less. Had it not been for the weather, I would have ventured off further to the areas that I had marked on my map last night, but I didn't want to get stuck in a thunderstorm being that far away from the launch, so I stayed pretty close in case I needed to make a fast exit. If I didn't have to go to work in the afternoon, I probably would have hung out a little longer and waited out the thunder, but I didn't have much time left.
Dual Report 6/29 and 6/30/14
Local Alewife Lake 6/29
On the Water: 5:30 am - 12:00 pm
Air Temperature: 57 - 79
Water Temperature: 76-80
Water Clarity: Clear
Skies: Foggy early, partly cloudy
Wind: 0-6 Mph
Josh and I went back to the alewife lake we tried the other day, hoping for some more large bass schooled up on the bait. It was exceedingly foggy when we arrived and only got worse for the first two hours before it finally burned off. There is a large hump that we wanted to fish, it extends half way across the lake, and comes up to 18 ft and on 3 sides of it goes down almost to 40 ft. I was trolling a swimbait on my way out to it, and hooked up with a giant, but he came off before I could get him in.
We fished around the structure throwing worms, jigs, dropshots and swimbaits and missed a few fish but couldn't hook up. After the fog burned off, we started seeing some bass exploding on the surface, so we began chasing the movement and I quickly landed a 3 pounder and 2ish pound fish on a donkey rig (double fluke rig). It was crazy fishing a fluke over 30 feet of water and still catching fish. Aside from 50 missed fish on a drop shot, this was the peak of my action for the day. Josh continued to find schools of fish, catching them on the fluke including a 4.9 pounder. It's tough chasing bait in a kayak, once you get to where you saw them half way across the lake, they always seem to end up where you just were.
On the Water: 5:30 am - 12:00 pm
Air Temperature: 57 - 79
Water Temperature: 76-80
Water Clarity: Clear
Skies: Foggy early, partly cloudy
Wind: 0-6 Mph
Josh and I went back to the alewife lake we tried the other day, hoping for some more large bass schooled up on the bait. It was exceedingly foggy when we arrived and only got worse for the first two hours before it finally burned off. There is a large hump that we wanted to fish, it extends half way across the lake, and comes up to 18 ft and on 3 sides of it goes down almost to 40 ft. I was trolling a swimbait on my way out to it, and hooked up with a giant, but he came off before I could get him in.
We fished around the structure throwing worms, jigs, dropshots and swimbaits and missed a few fish but couldn't hook up. After the fog burned off, we started seeing some bass exploding on the surface, so we began chasing the movement and I quickly landed a 3 pounder and 2ish pound fish on a donkey rig (double fluke rig). It was crazy fishing a fluke over 30 feet of water and still catching fish. Aside from 50 missed fish on a drop shot, this was the peak of my action for the day. Josh continued to find schools of fish, catching them on the fluke including a 4.9 pounder. It's tough chasing bait in a kayak, once you get to where you saw them half way across the lake, they always seem to end up where you just were.
6/30/14
On the water: 5:30 pm - 8:45 pm
Air Temperature: 81 - 74
Water Temperature: 81-79
Water Clarity: Clear
Skies: Partly Cloudy
Wind: 3-12 Mph
Josh and I went out again Monday night to a lake I've grown quite accustomed to. We moved right out to a small isolated circle of lily pads that has deeper water on all sides of it. First cast Josh gets hit on a spinner bait, then second cast he hooks up with a small bass. My second cast I hook into a 2.75lb bass on a Cobra Bait Deadbolt. Then maybe 10 casts later, I catch a 2.5lb bass also on the deadbolt. We fished mainly weed edges and lily pads, throwing anything from swimbaits, jigs, and texas rigged worms, to poppers, wacky rigged deadbolts, super flukes and swim jigs.
We totaled 19 fish between the two of us, Josh got most of his on a super fluke, and a couple on the popper. Me on the other hand, I got 7 on a deadbolt, and one on a swim jig. My best 5 was probably 8.5-9, Josh's was probably closer to 6. Lots of dinks for both of us with a few quality fish mixed in.
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