Tweet
My youngest son and I loaded up the kayaks yesterday and went to the lake at the local state park right after lunch.
It was packed, people in kayaks, canoes and john boats. Some fishing (or trying to) but most of them just hollering/yelling/paddling around. Some even seeing who could tip who over.
Anyway, I got some more experience in the new FS128T, used the depthfinder/GPS a little more and had two real good strikes, but didn't catch either one.
I tried a couple different spinner baits, one crank bait, a couple top water lures and my old plastic floating frog.
Got the strikes on the frog in water that was less than two feet deep and thick with lily pads. Just holes with water here and there. The first fish actually had the lure well enough that it tugged the pole tip and I got one good pull on him/her before the lure came free. That one was a water busting mouth wide open strike. I got another smaller smack in the same area a few casts later that may/may not have been the same fish.
The second strike was way more exciting. I was working the frog across the lily pad leaves and trying to get it into the small patches of open water between the leaves when I saw an approximately 2 ft. square area of water and lily pad leaves raise up and "flutter". First thought was, "what they hell??", then immediately I knew it was a fish. That was a foot or so away from where the frog was. It was sort of like deer hunting, when you see that buck and you waiting for the right view for the shot. The frog was on a leaf and I twitched it into the next patch of open water and bang, the fish hit it. I think the "buck fever" had me by then because I tried to set the hook, most likely to fast, but never felt the fish on the line.
I kept fishing the lily pads all the way back to the truck, but never got another strike.
My son caught a large mouth about 10 to 12" long on a small hula popper. That lake would be so much better early in the year, or even in the winter, after two or three days of sun and high 40's or low 50's air temperature.
I really want to start hitting some of the smaller rivers south/south west of here but I think I'm going to have to talk another buddy into getting a kayak as my son seems to be unable/unwilling to invest a day in a float trip.
Week days on the local (bigger) lake might be okay as in the past there wasn't much ski boat/bass boat/jet ski traffic to cause wake issues when I used to work shift work and had week days off. Lots of weeds/grass in the edges of that lake for the frog (caught a couple 5 pound large mouth with that lure many years ago in that lake.
It was packed, people in kayaks, canoes and john boats. Some fishing (or trying to) but most of them just hollering/yelling/paddling around. Some even seeing who could tip who over.
Anyway, I got some more experience in the new FS128T, used the depthfinder/GPS a little more and had two real good strikes, but didn't catch either one.
I tried a couple different spinner baits, one crank bait, a couple top water lures and my old plastic floating frog.
Got the strikes on the frog in water that was less than two feet deep and thick with lily pads. Just holes with water here and there. The first fish actually had the lure well enough that it tugged the pole tip and I got one good pull on him/her before the lure came free. That one was a water busting mouth wide open strike. I got another smaller smack in the same area a few casts later that may/may not have been the same fish.
The second strike was way more exciting. I was working the frog across the lily pad leaves and trying to get it into the small patches of open water between the leaves when I saw an approximately 2 ft. square area of water and lily pad leaves raise up and "flutter". First thought was, "what they hell??", then immediately I knew it was a fish. That was a foot or so away from where the frog was. It was sort of like deer hunting, when you see that buck and you waiting for the right view for the shot. The frog was on a leaf and I twitched it into the next patch of open water and bang, the fish hit it. I think the "buck fever" had me by then because I tried to set the hook, most likely to fast, but never felt the fish on the line.
I kept fishing the lily pads all the way back to the truck, but never got another strike.
My son caught a large mouth about 10 to 12" long on a small hula popper. That lake would be so much better early in the year, or even in the winter, after two or three days of sun and high 40's or low 50's air temperature.
I really want to start hitting some of the smaller rivers south/south west of here but I think I'm going to have to talk another buddy into getting a kayak as my son seems to be unable/unwilling to invest a day in a float trip.
Week days on the local (bigger) lake might be okay as in the past there wasn't much ski boat/bass boat/jet ski traffic to cause wake issues when I used to work shift work and had week days off. Lots of weeds/grass in the edges of that lake for the frog (caught a couple 5 pound large mouth with that lure many years ago in that lake.