New yak, some trout, good company

[kevinfry]

Thanks to my friend Fishtank (and finding a buyer for my Striper) I now have a new 2013 Malibu Stealth 14.....wow, what an upgrade from my ol' trusty "gift horse" malibu 2. I felt like I was ridin' in style.
Much faster and longer, but plenty maneuverable since it has plenty of rocker. I do need a new seat, however, as my trusty crazy creek seat did not fit too well.
And more Snaggedline friends met me at Wheatly lake for the maiden voyage.
Ronault had got his limit of trout the day before tipping us off and he met Ictalurus Bill and I on the water. Bill put 4 in the boat in a hurry while it took me 2 hours to find the right lure....once I tied on a Countdown Rapala and a little crackle frog Flatfish, the action was pretty steady and I got my limit in short order...
....the livewell in my stealth came in handy for these 12" tasty guys!! Wish there had been some bigger ones!

It was great to see Ron and Bill and get my yak slimed

[ronaultmtd]

It was good fishing with my friends in 2014...this weekend is the 1st time I have had the yak wet this year...yesterday the LM bass were hitting..not today, but the trout were making up for it...limited out in an hour and thirty minutes today...

[J.A. Veil]

Kevin -

Congratulations on the new kayak. You put it to good use right away.

[kevinfry]

more pics of the "Surprise"

[Mark]

Nice report and photos.

Congrats on the new ride and a successful afternoon for all.

[sparky1423]

Congrats on the new yak Kevin! That's a nice looking rig

[quikdrive]

Thanks for the report and congrats on the new yak. I grew up fishing Wheatley lake and it holds a lot of fond memories. Always a good time fishing for trout.

[dpreller]

good god you deserve congradulations for simply finding unfrozen water in this freakin siberrian wasteland we live.

[AbuMasgouf]

Congrats on the new yak Kevin! And nice going everyone on the fish!

[Goody]

Very nice looking yak. Congrats on the new ride.

[ictalurus]

I've been waiting since Valentine's Day for DNR to stock some pond in our area, so I couldn't wait to hit the lake once I saw that they stocked on Tuesday. It was even better to fish with Kevin and Ron. I used spinners for most of the day and caught a much smaller class of fish:



Since I haven't had much luck this year, I didn't want to risk offending the fish gods by throwing back their offering. Five trout that size equaled one meal for two and a snack, but I was appreciative nonetheless. Once Kevin figured out bigger fish were hitting Rapala Countdowns, I caught a few bigger ones, which I released. I also picked up a micro-bass:



Here's Ron in action and one of Kevin's fish:





I also tried some new crappie lures I picked up on sale from Bass Pro, including a couple small crank baits and various plastics, but there were no takers. The wind picked up and the temperature dropped, so I wasn't too interested in trying to finesse fish out of the cover if they weren't going to play along. Most of the trout I caught were in 4-7 feet of water and often hit when I twitched the lure. Anyway, most of my trips this year have been really slow, so I was happy with the steady pullage and good company.

[camelbird]

Kevin,

The new yak looks sweet man!! Congrats buddy, love the live well too. I bet a few spot will hold well for some LL. Missing some st mary action...

Nice work on the fish gents

Justin

[kitkatyaker]

congrats on the new yak Kevin. Can't wait to see you in it up close and personal and all.....

Kitkat

[Grady-Black]

SWEET Ride Kevin!!
GB

[DanMarino]

Always great to see a documented report of Ictalurus/Bill on the water again.
Nice photos and reports guys.