bass
I think I could have had a great day, but my son, Zach, was in an exploring mood and not much of a fishing mood. I spent about 6 hours on the water, but pathetically little with my line in the water. Still a fun day, but a little frustrating at times.
Zach and I launched the Frontier with the trolling motor from Cedaroak about 6:20am on Sunday. We were the first ones to the ramp. I hear there is some kind of B10 fishing or something going on right now
I started throwing a tiny torpedo (or baby torpedo not sure which it is) and I missed two fish in the first 10 minutes. Then I hooked a huge fish, but I had not tightened my drag all the way back (only mostly) and I did not get a good hookset. Dang, that fish was an easy 4lbs. Definitely the biggest smallmouth I have hooked on a top water. Tightened the drag down and picked up two 1 lb fish and missed one more before the topwater bite stopped (around 7 or so). Zach was not casting much so I was a bit worried. He said he was fine and just wanted to watch.
After I told him the topwater bite was over Zach admitted that his stomach was hurting (and had been since the truck ride to the river) so we pulled up on shore for a bit and I picked him a bunch of blackberries and we just hung out for a while. After he ate the berries he said he felt a bit better so we went back out.
First rocky spot I went to I caught a 1.5lber on a dropshot, (nose hooked 4" zoom dead ringer). I really like that rigging! It gets to the bottom so much faster than the wacky rig I have always used in the past and it looks great in the water (to me and the bass). Released that guy and immediately hooked another that threw the hook on a jump next to the kayak. As soon as I lost that fish Zach wanted me to re-rig his stuff (with a panfish sized tube bait, but hey its his rod). After doing that I tried to move back to the spot where I had hooked up (we had drifted pretty far by then) but I could not re-find the fish.
After that Zach wanted to go back on shore again so we took another break until he said he felt OK again. He had not slept well the night before and I think that coupled with the early wake up just had him not feeling his best.
Back on the water to a second rocky area and it was the same as the first, caught one, lost one then Zach wanted me to change his lure again. Could not re-find the fish by the time I finished re-rigging his rod.
Then we spend an hour plus on Hogg island hiking and eating blackberries. A lot of fun but I really wanted to get back on the water. When we finally got back on the water he just wanted to drive around and see the river. He said it felt better when we were moving Finally I got him back to fishing. I thought we could beat the shallow rocks with some spinners for small fish just to get him some action.
He hooked a small smallmouth almost right away and lost it on the jump. Then he hooked a second one that he got to the kayak and it jumped and flipped off but hit his foot that was hanging over the side as it did. I told him that if you touch the fish it counts as a catch I picked up a few on my spinner and then when we did not get a bite for 15 minutes he said he was done fishing.
So I pulled up to another rocky shelf and hooked up on my first cast with the drop shot. Then Zach said he wanted to go back on shore. So I just gave up on fishing and we played around the rest of the time, stopping here and there to get out and poke around.
I only fished 4 spots with the drop shot and caught fish on the three of them. It felt like I could have picked up a handful on most of the rocky shelves if I had been by myself.
I really like the nose hooking that dead ringer the drop shot (first time trying it) It was easier to feel the bites with the nose hooked bait in the deeper water compared to a wacky rig bait and it stayed down really well. All the rocky spots I was catching them on were in 15-25' most had some current.
Overall, when I got to fish the bite was really good, but I did not get to do much fishing. That's the way it goes sometimes. I really want him to hook into a several pound smallmouth. I am hoping that once that happens I will not be able to pry the rod from his hands
Zach and I launched the Frontier with the trolling motor from Cedaroak about 6:20am on Sunday. We were the first ones to the ramp. I hear there is some kind of B10 fishing or something going on right now
I started throwing a tiny torpedo (or baby torpedo not sure which it is) and I missed two fish in the first 10 minutes. Then I hooked a huge fish, but I had not tightened my drag all the way back (only mostly) and I did not get a good hookset. Dang, that fish was an easy 4lbs. Definitely the biggest smallmouth I have hooked on a top water. Tightened the drag down and picked up two 1 lb fish and missed one more before the topwater bite stopped (around 7 or so). Zach was not casting much so I was a bit worried. He said he was fine and just wanted to watch.
After I told him the topwater bite was over Zach admitted that his stomach was hurting (and had been since the truck ride to the river) so we pulled up on shore for a bit and I picked him a bunch of blackberries and we just hung out for a while. After he ate the berries he said he felt a bit better so we went back out.
First rocky spot I went to I caught a 1.5lber on a dropshot, (nose hooked 4" zoom dead ringer). I really like that rigging! It gets to the bottom so much faster than the wacky rig I have always used in the past and it looks great in the water (to me and the bass). Released that guy and immediately hooked another that threw the hook on a jump next to the kayak. As soon as I lost that fish Zach wanted me to re-rig his stuff (with a panfish sized tube bait, but hey its his rod). After doing that I tried to move back to the spot where I had hooked up (we had drifted pretty far by then) but I could not re-find the fish.
After that Zach wanted to go back on shore again so we took another break until he said he felt OK again. He had not slept well the night before and I think that coupled with the early wake up just had him not feeling his best.
Back on the water to a second rocky area and it was the same as the first, caught one, lost one then Zach wanted me to change his lure again. Could not re-find the fish by the time I finished re-rigging his rod.
Then we spend an hour plus on Hogg island hiking and eating blackberries. A lot of fun but I really wanted to get back on the water. When we finally got back on the water he just wanted to drive around and see the river. He said it felt better when we were moving Finally I got him back to fishing. I thought we could beat the shallow rocks with some spinners for small fish just to get him some action.
He hooked a small smallmouth almost right away and lost it on the jump. Then he hooked a second one that he got to the kayak and it jumped and flipped off but hit his foot that was hanging over the side as it did. I told him that if you touch the fish it counts as a catch
I picked up a few on my spinner and then when we did not get a bite for 15 minutes he said he was done fishing.So I pulled up to another rocky shelf and hooked up on my first cast with the drop shot. Then Zach said he wanted to go back on shore. So I just gave up on fishing and we played around the rest of the time, stopping here and there to get out and poke around.
I only fished 4 spots with the drop shot and caught fish on the three of them. It felt like I could have picked up a handful on most of the rocky shelves if I had been by myself.
I really like the nose hooking that dead ringer the drop shot (first time trying it) It was easier to feel the bites with the nose hooked bait in the deeper water compared to a wacky rig bait and it stayed down really well. All the rocky spots I was catching them on were in 15-25' most had some current.
Overall, when I got to fish the bite was really good, but I did not get to do much fishing. That's the way it goes sometimes. I really want him to hook into a several pound smallmouth. I am hoping that once that happens I will not be able to pry the rod from his hands
