bass
Zach and I took the kayak out yesterday to fish for trout in the rain. We did not find any fish in the spot we had done well in a couple of weeks ago and so we kept going farther down the lake. Finally after about an hour and a half of no fish we found a spot where we started getting bit like crazy. Only bad thing was we were losing them at an equal pace 
When we fish Zach likes to have both rods back by me then I hand him one when we hook up. First rod goes off and I set the hook and feel a fish, I am turning to hand the rod to Zach when he says dad, the other rod. It is completely bent down and the drag is going out. I try to put the first rod back into the holder and grab the second rod. I pick up the second rod and feel a big head shake and then nothing. Pick up the first rod back out of the holder, that fish is gone too.
Man that was brutal. After that I got the rods rigged back up and we started trolling again. Every 5-10 minutes we would have a take down. Finally, amidst a ton of missed strikes and lost fish, we got three into the kayak, two 10” and one itsy bitsy 8” fish. The first fish was bleeding when we threw it back and it was twitching on the surface. Two gulls landed and were trying to peck at it when a huge bald eagle swooped down and grabbed it. We were probably about 50’ away and it was really cool to watch.
Well, the bite is going great and we have it dialed in when Zach lets me know he really has to go to the bathroom. So I pull the rods in and head over to a boat ramp so he can use the facilities (about 1 mile there and 1 mile back). While I was at the dock waiting for Zach I decided to add a stinger hook to our spinners (about 3” of line to a small hook). So 45 minutes later we finally get back to where we were fishing. Takes us a about 15 minutes to find the fish but when we do the hookup ratio goes way up. However, we still did a great job of losing fish.
Main problem is that the net we were using is a wading net with a short handle and it is hard to get the fish close enough to net with the 3-4’ leader on the trolling rigs I had set up. The two scariest were when Zach tried to pull one into the net and the lure came flying out and stuck in my ear. Zach laughed and said it looked like a pretty pink earing. Fortunately it did not sink past the barb since it hit the cartilage. Later I returned the favor when my lure came flying out and struck him, fortunately just bouncing off. I am definitely getting a longer handled net before we go out again!
Well we ended up trolling back and forth across the dam face just once more time catching landing another 3 fish and losing a couple of big fish in the process when Zach decides we wants to leave. So I pulled in the rods and we headed back to the ramp. When I was partway done loading I called in our fried chicken order and we picked it up on the way home. A really delicious end to a wet and fun day on the water.
I think next time we will just fish closer to the bathrooms
When we fish Zach likes to have both rods back by me then I hand him one when we hook up. First rod goes off and I set the hook and feel a fish, I am turning to hand the rod to Zach when he says dad, the other rod. It is completely bent down and the drag is going out. I try to put the first rod back into the holder and grab the second rod. I pick up the second rod and feel a big head shake and then nothing. Pick up the first rod back out of the holder, that fish is gone too.
Man that was brutal. After that I got the rods rigged back up and we started trolling again. Every 5-10 minutes we would have a take down. Finally, amidst a ton of missed strikes and lost fish, we got three into the kayak, two 10” and one itsy bitsy 8” fish. The first fish was bleeding when we threw it back and it was twitching on the surface. Two gulls landed and were trying to peck at it when a huge bald eagle swooped down and grabbed it. We were probably about 50’ away and it was really cool to watch.
Well, the bite is going great and we have it dialed in when Zach lets me know he really has to go to the bathroom. So I pull the rods in and head over to a boat ramp so he can use the facilities (about 1 mile there and 1 mile back). While I was at the dock waiting for Zach I decided to add a stinger hook to our spinners (about 3” of line to a small hook). So 45 minutes later we finally get back to where we were fishing. Takes us a about 15 minutes to find the fish but when we do the hookup ratio goes way up. However, we still did a great job of losing fish.
Main problem is that the net we were using is a wading net with a short handle and it is hard to get the fish close enough to net with the 3-4’ leader on the trolling rigs I had set up. The two scariest were when Zach tried to pull one into the net and the lure came flying out and stuck in my ear. Zach laughed and said it looked like a pretty pink earing. Fortunately it did not sink past the barb since it hit the cartilage. Later I returned the favor when my lure came flying out and struck him, fortunately just bouncing off. I am definitely getting a longer handled net before we go out again!
Well we ended up trolling back and forth across the dam face just once more time catching landing another 3 fish and losing a couple of big fish in the process when Zach decides we wants to leave. So I pulled in the rods and we headed back to the ramp. When I was partway done loading I called in our fried chicken order and we picked it up on the way home. A really delicious end to a wet and fun day on the water.
I think next time we will just fish closer to the bathrooms
