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Have you ever been in one of those fishing slumps. I mean spiraled to depths of despair that can't be fathomed by a non-angler. "Will I ever catch another fish" echoes in your brain constantly. Starting to be afraid to even try. I was there. I had made a couple of trips to Hagg, a sturgeon fishing trip and a trip to the Willie for smallmouth with nothing to show for it. I am talking 8+hour days each time without touching a fish. I was at the 8th level of he** - the one Dante was afraid to mention.
I mean I was looking for skunk images to update my avatar.
That was my mindset as I headed to Merwin on the 18th. The only reason I even went is because a buddy of mine who I have not seen for over a year said we could meet up. We got to the lake a little before the gate opened and got ready to launch. I am dreadfully slow getting my kayak set up so he launched and headed out while I dragged myself through the paces of getting my FF wired up.
I rolled over to the ramp and launched quickly and started pedaling out of Speelyai. I went to attach my second rod holder and plop, there goes the top of it. I have a quick release on it and I must not have seated it properly. I watched it sink in disbelief. Well, that did not raise my spirits.
I looked at my kayak for a minute and figured I could wedge the butt of the rod in a carabiner and have it run under my legs and propped against what Scotty mount. OK, at least I can fish two rods.
As I get out of the bay I radio my buddy and he already has one - which is not surprising since he is an awesome fisherman. I deployed my rods and started pedaling across the lake. I had not gone two far when I had a couple of drive-by bites that did not stick at all. "Here we go again" I thought as I could feel the black & white looming.
I was feeling pretty down (pretty busy berating myself for the loss of the rod holder) and I was talking to my buddy on the radio when my rod started bouncing. I was pure adrenalin as a I reeled that fish closer to the kayak when, as kokanee are wont to do, it pulled the hook and I was left with that sick feeling my my stomach.
I finished reeling it in to check the bait when my other rod went off. I lost that one as well. I went back to trolling, getting bites was at least way better than I done all year so I started to feel a glimmer of hope. A little further along, one rod goes off and I lose it on the way in and then the second rod goes off. I babied that fish all the way to the kayak and when I slipped the net under that fish a giant weight was lifted off my shoulders. Every skunking, every bad trip, every mistake was washed away by that one fish.
It is amazing how such a small thing can make such a big difference in your outlook on life!! Confidence surged through my veins. "I am back baby" I thought to myself and all felt right in the world again.
I won't go through the details of the rest of the day, you all can watch the video for that, but I will say I went from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs. I ended up catching my limit. The first 8 came pretty quickly and then there was a several hour lull before I caught my last two (as a double). I went from being skunked on my previous trips to landing three doubles (a triple double just like a basketball star). You know all your luck is back when you are landing doubles on kokanee out of the kayak.
I tried smoking the fish for the first time (my buddy gave me a brine recipe). I personally don't care for cooked salmon but my wife liked it and daughter's boyfriend thought it was the best smoked salmon he'd ever had so I guess it turned out pretty well.
Here is the result of getting that skunk off:
I forgot to mention above but the rod holder I used (and the one I dropped in the lake) were new Scotty 289 R-5. They are so much smaller and lighter than the orcas and really release super easy. For the kayak I really love them. I never had a great angle for lifting out of the orcas and these are much easier.
Anyway, here is a video of the day. Thanks for reading!
I mean I was looking for skunk images to update my avatar.
That was my mindset as I headed to Merwin on the 18th. The only reason I even went is because a buddy of mine who I have not seen for over a year said we could meet up. We got to the lake a little before the gate opened and got ready to launch. I am dreadfully slow getting my kayak set up so he launched and headed out while I dragged myself through the paces of getting my FF wired up.
I rolled over to the ramp and launched quickly and started pedaling out of Speelyai. I went to attach my second rod holder and plop, there goes the top of it. I have a quick release on it and I must not have seated it properly. I watched it sink in disbelief. Well, that did not raise my spirits.
I looked at my kayak for a minute and figured I could wedge the butt of the rod in a carabiner and have it run under my legs and propped against what Scotty mount. OK, at least I can fish two rods.
As I get out of the bay I radio my buddy and he already has one - which is not surprising since he is an awesome fisherman. I deployed my rods and started pedaling across the lake. I had not gone two far when I had a couple of drive-by bites that did not stick at all. "Here we go again" I thought as I could feel the black & white looming.
I was feeling pretty down (pretty busy berating myself for the loss of the rod holder) and I was talking to my buddy on the radio when my rod started bouncing. I was pure adrenalin as a I reeled that fish closer to the kayak when, as kokanee are wont to do, it pulled the hook and I was left with that sick feeling my my stomach.
I finished reeling it in to check the bait when my other rod went off. I lost that one as well. I went back to trolling, getting bites was at least way better than I done all year so I started to feel a glimmer of hope. A little further along, one rod goes off and I lose it on the way in and then the second rod goes off. I babied that fish all the way to the kayak and when I slipped the net under that fish a giant weight was lifted off my shoulders. Every skunking, every bad trip, every mistake was washed away by that one fish.
It is amazing how such a small thing can make such a big difference in your outlook on life!! Confidence surged through my veins. "I am back baby" I thought to myself and all felt right in the world again.
I won't go through the details of the rest of the day, you all can watch the video for that, but I will say I went from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs. I ended up catching my limit. The first 8 came pretty quickly and then there was a several hour lull before I caught my last two (as a double). I went from being skunked on my previous trips to landing three doubles (a triple double just like a basketball star). You know all your luck is back when you are landing doubles on kokanee out of the kayak.
I tried smoking the fish for the first time (my buddy gave me a brine recipe). I personally don't care for cooked salmon but my wife liked it and daughter's boyfriend thought it was the best smoked salmon he'd ever had so I guess it turned out pretty well.
Here is the result of getting that skunk off:
I forgot to mention above but the rod holder I used (and the one I dropped in the lake) were new Scotty 289 R-5. They are so much smaller and lighter than the orcas and really release super easy. For the kayak I really love them. I never had a great angle for lifting out of the orcas and these are much easier.
Anyway, here is a video of the day. Thanks for reading!
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I was just glad I could figure out a way to jury rig something so that I could still use my 2nd rod (without having to hold it).
