What did I do to anger the fishing gods this time????

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I was so excited to finally have a decent looking wind forecast for the Columbia. Winds were supposed to be light in the morning and max out at only 6mph in the afternoon. A perfect day for some smallmouth kayak fishing - or so I thought....

I met up with my normal fishing buddy before first light and also ran into another fellow that I had chatted with online a few times. It was looking to be an exciting day! We all launched and I headed one way and they headed the other to start.

On my first cast I had a strike on my topwater from what felt like a small fish but it quickly pulled off. I dodged the "catching one on the first cast is bad luck" curse but unfortunately the corollary is that losing one on the first cast is even worse luck, or so it seemed.

I managed to lose the next 5 fish I hooked including a couple that had some really nice weight to them. Those fish where you set the hook and the rod tip does not move when you set the hook, the bend just gets deeper. They all felt like really solid hooksets but each time the hooks just pulled out.

I did not lose them on a jump, during surface thrashing or anything like that. Each time the hooks just pulled out. I was starting to get pretty upset when I finally landed a modest 1lb 4oz smallmouth. At least the skunk was off!

Unfortunately that was my last strike from that area so I raced downstream to catch up to my friends. They were not having any better luck than I and in fact had even slower action. We were all puzzled by our lack of success. I started working an area that has been good to me in the past and almost immediately landed a nice 2lb 7oz bass. Things were looking up!

I did not get another strike from that area. My one buddy who was fishing nearby was also bit by the bad luck bug when he hooked and lost 3 bass (2 of which were nice sized) in a matter of 5 to 10 minutes. It was just a bizarre day.

We decided to head further downstream but as we did the wind just kept getting stronger and stronger. After a short stint down there I decided I had had enough and I was going to pack it in. I texted my friend and started back up the river.

I stopped at the spot where I had caught the 2lb 7oz and quickly caught a 1lb 3oz and then a 2lb 3oz which fishing in some heavy whitecaps and decent sized waves. I thought, "well alright now here we go!". Unfortunately, I did not get another bite. After about 15 fruitless minutes I finished the slog back to the ramp.

Just to make things even more interesting, my pedal drive kept popping out every couple of minutes causing me to lurch awkwardly. I finally made it back to the ramp and I spoke with one of the windsurfers who had shown up. He said that the wind was 20-22mph (just a touch above the 6mph that was predicted).

In all it was close to as bad of a day on the water as you can have. Lots of lost fish, getting blown off the water, tweaking my back while struggling to get back. Overall not a good day.

So, I am not sure what I did to anger the fishing gods but if anyone knows of an arcane ritual that I can perform to placate them then please let me know ASAP. I am thinking of a goat sacrifice or something but I am just not sure :)

Here is some video from the day that properly captures my frustration.

 
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Dude 3 friends and I fished at Crescent Lake, last week, for 4 days. We only had ONE bite, and ONE fish for all of efforts both on the water and on the bank. At least the one fish was a 24" / 5lb. rainbow!

Then I spent 3 or 4 hours with another friend jonesin' for smallies last Saturday morning, at Foster Res. Gary is a SUPERB bass fisherman...in fact it is the ONLY type of fishing that he does. He averages over 100 bass a year. But he only caught TWO all morning. I got two perch, had a big smallie unbutton 5' from the boat, and a big something break the 4 lb. leader on my trolling rod! But that's slower action than we have had all summer.

Now after reading your report I'm wondering why the fish are all lock jawed this past week/weekend? Crazy huh?
 
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Fishing gods were angry with everyone I guess :)
 
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Gods could not have been that angry .. At least you got out on the water.

I for one, am extremely jealous.
 
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Still sound better than sitting on the couch!

Karma's got something to do with it

Sometimes in the wind or with my bad hand, I'll have to retie the same lure 3-4 times before I'm happy with it. Seems like the more I struggle with it, the more likely I am to catch a fish with it
 
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I often find that my best lures are the ones that have already caught fish. Regardless of how beat up they are.

Maybe residual human scent masked by fish slime?
 
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DOKF said:
Gods could not have been that angry .. At least you got out on the water.

I for one, am extremely jealous.

I can't complain too much, that's for sure! It is always nice to be out on the water.
 
NKlamerus said:
Still sound better than sitting on the couch!

Karma's got something to do with it

Sometimes in the wind or with my bad hand, I'll have to retie the same lure 3-4 times before I'm happy with it. Seems like the more I struggle with it, the more likely I am to catch a fish with it

Definitely better than the couch :)

Fishing is a weird sport of momentum. Some days (for no real reason) you feel like you are going to slay them, other times you feel like there is not a single fish in the area, and often both of those sentiments come true. I think subconsciously we key into more than we are coconsciously aware of. I think a lot of karma is getting an inkling of those deeper connections.
 
DOKF said:
I often find that my best lures are the ones that have already caught fish. Regardless of how beat up they are.

Maybe residual human scent masked by fish slime?

I definitely have some lures that are "special" and seem to produce better than highly similar lures. I think in part it is because I do fish a little harder when I have one of those tied on. Not that I don't try my best every time out, just some times you need to go full spinal tap and turn it up to 11 :)
 
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