I've been out fishing 3 of the last 4 days and I have a lot of footage to go through. It's going to take me a few days for now here is a picture, so you guys know what kind of video to expect!
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
11/16/14 The Feast and the Famine
I was able to take two trips this weekend. With this cold weather I expected some changes with the fishing but wasn't quite sure what to expect. As far as catching fish, I had one really good trip and one really bad trip.
On Friday 11/14, I hit the river after work in search of Walleyes. I had been doing very well on these fish so I was surprised when I fished for two hours in the cold and snow with no fish to show for it. I got some neat video of fishing in the snow but overall an extremely disappointing trip considering I'd been hearing good reports from some of my friends in town. If the weather recovers a bit this weekend I plan on getting out for them at least one more time.
On Sunday 11/16, I got out trout fishing for the first time in a few weeks. My friend Andrew and I decided to try our luck at a lake that has been pretty lackluster the past several years. We had heard some good reports so we thought we'd give it a try. When I pulled into the lot, Andrew was already there waiting. He told me that the channel to the lake was open but there was some ice at the ramp that we would have to break to get to open water. I was surprised to find that there was ice about an inch thick for about 50-75 feet out from the ramp. We spent about twenty minutes breaking this ice to get to open water. Once we got to the open water, we turned the corner to go through the channel to the main lake. The channel was frozen for about 100 yards, so much for it being open! Luckily this ice was not as thick and was relatively easy to push through. Once on the main lake, it didn't take long for us to get into some Rainbows. I hooked up within 5 minutes of starting to fish. Before I even got that fish landed, Andrew had hooked up and was also fighting a fish! I spent the next three and a half hours having really consistent action from the stocker Rainbows. It snowed for at least the second half of the trip and snow accumulation was pretty close to an inch while we were on the water. I landed a total of 8 fish between 14 and 16 inches and lost or never got a good hook-up on about 8 more. The fish are fighting extremely well now with the water temps in the mid 40s. They would jump, pull, and bulldog for everything they were worth. One more pretty interesting thing that happened is that a Seagull swooped down and grabbed my streamer from the water and I hooked it in the beak! I actually reeled in a bird! Every time I would get it close to the boat and try to reach out with pliers, it would fly off until it ran out of line then crash into the water. After about 10 minutes I finally had it subdued enough to get some pliers on the hook and leverage the bird free. It flew off pretty agitated and only slightly worse for wear. Between the ice, snow, Rainbows, and Seagull, it was a pretty memorable and enjoyable day.
Here's a video of the trip:
On Friday 11/14, I hit the river after work in search of Walleyes. I had been doing very well on these fish so I was surprised when I fished for two hours in the cold and snow with no fish to show for it. I got some neat video of fishing in the snow but overall an extremely disappointing trip considering I'd been hearing good reports from some of my friends in town. If the weather recovers a bit this weekend I plan on getting out for them at least one more time.
On Sunday 11/16, I got out trout fishing for the first time in a few weeks. My friend Andrew and I decided to try our luck at a lake that has been pretty lackluster the past several years. We had heard some good reports so we thought we'd give it a try. When I pulled into the lot, Andrew was already there waiting. He told me that the channel to the lake was open but there was some ice at the ramp that we would have to break to get to open water. I was surprised to find that there was ice about an inch thick for about 50-75 feet out from the ramp. We spent about twenty minutes breaking this ice to get to open water. Once we got to the open water, we turned the corner to go through the channel to the main lake. The channel was frozen for about 100 yards, so much for it being open! Luckily this ice was not as thick and was relatively easy to push through. Once on the main lake, it didn't take long for us to get into some Rainbows. I hooked up within 5 minutes of starting to fish. Before I even got that fish landed, Andrew had hooked up and was also fighting a fish! I spent the next three and a half hours having really consistent action from the stocker Rainbows. It snowed for at least the second half of the trip and snow accumulation was pretty close to an inch while we were on the water. I landed a total of 8 fish between 14 and 16 inches and lost or never got a good hook-up on about 8 more. The fish are fighting extremely well now with the water temps in the mid 40s. They would jump, pull, and bulldog for everything they were worth. One more pretty interesting thing that happened is that a Seagull swooped down and grabbed my streamer from the water and I hooked it in the beak! I actually reeled in a bird! Every time I would get it close to the boat and try to reach out with pliers, it would fly off until it ran out of line then crash into the water. After about 10 minutes I finally had it subdued enough to get some pliers on the hook and leverage the bird free. It flew off pretty agitated and only slightly worse for wear. Between the ice, snow, Rainbows, and Seagull, it was a pretty memorable and enjoyable day.
Here's a video of the trip:
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
11/10/14 Gettin' Jiggy With It
Today was another 'take your kayak to work day'. I made a big push to
get out today because the weather looks like it is going to take a
nasty turn for the worse. Got out of work about 4 o'clock which left me
with about 2 hours to fish. I got things started pretty quickly by
hooking up within the first ten minutes on the water. I hooked this fish
right at the base of the dam. I could tell it was a nice one cause it
really didn't want to leave the dam and when it did it stayed nice and
deep and bulldogged a few times. I got it up where i could see it so I
grabbed the net. About the time I was going to make my move the hooked
popped out! This was actually the first Walleye I have lost this year.
I've managed to land every single other fish so I guess it was bound to
happen eventually. Unfortunately though, it was a really nice fish and
would have definitely been in the top 3 for the year size wise.
Undeterred, I fished on and eventually hooked up and landed a nice
18''er. It gave me more of a frantic fight than actually displaying any
strength or power. I ended the night with another hook up. This fish
felt pretty good too. It was pulling good and you could feel each head
shake as I brought it to the boat. Got it in to discover that it was a
small fish that may not have even been 14''. Gave me a good fight and a
good picture with the sunset in the background. All in all not too bad
of a day. Went 2/3 and got to enjoy the beautiful evening. All fish were
caught on a lead head jig and Berkley Powerbait flukes.
One more interesting thing happened. I got snagged on a retrieve. I couldn't get it to come undone so I was pulling a lot of pressure on it. I felt something give and saw my jig come into sight. It was hooked on another anglers line that had previously been broken off. The line was wrapped around a log which I was pulling up enough to get in view. The log was absolutely covered in lures! Without much effort, I recovered 4 jigs and 3 nice crankbaits along with a mass of fishing line. Pretty strange but pretty neat as with some new trebles I have some throw away lures to use in the future.
One more interesting thing happened. I got snagged on a retrieve. I couldn't get it to come undone so I was pulling a lot of pressure on it. I felt something give and saw my jig come into sight. It was hooked on another anglers line that had previously been broken off. The line was wrapped around a log which I was pulling up enough to get in view. The log was absolutely covered in lures! Without much effort, I recovered 4 jigs and 3 nice crankbaits along with a mass of fishing line. Pretty strange but pretty neat as with some new trebles I have some throw away lures to use in the future.
11/8/14 Those DAMn Walleyes
Four of us got together to hit the river again in search of Walleyes. It was a nice and cold, windy day to be out. James got things started quickly with a hookup literally before Jameson and Mike even got on the water. He continued to put the hurt on and landed 7 Walleyes and missed several others throughout the course of the day. He even spent time sitting and watching the rest of us fish for a bit! Mike and I each caught 4 fish during the course of the day. I caught all of my fish on a lead head jig and Berkley Powerbait fluke. Mike caught several of his fish trolling. He made the comment that trolling in this spot was like "trying to troll in a fish bowl". He made it work though and scored several fish on shallow running crankbaits. Jameson again struggled to land a fish. He had one on and lost it right at the boat. A while later I heard some hooping and hollering. I turned around to the sight of Jameson with a Walleye in the net! He finally got the Walleye skunk-monkey off his back. I'm really glad he finally got his Walleye. All in all, we had a hell of a day landing 16 fish between the 4 of us. I'll let the pictures and video do the rest of the talking.
Here is a link to a video of the trip:
Sunday, November 9, 2014
11/7/14 Jiggin' for Walleyes
I took my kayak to work on Friday and made a quick trip when I got off. I hit a local river in search of Walleyes. My first fish came only minutes after getting to the spot. On the cast I snagged the bottom. I managed to get it off and reeled in some slack. The fish hit right after that. I landed a nice 18''er. I got a couple pictures and put it back. Just minutes later I hooked another fish in the exact same place. This fish was really nice. It measured out at 24''. Making it my biggest river Walleye to date. I continued to hit that spot in hopes that more fish were stacked up there with no luck. When darkness fell, a guy walked down a wall on the bank right next to me and started casting a crank bait literally over my head! He even snagged my paddle on his retrieve! It really pissed me off and I decided it was time to get out of there. That aside, I had good luck and I'm definitely going to hit this spot a few more times after work this year! The fish were caught on lead head jigs and curly tail grubs.
Here is a link to a video I took of the trip with my GoPro camera:
Sunday, November 2, 2014
11/1/14 Fort Walleye
Mike, Jameson, and I got out on a local river today in search of Walleyes. We'd never had our kayaks on the water here but always thought it would be awesome. It did not disappoint! What a cold, windy day it was for fishing. It wasn't too bad once the sun got up to warm things a bit. There were numerous shad either dead or dying from the cold snap on the surface of the water when we arrived. I caught two 18'' fish in the first couple hours. When I caught the second fish, Jameson told me that Mike had one as well. We had a double...kinda. He ended up boating a nice one just over 20 inches. An hour or so later, I hooked up again. I could tell it was going to be a nicer fish from the fight it was giving me. I caught a glimpse in the murky water and it was confirmed. After a nice battle I netted my biggest Walleye from our local river, A 22 inch fatty. It wasn't super long but it was the thickest Walleye I have seen here in town. Definitely a memorable fish. Mike boated two more fish that measured right around 21'' over the next couple hours. Mike ended up catching a smaller fish of about 18'' about half an hour before we were going to leave. As our time to leave drew near, Mike made the comment that I had the big fish of the day but he was up 4 to 3 on me. Surely the fish wouldn't let that stand would they? The answer was NO! as I hooked and landed another nice fish over 20 inches to end the day. The only disappointment of the day was that Jameson did not land any fish. I was really hoping to get him on a couple but it still sounded like he had fun paddling around at least. I caught all of my fish on a lead head jig and curly tail grub. Mike calls my color of grub "Electric Chicken". Not sure if this is made up or not but I've never heard of it being called that before. Mike caught his fish on a variety of soft plastics from small jigs to a 5+ inch swimbait! This river is not the most pleasant environment to fish and the DNR advisory says to not eat any Walleyes out of here. They are a blast to just catch and release though. We got to "admire" some brand new graffiti on the way on and off the water, some of which is not appropriate for children. We watched a shore fisherman leave a bunch of trash on the bank after fishing a few hours. I wish people would take better care of this place. It's a true gem and I don't even think people realize how lucky we are to have this in town! I got some GoPro video of two of the fish that I caught. I'll get the video posted when I have time to get it edited and uploaded. Had a blast and looking forward to getting out there again.
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