4/18/15 Elkhart Expedition

I made a trip to Elkhart over the weekend. I met up with two kayak anglers, Keith and Eric, from the Elkhart area. We planned to fished the St. Joe River for Walleyes. Upon arrival at the put-in, it was evident that there was still a lot of water coming through the dam. There were relatively big waves and a strong current in the area. I got in and paddled upstream to the dam to get into a big eddy that was protected from the waves by some bridge pilings. While in this eddy, I caught a small Smallmouth Bass and Keith managed a decent Pike. Action was slow at the dam so we tried moving downstream to see if we could find some fish. While moving over shallow rocky areas, it was evident that the Sucker run was in full swing. I saw literally HUNDREDS of suckers on spawning gravel. There were so many, that at times you couldn't fish some spots because your lure would be constantly hitting them. Eric accidentally snagged one at one point and it gave him a decent fight on light tackle. I got a quick picture for him before he released the fish. We decided to make a short run up the Elkhart River to a dam just upstream of the confluence between the Elkhart and St. Joe Rivers. There was one section of this river that was pretty shallow and fast moving. It was relatively difficult to paddle up it. I had to paddle up an eddy, then ferry over onto, and paddle up a tongue to get up the river. It took some good effort to fight against the current. When I had made it above the fast water, I heard clapping from the bank. I looked over and a guy had watched me paddle up the fast water and had apparently been impressed that I was able to make it. On the way to the dam, I spotted a dead fish floating down the river. I was curious to see what it was so I paddled over to check it out. Much to my surprise, it was a Brown Trout. It was maybe 12 inches long. It must have come from a tributary of the Elkhart that is stocked with Browns, but that stream is a long way from where I found this fish. It was a pretty interesting find. Once we were near the dam, I started fishing a deep pool out of the main current and before long I hooked into a very nice Smallmouth (pictured below). It gave me a great fight and was a beautiful fish. I had a nice fish on at the dam but it came off after a brief fight and I never got to see what it was. Fishing on the way back downstream, I picked up a few more smallish Smallmouth Bass. Once back to the St. Joe, I had to eddy hop my way back upstream to get back to our launch point. All in all, fishing was pretty tough but it was still a fun day. I got to see another new river system, meet some new friends, and catch a few fish.