6/6/15 A Visit with an Old Friend

My friend Larry from the Three Rivers Fly Fishers and I went on a fishing trip Saturday afternoon. Larry is new to kayaking but no stranger to fly fishing. Including this trip he has been in a kayak a grand total of three times. This would be his first time fishing from his kayak. For his first trip out he did really well. I took Larry to a lake that is my absolute favorite for kayak fishing. I was shown this lake by a friend about 5 years ago. To get onto it, you have to put in on an adjacent lake and paddle through a small channel that is narrow and full of laydowns. It's so narrow that you have to walk one section of it. You paddle throught this channel that more or less resembles a swamp. You turn a corner and it opens onto this beautiful 15-20 acre lake with only a handful of cottages on it. It's tough to get to but has always been well worth the trip. So much so that I have made a point of making the trip at least once every spring. The lake is an absolute panfish factory. Whether it's big hog bluegills or slab crappies, you will not leave this lake disappointed. I started out the day by making a lap throwing a large spinnerbait looking to catch a couple Pike. While this did not work out I did land a nice 18'' Largemouth Bass. While fishing I saw several large Gar, My lure got hit by a Bowfin and Pike that did not get hooked, and I spotted tons of crappies in the weeds. After making that initial lap I decided to break out the fly rod and hit the weed edges for those crappies. This turned out to be a great decision. I was throwing a Clouser Minnow to submerged weed edges next to deep water. I have no idea how many crappies I caught but I would say it was somewhere over 50+ fish. There were times that I would catch one on 5 consecutive casts. It was ridiculous. The minnow would hit the water and several crappies would rush it. The takes were very quick and exciting to watch. After all of the Musky fishing I have been doing recently it was really nice to catch a bunch of fish. Larry struggled for a while until I brought him over and showed him where I was casting and what I was looking at. After this he did pretty well and brought a dozen or so crappies into his new kayak. Most of the crappies were 8-10'' long but the big crappie of the day measured in at 13 1/2''. It was a beast. All the fish were released. While I was fishing a couple of guys were hanging out around a table in their yard. They were watching me catch all these fish and told me not to tell anybody about their lake. Later in the day those same guys came down to the lake with rods and tackleboxes. One of them attempted to get into a small flatbottom boat and somehow managed to tip it over and fell into the lake! I suspect that alcohol may have been a factor. Later in the day, suddenly there was a voice from behind me. Surprised, I turned around to find an older lady in a canoe right behind me. She somehow managed to sneak up on me! I asked her if she had paddled over from the other lake and she said no. So I asked her if she lived on this lake and she said yes I live in the house right in front of you. She made a comment that she had never seen anybody stand up and fish from a  kayak before. She was extremely nice and when she realized we were releasing all the fish, she said "oh! you guys can come back any time!" I thought it was funny and worth sharing. All in all it was a wonderful day and I'm pretty sure that Larry is now hooked on kayak fishing. I forgot my camera so cellphone pics will have to do! Hope you enjoy them!