Indiana Kayak Fishing Journal: August 2018

My brother-in-law Brent was able to get out for a full day of fishing this past Sunday. The plan was simple, we would start early in the morning. I had a few spots where Pike always tend to congregate in the summer. Brent and I would hit those spots hard for the first few hours after sunrise, hoping to knock out a few nice Pike to start the day. Once the sun got up and the day turned hot, we would switch location and tactics to get into some Smallmouth Bass.

We arrived at a small parking area in the early morning. The weather absolutely perfect! 65 degress and overcast. The overcast looked like it was going to last at least a few hours. We pulled the canoe from the truck bed and slid it onto the shore before loading our gear for the day. We slipped into the water and I steered the boat upstream. When I arrived at the first spot I slowed down and gave Brent the go ahead to start casting. He was throwing a large spinner that I custom made to withstand the beating lures take while fishing for Pike. I was throwing a small buzzbait, also custom made. With the first 10 casts, I had a nice fish blow up on and miss my buzzbait. I sped up the lure and the fish tried a second time to eat the lure, also unsuccessfully. It then followed the lure the rest of the way to the boat without striking again before turning and slipping away. Brent immeadiately threw a follow up cast into the area where the fish was headed. The blades on his lure were flashing just under the surface of the water. The lure approached the boat, and out of nowhere the fish pounced and the fight was on! It was a massive fish and Brent's rod was bent stright down underneath the boat. Suddenly, just as quickly as the fight began, the fish seemed to give up and came to the net. The large fish barely fit into the net and was curled in the bottom of the mesh. I looked at the fish, stunned. Boy was it big! I unhooked the fish and put it on the fish grips to hand over to Brent. I got a few quick pictures and we slid it back into the water to get a quick measurement on the bump board. Brent's first ever Pike measured a whopping 38" long. After a brief revival, I let the fishes tail go and it slowly made it's way back out into the river. Mission accomplished!

Unbelievably, only a few minutes later, I threw a cast and a large fish crushed my buzzbait. Unlike the first, this fish made quite a few powerful runs and nearly ripped the rod from my hand at one point. It was an amazing fight. Before long I handed the rod to brent and netted the fish. Once again the net was barely large enough and there was drama as my first attempt to net the fish failed. My second attempt was successful and another giant fish was curled in the bottom of the net. I unhooked the fish while Brent got the camera ready. I lifted the fish for a quick photo and before I knew it the fish began thrashing and wrenched itself out of my hands back into the water. I desperately tried to grab the fish but to no avail. It quickly swam away. Boy I wish I had a picture of that fish! I would also estimate this fish in the mid to high 30" range. Bad luck number one for the day! Luckily, I did manage to get the whole thing on video so at least I have that! After that the weather too took a dramatic turn. The sun popped out and the clouds parted. It quickly became much warmer and the fishing slowed dramatically with the two of us having 3 or 4 chances at other fish over the course of the next few hours. It became clear that we needed to make a change. Smallmouth time!

We changed location and tactics and before long, Brent was catching Smallmouth and enjoying their determined fight and crazy jumping abilities. He managed to catch several nice fish including one that I am guessing would be around 18" long. Somehow, during the process of unhooking and getting a picture of one of the fish, my net slipped into the water and quickly sank to the botttom. The water was deep and swift and for all intensive purposes the net was gone the moment it went into the water. Bad luck number two! Have you ever heard that back luck comes in threes? Just wait for it. It gets worse. Befor elong we finished our day of fishing. all in all, the fishing went really well. We got Brent his first Pike (and it was a big one!) and Brent got his biggest Smallmouth ever. Not too shabby in anyones book!

My in-laws and Brent's wife and kids were at the lake cottage and we decided to head over to join them for dinner and a swim. At some point during the drive, I should have turned north but instead I made a right and headed South. I realized my mistake pretty quickly and made a decision to take the next left onto a gravel road and head east. As we were driving, the road passed a cornfield. The corn was only a few feet from the road on the passenger side. I was doing about 30mph when out of nowhere, a deer jumped from the corn directly into our path. I only had enough time to move my foot from the gas to the brake and not even push it before we hit the deer. It happened that fast. I honestly couldn't believe it. I turned my flashers on and turned to see the deer laying alongside the road maybe 30 feet behind the truck. We got out to inspect the damage. The truck really didn't look too bad, but I have some broken pieces around the headlight, the hood was bent, and I have a bent side panel. The deer fared much worse. It lay along the road gasping to breathe. I felt terrible but there was nothing I could do for it. It got up and tried to run, hitting a fence on the other side of the road several times. It laid back down to rest. We called the Steuben County Sheriffs Office to come out and fill out a report for my insurance. I can't believe how tough deer are. The deer got up one last time, walked a few staggering steps, then laid back down, kicked it's legs a final time, and died. What a waste. The sheriff arrived and while I was talking with him, Brent walked to the nearest farmhouse and asked them if they wanted the deer. they did. We finished up and the sherriff went to give the farmer a tag for the deer. I'm hoping he at least got some use out of it.

All in all a very memorable fishing trip. Some for the right reasons and some for the wrong reasons. It's always an adventure.