Persistence paid off yesterday. To some, the three dinks that I caught might not count for much, but I had fun figuring out a way to catch some post-frontal bass after an unsuccessful start.
I started the day early on Canadice Lake with my son (YakViper). A visible moon, bluebird clear sky, and distinct chill in the air after a cold front had me concerned about our chances for success. My son must have caught the end of the early morning bite when he immediately pulled in a largemouth around wood in 5-8ft of water and despite the increase optimism, we went bust for the remaining five hours of fishing there when high winds chased us off the water. Because of the wind and clear skies, I put aside any thoughts of topwater. I cranked a chatterbait along wood and over vegetation and drop-shotted outside of weed edges and deeper water off of points. No dice.
Another friend of mine, an expert angler on this lake, came off the water at the same time and he said that he “couldn’t buy a bass” either. Why is it that I’m easily comforted by the failure of others after my own? :lol:
Despite being able to rationalize why I was skunked, it still didn’t set well with me. I spent much of the rest of the day analyzing what I could have done different from techniques to location.
I chose a different location, Honeoye Lake and started at the warmer and shallower end of the lake. I had only a couple of hours to fish. My daughter didn’t want to fish herself or stay too long but came along for a recreational paddle.
Cloud cover had moved in and I started throwing Yum frogs. I had a couple of weak blow-ups, but nothing I considered serious. The fish seemed to be sticking to the bottom. So, I pressed beyond some impossibly thick weeds and algae hoping for some fishable water in the shallower inlet channel. I reasoned that if there were fish in the inlet, they might too be on the bottom, but in shallower water where I could closer to them.
I was immediately rewarded with some fast action. I caught three dinks and had another seemingly good fish ditch my hook in the weeds. I wanted to keep fishing into the dark because I knew that even better water and perhaps bigger fish existed farther upstream, but I respected my daughter’s desire to head for home.
I was not necessarily pleased with the quality of fish that I caught, but added yet another experience in fishing from a kayak in places where larger boats could not follow. My new Malibu Stealth 14 performed flawlessly and surprisingly well for a larger fishing kayak in such close quarters. At one point, I had to cross over a log jam in about five inches of water and was able to scoot right over.
I can't believe I'm going to paddle through that stuff!
Beyond the thick scum, I found fishable water.
Sure they were small, but I was happy anyway!
-Paul
Related posts:
- Ice-out (sort of…) on Conesus Lake, NY
- Trout fishing in a kayak – Lake Ontario tributaries…
- Western New York Kayak Fishing Association, Loon Lake NY, 26 April 2009
- A Milestone for the WNY Kayak Fishing Association
- Boy + kayak + fishing pole + water = ?
- At least the fish were green today…
- What a sucker!!!
- Pennsylvania Trip
