Falls 09/28 (kayak)

[Jeffonc]

The plan was for a 6:45-9am trip this morning but things did not go as planned. Pulled the truck out of the garage, loaded up, turned the key to leave and it started then stalled. I've been having this problem for a couple weeks - usually starts fine on the 2nd crank. I ran some premium through 2 weeks ago and it seemed to get better, then back to regular gas this week and its back. Grumble. Turned the key again and got nothing - no lights, no buzzers, no starters, no nothing. Disconnected and cleaned off battery terminals, cleaned the battery, checked the cells - all OK - put it back together. Truck starts as normal. Hooray. First stop was the gas station for some more premium. May finally be time for that 60000 mile checkup (60000 miles late!).

Got to the lake about an hour behind schedule. Launched at 8. Paddled out of Upper Barton and first fish came near the mouth, trolling Shad Raps as usual. 2lb largemouth that fought like a 6. Jumps, runs, drag - I was sure he was going to be bigger when I got him in. good start.

Paddled around the mouth and the channel, hooked & lost a really skinny LM in the channel, headed back around lower barton, checked on the abandoned ship - still there, higher & drier now. Too bad for that guy - it really doesn't look like the kind of spot where there'd be a submerged point & island. Tough deal, but them's the breaks with big boats & skinny water I suppose. No fish back there.

Paddled back under the 98 bridge (not many folks headed to work this morning - what gives? somebody needs to support the economy while I'm slacking!). Wind was really picking up now - going to make it easy work to get back to UB, but hard to get to the ramp. Worked into Rock Creek (I think that's the name) and back & forth across its rocky point. Nothing. Back toward Upper Barton to get home an hour later than planned (fair is fair - started an hour late, finish an hour late).

Got another Shad Rap fish at the submerged island/point with the danger bouys inside the mouth. Better one this time - 3lb+ LM. I thought it was a big cat the way it dug. Never came up at all, just bulldogging and head shaking. Good to get a 2 fish lead on the skunk - can't call it an accident at that point!

I was just about to the ramp when I got something small on one of the rods - 8" white bass. As I was releasing him, they lit up the surface around me at the first point downstream from the ramp. I caught the same sized fish on cast after cast, each one with its mouth stuffed with 1-1.5in shad fry. When they stopped eating my shad rap I switched to a white rooster tail and started catching again. Stopped somewhere around 12 of them. I've read about folks getting into the midst of the schoolie whites like that where you could catch all you wanted but I hadn't ever done it before - only one or two, here and there. These guys were still going when I left. Made for a fun delay (another hour). Finally got home about 2 hours later than planned.