Falls 10/02 - Rollingview (kayak)

[Jeffonc]

Not great fishing results but a super night to be on the water, so a bit more of an outdoors/drought report. I headed up to the Rollingview area at Falls Lake. I've fished up that way in past years but never launched from that ramp and never fished it from the Kayak. On the ride in a turkey crossed the road in front of me - by the time I got the camera out he was airborne. Squint and you can make him out right in the middle of the pic.




I was a little surpised to find that the park area at Rollingview closes at 7pm. I think that'll make sense in a few weeks when the clock changes, but I could have used an extra hour tonight. Only the first ramp is marked as closed but the second one looks doubtful for trailers, the third looks like a maybe. Didn't get a good look at the 4th one on the other side of the dock. Wasn't a problem this day. I had the place to myself except for one lady reading on the beach - no trailers, no boats on that end of the lake. The ramps were very usable for the kayak - actually perfect for launching kayaks - concrete down to the water then sanded in at the bottom. Nice soft beaching area.







I headed upstream to the "pinch" where the 2 peninsulas meet and I knew I could find the channel. Lefty and Kayakingglenn had mentioned how much the fish were jumping up there but it can't be exaggerated. LMs breaking the surface all over the shallow flats. No rhyme or reason, just leaping and shaking everywhere, all the time. I dragged crankbaits behind the boat and only got 1 taker - this skinny cat.




I even got some air cover while I was out there - always appreciated!




From a fishing perspective, most of the basin out there is about 2-3 feet deep right now. The channels have very prominent edges, and get down to 20 feet, but they're pretty skinny so you have to hunt for them. I marked some fish on the bottoms, but never came through anything I would have considered a school. The most life I saw on the finder was in the channel directly opposite from the launch ramp. Pretty breezy out there so I couldn't tell if the shad were around or not. I think to do it over I would fish the flats near the channel edges with something fast like a spinnerbait or lipless crank, and I'd drag a carolina rig off the channel edges and through the channel. Personally, I still prefer the deeper end of the lake for my own peculiar fishing style.

I was hoping to catch something noteworthy to dedicate to Sundrop's mom. I didn't get it done, so she gets her choice of the skinny catfish dedication or "the thought that counts" dedication. Glad to read the news of her results when I got back - trumps anything I could have done on the lake anyway!