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Day off + good weather = go fishing.
Made a stop for minnows on the way to Falls and picked up a dozen each small and large. Launched the kayak at Upper Barton around 1:30. My plan was to paddle out to the main channel, trolling crankbaits, and switch to drifting live bait when I found a concentration of fish.
It took a while to find them but there was a small group at the channel bend near the Island at Lower Barton. Saw the top of the group around 6ft deep when I went over, hooked up on the small white glass shad when it came through.
First fish was a textbook dink (the kind often seen as by-catch when netting bait on local striper lakes
):
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looped back around and made another pass. Much better result this time... 3lb largemouth. Took several pics. Traditional one-armed kayak cam:
And here's the same fish on my immitation zooker-cam (I've got work to do on my zooker cam - too much of my mess in the pic)
Came back across the other direction and snagged on a shallow spot off the island. Got interrupted by a phone call while I was heading back to unsnag. During a lull in the call I tried to collect the pooling line - no more snag - fish on! Not much of one - a little catfish had unhooked me from the bottom or picked it off when it floated free. He flopped off before he could get his pic taken.
At that point I figured I was on a collection of fish and it was getting late so I should put out the live bait.
Immediate hookup with a 2(ish) pound LM on the first large minnow to go swimming:
I continued to drift minnows around that bend and the island with no more takers until it started to get cool and shady. Headed back to the ramp. Had a bit more daylight so I went under Six Forks into the "forest". Most of this is underwater at normal pool (not the birdbox).
No more fish. Out of the water a little after 5.
Total was 4 fish, 2 of them decent. 3 on crankbait, 1 on livebait. Nice to get out and grind the water again - between not fishing and then going out with Striper Sniper and his motorized vessel last week I was starting to feel a little soft.
Made a stop for minnows on the way to Falls and picked up a dozen each small and large. Launched the kayak at Upper Barton around 1:30. My plan was to paddle out to the main channel, trolling crankbaits, and switch to drifting live bait when I found a concentration of fish.
It took a while to find them but there was a small group at the channel bend near the Island at Lower Barton. Saw the top of the group around 6ft deep when I went over, hooked up on the small white glass shad when it came through.
First fish was a textbook dink (the kind often seen as by-catch when netting bait on local striper lakes
):
looped back around and made another pass. Much better result this time... 3lb largemouth. Took several pics. Traditional one-armed kayak cam:
And here's the same fish on my immitation zooker-cam (I've got work to do on my zooker cam - too much of my mess in the pic)
Came back across the other direction and snagged on a shallow spot off the island. Got interrupted by a phone call while I was heading back to unsnag. During a lull in the call I tried to collect the pooling line - no more snag - fish on! Not much of one - a little catfish had unhooked me from the bottom or picked it off when it floated free. He flopped off before he could get his pic taken.
At that point I figured I was on a collection of fish and it was getting late so I should put out the live bait.
Immediate hookup with a 2(ish) pound LM on the first large minnow to go swimming:
I continued to drift minnows around that bend and the island with no more takers until it started to get cool and shady. Headed back to the ramp. Had a bit more daylight so I went under Six Forks into the "forest". Most of this is underwater at normal pool (not the birdbox).
No more fish. Out of the water a little after 5.
Total was 4 fish, 2 of them decent. 3 on crankbait, 1 on livebait. Nice to get out and grind the water again - between not fishing and then going out with Striper Sniper and his motorized vessel last week I was starting to feel a little soft.
