Pirate Fishing

I HOOKed up with my old pal the pirate Don Argay yesterday. Shelly was kind enough to take Don out and let him catch some fish.
Last night we all went to the back room at Berts to see Deb and the Dynamics. All day, Don had built up this band " totally awesome" says he. So often, they never match the build up. Not so with this band. They exceeded" totally awesome" by a long shot. Best band and best show in forever.

Fly Away

We had a great week fishing at Pine Island. Caught some large redfish, a few snook, hunderts of trout (including some gators) and a variety of other fish.
Shelly is a wonderful host and has a deluxe home and flats boat. We had severely good weather all week. Sunny with highs in the mis 80's. Hate to go back NOrth.
Also, I enjoyed seeing all the wildlife in SW Florida. Today, we watched 2 adult eagles and a youngster around their nest.

More reds

Today, we caught about a hundert trout and a few more redfish. Shelly caught the days biggest red. It was so big that I couldn't get both his head and the entire fish in the photo.
You can tell which I consider more important.

Gator Trout

No, that's not when a fish and alligator get together.
A "gator" trout is a speckled sea trout over 20" long. Mine today was 23". Shelly's largest from yesterday was 27".

Bokeelia

My pal Shelly asked me to join him to try to catch some redfish in Pine Island Sound this week.
I came down here in May for the same purpose but I didn't catch redfish. Already this trip has had better results.
Today, I caught my largest redfish ever.

The one that got away

Rich and I went down the river again yesterday. A little cool, but not too bad. The river was about a foot higher than our last trip.  The extra depth allowed us to explore up some small creeks that empty into the river. 

The one that got away wasn't a fish. Someone had shot an 8 point buck with an arrow, and then was unable to follow it. The recently dead buck was laying along the river.

 All the leaves on the water make fishing with the Pop-R almost impossible. I was able to get one decent smallie on a tube bait.

Severely Clear

Spent about 5 hours on the river yesterday.

The water is cold and severely clear.

We could see the bottom easily in 6 feet.

Hunderts and hunderts of fish visible.

Big schools of 6” and larger shad.  Lots of suckers, carp, and sauger.

Tried topwater for a while.  Watched one smallmouth follow it for 3 casts, and finally he slowly bit on it.

Switched to a small white curly-tail jig and caught 3 more bass.

My neighbor said I could catch sauger on the jig, but it didn’t happen yesterday.

Kayak Bass Tourney

The Central Indiana Kayak Anglers had a kayak bass tourney Saturday to benefit Heros on the Water.
Here's a recap of the soggy day.

http://www.indianaangler.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=280&t=11669

Since the tourney started at the park next to the dam, I figured everyone would fish along the rip rap of the dam.  It is a good spot, and I've caught fish there before, but I thought I could do better if I pedaled my Hobie Pro Angler 12 up to the bridge.  It's some distance to the bridge, and farther than the paddle people might want to go.  Since I was pedaling instead of paddling, it was easy.  I caught the biggest fish of the tournament on the other side of the bridge.

I really like the Heros on the Water program.  So I donated the prize from the biggest fish to them.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Heroes-On-The-Water-Indiana-chapter/347390322015935

Feeding Freenzy

Rich and I went on the river again Saturday.  We had some rain Friday, and the river had a little more water, and was stirred up so it was no longer crystal clear.   It is also getting noticeable cooler.  In preparation for the approaching colder weather, I purchased a pair of waders.  Not so much thinking I would wade in the river, but to make my entries and exits to and from the kayak more comfortable.  The lightweight, breathable waders I bought worked great.

Saturday was one of those really good fishing days.  For a while, we expected to have a strike on every cast.  I tried Shelly's Stupid Tubes, but that wasn't what the fish wanted.  When we're catching so many on Pop-R's, it would be stupid to change lures.  I caught the first nice smallie in a very narrow chute downstream of some rapids. Rich had casted in there several times and had no strikes.  After he moved on, I threw in the hole and wham!  I didn't think there was enough water to for a fish this big to swim in. You can see the shallow rapids in the background.

As I was removing the Pop-R from his mouth, I saw the two pinchers of a large crawdad sticking out of the fishes gullet.

Rich has a favorite spot on this stretch of the river where he always catches fish.  He calls it Jurassic Park.  Not sure if it's because the landscape looks so old, or if it's because the fish there are as big as dinosaurs.  Either way, it does hold some large smallmouth.

Rich had a much larger fish on shortly after catching the one in the photo.  He was in his kayak on a narrow bend in the river, and I was standing on the shore not far from him.  There was a log on the opposite shore, and he casted his topwater plug over to it. About halfway in, one of the huge dinosaurs smashed into the plug, but missed it.  When that happens to me, I can't help myself--I yank the pole to set the hook, and move the plug away from the fish.  But not Rich.  He has nerves of steel.  He gently twitches the plug.  Another giant splash, but again the dinosaur missed.  Again, just a gentle twitch from Rich.  The third strike pays off, and the fight is on.  Rich has had some equipment issues in the past with knots that come untied, and reels with the drag set too tight.  But not today.  The knot held, and the fish stripped line off the drag just as it should.  I grabbed my landing net, and waded out in the water to help land the dinosaur, but that only spooked the fish and he took off for deeper water.  Rich fought this fish for what seemed like forever.  He was very careful to keep constant pressure on it, and not try to horse it in.  But even when you do everything right, sometimes the fish wins.  For no apparent reason, the dinosaur just pulled the hook, and was gone.  I imagine Rich will be dreaming about that fish all winter long.

The bite was good most of the day. I ended up catching a "hundert" fish, including five about the size of this one.

Pre-Fishing

There's a kayak bass tourney on Morse Lake October 5th.

 

https://adobeformscentral.com/?f=jP%2ADEbhbn8tRI2-1cABHKQ

 

Rich, Charlie, and I are going to participate.  Maybe Dawg.

Rich and I went out for a short time yesterday, so I could give Rich all my "local knowledge."

That took a total of about 2 minutes.

We fished for a couple of hours, and if our results are an indication of how the tourney might go, neither of us will be on the podium.  But it was another great day on the water.

Here's Rich in his Hobie i9.

 

 

 

 

Stupid Tubes

Last week, I joined Rich, Secret Pond Steve, and Shelly for a fishing trip on the river.  We put in at Perkinsville, and took out at Kowteeti Park in Strawtown.
It was a fun trip, but the fishing started out a little slow. About half way through the trip, Shelly told us about "Stupid Tubes."  These are 3 1/2" long tube baits with a hook rigged weedless.  Shelly gave us all a rigged stupid tube, and I immediately caught 4 fish, and continued to catch more as we drifted down the river.  Wow!
So, I went to Dicks and Walmart, and purchased several packages of tubes.  Then, since I couldn't find them locally, I ordered several packages of special hooks like Shelly gave us from Bass Pro. I couldn't wait to get back on the river and try them out.

Today, Rich and I went back to the river.  Rich with a couple of new Pop-R's, and me with a fist full of stupid tubes.

Rich had a great day of finding and hooking big fish with the Pop-R's.  Sadly, he did not have a great day of getting big fish into the boat.  In retrospect, I can see that it was my fault that he had problems.  Well, actually, it was Don Argay's fault.  Several years ago, while Don and I were fishing for redfish in Florida, Don showed me how to tie a "canoe-man" knot.  It's so easy that I can do it without reading glasses.  So, I use it all the time.  I also fish with braided line and a flourcarbon leader all the time.  The canoe-man knot works great on flourcarbon.........but not so good on 6 lb mono.

The other day, when Rich was using one of my reels, with braid, I showed him how to tie the canoe-man knot.  But today, he was using 6 lb mono, and unbeknownst to me still tying the canoe-man knot.  When the first big fish broke off, I thought it was simply bad luck.  When the second even bigger fish broke the line, he said something about canoe-man knots.  I felt bad, that he was still tying a knot I had shown him, and it wasn't holding.

Rich did manage to get quite a few fish to the boat, but not the biggest ones.  I told him to blame Don.


As for the stupid tubes, today I discovered how they got their name.  I rigged the hooks just as Shelly showed me.  They were supposed to be weedless, but when a fish bites, the hook comes out and it sets.  I had several fish bite on the tubes, but not one of them got through to the hook.  On the other hand, if there was any wood anywhere in sight, the hook jumped out of the tube, and latched on for dear life.  I hooked every submerged tree in the river.  I think I might have hooked some telephone poles out on Allisonville Road. 

I know what you're thinking........maybe it's not the tube that's stupid. 

Still Crazy

Still fishing the river 2 or 3 times a week.
Still using the Pop-R.
Still catching fish.

Here's a couple from last week.

Today was 96 degrees.  The fishing was a little slow, but Rich caught some smallies.

And I found a couple largemouth.

Pond Scum

The water in the secret pond has turned green.  Some sort of algae bloom.  Lots of weeds, making fishing difficult.  However....................

Steve and I caught several nice largemouth.

 

Back to the river tomorrow

A feather in Dawg's cap

Back on the White River again today.  Both Rich and Dawg said it was the best fishing day ever.  They both caught several nice smallmouth bass.

Here a self portrait from Rich 

Here's a couple of fish from Dawg. 

 

 Here's one of my self portraits

The two largest fish of the day didn't make it into the boat.  With the first  one, I thought it would be cool to take some underwater video of the big fish swimming around my kayak.  The water is clear, and I have a waterproof camera.....what could possibly go wrong?  I didn't take any chances with the second, but he just got away.  Since I'm not in a tournament, I can still say I had fun.  I fished with Jacob Wheeler one day last year.  (He was just coming off a tournament win where he won $500,000 in a bass tournament.)  At that same tournament this year, Jacob had one bad day out of the 4 day tourney.  Maybe he had a couple of big ones get away just like I did today.  He finished 2nd.  The difference in prize money between 1st and 2nd place was $425,000.  Makes my lost fish today seem insignificant.

  

Skinny Water

The river is getting pretty skinny, but we were still able to make downstream on Friday.

 

And fortunately, Dawg seems to have his "equipment problems" solved.
(Now we need to work on the hat and gloves.)

More Smallmouth

Floated down the White River again today in My Hobie kayak.
Caught about 15 smallmouth--all on a topwater popper.
To my thinking, there's no better fishing in Indiana than catching smallmouth bass on a topwater lure.

Rich caught a couple of bass, and Dawg (aka Pepe Le Pew) was kind enough to paddle and take photos of my fish.

Hobie PA 12 and the dog

Some people might think the Hobie PA 12 is a single person kayak. 
 

 

I guess that is only one person

 But here it is with two people

Hobie i9 at Lake Monroe

Earlier this week, I took my Rosborough down to Lake Monroe to hang out with Dawg, Rich, Bret, and his friend Andrew.

 

We stayed several nights, and while we were there, Rich brought his sailboat and his new Hobie inflatable i9.  It fits in a manageable bag, and Rich strapped on the bow of his boat.

Rich and Dawg had it pumped up in no time.

 

And the fun began.  Here's Rich catching a bass.

We all cruised around the lake in the i9, and enjoyed the quiet propulsion. While I was exploring the shoreline, I saw a deer getting a drink.  I quietly peddled right up to it without spooking it.  We also saw several eagles, and watched a beaver eating vegetation right next to us.

Hobie Pro Angler 12 on the Pond

We had a "demo" day on Steve's pond today.  I fish with a bunch of old guys every Monday. Today, I was finally able to bring my Hobie Pro Angler 12 to the pond for everyone to try.

 

I think it would be accurate to say that there were no young, skinny guys fishing today (including me), but everyone commented on how stable the PA 12 is, and how easy it is to pedal. 
We only caught a few fish, but still a good day.

More Smallies

Another good day on the White River yesterday.  Dawg and I were in my Hobie tandem, and Rich took his otter again.  This time, we launched at the ramp in Noblesville, and drifted down to a park at 126th Street and River Road. Took about 4 hours.

On previous trips, Dawg was having "equipment" problems, so he purchased a new closed face spinning reel.  That seemed to help his line tangle trouble, but it didn't stop him from casting his Hula Popper into the trees.

I used my trusty Pop-R, and got off to a good start.

Dawg and I even dared to double up.  (Double Dawg Dare?) 

The river was really clear yesterday.  And it's full of downed trees and submerged rocks and debris.  Ideal for smallmouth bass.  We would drag our surface poppers across the top of logs that were just under the surface, and sometimes a smallmouth would come up and attack the lure.  Pretty exciting.

Near the end of our leg yesterday, we came to a brush pile that looked fishy, and stopped to cast to it.  As soon as my Pop-R hit the water, there was a big splash, and I had the biggest fish of the day hooked.  Unfortunately, Dawg was fishing for squirrels (had his Hula Popper stuck 20' up in a tree) and couldn't help maneuver the kayak. The fished jumped high right in front of us, and I could see him above Dawg's head.  It was a big one.  Then he swam under a log.  I knew if I pulled too hard, the line would break. (I use 6 lb line on a small ultra-light pole.)  Sometimes, if you give the fish some slack, it might swim out from under the log on it's own--and that's what happened.  The first time.  Now the fish is swimming back and forth in front of the kayak (I'm sitting in back) and the whole time, Dawg is feeding his pole over and under my line while his line is in a tree.  Then the fish heads back into the brush pile.  This time, he wraps my line around a log, and breaks it off.  Game Over. But another good day on the water with my pals.

Smallmouth Bass on the White River

Back on the White River again yesterday.  This time, we launched at Potters Bridge, and drifted downstream.  My pal Rich has been wanting to join us, and yesterday he was finally able to do it.  He has a couple of kayaks, including a new Hobie inflatable that he takes along on his sailboat, but today, he wanted to try out his blue Otter.

Our plan for the day was to spend more time fishing, and not try to travel too far--launching at Potters Bridge and taking out across from Forest Park.  Rich and I arrived at the Forest Park ramp a little before 10, and waited for Dawg to arrive.  When he didn't show, I called him.  He said "where are you guys?"  I said that we were waiting at the take-out ramp for him to arrive so we could leave his truck there.  He said he was at the ramp and couldn't find us.  (There's only about 6 parking spaces and a boat ramp)  Knowing the Dawg, I asked which ramp?  Turns out, he was at the ramp at 106th street in Carmel.  So Rich and I cooled our heels and waited another half hour for Dawg to find his way up to us.  We had to wait even longer because while Dawg was killing time at the wrong location, he tried fishing, and got his Hula Popper caught in the trees on the other side of the river.  So he stopped at the bait shop to buy a new one.

I had a great time catching smallbass bass.  Nothing too big, but I caught about 20.

 

Even though we traveled a shorter distance (about 5 miles,) I had plenty of time to fish.  Last week, Dawg had a lot of problems with twisted line on his fishing pole. He put new line on the pole since then, but somehow, the new line was just a twisted as the old.  (Might have something to do with the twisted individual who installed it.)  Because of the "equipment failures" Dawg was experiencing, we had to stop frequently for him to straighten things out.  Sometimes we would drop the anchor, and sometimes we would pull up on a sandbar.  

Click here to see what I did while Dawg sat and swore at his "equipment failures."

Thanks to cameraman Rich for shooting the video

It was another fun day on the river.  No giant fish, but several nice smallies.  We plan to do another longer cruise again next week.

White River Kayak

Yesterday, the Dawg and I took my Hobie tandem kayak for a trip down the White River.  We left Dawg's truck at a little park near 106th Street in Carmel, and then drove up to Noblesville to launch.

Our plan was to fish for smallmouth bass along the 12 mile trip. 

We began fishing right away. Both of us were using surface lures.  I had a Pop-R, and Dawg had a Hula Popper.

Within about 15 minutes, Dawg hooked a nice smallmouth--probably about 2 pounds.  Dawg's fishing equipment (and talent) is more suitable for sitting on the dock and waiting on catfish to bite.  Casting a lure over and over seems to put a nasty twist in his fishing line (and his demeanor.)
When he hooked the smallmouth, his line was so twisted, that it wouldn't reel in.  He laid his pole down, and tried to get the fish in by bringing the line in hand over hand. If you know smallmouth, you know that didn't work.  His line broke, and the fish and his Hula Popper were gone.

We tried to go over by a pile of brush to look for the lost Popper, but had no luck.  While trying to maneuver the kayak in the current, I knocked my fishing rod off the kayak and into the river.  I was able to get off the kayak, and wade back upstream until I found my pole.  This was the first of three times I lost and recovered my pole.  The last time, I was lucky that my lure had hooked itself to the back of my seat, so the pole couldn't go too far.  I have some rod tethers that I will bring along next time.  And I suggested to Dawg that he might want to see if he can find his old Zebco 33. 

We worked our way on down the river, but didn't catch another fish as large as the one that got away.

We occasionally stop on a sandbar to stretch our legs, and do the things guys do on a sandbar.

I've made this trip at least once a year for the past few years.  Each time, I think I see an eagle, but only for a fleeting glance.  Since it's always the middle of summer when I see it, that makes me think maybe there's a nesting pair somewhere. This time, we followed an immature eagle down the river for probably a mile.  When we got too close, it flew on to another tree.  My little waterproof camera doesn't zoom, but you can still make out the eagle in the tree in this photo.

Here's some eagle video

 Click here to see more river kayak video.  I have my little waterproof camera on an extension pole, so I can hold above Dawg's head, or out beside the kayak.