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.