Mouse Bass

My Monday secret pond owner is out for the season with a broken leg.  However, my brother has access to a different secret pond, and has been nice enough to let me join him occasionally.

Yesterday, the fishing was a little slow compared with some other days.  (We were only catching about 25 bass instead of the usual 50.)  So Jerry thought he would try using a different lure.  He dug in his tackle box, and came out with a plastic mouse.  My brother has always been a joker, so I laughed when he tied the mouse on his line, and casted it in the weeds near the shoreline.  Obviously, he got the last laugh.  You can see the mouse in the fishes mouth.  Not sure if this a testament to how smart my brother is, or how dumb the fish is.

 

As I mentioned, the quantity of our catch was a little lower yesterday, but the quality was pretty good.

 According to my brother's un-certified scale, that was a 4.3 lb bass

More Kayak Camping

I've been back camping again in the Deam Wilderness area near Lake Monroe.
Rich and I loaded our camping gear in the kayaks, and made our way across the lake to the shore of the wilderness area.  We had stayed in the same spot a couple of times, so we thought this trip we should explore the shoreline for some different options.

The first place we stopped had what appeared to be some voodoo faces painted on rocks.  That was a bit disturbing, but when I found some "devil nets" hanging from the trees (like those on True Detectives), I thought we should depart the area in a timely fashion.

We went on down the shoreline a safe distance, and got out to explore again.  This time we found a campsite that could only be describe as "Yabba Dabba Doo."  A couch, a chair, end tables and a coffee table around the fire pit.

 

Looks like Fred and Wilma left their beach chairs down by the lake.

 

Not wanting to be disturbed by Dino in the middle of the night, we found a more suitable site, and set up our camp.  Rich works from home.....or anywhere.  No one really knows where that email originated.

Big and Rich

Not those guys with the funny hats.  (Well, I guess we do have a funny hat here.)
My pal Rich caught a big smallie on the river Wednesday.

Kentucky Cats

A few days ago, I went to Kentucky Lake to sail with Dawg.  We spent a couple of days sailing down the lake, and anchoring overnight in some coves.  Good times.

Dawg likes to fish for catfish.
I like to CATCH catfish.

Hobie Kayaks on the White River

I've talked a lot about how much I like fishing on the White River.  So it should be no surprise that my Hobie fishing pals would want to join me.  (I have been fortunate to be a Hobie Kayak fishing team member the last couple of years.  Charlie and Eileen at Sailboats Inc let me join their team, and have loaned me a Hobie kayak to use.)

Yesterday, I was joined on the White River by Charlie, Nathan (the other Sailboats Inc team member,) and A.J., who is the regional rep for Hobie Kayaks.  They were all using Hobie Pro Anglers, and I was using an Outback.

I hadn't been catching too many (any) fish lately, so I was concerned that this trip might not be productive.  To make the pressure even greater, A.J. said that smallmouth bass is his favorite species to catch. 

As we were at the launching ramp, a fishing guide was taking out some clients in his flat bottom boat with a jet drive outboard.  We told him we were headed downstream.  He said he had to going upstream because it was too shallow for his boat downstream.

It didn't take A.J. long to connect on some smallies.  Then, he had parked the bow of his Pro Angler on a log, and put down his Power Pole to maintain his position in the current.  He found a decent smallie in this hole, and then a very nice largemouth in the same area.

 

We pedaled on down the river, with everyone catching fish.  Just before the final rapids, A.J. found an exceptional smallmouth.   

At the take-out spot, we loaded all four Hobie kayaks on A.J.'s truck, and drove back up to the launching ramp.  Just as we were turning in, the guide we met earlier, was heading out.  He stopped and said "We didn't get much today.  Did any of you boys catch a 20 incher?"

We replied......."Funny you should ask"

Kayak Camping

Last week, Rich, Bruce and I took our Hobie kayaks down to Lake Monroe in Bloomington to try some kayak camping.  I'd spent a lot of time on Lake Monroe, but I didn't know that Indiana's only designated wilderness area is on the shores of the lake.  So we drove to the Cutright boat ramp, loaded all our camping gear in and on our kayaks, and peddled to the Charles C. Deam Wilderness area to camp for a couple of nights.  I was impressed with how much gear I could get inside my Outback.  The key there is pack stuff in lots of small bags.  I still had a couple of big bags, a cooler, and the firewood to secure on the deck. 

  Even loaded down, the Hobie mirage drives got us across the lake without a problem.

We were able to get into the wilderness area and find a campsite in about one and a half hours.

 Bruce was delayed joining us because a storm had knocked out the power to his house the night before our departure.  He was able to join us in time to set up camp, and prepare for some heavy rain our first night out.

We found a great campsite, and had our part of the lake pretty much to ourselves.  It was rumored that at least one camper went skinny-dipping.

Here's Rich's set-up.

And here's Bruce examining his broken GPS. (Do not sit on your GPS.)

We spent the second day fishing and exploring the remote parts of the lake that abut the wilderness area.  I haven't seen so many eagles since my trip on the Mississippi River.

All the photos were taken by Rich--as well as the these two videos. 

 Returning to camp.

Even though it rained all night the first night out, we had a great time.  Only thing that could have made it better was if our pal the Dawg had been with us.

Not so White River

Dawg and I thought we'd do some fishing on the White River today.  Between thunderstorms. (If you wait for a day in Indiana that does not have scattered showers in the forecast, you wouldn't leave home all summer.)

I loaded my Hobie Outback, and met Dawg down at 146th Street.  We set his blue Otter beside my Outback and drove up to Forest Park.

 

The water didn't look too muddy where we launched, but when we got to where Cicero Creek dumps into the White River, the mud began.  In this photo, Cicero creek is coming in from the left.  You can see the clear water beyond the mud.

  

 Although I have used the Hobie Outback several times, this was my first day on the river.  I was a little concerned about the Mirage drive in the shallow parts of the river.  Turned out to be a non issue.  Whenever I saw I was approaching rapids, I would pull the drive out, and paddle through.  Later. I would just keep my pedals apart which brings the fins up tight to the bottom of the hull.  No problem.

 

Not sure how we have missed  it on all the other trips down the river, but today we noticed a lake just over the river bank.  A short portage.  I suspect it's a private lake, and we'd get evicted pretty quick--but it looks enticing.

We didn't see one fish today, but we did enjoy floating down the river again.

bass n cat

Went out on Morse yesterday fishing for bass.

Caught about 15 small bass, and 6 large catfish—most on crankbaits.

But this one took a plastic crawdad.

 

Big Lagoon St Park

Here's a video of the four of us peddling out to wilderness area of Port St Joe.

Bruce had an extra feature on his kayak which worked out very well.  A sail.  He could move along nicely off the wind.  Anywhere beyond a beam reach. 

After a few really great days at Port St Joe, we picked up our money and packed up our tents and drove across the Panhandle to Big Lagoon St Park which is located just south of Pensacola.
Along the way, I stopped in Ft Walton Beach and picked up a new Key West center console.

We camped one night in Big Lagoon.

 

Unfortunately, we made the mistake of listening to the weather guessers, and cut our trip a day short based on their guess of a major rainstorm the next day.  It did rain up in L.A. (Lower Alabama) but never did rain in Pensacola.  

Port St Joe Peninsula St Park

At the end of the peninsula of is a wilderness area.  We thought we might camp out there one night, but our schedule didn't work out for that to happen.

We were able to peddle our kayaks out there to explore. 

This place is like another planet. 

Florida Panhandle

My pals and I had been planing a trip down to the Suwanee River.  But because of the extreme amount of rainfall in southern Georgia and NOrthern Florida, the Suwanee was way above flood stage the week of our planned trip.  So we altered our plans, and went on a camping trip on the Florida Panhandle.

The trip included Dawg, Rich, Bruce and me.  In addition to our camping gear, we took 4 kayaks.  Bruce wanted to visit some friends in Georgia, so he left a few days earlier than the rest of us, and was able to take 2 Hobie i12 inflatable kayaks and some extra camping gear in his truck.  We put my Hobie Outback on the roof of my 4Runner, and a third Hobie i12 in the back.  We met up at the Port St. Joe Peninsula State Park.

We set up camp just before dark the first night in the "Shady Pines" area.

The next morning, we were off to launch the kayaks for some fishing.

We worked our way down the shore, caught a few bluefish and trout, and then stopped for lunch.

Great sunset that night on the beach.

New Kayak

I am fortunate to be on the "Hobie Fishing Team" again this year.  Charlie and Eileen at Sailboats Inc are letting me try a Hobie Outback this year. (Last year, I had a Hobie Pro Angler 12.)

One of the reasons I chose the Outback this year is because it can easily be loaded on the roof of my new 4Runner.  (Even an older than dirt dude can do it single handed)

 

I've been in a couple of kayak bass tournaments this spring.   One on Morse required us to check in at 6 am.  When I left my dock at 5:30, the temperature was 38 degrees.  So I peddled down to the park in the dark with steam rising off the water.  Cool 

More Ice

When I got home from Florida, my dock and boat lift looked like this.  A little twisted, but repairable.

Then the ice started moving, and pushed the boat lift towards shore.  Still maybe able to salvage some of it.

Now that the wind has pushed the ice further up on my shore, there's not much to save.

I must live right in the "funnel-gunnel".  None of my neighbors have any ice on their shore.  I keep my sunfish and small fishing boat on jet ski lifts.   I pulled them out of the water, and up on the shore so nothing would happen to them over the winter.  The ice came up the shore, and broke the legs off both of them.

Ice Yak

Saw these two hard core kayakers out on the lake yesterday. As you can see, the ice isn't off the lake yet. Turns out that the fellow in the yellow Hobie Out back is my fellow Hobie fishing team member Nathan. They had to break the ice to get around my boat dock.

Back home again

Back in Indiana after a couple of months in the sunshine.  Really missed this Indiana weather.  It was 60 degrees here yesterday.  Today we had thunderstorms with lots of rain, strong winds, then about 2" of sNOw, and tonight the temperature drops to single digits.  And the lakes are still frozen solid.

But I really enjoyed Florida.

I caught several nice redfish. Here's the two largest.

 

Even my pal Dawg caught a redfish

I had a pirate in my little boat, but he didn't have much luck with the redfish.

Here's a short video showing a redfish being revived and released.

The ice is off the White River, and my new Hobie kayak is on the way, so I hope to be posting more smallmouth bass photos soon.