Kayak Koz

No - 90 degrees both at the surface AND 90 degrees at 90 feet deep due to the GA Power equipment and water draw into the lake. And yes - it killed off a lot of the stripers. It was the DNR investigation that laid the blame on GA Power. That's why they made the investment in the aerators.

The guy has been a guide here for over 20 years. His livelihood depends upon him being able to find the fish. There's a DNR report that also confirms the GA Power equipment and water draw had a negative impact on oxygenation, inhibited the development of fish species, and killed off the re-stocking of the striper population.

Fishing on Lake Oconee was just terrible this past year and one of the local fishing guides told me why. It seems that the lake owner, Georgia Power, had really messed up the lake over the past year or so. This summer, when surface temps were around 90 degrees, at the deepest part of the lack (98 feet) the water temperature was also close to 90 degrees. Oxygenation levels were low throughout the lake. This was my first year in the area, and what struck me throughout the year was I never ran across any aquatic vegetation in the water or along the banks. And once spring ended, it was tough to find largemouth or stripers, but crappie, catfish, and bluegills were plentiful. But what the guide told me is that Georgia Power is rectifying the situation by installing 5 miles of aerators in the dam area. They project should be done soon, and hopefully we return to some good fishing. One thing though - we've had unseasonably warm temperatures for about a week now. How warm? The rose bushes behind my hotel are starting to bloom. That's not good, especially if we get back to freezing temperatures. But now I'm wondering if this is going to lead to an early bass spawn followed by an early shad spawn.

That's a baby! Not as fearsome as momma, but a pain in the rump because they are usually fearless and don't know any better. Once I had one of them chase my catch out of the water. I'm running around the bank, dragging a 2 pounder with the juvenile gator coming after me while some guy is yelling to my son, "Your dad is getting chased by an alligator!" Luckily, the gator stopped when he reached my tackle bag. It took a while before he went back in the water. But I'm glad he didn't try to eat me or my tackle bag.

That sound like it might be an issue for Human Resources. Years ago I had a hotel owner chew me out a little bit in our kitchen with one of the line cooks present. When he finished, I asked him to come to my office. I told him that he could chew me out all he wanted or he could even fire me, but it was inappropriate to do that in front of my team. The owner actually started crying and apologized, then went to the line cook and apologized. He was right about what needed to be corrected in the kitchen, but he made a mistake and went about it the wrong way. It happens. I forgave him and it was over, done with, gone.

As someone who is the boss where I work, I might have a slightly different take. First off, it was inappropriate for you to be called out in front of others. Hopefully the resulting apology was done in front of everyone who was there when you were called out. Part of being a manager is being tight lipped about a lot of things whether that be work, personal life, or both. Sometimes it can be overwhelming and it just catches up with you. You have a million things to do, no time to do them, and then something pops up that you think should have been easily handled and the next thing you know you could have handled the situation better. As much as we try, we're not made of stone. We're human. We make mistakes. But understand that it's nothing personal. Sometimes life just catches up with us.

Every reel mentioned here is better than the one I am about to mention, but hear me out. My first baitcaster was a Lew's American Hero combo that was about $80. Not knowing if I would even like a baitcaster, I chose the inexpensive route. And you know what? I loved that combo. The rod 6' 6" MH rod was surprisingly sensitive. The reel was a good one to start with as well. My son broke the tip off that rod long ago, but despite having more expensive Shimano's and Lew's baitcaster reels at my disposal, that old American Hero is still in my arsenal.

I took a couple of 20 minute breaks at work a few days this past week and caught some small bass off our docks each time. The shad were blowing up (getting chased) everywhere and there was more than one big time splash, but nothing big was biting. I think I may head out tomorrow after work. I'm tempted to pull my kayak out of storage. The bad news is both my Curado DC and Expride are dur to arrive next week - and it's going to be cold and rainy all week.

I have the 7' MH baitcaster and it's a decent rod. Weight is OK, but it feels a little stiff to me. But in my arsenal I will pick my Dobyn's, St. Croix, and Shimano rods before I pick up the KVD rod. The KVD doesn't have the sensitivity of my other rods so I use it mainly to fish some topwater baits. I have it paired with the KVD reel. Maybe I should swap that for a better reel and get a feel for the KVD rod.

As stated earlier, accessibility is key. In my kayak, in can fish off of someone's back yard. If I was bank fishing I think that same person would be ticked off if I just walked into their back yard to fish.

Thanks, I'll look into those. Rather than just the light I'm looking at the VisiCarbon flag and light. The greater length of that unit would contribute to more shearing force, and I don't want to end up having the plate ripped out of the hull.

I don’t have any access inside the hull of my kayak at all. I want to mount a YakAttack safety flag with a light on the back of the kayak, but there are no tracks back there. I know there are a few stick on solutions for racks, but with the length of the flag I would think the shearing force would eventually rip it off. The same goes if I screwed a track in without being able to lock it down with nuts and washers. Has anyone else come across this issue and found a solution?

I PM'd Glenn earlier in the year about this and offered my hotel on the lake as the host for an event. There's a lot of work involved on his end, especially lining up sponsors, raffles, etc. and there were costs involved on his end. It's tough to justify all of that when only 20 people show up. I get that. I think what it would take to get this done is a STRONG commitment - probably including some cash deposits - well in advance of an official Bass Resource event. An unofficial meetup would be easy to set up.

Chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, and buzzbaits are what I use most in the area I moved to. While I like fishing frogs, I usually use those around vegetation and thanks to a screw up by GA Power we had very little vegetation in the section of lake that I fish. That is supposedly being fixed this winter. I think the 7' 2" Expride I ordered will be good for my style. I do have a decent frog rod that I like. When I bank fish I prefer to use just one all purpose rod, but now that I have the kayak I prefer multiple rods so I don't have to tie on new baits as much. Thanks for the advice.

Actually, my hotel owner did explicitly tell me to go and spend some of it on myself and on something I would not normally purchase. He’s a really nice guy. He will sometimes call the hotel in the evening to make sure I have gone home. If I work for a few weeks without time off he kicks me out for two or three days so I can recharge.

I used to fish a lot of lagoons like that and my current lake is stained year round. I prefer chatterbaits and spinnerbaits. Sometimes they bite on all white, sometimes it’s the blue/black combo. But guys around here prefer to drag a salamander soft plastic along the bottom.

I will say that when I was fishing lagoons that the overwhelming majority of the 5+ pound bass I caught were between 11 am and 2 pm. Dead times were 5 am to 9 am and 2 pm to 4 pm. I rarely caught bass of any size during those times.

And the winners are: Shimano Curado 150 DC Shimano Expride 7’ 2” MH Thanks for all of the suggestions- they convinced me to go with the Expride. The MGL 70 looks like a great reel as well, but in the end the DC won out. Maybe next time. Thanks again for all of the input.

No, I’m just trying to make up for being a stubborn SOB.

Mine was definitely not 1/4 of my salary. However, one year when I was working for Marriott corporate I warned them that my bonus targets were too low. I told a couple of people including my RVP. They said the targets stand. I warned them it was going to cost them. Two weeks before bonuses were to be paid I got a call from a buddy on the bonus committee. The good news was that my bonus came out to $96k. The bad news was that they rewrote the bonus program at the last minute - before the payout - so I got only $18k. I raised holy heck and got myself fired for saying some bad, bad words.

I bought them 16 pound turkeys and gave everyone a cash bonus this winter. Today I closed housekeeping and worked the front desk for 10 hours so everyone could spend time with their families.

Born in the 60’s and class of 82 here. When I was a kid we had an Apple II Plus and I taught myself to code in BASIC. Since then I have embraced technology. For example, I’ve written software and apps because I needed something done or saw an opportunity. So I go online and learn just enough and combine open source code and libraries to get things done. I also build my own PC’s because it’s cheaper than buying off the shelf and it’s fun. Lately I’ve enjoyed having a connected home with lights and appliances and electronics connected via Alexa. Although I embrace most technology, I am not connected to my phone and I loathe people that sit there texting all day.

I use LastPass to manage all of my passwords so no matter where I go or what device I use I can access all of my logins and passwords.

Life can definitely kick us in the teeth now and then. But I know from experience that sometimes coming to BR and interacting with other members can be a welcome distraction. Keep up the good fight and cherish even the small victories in life.

Merry Christmas all! I’m working this morning so my team can spend the better part of the day with their families. But later this afternoon I’m going to head down to our docks to fish for a little while. It’s supposed to be 74 degrees this afternoon!