pdxfisher

I just have to say wow at the shape of the goby fed fish. I hear you about the plastic baits. I would not use a plastic bait I did not have confidence in. My thinking is that if I can have excellent performance and reasonable durability that's a win in my book.

It was pretty easy to recover the kayak and I had my PFD on while I swam after it. At least I was not stupid about that! I have a checklist but of course after using it for years it is easy to not pay close attention to it. Making the list is good but using it is even better

Great video! Those are some healthy looking bass. They look pretty fat to me. I guess Gobi fish are just morbidly obese I pretty much always have a spy bait tied on one of my rods and a swinghead (wobblehead) on another. I love the way they thump a wobblehead, and generally the fish seem better sized for me. All the fish you catch seem good sized but for me it helps weed out the dinks How is the durability of the rage bug? I mostly use a Zoom zcraw which is kind of soft. I can usually only get a few fish per bait. I have lots of bags of them but when I finish those off I might look for something less fragile.

Ha ha! I think that way about things as well!

That sounds awesome! Those are the bites you remember forever!

I feel you there. My balance was never mire Than normal but it definitely is not what it used to be! Fishing would be so boring with spot lock, stability, freeboard, etc

@GreenPig my mom always told me I was way too stubborn and that it would get me in trouble some day. I guess she was finally right Thanks @Swamp Girl but they could sing that song about you too. I at least have a pedal drive, rudder and scupper holes. You just have a paddle and great balance.

Thanks @FloridaFishinFool ! I am with on the struggle making things interesting but since i am at stage 5 kidney failure i think i have that covered already I am happy though that even with my CKD i can get out fishing quite a bit.

I am of course talking about me. The trip started with a stupid mistake. Pretty much EVERY time I go fishing I run through a checklist in the truck before leaving the house. On Sunday, I said to myself "I am sure I have everything so I am just going to go". I make the hour drive to the ramp and when I go to get my cart (wheels) to plug into my kayak so I can roll it down the ramp after I load up and guess what - no cart!! That means I need to hand carry everything down, then put it in the kayak, and then shove off. All that carrying made me overheated so I decided to pull my kayak out around the dock so as not to block the ramp while I went up to the truck and stripped off a few layers. I accomplish that and I am walking back down to the dock and look, there's my kayak floating down the Columbia!! Yep, I forgot to tie it off. I did that once a long time ago and then I was able to grab it before it got away. No such luck this time. It was a good 100' down the river when I saw it. So I stripped off my rain gear, put my PFD back on and jumped in the river. Really took the long walk off the short pier. Now if I was smart I would have stripped down (since no one else was around) and kept my clothes dry. Of course I did not think of that in the moment. So I backstroke my way out to the kayak (easiest way to swim in a PFD in case anyone is wondering), grab a hold of my kayak and swim it back to the dock. This time I did tie it off while floating beside it. I then swam over to the ramp, walked back out the dock and put my rain gear back on and started fishing. Now I started fishing pretty close to the dock which is pretty protected from the wind. I was a little chilly but not too bad. I even caught a couple of bass on back-to-back casts on a topwater at that spot. I then headed out around the point into the wind and the rain was starting as well. I immediately started shivering like crazy but I kept fishing thinking I would just warm up under my rain gear from the casting and retrieving. I picked up two more bass on that point, once again on back-to-back casts which was fun, when I started shivering uncontrollably. The only good news is that the layers I had stripped off before were dry since they were pre-swim. I went back to the ramp and tied my kayak up and took off my two wet shirt layers and put on dry ones. Of course by then the inside of my rain gear was pretty wet and I could do nothing about my lower half being soaked. I headed back out and it was a bit better. I still shivered a fair bit but at least I was not feeling hypothermic anymore. The next spot I hit was a dud but the spot after that had a good bite going on the drop shot. I caught 5 bass pretty quickly, including my day's best (only 2lb 5oz). For some reason I decided that I should move after making two casts without a bite. The next two spots were duds, then I picked up 1 fish off of each of the next two spots. on the jack hammer stealth blade I was looking for giants but catching dinks. I was really trying to make the big swimbait bite happen. I was throwing a Megabass Magdraft (that I had just bought) on a new rod I had bought for that purpose (Dobyns Fury 704). I love the way that rod casts that bait but unfortunately I can't speak to its fish fighting capabilities I did have one hard bite that didn't stick but that was it for a lot of casting. The next few spots I fished were duds and then I cam upon another spot where the bass were eager to eat my drop shot. Once again I caught 5 bass pretty quickly (a couple of them were complete dinks) when once again I decided that I could do better somewhere else on size. Of course, the next spots I fished were duds. Then the wind shifted and picked up from 11mph to 31mph in just 20 minutes time. I went from mildly shivering to freezing my behind off again. I caught a fish on the wobblehead and missed another a cast or two later when I decided I had better head back. I have been out there in some pretty rough weather but I think this may have been the worst. The wind had created by waves (maybe 3 or 4 feet for the big ones) and it was a white knuckle pedal back to the ramp. I was constantly fighting the rudder to not get turnend by the waves as they crashed into me from behind (at least the wind was at my back on the way to the ramp). I was pedaling around 4mph but when a big wave would hit me it would jet me ahead to 6mph (as told by the Garmin) and almost drive the nose of the kayak under. I had to keep a slight angle to the waves to keep from burying the nose of the kayak. I tell you I was super glad when I finally made it around the point and into the protected area by the ramp. I was shivering and exhausted but grateful. Of course, since I had forgotten my cart I was rewarded with hand carrying everything back to the truck to end the day. The only good think I can take from this is that I think I used up all my stupidity and bad luck for at least a year. I should be wrecking them for the foreseeable future No pictures on the day but here is the video.

It happens to everyone. You'll get them next trip!

Dang, that sounded brutal! I have hooked myself a handful of times Each time I did something stupid in a new and exciting way. I am just happy I have not hooked myself twice doing the same stupid thing. You have to take the small victories

I almost never fish a regular vibrating jig. The stealthblade works great for me out here. The water I fish is usually pretty clear. I think the stealthblade is like 1/2 between a normal vibrating jig and a swim jig. It has a tighter, quieter vibration which works well for me out here.

Great report! Way to dial it in!!

I fish a huge river (Columbia). This time of year visibility is over 10'. It's amazing that bass will still bite right next to the kayak. I think once they lock onto a lure they lose sight of everything else. If I come across a bass just sitting there it will usually not bite but if they are following a moving bait they will hit right next to me. I guess that means you want long casts so the fish lock on the bait before they see you (basically what everyone else is saying). I use the same lures as earlier in the year. JH stealth blade (around weeds), spy bait, 3" swimbait, jerk bait, wacky rigged Senko (all for shallow fishing). If I am fishing deep (15-35') I use a Ned, drop shot or wobblehead. Colors mimic either baitfish or crawfish.

Beautiful scenery and a nice bass, that's a killer combo!

You gave yourself a stiff test either the 3lber. Glad to see you passed with flying colors!

Glad you were able to get out a keep the skunk at bay! Being on the water is always special!

I don't think you could paddle and fish in those conditions. The pedal drive on the Hobie makes it feasible. It is just a constant battle of turning the rudder multiple times on each retrieve and pedaling at just the right pace. Also forgot to report my totals for the day: 23 bass with the best 5 going 13lb 11oz and 87.5". So not a monster day but a good one - especially given the challenging conditions.

Thanks @MontanaBasser! Thanks @A-Jay ! I definitely worked hard for those fish. I estimate i probably pedaled the equivalent of 15 to 20 miles. I pedaled fairly nonstop for 9 hours.

Here is a taste of the conditions I was out in on Saturday. Breezy They say smallmouth love wind and that certainly seemed to be the case on Saturday. The wind started blowing even before sunrise and just built and built during the day. The closest weather station as reporting 29mph in the afternoon and I am sure that it is a bit higher than that in the middle of the wide open river. The day did not start out as I had planned though. I started with a topwater and could not get a sniff. Then I threw the JH stealthblade but no bueno. I was just getting ready to abandon my first spot when I marked a fish in about 18' of water. I dropped a Ned rig down and landed my first fish of the day, a nice 2lb 7oz that was only 16.25" long. That fish was chonky I think I then caught fish on the next 3 drops then had a couple of fishless casts then picked up another fish or two. The nice thing is that most of them were over a pound and a half and in the wind and the current they really test my light spinning rod and the drag on my Vanford spinning reel. Love that sound in the morning! After that I decided to fish up shallow for a bit, even though the first spot did not produce. After my last trip I spoke with a fellow and he had fished a big glide bait all day long and done well and another youtube channel guy also had done well on some shallow spots. Usually this time of the year I resign myself to fishing deep but I think. I think there are plenty of fish deep but I think other groups of bass hang out shallow all summer long. I wanted to test that theory. No shallow bass on the first spot but I did pick one up on the JH stealth blade on the second spot I fished. It came from a spot that produces well for me in the spring but at some point when the weeds thicken and the water level drops a couple of fee I quit fishing that area. The interesting thing is that now in the early fall the water level is back up a few feet and the weeds that were matting the surface are now a foot deep and the holes in the weeds are very fishable. The third spot I stopped out produced my best fish of the day, a 3lb 1oz 18.5" beauty. Yanked off a clear spot inside the weed edge on the JH SB. It also produced a second almost 2lber. I was starting to feel good about the day and the choice to fish shallow. At the next spot the old JH did not produce at first but I did get on one a green pumpkin swim jig with a craw trailer. After that fish I went back to the JH and picked up another. At that point I was completely stoked and ready to slay them at one of my favorite humps. I crashed through the wind and the waves to get down to a spot I just knew was going to be fire. Well, I can't tell you how disappointed I was when I could not conjure up a bite on a variety of moving baits. At that point I had a decision to make. Either finesse fishing deep on that spot (which usually produces when the fish are not shallow) or heading to another spot in search of active fish. I was having so much fun fishing moving baits that opted for the latter. This spot is another hump, with an island, and I decided to pound it with the spy bait. I will just say that the bass approved of that idea. I picked up several nice fish over or near 2lbs on the spy bait but after a bit of casting practice I decided I should probe the depths as well. Once again, there were fish shallow and deep at the same time on the same spot. I am not sure if the fish move back and forth or if they are completely separate groups of fish. Anyway I started probing with the drop shot (which is easier to fish than the Ned rig in the wind and waves). I immediately started getting some bites but missed the first few. It is still tough when you are bobbing up and down and fighting the wind to feel those fish. However, knowing that there were hungry fish down there waiting to be caught helped me increase my focus. The first few I landed were not very big but then I set the hook on a fish that had some shoulders to it. Once again in the wind and the waves that fish put up a great fight and I was stoked when I got my net underneath a decent 2lb 13oz 17.5" bass! After that fish I did pick up several more small fish but nothing of note. When that bite died I pedaled over to another hump that has a nice long hump in front of it. I immediately caught a 2lb 14oz on a drop shot and then a few minutes later I picked up a 2lb bass on the drop shot! The wind was trying to make me leave but the bass were convincing me to stay After that I took a break to relieve myself and eat my cherries. When I came back to the spot where I caught the last two but a bass boat was fishing it so I went back to where I had done well around the island earlier. I picked up a decent one on a swimbait and then started probing deeper with the wobblehead. It was tough fishing but with my newish wobblehead rod (St Croix) I felt a solid thunk and reared back. Once again it was a great fight bouncing up and down in the waves, trying not to get tipped over by the wind and finally landing my last nice fish of the day, a 17" 2lb 8oz bass. After that I picked up a handful more fish on a last spot with the drop shot and finally called it a day. When I would turn my kayak up wind the wind would blow me upriver at between 2.5 and 2.8mph! All day long I was fighting that wind but I really appreciated the wind assist on the way back to the ramp! Having the wind and waves push me to where I wanted to go instead of fighting them feels really good at the end of a long day on the water! Anyway here are some pics and the full video for the day.

Hot fishing keeps you warm on a cold morning! That was a great report and pics! Even the small ones look chunky and healthy!

Those bass look big and healthy! Wild about the seaplane! I might have to go on shore and change my shorts if that happened to me!

It's funny that there were just a few boats on the lake but one of them was on a spot you wanted to fish. Sounds like a problem George Costanza would have had

Great trip, pics and report! You have to admire that last little guy - it is going to be a beast some day.

Probably at least 4lbs based on the fact that I could not budge that fish. I try not to guess on how big the ones I lose could be - that is the road to despair