So I took my kayak out on Somerset Reservoir, located in the green mountains of Vermont. I caught a rock bass my first cast and eight smallies, nothing large. But it was nice to be in 81 degree weather when it was 92 back home.

 

Both the online maps and Garmin maps are wrong. They show the creek channel being near the east side when it was actually on the west side. I fished the east side until 8pm, realized I pedaled 3 miles and when I went back, I found and followed the creek channel and found some more spots for next time. It was a good test of my new GPSMap 943xsv and GT56UHD though, sidevu was bright and clear to at least 150 feet which is definitely a significant upgrade over my old GT54UHD.

 

Loving the new Old Town Bigwater. I was able to pedal back at around 4.5mph into a decent current.

 

Here’s a few pics

https://1drv.ms/f/s!AhZmMB-Fz0_2j9MC5LgpfuldtkGl3Q

Beautiful lake. I would have loved paddling it. 

Nice ! Looks like East TN north chapter

 

Lovely looking place!

On 7/22/2024 at 3:40 PM, The1Fist said:

Nice trip report! Congrats on catching some bass, even if they were small. And bummer about the map inaccuracies, but glad you were able to test out your new GPS and find the creek channel eventually. The Old Town Bigwater kayak seems like a great investment, 4.5mph into a decent current is impressive!

Yes it is. 4.5mph can get tiring, especially early on a long day but I can do at least a mile at 4mph with an occasional fishing break to catch my breath. Even a super casual pedal I can do for 10 miles is around 3.5. I was set to get a Hobie PA14 but someone convinced me to demo the Bigwater and I was sold after seeing how well it moves. Somerset is the largest lake I can easily drive to in a day at 1623 acres and I can get still go anywhere on the lake in a reasonable amount of time.

 

I haven't made it back yet, my strut broke off my truck so I was without a vehicle and until I got it in the shop and last weekend I had extreme back pain - would have been okay on the kayak but didn't want to chance a solo launch.

On 7/17/2024 at 10:09 AM, ol'crickety said:

Beautiful lake. I would have loved paddling it. 

It is definitely one of the most beautiful lakes I have fished. Mountain surroundings and the only man made things on it is a hyrdo-electric power plant and the boat launch next to it.