Some of the locals, and Paul Roberts will get the reference, LOL....

Roger and I (is that a movie?) decided to set out for a half day kayak fishing trip on a lake Paul (not Paul Roberts, BR member Blue Daksi) showed me back in spring, and one that Roger hadn't fished in years. We know there are big fish in this deep, clear lake, but we had no idea it would be so tough.

We were greeted with a beautiful morning scene.

Nice butt shot of me prepping the PBG. Roger's new Redfish is in the foreground.

Four days of clear blue skies following a cold front, and coinciding with a full moon told me that fish have been feeding heavily at night, and probably hiding deep.

Drop shot worms was the ordinance of the day.

How deep you ask? Try largemouth at 35'+!!! I only managed two small fish on a drop shot Roboworm in Aaron's Magic. I was very disappointed, since my last time to this lake produced two fish over 6 lbs. Those fish were both from lay downs, and although I knew no fish would be holding in the wood, we checked anyway.

A rat largemouth from 35' of water on a drop shot.

We pretty much covered most of the shoreline of this lake, which is basically a deep trench. I spent quite a bit of time at big ledge off shore from a creek mouth, since this is a main structural feature and the only place I marked any kind of life. Lost of machine gun hits, presumably gills and sunnies too small to be hooked. I must have blown through two bags of Roboworms, LOL. The two rat largemouths were a small achievement that offered a little bit of satisfaction, but I really hoped for something notable.

I eventually gave up to meet Roger who was working some minor shoreline debris, when he waves me over. I paddle over and he holds a nice fish, nicest of the day anyway. So much for my theory of wood not holding fish! Roger always sticks a decent fish on every trip, and I was glad he got his skunk off before having to leave. Catching it on a jig while working wood is even better - my favorite way to catch fish.

Roger shows off a nice bass caught on a jig, working some wood debris on the shoreline.

All in all, it was a good day. Roger and I both got to try out the new Werner paddle he bought for his wife - I've got to get one, man that is a nice paddle! We also spent quite a bit of time exploring and graphing the lake. I dropped several way points of places I want to return to a little later in the fall.

Maybe Blue Daksi can link up with us next time, and reveal his "secret" spots!

Thanks Roger for another fun day on the water!

great post and excellent pics, John

Thanks Dan.  Credit for photo #2 and #3 goes to Roger G.

Nice pics.I've never fish from a kayak.Wow you were standing up on it like a boat deck.Is it hard to balance it?

Just a great post! Great images. I feel like I'm there! Thanks for that.

Post-frontal blue, 20+ clarity, swimming pool topography; You shoulda' targeted trout, or pickerel, or maybe hit a stream somewhere. That's what I always did on those days.

Al Lindner once said of those lakes paraphrased wish I had the actual quote: If you can catch bass in THOSE lakes consistently, with the back to back cold fronts that blow down through the area, you are really doing something. I think Al was lamenting after getting his butt kicked. Seriously.

BTW: Those machine gun hits were likely small bows. They are a lot of the life you can ping out there esp below the creek mouths. They also have sharp teeth rough on Roboworms. I diff hook rig could stick some of those, and not be a problem with bass in that swimming pool.

Nice post! Looks like a cool spot to fish

Great looking lake, I love the lake fog in pic 1.

Too bad the fish weren't more cooperative.

Great post and some fine pics!

8-)

What a beautiful spot!

Wish we had something that beautiful around here!

Nice catches too!

i'm curious too.. is standing on a kayak easier than it seems?

i'm curious too.. is standing on a kayak easier than it seems?

It depends on the boat.  Some are better than others.  On my OK PBG, its about 100 times easier than standing in a small semi-V boat, since its designed for standing.  See my post in "Other Species" for some fish fighting action from the yak.

Might have to get me one of those.

Are there two person yaks out there that are good for fishing?

There are tandem kayaks, but for fishing, it would be easier from a jon of a canoe.  

My wife wants to cruise, and I want to fish. Two boats it looks like lol.