A Blossoming Relationship - Part 1

 I thought she looked nice from the time I first laid eyes on her. Nice lines, sleek and fast. I just wanted to get my hands on her. I dated her little sister briefly but that didn't work out. She was put away wet a few too many times. Then I got into a relationship with her "big boned" cousin and I will still keep her around as a back up. This new girl though; she maybe a keeper. Get your minds outta the gutter I'm talking fishing kayaks here not a bunch of dirty legs from my early 20's.
 Seriously I've always liked the way the Trident Family looked and I've heard nothing but good reports from the field about them but my only personal experience with them was a little over a year ago with a loaner Trident 11. That particular kayak while not abused, it was left outside all the time exposed to the elements and just not in good condition. It paddled ok but was too close to being more of a river boat than what I was looking for. The T11 paddles well and tracks alright for a shorter kayak but is very susceptible to paddle input. Not what I was looking for.
 The next kayak I mentioned is my Big Game II. This is a great kayak. Super stable excellent in big water. Has an nice seat, is really comfortable and one thing that has surprised me the most about the BGII is how much I like to just float in it. This thing floats down stream like a dream. It's a great river boat. Just not fast and I wanted fast or at least faster than the BGII.
Which brings me to my new fling.
 The Trident 13.

 Let me explain what I was/am looking for in a fishing kayak.
1. Stability,  it needs to be stable enough to stand and fish from.
2. Comfort, the seat needs to not kill my back or let my bum go numb.
3. In hull storage, I like to transport as much as I can in the hull. Especially my fishing rods.
4. A decent cockpit layout or at least good enough for me to expand on to make it my own. Gimme a somewhat Plain Jane and let me rig it myself.
 With those thoughts in mind I knew the 13 was stable enough to stand and fish from because I did it in the 11. The seat in the 13 I knew was going to be an issue because every kayak I've been in where the seat pad is directly on the deck of the boat hurts my back and my @$$ goes numb. It has as much to do with my body as the seating position itself. This isn't a knock on the Trident, that seating position is uncomfortable for me. So I added padding from the get go. Although I wish I could get my paddle in the hull, more important to me though I can stow my rods and that was the most important part of having in hull storage for me.
OK. Now here's where we are in our new relationship. My very first thought when I dipped my paddle into the water was, "Wow this thing is easy to paddle". And she is. These boats paddle well, track great and are pretty light weight. As it turns out that was some of what I was looking for in my next kayak. What I didn't mention earlier is I wanted something I could cover water in and I can definitely do that in this boat.
More to come.....

Familiar Waters

 It's been a while since I'd had paddled up this creek and it almost felt like coming home. The current the twists and turns and the familiar sites. We all have our own reasons for loving certain bodies of water and some you just can't quite explain. For me it's a sense of connection and I don't know why, I wasn't raised here. I have no family or personal history with the area. I'm nothing more than a damned yankee in these parts. I love the place and it feels good to call it home.

 Back at the ranch, it was 75 degrees and sunny with a slight chance of rain. Gotta go, the creek is calling. No playing around. Use what I know works and have caught hundreds of fish on in the past. Today I'm catching fish! The water was super clear. This is one of these places where you better have plenty of tackle with you because you're guaranteed to lose some stuff. There is a ton of lay downs and the fish get up in that stuff and if you wanna catch them you have to go in there and get 'em.

 The pattern of the day was to pitch soft plastics against the bank or throw them into tight cover and dead stick it until you get bit. I tried a few other baits but lizards were what was on the menu. I get kinda bored dead sticking baits but it sure beats getting skunked.

  I fished for about 4 hrs picking up about 15 fish all in the 1-2# range with the best one pictured below she went 2.48#. By no means a stud fish but a great day on the water.

 I actually thought I lost that fish; I felt the bite, set the hook and she darted right into the branches of the lay down I was fishing. I thought I was snagged for sure and was telling myself she had come unbuttoned. I drug myself over the top of the "snag" and looked down to see the fish still on the line! Sweet! After about 5 minutes of messing around she swam out of the mess below me and WALA! Best fish of the day!
 The sun was starting to touch the tops of the tree and I wanted to hit one more spot before calling it a day. As I was making my way around a corner I looked up to see this dude staring me down. He didn't seem to be phased in the least that I got so close to him.

 The branch he was perched on extends over the water so I had to get really close to get past. I was so excited about seeing the bird I quit fishing to go take a few pictures before it flew away.
 Until next time.
Tight Lines
H

Puttin' In The Time

 We all have baits and techniques that we don't like, haven't tried  or have tried with no success and have no confidence in and I'm no different. Each year I'll pick a technique or bait and work on it to see if I like it and if I do I'll continue to use it if not, I scrap it. This year has been a little different; I'm working three different baits, one of the three I've never fished and the other two I never gave much of a chance but the time spent is starting to pay off.  I don't want this to be some sort of tutorial, really  it's just a report with a little background. The baits I'm practicing with are the swim jig, bladed jig and big stick baits.
 Thinking of big baits I hit the water Friday afternoon and fished until few hrs. after dark chunking and winding swimbaits. I landed a couple but nothing to write home about.

That's a 6" Little Creeper Trash Fish she tried to choke down.

 I know my writing is like the ramblings of a madman or an ADHD sufferer but stick with me and I'll try to pull it all together for you in the next couple paragraphs. I'll even toss in a bit of fish porn...

 Friday was a lot of work for not a lot of gain so Saturday I decided I just wanted to put fish in the boat. I prepped for another evening of fishing this time loading the stuff I know I can catch fish with and some of the stuff I've been practicing. 

 Once on the water I started out doing some searching with a Strike King Rage Toad; throwing it around heavy grass and some areas that were covered in scum. After about an hour of that with no takers I switched up to a BooYah Bladed jig and made my way into a narrow creek where on the third cast I landed one about 2-2.5#s.

The BooYah jigs have a really nice thump as they move through the water.

 After awhile of not getting any more bites on the bladed jig I switched over to a swim jig but got no love there either so I broke down and started throwing the big stack bait. This year is the first year I've thrown these things and I'm doing it just to follow someone's advice. As much as I hate to admit it they work and work well. I've thrown Senkos as follow up lures to topwater lures and I've used them in pure desperation but I've never gone out and said "Hey I think I'm gonna throw Senkos today!" Just as soon take a beating. BUT these are bigger than the little Senkos so it makes it all better. With all that being said I stuck the best fish of the night on the stupid stick bait.

A solid fish at a hair under 5 pounds.

  Before the lights went out I tossed a big swimbait around for a while and had one follower that I watched take a couple swipes at my bait but I got tired of that and switched back to the toad and made my way to a large flat that holds a ton of submerged weeds. I ended up picking up four or five in that area before leaving there and fishing the main channel of the lake.

Love fishin toads.

  After that it was pretty much over with I picked up three more including this giant that was all attitude. He made me laugh. The bait was about as big as he was.

Who says big baits don't work?

 OK boys and girls that's it for this session, now go get you some.

 Tight Lines!

H

One Of The Reasons

  Five years ago my wife and I relocated to Alabama and one of the things I got excited about was the fishing and the classic lakes located here.  I had all of the notions that I was gonna be out galavanting around the state fishing these lakes every weekend. Well it just hasn't happened that way. I have been able to do a little fishing here and I have fished a bunch of different places but I don't think any have made me feel like Eufaula has. This was my first trip there and I felt something special about the place at the first sight of water. I just knew this was going to be a good weekend.
 There are places that get ranked as top bass lakes and Eufaula is no different and some fall out of favor and there again Eufaula is no different. I think she maybe taking a back seat to some of the other lakes right now but I don't know that you could convince me as to why. With quite literally miles of lily pad fields this is a kayak anglers dream.

Lily pads run for miles here.

 For the people that know me they know one of my goto techniques is fishing a toad. This place fits that bill perfectly. We spent the weekend chunking and winding toads. I did get a little tired of that so I tossed a wake bait for a while and picked up one about 2# but the toad bite was so good I had to go right back to it.

The only non-toad fish of the weekend caught on a Mikey SR.

  I won't bore you with a bunch of selfies of me with fish I will just suffice it to say that if you like to fish lily pads and you want to fish a storied lake with a good history then do yourself a favor and give this place a visit.

Ok one more selfie. 

  There was a two day tournament going and the boat traffic seemed pretty light even with that happening. They also restrict people from skiing and using PWC in the wildlife management areas, which is a major plus. I can't think of anything I hate more when I'm trying to fish than some ass monkey on a jet ski. Just a couple more things to appreciate about this place.

A Long Weekend

  I burned a vacation day Friday and it sure did feel like I was getting away with something as I was paddling my way down stream Friday afternoon. The weather was just about perfect in the low 80's a mostly sunny, No complaints at all! The water levels have dropped quite a bit and it's starting to clear in the backs of the creeks and with that the bite is also picking up.

This little dude didn't even know I was there.

 I caught five or six dink's Friday afternoon which was cool but the real fun started Saturday night after the lights went out. I got on the water about 6:00 and started catching fish right next to the launch. None of them were that big but I caught some where around 20 fish with the best one being roughly four pounds with several in the two pound class.

One of the nicer 2#ers.

The best fish of the night/weekend.

 It's really tough to beat an evening of fishing ninja style, cruising though the water after dark not really being able to see all that well and nobody else being able to see you. Once the night fishing bug bites there is nothing in the world as cool as being on the water and the chirp of the tree frogs so loud that you can't hear yourself think. Other times looking around and seeing the eyes of the gators glowing in the beam of your headlamp. Not to mention getting on a top water bite tracking your lure as much by sound as by site having a monster fish explode on it feeling your line tighten as the fish tries to run off with your bait. Fishing at night is one of my most favorite things to do and I'm grateful I get the opportunities to do it.
Tight Lines
H

                                                                                     

A Busy Weekend

 It all started with a couple deliveries from Santa's rejects. Not the gifts, the people that deliver them. Ya see I thought Santa only came once a year but I found out with a Discover Card and a little time he will sub-contract that work out to just about anybody willing to drive a delivery truck. The first elf brought me some carbon fiber goodness in the shape of a new paddle.

The performance difference is really noticeable between this paddle and my old one.

 I always thought elves were little tykes man was I wrong. The next one was probably three inches taller and 40 pounds heavier than me. Polite enough but definitely not feeling the Christmas cheer I was. My guess is he had been sitting in that hot assed truck for about 12 hours and had all the human contact he could stand for one day. Any ways he dropped of a box of really shiny stuff mainly in bream patterns. The one I was most interested in looks as good in person as in the pictures online.

Dude these are so cool!

 Well my normal Friday pattern held up and I got some time on Friday night to get on the water for a couple hours. I start off tossing a toad around and stuck one about 1.5lbs. no biggy but a fish none the less. I wanted to throw this new bait for a while before the lights went out; so I tied it on and BAM!!! on the first cast! A three pounder! Normally I'm not too excited about threes but this time I was.

To give perspective that is a 6" bait.

 Saturday morning I met with Hobie Pro Staffer Aaron Rubel and MBKFA member Elana Carson to be presenters on kayak fishing at a function called Becoming An Outdoor Woman. The program was sponsored by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Foundation. This is a great way for ladies to get involved in outdoor activities in a non-threatning environment.

Nice legs.

Elana's enthusiasm is infectious not to mention she cracks me up!

Aaron is a great ambassador for the sport. It was a pleasure working with him.

 After the classroom time we got on the water and the girls seems to have fun and a couple even caught a fish. That may not sound like much but to be able to control a kayak and fish at the same time is a skill that takes some practice to get good at. I was honored to be able to be a part of this and looking forward to next year.

I think I was more excited about the fish than she was!

This gal had a fish get away boat side but she seemed to be excited about hooking one anyway!

 A

   

2014 Kick Off

 It's bee a long cold winter and the fishing has suffered because of it but not all is lost. I've been able to get out some just not as much as I would like. Honestly last year ended really well, on Christmas Eve my new kayak came in which was awesome and shortly after that I caught my first true swimbait speck.

While it's not much of a catch the rewards of fishing swimbaits can be nice, catching fish on these baits is a lot of work.

 Like the rest of the country our winter has been one of the hardest we've had in decades and an ice storm that shut the area down for a few days. Even with all of that I was able to get on the water and catch some decent fish. Three weekends in a row I was able to pick up on a bite and catch some solid bass. No record breakers and none close to my personal best but solid fish none the less. For the most part my fishing has shifted to throwing bigger baits and focusing trophy hunting so I don't get to see a lot of numbers but the fish I am catching are better on average than the fish I was catching over the last couple of years.

I want this fish's great great great grandma.

 While I will fish a few tournaments this year my main focus is going to be trying to catch a double digit bass this year. Along with that I will also be looking to catch a couple fish on my bucket list. The main two are a cobia and a tuna, past that it's all gravy. The cobia are starting to move into the area now so if I'm going to do it I need to get after them soon.

You never know how goofy a hat looks until you see a picture of yourself in it.

  The fishing season is starting to ramp up folks get out there and yet a line. You have 100% chance of not catching fish if you don't get out there, so get out there! Your t.v. will be waiting for you when you get home...