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Slept through my alarm by over an hour so I was not in the water until 0730. I then met up with Simon and Andrew and I then motored up past the first island to a creek entrance. Thats when I hooked my first smallmouth on a white grub. I could tell it was a smallmouth when I first hooked it by the way Mr. Rojas always describes them.
I then started to wade this really shallow area where all of the baitfish were and caught a largemouth.
I then went a while without anything. Then either Simon or Andrew yelled to change to a tube, and I did. I instally started to get bites, but lost tons of them. I ended up getting two of them in the boat. Thanks Guys!
I then left at 1200.
Happy Fourth! Oh and when I upload to photobucket I cant rotate them...sorry!
Last edited by redskinsfan360 (Jul-04-08 10:46AM)
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Good job! ! "My neck hurts"
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redskinsfan360 wrote:
Happy Fourth! Oh and when I upload to photobucket I cant rotate them...sorry!
But I can.....now Jeff can straighten his neck out!
Ernie
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Lol, it was nice to finally meet you Charlie! I fished the tubes earlier that day but had no luck so took a break from them, but then i hooked up with 3 in under half and hour and knew the tube bite was back and had to let you know. We ended up catchin quite a few (more so Simon and my buddy Jeremy ) but i'll post a full report later. Sorry didn't get to see much of Ernie or the other fellas, hope you guys had a good time. Thanks again for inviting us out Ernie!
Andrew
P.S. Charlie, you CAN rotate them in photobucket. I'll figure it out later when i upload my pics and i'll let you know how.
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All told, we had 7 fishermen (Ernie, Patrick, Steve, Andrew, Simon, Jeremy and Charlie) on 5 boats (2 kayaks, 1 tandem kayak, a canoe and Charlie's scanoe).
All of us (but Charlie) met at the ramp at 0630 and we were on the water in no time. But the fishing didn't start right away.....lots of water (against the current) to paddle!!
We all scattered for what we hoped was a great morning of fishing!
I went to the front of one island in hopes to get some numbers but I only caught two micros on a top water fly!
Now what am I going to do; I knew these guys were serious and would come in with nice numbers! So I looked downriver and I could not believe what I saw....sometimes it is OK to get lucky.....what a shot!
For me, fishing is a process and looking at that scenery is all part of it!
Now back to fishing....wait, one more!
I was throwing several flies and other than the 1st two micros, I got nothing....until I remembered a fly that a good friend had recommended. It was heavy enough to get subsurface but not heavy enough to get to the bottom. I was in 5 feet of water and I got this 11.5 inch beauty!
He fought hard (all I had was a 6 wt with a 5lb tippet which was really too light). But I felt much better and proceed to catch a couple more (9 & 10 inch) on the same fly. Then it happened....what always happens to us fishermen....the big on e that got away. I hooked into a bigger fish and as soon as he turned and ran, he broke off! I think I yelled loud enough for several boaters to look over to see what had happened. I was not a happy camper. I tied on another fly just like it (but smaller) and I did not get more hits.
I finally put on a brown/gray clouser and this 10 incher obliged!
For the day, I caught 7 smallies out of the kayak. I am TIRED. Fishing from the kayak is like multitasking constantly, you have to mind the line, current, kayak, cigar etc!!
It was an excellent morning with a great group of guys!
I am hoping that the rest of the crew will throw up some more pictures. I should have taken one of the group before we launched.
Ernie
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AndrewDo124 wrote:
Sorry didn't get to see much of Ernie or the other fellas, hope you guys had a good time.
Andrew, I am glad you guys had a good time! The only bad thing about fishing like this is that we scatter. If you ever do a float, you can make a few stops to share what's been happening.
Ernie
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redskinsfan360 wrote:
SThats when I hooked my first smallmouth on a white grub.
Congratulations on that 1st one Charlie!!
ER
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Nice job with the fly rod Ernie.
Too bad about the big one that got away, but you’re right it happens to everyone.
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You really have to think when you only have 1 rod....can't change up like I like to!
The nice fish came from the deeper holes you found yesterday!
Ernie
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Hello all.
My brother-in-law Steve and I met up with the crew at (yawn) 0630. As Ernie mentioned it took a little while to turn the bite on, but we found success once we targeted the more open and deeper water. I used a variety of tackle on spinning and baitcast gear but had all of my luck on weightless or slightly weighted flukes. I used a yellow and green pattern as well as a purple and clear pattern to land 5 smallmouth including 2 at 1lb and another at close to 1.5lb. The other two were smaller, but feisty.
Steve killed it out there. If you were willing to throw small tackle, then you were willing to have a fun day of fishing. Once he figured out that a green bug fly he had was what they wanted, he fished it like a pro. For not getting out in a couple of years, you would have thought he got out every day. He ended up with more than a dozen bluegill with a few nice ones mixed in as well as 5 smallmouth. While nothing was huge at the end of his line, it was constant and fun.
The weather was perfect and so was the fishing, the company, and the fellowship. Thanks Ernie for your support and canoe so that we could enjoy a beautiful 4th of July on the water.
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P.S. Sorry for the late post. I decided to eat lunch and take an Independence Day nap this afternoon. Nice!
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Wow, I had such a great time. Sorry to Andrew for the launch delay *cough*
It was nice seeing you again Ernie and it was great meeting you Charlie. Andrew has all the pictures so I'll let him do the talking later. Hit some nice smalllies near the end, Andrew and i messed up an opportunity on a school of smalllies but we'll get them next time I definitely want to try the flly rod next time!
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SimonSays wrote:
Wow, I had such a great time.
Me too!! We should do it again sometime..I love catchin' smallies!!!
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So here's my "report"
This was the first time i've ever fished in a river and only my 2nd time ever fishing for smallmouth bass. It was definitely an awesome outting and I can't wait to get out there again.
We launched a little after everyone else and followed Charlie up pass the first island and half way pass the next. We started the day with small 2in. grubs and top water. I decided that i'd try out my cicada top water lure and ended up getting some pretty crazy explosions! The first was from a this sunfish and the second was a smallie, my first of '08 and my second EVER.
I switched to a tube and worked that for awhile but got nothing. Then switched to a fluke and got nothing as well. Meanwhile, Simon was tearing them up on his clear grub and landed quite a few smallies and some big bluegill.
We worked with small grubs for another hour or so, tossing them where we saw fish were hitting the top of the water. Caught a few more, this was the better of them.
Jeremy threw a few senkos t-rigged and hooked up with these beauties,
Later on that day, I was getting frustrated because I wasn't catching much while Simon and Jeremy were tearing it up. So I decided to take this time to work on my baitcasting and decided to try the tube again. Caught 2-3 small guys but there were probably my new personal best. Here's the bigger of them
After this Simon, Charlie and Jeremy decided to use tubes too and we came out with these:
The biggest of the day were 3 smallies that went for 1.5lb or so. We didn't have any measuring devices to measure the length so all we had were our scales. Totals (rough estimates, we lost count) were like 8-10 smallies for Simon, 4 for me, and I think about 12 for Jeremy.
Thanks again for having us out, hopefully next time we'll be closer together and be able to figure them out early!
Definitely looking forward to getting out there again!
Last edited by AndrewDo124 (Jul-05-08 12:43PM)
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Andrew,
That's some excellent fishing! You guys figured it out nicely. Glad you all had a good day!
What is growing out of Simon's left ear?
Ernie
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Pacemaker wrote:
Andrew,
That's some excellent fishing! You guys figured it out nicely. Glad you all had a good day!
What is growing out of Simon's left ear?
Ernie
It was really fun, thanks for showing us the place! That bluetooth grows out of my ear when I start to fish, it's a must if the girlfriend calls!
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No phones on the water. You can use them as timepieces or in case of emergency, but even my wife knows not to call when I am on the water. Remember, it is all about being quiet so we don't disturb the fish..shhhhhh...haha
Great job out there!
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Andrew,
That's a nice looking sit on top kayak you are sitting on. What model is that?
I'm looking for a nice and comfortable sit on top model. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Khanh
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Thanks Khanh,
It's a Hobie Kayak Mirage Outfitter (fishing version). It's very comfortable and I absolutely love the thing. I highly recommend them as the Hobie kayaks are very stable (Jeremy and I stand up a lot) and the Mirage drive (peddle system) is awesome when you're trying to stay in position to fish a specific spot. If it's just going to be you, I recommend the Outback model (what my buddy Jeremy has) as it is a single seater and handles like a champ! It's faster and handles turns much better than my tandem with two people in it. If i ever have an open spot I'll be sure to let you know so you can experience it for yourself.
Here are some better pictures of the kayak
http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b181/ … ing/kayak/
password is skippinsenko
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I agree with Andrew! I wish I had one!!
BUT....my only concern would be shallow water rapids, I am not sure what that would do to the paddles. In open water, whether fresh or salt, these kayaks are the best. To be able to hold a position without having to use your arm (paddle) is the best!!
Ernie
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I share your concern Ernie. I've been tempted to try it though after watchin "Hank Parker Outdoors" where he takes the hobie into some pretty fast water and says that you can "hop" over rocks. It's a pretty interesting segment about smallie fishing too (i have it saved on my DVR).
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I wish I had one too!
I might be buying the Hobie Sport model, the smallest one at 9' so hopefully it tracks well and it easy to peddle.
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SimonSays wrote:
I might be buying the Hobie Sport model, the smallest one at 9' so hopefully it tracks well and it easy to peddle.
Then who's going to ride front seat with Andrew?
Ernie
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Pacemaker wrote:
SimonSays wrote:
I might be buying the Hobie Sport model, the smallest one at 9' so hopefully it tracks well and it easy to peddle.
Then who's going to ride front seat with Andrew?
Ernie
Another future hobie kayaker, that seat is used for converting anglers from paddles to peddles.
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Paddles to peddles?.......what you really need is a motor!! A motor equals no work!
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