For Those About to Rock...

I feared getting old when I was a young boy. Reading the newspaper, napping and cutting grass was not what I looked forward to doing, then there was the dread of croaking. I said I’d never grow up and I believe, so far, I’ve been pretty successful
I have always been an imaginative soul, never bored and always had something to occupy my mind. Whether it be fishing, hunting, exploring, music, surfing and the list goes on (yes, I live in the foothills of the Appalacians and I’ve owned three different surfboards) I have always had fun or knew what I needed to have fun. As a teenager I took a left turn and turned to alcohol on many occasions to have fun which eventually caught up to me about 12 years ago with a not so fun period of my life. Hey, I like hotdogs and orange koolaid but I’d rather partake in said meal at my house…not the big house.

So, now I’m almost 50. I’m getting old and the fear I had about aging was to much surprise...a hoax. My imagination is still there but my interests are not as broad. I only kayak fish and I’m still a music junkie. I’m 49 and still love rock music as loud as my car stereo will go and I fish a lot. I work a part time 60 hour a week job at the local paper mill that pays the bills and a full time job with no pay…fishing. I don’t read the news paper and I pay the kid next door to cut the grass.

When you hear that getting old is a bad thing, I call bull$##t. I have more fun now than I ever had in my teens or twenties and my recipe is a combination of that imagination, passion, some how keeping a working amount of that childhood innocence and an overly patient wife, which I am blessed to have.

We only have so many heartbeats in the old ticker and my plan is to be doing what I love and not what I loathe when that last one finishes.

For those approaching the golden age... Prepare to rock. Peace and thank God for little plastic boats.

Introduction..."The Creek Chubb Chronicles"

 

  What I enjoy most about kayak fishing is the adventure that goes along with targeting a particular type of fish, making a plan and then pursuing it. In the coming months I invite you to join me as I seek out my personal best in several species of fish. I'll be limiting myself to kayak fishing totally public water and no use of a guide. Public in my book is defined as state or federally owned or managed water with a minimal parking fee…normally $5. All of these trips will be in a days drive from my home.

  A rough rundown of my search would be:

Largemouth Bass – my largest to date is 24” long caught from Rocky Mountain Public Fishing Area.

Smallmouth Bass – my pb is 19” from lake Blueridge. This is one of the few fish that I’ll have to travel for. Pickwick Lake will be my first choice to try.

Spotted Bass – my pb is 21” from the Coosa River. I have a world class lake within 2 hours drive that’s rumored to hold spots to 10lbs…Lake Burton. I’m also going to double up on this one by going after a PB river spot in the Coosa River Basin.

Shoal bass – my current pb is a dismal 17” and The Ocmulgee river will be where focus my efforts.

Striped bass – my pb is 28” and the Etowah River will be the place.

I'd also like a rematch with a tarpon of any size. 

  I think this will first and foremost be fun, secondly I hope it to be educational for me as well as with the reader. I’ve got a year to do it and I’ll write about it shortly after I complete one. 

The name of this series will be “The Creek Chubb Chronicles”. This name is significant because as a kid I religiously chased these little undesirable trash fish in several creeks around my hometown. With a cheap Zebco 202 on a solid fiberglass rod and a couple pieces of bread as bait I was happy catching these little fish but I dreamed of one day chasing the biggest fish around. Tuesday I start the trek. I hope you’ll follow along. Peace

Thank God for Little Plastic Boats

  One year ago today a buddy and I were standing by his truck after the inaugural 2016 Kayak Bass Fishing National Championship, he had come in second and I had placed fifty third out of two hundred and fifty six kayaks. He asked, “When do you want to start preparing for next year?”…tomorrow was a mutual agreement.

Its now next year, 13 days before the 2017 Kayak Bass Fishing National Championship. We’ve practiced with monastic obsession, this competition has been on my mind every day. I’ve studied maps, talked to locals, practiced on my weaknesses and strengthened my strong points. I’ve made the four and a half hour drive up there to look around and I feel good about my abilities…it's up to the fish now.

Here’s the God’s honest truth…I don’t like to dance but I can’t wait for this dance. I feel like I’m one of those old coon dogs chained up behind the house, it’s almost dark, I know we’re going hunting tonight. My chain is tight, I can hardly breathe, I’m on my toes with slobber coming out of my mouth…keeping the chain tight because I’m ready to be “turnt' loose” it’s not because I’m certain of victory, not that at all…it's passion and because I get to play the game that I love.

                                         Thank God for Little Plastic Boats!

KBF Grind: S2 ep1

My fault, my failure, is not in the passions I have, but in my lack of control of them. Jack Kerouac

Thank God I have a wife that understands what makes me tick. She may not understand the big deal with kayak fishing but she knows that it is my passion and it plays a huge part in my life. I’d like to thank her from the bottom of my heart for her support. She knows me on a level that no one does and although she has shown the patience of Job towards me…I know that deep down she expects something greater to happen and with that I grind.

“Where would you rather be than right here, right now?” Marv Levy

If you didn’t know there is a national championship coming up…the Kayak Bass Fishing National Championship. I was there last year and there was no other place in the world that I’d would've rather been…none. I didn’t win it and although after finishing day one 18th out of 256, when day 2 was over I was not even close…I think I was 56th. Was I upset? No, There were some great fishermen there and if anyone thought it’d be easy they were sadly mistaken. The conditions were brutal and it affected everyone equally. Was I prepared…physically? Yes. Mentally? To an extent I was…but I know what I need to work on and that is adjustments. When to adjust and why. In saying that, it still doesn’t mean that I’ll win it this year.

 Do I think I can win it…I wouldn’t show up if I didn’t. This year, my track record with other tournaments gives zero credible evidence to back up my confidence. 12 tournaments with zero wins…if I were a major league pitcher I’d be sat down to the minors (or fired) so that’s essentially what I’ve done. I’ve gone back and looked at every tournament I entered and picked out my drawbacks. I did some very irresponsible things considering the level of competition that is in Northwest Ga. I ditched what I knew for second hand info and other times I stuck with a strategy that clearly wasn’t working out of stubbornness.

It’s a new year and I’m already grinding. I have the equipment to succeed and I am overly excited to get this season started. This year I will do the “cliché”, stick with my strengths while recognizing my weaknesses. I will say this too…a Championship is not the time to be messing around with new unproven techniques. Been there, done that.

Here’s my “not so detailed”  grind strategy.

• fish every chance I get... regardless of weather or how tired I am. The weather in the south is so  unpredictable that although the national championship is later in March  this year, it doesn’t mean that it’ll be warmer. I’ve seen it snow in April…so, I’ll take what the weather deals me and be ready to fish in cold, rainy, or icy conditions on March 31.

• work on my strengths…crank baits, swimbaits, jigs etc. I know my weaknesses within my strengths and that is a positive.

• organization- every thing from how I load my boat to how much tackle I take. Much work needed there.

• it may not be cold…it may be warm and the fish already on bed, so where can I go to fish for prespawn/spawning fish RIGHT NOW? Florida…going for a week real soon. I know it’s a far cry from Kentucky Lake but I can fish shallow water and work on some tactics that are worthless around here this time of year, plus, It’ll be warm.

• I’ll make a trip to Kentucky Lake in early March just to look around.

• in between all of that…I will fish, I know I said that already but feeling a fish bite, testing your setups i.e. line type, line weight and rods to hooksets and reading water/maps. It all helps in keeping you ready.

Again, this year…since no one has a standardized training regimen for kayak fishing tournaments…the spirit of my training will be “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.” Check back for the next blog entry about my Road to the Championship. Peace

Note:This blog series is a most helpful tool for me. I'll share my thoughts , failures, successes and ideas...Just not too detailed. I then can go back and look it over and maybe one day my future grand kid may read it and think...I had one crazy ass paw paw.

Big Water Trout

In the last couple of years I’ve seen my fishing go from a finesse style with light freshwater tackle to a much heavier aggressive style. I think that the Kayak Bass tournaments that I fish have been the major reason for that. In those tournaments you have all day to catch three bass and the three largest wins. Granted, there are tournaments where I wished I would have been fishing an 1/8oz Shakey Head with a finesse worm on 6lb test but overall the heavier stuff has yielded heavier fish. This philosophy has filtered over into my trout fishing too. Instead of my old 5 ½ or 6’ ultralight set up I now use a bit heavier gear because the rivers I fish I know there are some double digit fish and I’m talking pounds not inches.

The tackle I use is a  medium action rod with a 3000 series spinning reel spooled with 15# braid. I’ll run a rod and a half's length of 8-10# fluorocarbon. This is also the same setup I use for sea trout and redfish except I will opt for a 20# fluoro leader. The rod length is very important in this setup because I’m in a kayak. A  7’ or longer rod allows me to fight a fish with a bent rod from my right to my left without the bow of my Jackson Big Rig interfering with the line. The idea when fighting a fish from a kayak is to keep the battle directly in front of you. There are several reasons for this but safety is the key reason. When a fish gets away from the bow and you end up fighting on the port or starboard side you risk capsizing due to the fish pulling you over or your boat striking submerged objects. I also have more control over the fish when it’s off of my bow because I have more options with rod angles thus putting more torque against the fish if it decides to head off to one side or the other, allowing me to turn the boat with  “fish power” .
    The reel I use is a quality spinning reel that’s light weight and won’t wear me out from casting all day. Every major reel company offers a 3000 size reel like this. My line choice is based on the amount of line I can load into the spool, in this case, I can load almost 300 yds of 15# braid onto a Shimano Stradic 3000 reel. The braid also casts much further and is a lot more sensitive. My leader length is based on water clarity and I rarely use less than a 7’ leader but in ultra clear water I may use 15’ of fluoro just to be safe.

Thursday, I’m going down one of my favorite tailrace rivers fishing for trout. My lure choices for trout have also changed in the past few years, when I was a kid I remember seeing a guy in Cherokee NC carrying a stringer of  18-20” trout and when I asked him what they had bit, he showed me a #7 Rapala countdown. That piece of information was eye opening and made perfect sense. The rivers I fish have two main forages, blueback herring and crawfish. My lure of choice is a Lucky Craft pointer 65sp in a blueback pattern. I’d throw a bigger one but they run a bit too deep for that particular river causing a lot of hangups. Throwing the bigger lures generally won’t catch numbers of fish like an inline spinner or a chunk of power bait but a couple of years ago my buddy and I had a 21 fish day using this same plug and every fish measured 18” to 22”.

Fishing this river with a kayak requires some decent paddling skills and the ability to read fishy water and determine the easiest most efficient way to fish it. Trout are finicky so you have to be stealthy. I spend a lot of my time hugging the banks in water just deep enough to float my kayak and making long casts to deeper water. I mentioned that this is a tailrace river that I am fishing which means that I’m normally racing against the dam generation schedule. (Whatever tailrace river you’re fishing the generation schedule is usually posted on line and it is imperative that you know this information.) Don’t get roped into picking apart every single fishy looking spot, you’ll be on the water longer than you had planned and risk getting to ride the generation flow back to your take out...I like to hit the high spots, casting while drifting and fish the pools hard. In most tailrace trout fisheries you can wade a 1 mile section of river paying attention to every detail and catch the amount of fish that I do on a 7 mile float but the float usually gives an angler access to a lot more big fish water and it’s definitely a lot more fun.

Here are a few things outside of tackle that I always have on a tailrace river…
• Always wear your pfd. Always!
• You’ll need a net. Trust me, if Jesus had been a trout fisherman...he would've had a landing net.
• Use a paddle leash.
• Carry a change of clothes, water and food.
• Dress for the season… layers, waterproof clothing etc.
• fire starting kit.

Now it’s time go catch a trout that will drop everybody’s jaw. Use your common sense, check your generation schedule and know your state laws. Most of all, have fun! Peace

For the Love of the Game

The last time I was in Texas was twenty six years ago, I have some very fond memories from the lone star state and this coming week I plan make some more. On wednesday my buddy and I will be headed to the Texas/Louisiana border to fish the Kayak Bass Fishing Open on Toledo Bend Lake.

Toledo Bend is not only a legendary trophy spot, it is also ranked as the top bass lake in the country by Bass Master Magazine. We'll be fishing waters that the legends like Rick Clunn and Roland Martin have fished...this one of Bass Fishing's Mecca.

 I’m hoping that the intense homework that I’ve done will pay off because the last thing I would want would be to draw a  skunk on the best lake in the nation. This lake holds water that I’m not used to fishing. Mainly, grass and vast stretches of flooded timber. My home waters are mostly clear, deep and rocky or shallow and muddy but in the past few months I have made a point to fish some grass lakes. I’ve recently been to Guntersville and Pickwick several times and on my last trip to Pickwick I felt I had made some progress fishing around grass. Some of you may say that you love grass and I have said that too especially in the waters of Northwest Georgia. We have very little aquatic vegetation and when it’s scarce, then visible grass can be a fish magnet. The grass on Pickwick and Guntersville is on a massive scale. It’s everywhere and I had a real problem figuring out where to start because it all looked good.

I ended up finding fish in areas that if you removed the grass the fish would still be drawn to it. Bait was a key and patches or edges of grass, not the huge  mats were where I found the largest concentrations of fish.
When I get on Toledo Bend early Thursday morning I will put this information to work while I try finding some quality bass. This lake will be a hefty challenge but that’s what tournament fishing is all about.

•Recognize the challenge and determine if you are up for it.

•Accept the challenge

•Prepare for it by reading every single thing you can find about the lake, study the maps, select a few areas that you feel will hold fish and seek first hand knowledge (if possible) to verify that you’re on the right ballpark, read more, map study more and tweak your style to the new lake's possible situations. I.e.; grass, timber etc.

This tournament will have the toughest competition that I’ve faced since March and win or lose I will have a great time but... my preparation isn’t to lose.  Peace

(Photos courtesy of Bass zone and FLW)

***If you enjoyed this or my other stories, give me a vote for Blog of the Year in the 2016 YakAngler's Reader's Choice Awards @ http://www.yakangler.com/choice

Jackson Kayak Blog post/ September

A story about one of the greatest days I've ever had while fishing .
http://jacksonkayak.com/blog/2016/10/01/those-spectacular-dog-days/

I am honored and humbled to find out that River Goat Kayak Adventures was nominated for the 2016 Kayak Anglers Choice Awards. If you are a fan click on the link and give it a vote. Thank you.

http://www.yakangler.com/choice

New series...The Birth of a Trout Bum"

Picture this...it's 1980, you cross the railroad tracks in the little mill town of Lindale Ga. Up the tracks are 3 boys, no older than 11 or 12. Each one of them has on rubber hip boots, a fishing vest (if you could get a closer look it's actually a hunting vest with pill bottles full of hooks , weights and spinners shoved down in the shell holders) and a fishing rod...it's Christmas break, they're headed towards the Creek and it's freezing. Today...that'd make a lot of fishermen's day...the birth of a Trout Bum is what I'd say.

My dad, who is not a fisherman, showed up from work one spring day with a youth sized Zebco 202 rod and reel combo. This was before the scoobie or Barbie themed rods and reels...it was very generic looking with its solid glass 3' fiberglass blank, cork handle and black reel. He said, "Get ready, we're going fishing." I was around six years old and that's when my wanderlust associated with fishing started and it's still redlined after 40 years. In those early years different lakes around town were as good as any of the exotic locations that I've daydreamed about throughout the years. I had heard stories of huge Bass in "Padgett's Lake", Powhatan and Wax lake to name only a fraction that were available to the everyday fisherman. As I fished those lakes with my brother Steve or my close friends, Scott, Mike, Billy and David, this unknown to me addiction was incubating in my soul to a point of total obsession. I didn't want to just catch Bass, bream and catfish...I wanted to catch the biggest. When I got a taste of those in the larger sizes I wanted more...something not just big but beautiful and romantic with a feisty attitude. Trout!!!! The only thing was...there were no trout in my area. The closest place was an hour drive and being 9 years old that was impossible to get to on a bicycle and back by dinner without my parents sending out a search party. So,  I'd fish the local ponds and creeks catching numerous types of sunfish, chubs, the prized red-eye bass until that one winter day in 1979.

   I had bought a black and yellow Panther Martin spinner at Owen's Hardware...walked down to the old grist mill and duck pond on Silver Creek in Lindale, Ga and started fishing. I had started at the bridge just upstream of the cotton mill and was working my way back to the sharp bend in the creek. As I made my way past the old sycamore tree, that still stands there today, I made a cast across the Creek towards where the water wheel would have been on the grist mill and pulled my lure through a deep hole that was there. I could see my little spinner buzzing along several feet below the surface when a silver streak darted out of the shadows and absolutely crushed the bait. I knew what it was, even though I'd never actually caught one and in that moment in time, landing that fish was the most important task I had on the planet...it was my first trout.

   I pulled that fish up on the bank and dove on it, tried to grab it several times but if you didn't know, trout are one of the most slippery fish known to man. Finally, I had it, no doubt in a death grip, and took off in a dead run up to Hotchie's Cafeteria to show my mom and the owner Hotchie Millican my supreme prize. (One thing I noticed while that fish was in my hands, every time it tried to wiggle out I could feel it's muscles almost vibrate, trout are the only fish I think I've noticed that in.) I came busting through the front door of the restaurant with that live fish gripped in both hands, rod and reel tucked under my arm and not stopping until I was behind the serving line, Hotchie was standing there with a most surprised look on his face and was in a rare mode...speechless! I blurted out, "Is this what I think it is?" He looked at it, took it out of my hands and said, " by god, that is a rainbow trout! Where'd ya get it?". To say I was ecstatic would be an understatement but again blurted out with the utmost excitement... "Down there by the old mill, you should of seen that sucker hit..."and I went into every detail of the short moment in time it took to actually catch that fish. That day, Hotchie cleaned and cooked that little trout on the griddle for me like I was something special.

   As the days went by a man I'd seen in church and knew from afar came in Hotchie's and wanted me to tell him about catching that trout. His name...Mr. Jack Mathis, a man I would come to know and respect as a man and a fisherman. I sat down at the table with him and he listened to every single word of my story, asked questions and the likes...just like he was conversing with a grown man and when I finished he said, " Jim, let's keep that our little secret." He said that he knew a lot of folks already knew but let's let it die down some or else people from all over the county would be crowding our Creek. There was plenty of space for us and our friends and I agreed that I didn't want any crowds on that little Creek. You see, Jack had been catching trout for a while out of Silver Creek and he told me that a man upstream had a place dammed up that he kept trout in. When the Creek would flood some would get washed down while others would simply swim upstream but I believe that in 1979 me and Jack were the only others outside of that man that had put those trout in the hole behind his house that knew about them. I may be wrong but I don't think I am.

  As my teen years went on most of my friends would wade the creek looking for trout and my good friend Mike was catching them further up the Creek around "Chamber's Mill" with his friend Gary...by the late 80's the state had put the Creek on it's list to stock and more and more folks came to check it out but a small group of us that were willing to trek up the Creek, brave the posted signs and be willing to run, knew where the better spots with some up to 18" that were caught. I was fortunate to be invited numerous times to fish the Oconaluftee in Cherokee NC with my friend Scott and his dad where I got a taste of big water and bigger fish...namely, my pb Brook trout that weighed 3lbs. I learned the basics during that time like wading skills, reading water, trout habits etc. My imagination bloomed and I knew that I wanted to chase those beautiful creatures. I've been on many trips with a few of my childhood friends over years to remote trout streams that hold native Brook trout to rivers that hold record class browns. A lot of those exotic waters from my youth are now old favorites, a little stocked rainbow doesn't get a second glance anymore but what it has grown into is exactly what my childhood dreams were made of... we were trout bums when it wasn't cool. Peace