A Short Float

This past Tuesday night, my wife and I made a deal, a deal in which she promised I could kayak EVERY day for the next week and a half. Well, I took the deal, not necessarily because of that, but because I knew I had to. But, I wasn't going to let a chance to go fishing from my "yellow banana" pass by. So yesterday after work I quickly loaded up the kayak and headed out for 2 hours. I got to fish for about an hour and a half. A short trip, because like most every other night in the next week and a half, there was something already on the calendar. So, there's a chance a week and a half of kayaking "every day" will turn into 2, maybe 3, trips. I'll take what I can get.

I started off by exploring a very tiny opening in the weeds which was barley 5 feet across in some parts. I got pretty close to a great blue heron and he flew away. I determined with limited time, and the slow speed I had to use to navigate in such a tight area, I'd turn back to the main part of the pond.

The wind was pretty strong and consistent so I kept close to the reeds to keep from getting swept away from the water I was fishing. In the end, I missed all the strikes and caught nothing. It was still nice to get out in the wind and learn that I could be successful in the kayak.

Ready to go

I got home from fishing and found a package waiting. Getting fishing related mail is great!

It was my 24 yard roll of webbing/strapping.

While out at the store I picked up a few more supplies.

I'm going to use this stuff to have my wife sew me up a "soft rack" for the kayak and some trunk loops. Here are pictures of what I've found online, what I'm trying to make myself. I think we'll be successful in making it work, and it will make strapping the kayak to the car easier and quicker.

If you don't tell anyone, I'll let you in on a secret.....I wish I knew how to sew. Last night I wanted to get the stuff made, but my wife had more important things to do. Hopefully in the next week we'll be able to get at least the trunk loops made, since I'm still trying to find a place that has pool noodles (for the soft rack) still in stock this late in the summer.

Buck Pond

Last Saturday I was able to get out in my kayak for the 2nd time (3rd kayak trip for those who are counting.)

I went to Buck Pond which is a pond that feeds into Lake Ontario. I've lived near these ponds for all but a few years of my life. Growing up I have memories of worm fishing there with my dad and siblings, and even once with my Grandfather on a rare trip to NY. I fished these ponds more when I was younger, and more when I was a lure fisherman. Since I switched to fly fishing over a decade ago, I don't fish those ponds much anymore...and that will now change since my trip last Saturday.

I loaded up my kayak just before 6pm and headed out. My wife picked me up some new straps to secure it to the roof and I was pleased how well they worked, and grateful for the peace of mind that they provided more safety than the way I first strapped it down a few weeks ago.

Strapped and ready

I put in at a small parking spot and got a play by play from some young boys fishing with their father. "He's got a boat. He's putting on his life jacket. He's getting in his boat. He's IN his boat."  It was nice having a fan club, and even better that I didn't fall out, since I'm new at this whole kayaking thing.

Google Street View, no weeds

I almost didn't stop at the pond because it was 80% filled with surface weeds. I decided I'd try it anyway and I'm glad I did. I was able to fish for about an hour and a half before I paddled back to the car before the sun completely set for the night. It took about 20 minutes or so, but I caught a nice 12 inch bass. Of course, there's no photographic proof because I'm still too worried about flipping to bring a camera. There were a few big fishing jumping around the pond, and I missed a ton of hits. I'm not sure if I need to set the hook differently since I'm sitting so close to the water, or if it was just bad luck. Either way, I ended up with another 6 inch bass bringing my total fish for the night to 2. I had one nice fish on but while trying to reel up the slack line to fight it off the reel, it went into the weeds and left me with nothing but weeds on a hook. It was big enough to try to get it on the reel. I really wish I had seen and landed that fish.

I got out of the water just before dark and 2 spin fisherman where on shore. We made small talk, about kayaks, and then he noticed my fly rod. He said I was crazy for trying to fly fish on a kayak. I said it's the only type of fishing I do.....and then he called me an elitist. I switched to full time fly because I was more successful...and I like tweed! Of course, I caught 2 fish, and from what I was told, they caught none. So, don't call me an elitist....I'm a "successful elitist!"

As you can see from the image below, I only fished a small portion of the pond, and there is plenty more to explore!

So much water, so little time

My First Kayak Fishing Trip

Last night I met up with Matt from FISHINGPOET and we went out in kayaks to catch some bass.

We met up at his secret location (his house) and loaded up the gear and headed over to his friends house to steal a second kayak. I was hooked up with a nice kayak and a PFD in case I decided to take a swim. See, although I have owned a kayak for a few years, I've never gotten it wet...except to wash out bugs. Without a simple way to haul it Matt was kind enough to pick one up for me to use.

Initially the plan was to put in about 6pm, but after a tour of his compound, a trip to pick up the kayak, and the drive down Canandaigua lake, we probably put in closer to 7pm.

I eagerly admitted to Matt that I was a bit hesitant since I had never been kayaking....but as you know, that doesn't stop you from going fishing. Matt on the other hand kept secret his fear that I'd spin in circles and he'd end up being "kayaking teacher" instead of "fishing guide." I'm glad to report that after I got seated I paddle out and kept a moderately straight zig zag path to the creek. Matt said sail boats call it "tacking"....so I went with that since it made me sound experienced!

Have you noticed I haven't posted any pictures? Yeah, I didn't trust myself to take my camera/phone with me. I figured losing fishing gear to a flip is one thing, losing a phone is just unnecessary.

We made it into the creek and started hitting the weedline for bass. It didn't take more than about 10 minutes and Matt was into a nice bass. Soon after he caught a second. Of course, at this time I think he was likely dying for me to catch a fish....because as we all know, you don't like taking someone to your water only to have them skunked. Probably 40 minutes in to the actually fishing, I finally caught a nice 12 inch bass. Matt quickly paddle over with his new underwater video camera to get some footage. Soon after I caught another bass, a nice 14 inch.

Matt finished off the night by pissing off a beaver, who was willing to slap it's tail a few times for us, and catching a third bass.

Bugs, darkness, and no more hits had us heading back to shore.

Zig. Zag.

Loaded up the gear and noticed my clamps were missing. I searched the kayak, searched my bag, and didn't find them. Then, with my phone in hand, I turned on the flashlight app and walked to the water.......and there's my clamps, in 4 inches of water.......and here's your picture!

GOTCHA!

Check out Matt's report from fishing this same water a few weeks ago. I'll be back to watch the video a few more times to help relive my experience last night!

Now, time to get my kayak hooked up to my car so I can take it out more (than never)!

Fishing and Camping

I don't get 3 day weekends much so it was nice to have one this past July 4th weekend.

It started off nice with a night out fishing with my wife. First order of business for the night out was a U turn on the Parkway to help a motorist change a tire. She should have changed the tire many many miles ago, it had a lot of wear on it. Plus, a reminder note to check your spare air...we put the spare tire on it was very low on air and barely did the job....at least we hope so because a mile down the road she turned off and we parted ways.

Messed Up!!!

Once on our way we headed to a creek we haven't fished together for likely 9 years or so. We stopped at the first wadable bridge spot and found an old favorite tree had fallen.

Although we found some places from shore to fish from, my wife thought she'd slip into the water and wet wade up to my spot and surprise me. Well, the surprise was on her...when she stepped in, sunk in, and she fell on her butt.

Black and white

We saw one carp, outside our casting reach, so we took off and went to a well producing pond. Soon after arriving we started to catch a few fish!

Now, it's great to get instructional information from websites, that you can apply in your own life. So, here's our educational part of the show. When you want to get going, but you want to fish the spot your wife is in simply say "I'm ready if you are."  See, she'll assume you mean you are ready to leave, and she'll reel in the line. While she's doing this you slip down to where she was fishing and start to cast....and then pull out the biggest fish of the night right in front of her! Then, have her take a crappy phone picture of it hoping it's quality will sway people to believe you photoshopped the image.

Bass

 

Of course, this method might bring some disapproval from your spouse.

Say NO to bass!

....but that disapproval can be reverse pretty easily by getting ice cream.

I ordered mine with 1/2 sprinkles

On Sunday 7/3 my wife convinced me that we needed to go camping for the night at her uncles property. A bunch of her family was there and so we packed up and left. The 1.5 drive went well, with snacks and drinks and kids who behaved.

When we arrived my rod spent most of the night and following morning under the wiper so it was ready to go at a moments notice.

Ready and willing

When we pulled up there were about 5 people on the pond fishing with worms. Reports were that one girl caught a few sunfish and others had caught one or two. But, for the most part, it sounded like things weren't going as well as most had hoped. After about 30 minutes enough people moved and I had room to cast. On cast #2 I landed a bass that was about 15 inches long. One guy, who I just met minutes before, jokingly said he was going to throw me in! Not long after that, he admitted to having a fly rod that he's planning on pulling out and learn to cast it!

The fight

The fish

Besides fishing we had fun eating smores, sitting around the fire, and watching the stars.

It turned out to be a good 3 day weekend full of fishing and a last minute camping trip....and some delicious grilled chicken made by my mother in law!

My Free Fishing Day Report

So, I'm a slacker. I forgot to notify everyone that this past weekend was free fishing in NY. No license required.

My mom wanted to go fishing with me (it's a spectator sport) but when she saw the news report saying this past weekend you didn't need a license, she decided to pick up the rod and try it out...for her first time ever.

Dad caught two, mom caught none.

Checking out the fake foam alligator head

Dads sunfish, he also caught a bass

If you are interested in fishing for free, or taking someone out for free, I'm almost positive it's always the first weekend of bass season. Check it out for 2012.

A Great Morning For Bass

This past Saturday I was finally able to get out with a friend who I've fished with since we were kids. Ché (pronounced like Chay) met me at the house at 6:30am and we headed out for a few of my favorite local ponds.

First stop was Bronze Leaf where there is little access to a the pond which is only .3 acres in size. This is the smallest pond that I consistently fish. Weeds on the shore, and a few trees, makes it hard to fish with more than 1 person for any length of time.

Within a few minutes Ché caught a bluegill. I quickly missed a few fish then realized we needed to move on to the next place....which has more room for the both of us and a greater chance for more bass than sunfish.

First Fish

Next stop was at Twin Rock pond where we found bass willing to fight with us. Within a few casts we were catching bass after bass.

Time for some bass

Ché with a bass

We even caught a few sunfish.

This picture makes him look smaller than he was

Ché caught a nice 13 inch bass...

13 inch largemouth bass

...but the biggest fish of the day with a nice 16 inch largemouth bass that Ché caught.

Ché with a 16 inch largemouth bass

16 inches (After further review, I'll agree it's 15.5 inches)

My largest of the morning was a 13.5 inch bass.

In the end he caught 17 fish and I caught 27...all were bass except a few.

This was by far the most productive few hours of fishing yet this year!

Checking The Mail and Catching Bass

Any of you who are lucky enough to follow my personal Facebook page may have seen my post about getting out fishing yesterday for about 20 minutes. My cousin seemed surprised how I fished for just a few minutes and commented "Oh, so it's just like fillin' up the gas tank, huh? Pick up the mail--catch a few trout, head home."

YES IT IS!!!

I'll take any chance to fish, and with 5 kids, 1 wife, and a yippy dog, there are a lot of schedules to coordinate and a lot of time spent playing taxi driver. So whenever I have a few minutes between responsibilities and find myself close to a pond, I'll swing over, crank the AC (for the wife and kids left in the van) and fish it for as little as a few minutes.

That's how I do it, and that's how it's done!

Here's what I caught!

Downpour

Last night while my son's baseball team warmed up before the game, I got out fishing. I managed to hook and release 4 bass and 1 bluegill in the 20 minutes I fished.

T trying to take credit for my fish

The only bluegill of the night

We headed back across the parking lot to the baseball fields and watched a few inning. Then, once the fields manager in charge saw lightening in the distance she blew the air horn and the game was over. We strolled back to the car and were fortunate to get inside before it poured. It was the hardest rain I've seen all year.

Incoming

Waiting for the traffic to die down

On our way out we went back to the pond and it was amazing to see all the water running into the pond. This raging water wasn't even a trickle when I was fishing it an hour before. In 10 minutes or less it went from nothing to this raging "river."

Unfortunately, when a game is canceled because of lightening, it's also not safe to go out and fish. I have to admit, once I was home and had most of the kids in bed, I thought about going back out...but random strikes of lightening kept me home and dry.

Oh, and one of the best parts....we started off the evening with some official Guys, Flies & Pies pizza!

Pepperoni Pizza Pie

Quick Shots

This time of year I do a lot of quick shot fishing "trips." See, I am married and have 5 kids, so other responsibilities get in the way of fishing. I have been known to grab the rod from the back of the van and fish for 15 minutes while my wife and kids wait for me. Sometimes that 15 minutes is all I got to fish for the week. Thankfully this week has been better than a 15 minute fishing "trip."

As previous posts show, I've been able to get out twice this week with 2 of my boys. Last night, my wife and I got a chance to get out and fish together....for one hour. So, I took her to the pond I knew was doing well based on the last two quick shots I did.

It was still going well. Within a few minutes I caught a bass. Most of the bass seem to be about 10 inches or so...but I'm still searching for the monster of the pond. My wife was slow to start, but she finally got herself two small sunfish.

Hey Fishy Fishy

She ended up coining a new phrase after loosing a bass and having the line come back and whack her in the face. "I've been bass whacked!"

A report from a fly from GFP

The Guys, Flies & Pies Facebook page recieved this message last week, thought I'd share it with everyone.

Yesterday I got an AWESOME steelhead using a fly pattern I learned at GFP! A guy (can' t remember his name. Sorry!) showed me a Gartside Sparrow wet fly he learned from the man himself. I thought it was a neat pattern and made a few myself. When a big fish that showed itself a couple of times refused my egg pattern, I tried that (prompted by the impressive stonefly hatch that was taking place at the time.) Before long a massive, angry fish head was thrashing at the surface!

This made my day when I read it. I love that people learned new flies and are now having fun on the water with them!