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)!

The fishing sucked, but the weekend was great!

First, let's get all the details about the fishing out of the way....because I'd hate for you to suffer just to be disappointed at the end. The fishing sucked! I caught one bass which was only about 8 inches. Besides that, 3 days of fishing when I could squeeze in a few minutes yielded nothing much to speak about. However, it was the weekend of the Rock family reunion.

Every year my wife's family has a reunion picnic and camp out at her uncles house which is out in the country just south of Letchworth state park. My mother in law is one of 13 kids, so the family is pretty large and the weekend finds us tucked closely together in tents and campers. Family comes from all over NY and as far away as Florida.

Her uncle is a kind, crazy, and generous man. He's so welcoming to everyone that comes and this year he made a ton of grilled chicken that was absolutely delicious!

Every year the bonfire is fueled by wood pallets. here's my oldest son trying to deflect the heat with another pallet so he could get close enough to roast a marshmallow.

My wonderful wife had to work Saturday morning at 4am. Being new at her job she didn't really have any vacation time to take, and with little work recently she took a chance at staying on the schedule for the morning, but hoped she'd wake up to no work available...that didn't happen. She ended up with just over 6 hours of work...at 4am....from a camp ground. She was able to connect to her work with her cell phone and laptop and after sitting inside the van for a few hours, she upgraded to an outdoor office for the last few hours.

The highlight for the younger kids was being able to FINALLY do their lemonade stand. They've been dying to run one, and I had the thought to put it up at the reunion because they'd have more foot traffic than if they did it at our house. It turned out great and they will be counting the money and paying back investors (mom and dad) and likely have a great profit!

Collecting cold spring water for lemonade

 

 A few other highlights were frog hunting and listening to the bands.

The tiniest frog of the day...look closer

 Sure, I had hoped for more from the fishing, but with the pond getting hit by fishermen, swimmers, and dogs, it was tough to get the fish to come out and play. Even with poor fishing, I'm already dreaming of going back soon! Might take a day trip down sometime soon, or a single night camping trip.

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 Change In My Morning Routine

Last week was the last week my kids had school for the next few months. Summer vacation has begun for the kids.

What does this mean to me? I no longer will have to make sure my son is up at 6am and getting ready to fake a shower before watching tv for school. I usually wake him up and leave for work within a few minutes. But now I can get up and FISH before work. Of course, since the sun is up just after 5am, and I start at 6:30am, I don't have much time, but the option is still there.

High hopes to see more sunrises in my future.

I'm Not Fishing Tonight, But You Should

Today, or more specifically at 17:16 hours, it is the Summer Solstice.

What does that mean? It means it's the longest day of daylight of the year, and it means that I'm not fishing tonight. Historically I look forward to today thinking I'll take off and go fishing till almost 9:30pm, but historically something comes up and I never get out fishing. At least I've figured out the pattern and wont be disappointed when I don't get to fish!

However, with a baseball game tonight for my son, and a pond nearby, I might get another 15 minute fishing trip in before the game starts. But that's hardly using the time that mother nature has provided.

If you get out today/tonight, send me some photos and I'll post them up for everyone to see your success!

My Attempt To Feather A Head

Maybe you've heard of Feather Heads. Maybe you have not. Well, I have, and as a fly tier I couldn't sit by and let this fad go crazy......without trying to put a feather in my daughters hair.

Starting off I thought I'd probably be able to do it, after all, I had watched a news report on the subject on the internet. See, I'm well qualified.

I started off with some feathers, beads, dental threader, wire, and wire cutters.....oh, and a very cooperative daughter. In the end, I had broken wire, broken beads, and a broken dental threader.....and failure.

I determined that the fly tying beads were not the right bead for the project. The beads big enough to pass some hair through, were too strong for me to crimp. The smaller beads I could crimp, but I couldn't get enough hair into them.

So, it's either back to the drawing board.....or back to the fly tying desk!

And The Winner Is......PIZZA ! ! !

Oxfam International did a survey a few months ago to find out the favorite foods of people around the world.

And guess what.....in the USA the winner is PIZZA!!! 

Proud to be an American!

.....and that's a huge win....almost twice the votes of the next highest....steak.

So, from the staff at Guys, Flies & PIES.....I think this calls for some celebration! (I think the french bread microwave pizza in the freezer will have to do for now.)

If you are not from the USA and are considering starting up your countries best fly tying party that includes food, you may want to consider these names for your group, instead of Guys, Flies & Pies.

Netherlands - Guys, Flies & Pasta
Russia - Guys, Flies & Meat
Guatemala - Guys, Flies & Chicken
Spain - Guys, Flies & Paella
UK - Guys, Flies & Steak
Australia - Guys, Flies & Chocolate
Brazil - Guys, Flies & Lasagna
Ghana - Guys, Flies & Fufu
Kenya - Guys, Flies & Ugali
Pakistan Guys, Flies & Vegetables
Tanzania - Guys, Flies, Bananas & Meat

Spey Nation 2011

2 weekends from now is Spey Nation 2011.

www.speynation.com

"Spey Nation offers the unique opportunity for enthusiasts and manufacturers of 2 handed rods to gather in a streamside setting.   The Location is the Pineville Boat Launch on the Salmon River in Pineville, NY."

In addition to testing out 2 handed rods you'll find burgers and drinks all provide free of charge by The Oak Orchard Fly Shop and various other companies showing off their stuff.

Vegetarians welcome!

Make sure to check out www.speynation.com for details and a detailed map of the location, keep in mind the closest bridge is out so a detour is required.

If you go, wear your GFP t-shirt and you'll get in for free*!!!


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* - Spey Nation is already a free event, but wearing your GFP shirt will bring you great luck both on the water and with the ladies!

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!