Koz

I have a few bags of the Missile Baits version and I use them for spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and drop shots.

I don’t as I sometimes start my downward angle too soon when I’m trying to skip it a long way under the dock.

I finally got back on my kayak and headed out at 6:30 this morning. We had some decent rain last night so the water temp was down to 86 degrees. Air temp was 78 when I launched, but the humidity was at 4000 (hyperbole). For the past week or so I’ve been studying depth charts and marked some places to try as I’m trying to get better at reading maps and finding fish. Sure enough, I found baitfish but no bass. I remembered I had Smartstrike on my Helix and fired that up. Smartstrike showed my waypoints as hotspots for today, so I guess my map reading was adequate. But spot after spot revealed tons of baitfish, but no bass. Nevertheless, I fished those off shore spots in case a bass came cruising through or was hiding on the bottom. No dice. My waypoints were scattered and I spent considerable time just going from spot to spot. By 8:30 it was starting to get hot and knowing we had a heat index advisory today I started heading back home and targeting docks on the way. I found one dock with a nice shade line holding bigger fish and landed one just under 2 pounds while skipping a soft minnow. Since I sit instead of standing, skipping is a bit difficult out of the kayak. I need to learn to stand and not fall in. Despite the calm winds and water, spot lock while fishing docks on a kayak is a bit of a pain. I probably should have used my spot lock jog a bit more. I’m seriously considering adding a power pole this fall. By 9:30 it was too hot for me to fish comfortably and I called it a day. I’m sick of this heat already. We had my kids’ fishing program at the hotel yesterday and we had a blast. We had about 16 kids and every kid caught a fish. The kids caught at least 80 bluegill on the day. I spent my morning running back and forth baiting hooks and unbuttoning fish. It was a blast. It’s noon now and the heat index is 112.

We hit 102 a few times this past week. The weather for the next few weeks is calling for temperatures 92-99. It might be time for me to rig my deck lights on my kayak and do some night fishing. I haven't been out on my kayak lately, so I don't have the water temp but I have been bank fishing in my back yard and the water is hot. Water depths that I can cast to from my yard are 2 feet - 18 feet deep but it's been a no man's land for bass. I did pull a one pounder out from under my dock yesterday, but that's the first bite I've had from the bank in 2 weeks.

This is the perfect time to take up fly fishing for bass.

I’ll be 60 this year and I’m well aware of my limitations. Last weekend I fished off the back of the boat with no seat or stool seat. There were a few times when the wakes and waves picked up that I sat myself on the deck. I also have an auto inflate vest and I wore it the entire day. I find no need to take risks. I’m still not comfortable standing in my kayak, but now that the water is warm I may practice at it.

It’s been that way for almost two weeks and the forecast for the next two weeks is the same. Worse yet, no rain. It’s brutal out there.

You get a like and bonus points for dropping the word “corinthian” in a bass fishing forum.

If I’m fishing in a tournament I’ll bring 7-9 rods but that’s mostly to save time having to tie on different baits. When I’m fishing for fun I take 4-6 rods and those choices are based upon what techniques and baits I plan to fish. This year I have purposely packed light to force myself to fish baits and techniques that I don’t normally prefer to fish with the goal of being a more well rounded angler.

It’s been 90-100 for the past week and the two week forecast is more of the same. I can tolerate the heat on the water for a day or two at a time. But for the past four days the heat has stirred up some strong winds. It’s been a constant 15-20 mph with sustained gusts of 22-25 mph. While I’ve done it a few times, I just don’t want to be out there in my kayak under those conditions.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Kast King UPF 50 shirt that I bought a few weeks ago for only $32. It has the hoodie, integrated gaiter, and the thumb loops. I wore it the other day on the lake when the temperature was in the mid to upper 90’s. I did not feel overheated at all. I’m sure I’ll buy another one. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09TT8TLGT?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Are the bass feeding on something else this time of year? Are the baitfish they are feeding on now bigger than the baitfish in the spring?

When I was a teenager a friend of the family invited my father and I to go pike and musky fishing with him and his son in a remote section of northern Canada. We were going to drive up to Canada, and then fly the rest of the way in their Cessna. At the last minute we could not go, and that guy and his son perished when their plane crashed on the way to the camp. Another time I was driving from where I lived in Ohio to my girlfriend's house in PA on one of those country roads through farmland where the speed limit was 55. I had Led Zeppelin blasting on my cassette deck when I crested a small hill and saw a big, flatbed landscape truck going slow up in front of me. I had a passing lane so I signaled and went to pass. The guy never saw me as he turned left into a driveway to turn around as he was lost. I downshifted and braked but it was too late. Luckily I got a little bit of grip and turned just enough so the driver's window post went under the back left corner of the truck. It all happened in slow motion (adrenaline peaking). I remember leaning down across to the passenger seat as the impact happened, the glass imploded, and the music suddenly stopped. The roof caved in over me, but as I leaned over my seatbelt help me down allowing me to keep my head attached to my body. At first, silly me tried to get out the crumpled driver's side door. After getting out of the passenger side I ran to the truck as the kid driving it was trying to get away. I ripped him out of the cab, fighting the urge to beat him senseless, and told him to follow me. We knocked on the door of that house but the woman there refused yo open the door or call the police. It was then the the kid noticed I was bleeding, but it was just some scratches from the glass. I pushed my car out of the middle of the road and we walked about a mile down the road to the next house, this one on a working farm. I asked a guy near the barn for help, and of all things he was a deaf mute. But he flagged down old Farmer Brown for me. That old farmer simply said, "I've got chores to do. Phone's in the house. Help yourself to some food and something to drink while you wait for the police." That was over 30 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday.

Back in 2006 when my son was only 7 months old we started a tradition where my son, my father, and myself would go out to Sunday brunch on Father's Day. That lasted until my son was 13 and my father's poor health kept him home so we would make breakfast at his house. My father passed away in 2020 and Father's Day has not been the same since. But yesterday, my now 18 year old son took me out to lunch at a local restaurant and my son asked to bring a framed photo of my father from back in his RCAF days and we put it on the table with us. I won't go into details, but my son has had some trauma and some extreme difficulties the past three years, so his gestures yesterday meant the world to me. It was a great day. Happy Father's Day to all of the other dads out here on BR.

Losing fish off the board is frustrating. I did see a video of a guy who stands his net up along the left rail and he says he hasn’t lost a fish since doing that. I’m going to try that and also get one of those identifier card holders to clip to the Ketch board. Ideally I could also come up with a swing arm selfie stick to quickly get my phone in place for the photo.

My lures don’t bounce off the surface in January 🤣🤣🤣

99-100 all weekend. Water temp at Lake Russell was 87-90.

I realized that without cell service in the area that you needed to get out quick and upload your photos. I had a little adventure with cell service myself when I couldn’t get Apple maps or Google maps to load to find my way home. My Ford Navigation finally loaded and it ended up taking me down a path - not a real road, a narrow path that included a rickety, barely one lane wooden bridge.

My landing ratio is decent. But it’s what happens when I put them on my Ketch board and try to grab my phone to take a picture where I need a lot of work. I lost two yesterday. I need to engineer a solution.

Well, @Hook2Jaw was looking at my Livescope…

I fished a Bass Nation kayak tournament today and met to BR members, @Hook2Jaw and @Wprich Both were great guys to meet up with. @Hook2Jaw and I had communicated here on BR hoping to meet up today and while out on the lake he pulled up and introduced himself. While I was trailering at the ramp @Wprich was landing and he surprised me by saying, “I know you but I don’t know you. BR, right?” Anyway, two nice guys and it was great to meet some BR members in real life.

I’ve got a kayak tournament on Lake Russell this weekend and the temperature is supposed to be 94 with a heat index of 98. I’ll probably pack more water than fishing gear 😀

The one Malone is selling on their website is actually the Flambeau that retails for about $100 without the mounting hardware.

For those of you putting rod tubes on your kayak trailers, which tubes are you using? I’d like to add 1-2 tubes to my Malone Ecolight trailer, but the ones that Malone sells are $240 each. There has to be a good, cheaper option out there.

For everyday fishing, no. But I do have a checklist on my phone for when I head out of town to fish a tournament.