Koz

I know. I'm just having a little fun! Sometimes I can't help but be snarky. But I bit my tongue about the comment about kids and PDF's. I know he meant PFD's. I just couldn't think of a good joke.

I wish!

I had a Lowrance 5 with DI and SI, a Humminbird Helix 7 with DI and SI, and now a Garmin 93 with DI, SI, and FFS for my kayak. For ease of use I prefer the Garmin. But I think the side imaging is a little better on my Humminbird. Garmin FFS is excellent. I run my Helix 7 and my Garmin on my kayak but only use the Helix for mapping now.

1. Wake boats 2. Jet skis 3. Pontoon party boats 4. People who are oblivious to their surroundings on the water and at the ramp. 5. Lightning I have a kayak with FFS. I guess we can’t be friends 😢 Bow and arrow technique. Works best when using braid.

Along with avoiding being slimed, another reason why I use fish grippers when handling catfish.

Don’t tempt me. I have enough gear. In fact, I’ve spent the last two days paring down what to take. I don’t like to take the entire kitchen sink out on my kayak. I pate down, especially with soft plastics. But I will bring some additional options and keep them in my truck.

***Note: If you respond, please do not provide any advice on fishing Guntersville. It’s tournament week and this is a blackout period.*** I finally started studying the Guntersville depth map and I did not realize how shallow (2 feet) it is on most of the lake. This changes everything, especially with the size and width of the lake. I’m looking at 30 minute runs from my primary launch point to areas that I find interesting for morning fishing. I’m assuming I will be fishing grass and mats in the afternoon, but that may change. It looks like I might even fish one area in the morning, then trailer my kayak and drive to another launch point. I will have about a day and a half for practice, but I also may spend time driving around looking at the official launch points. A lot of them look to be in the woods. This is going to be interesting.

Now you tell me to get a boat 😀

I had a Missile Baits spunk shad trailer on both the spinnerbait and the chatterbait today. I’d rather cut my line than put it on the deck of my kayak.

Blues.

I hit a bunch of my favorite bass spots out on my kayak today and it was catfish, catfish, catfish, and more catfish. It's getting ridiculous. Today they hit chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, minnows, and soft swimbaits. I caught two about 20 pounds, another over ten, and three in the 7-10 pound range. One of the big ones launched itself out of the water like a big bass. And not one bass today. They're a pain because I don't want to bring them on the deck and slime everything up or tail slap my center console electronics. And they twist so much they leave a coating of slime on my line. I know a lot of folks enjoy catching catfish, but they really seem to be taking over Lake Sinclair. There's an early morning, shallow bass bite but after that the catfish take over the lake until sunrise.

Beelzebub. 😀

I'll share some spots on the rest of the lake, but not in the creek channel where I live. It's interesting because every day I see bass boats drive over the best spot to fish in my creek channel. It's an underwater point and I've caught a bunch of 3 and 4 pounders there and lost one bigger one. I'm the only person I've seen fish that spot.

Very nice. I can’t remember the last time I caught something on a Whopper Plopper. Years ago they were money and it seemed like I caught one every few casts.

Black or dark blue and black buzz bait at night. Money.

Fish more. Enjoy the weather.

One day your kids won’t want to fish with you anymore and that will be a kick in the pants. You will also find there are many times when the thought of fishing is more satisfying than actually fishing. Sometimes we romanticize fishing. Carve out a few hours to fish by yourself, but cherish the times you fish with others.

I was thinking that as well but had no takers on a moving bait. Went out later tonight and caught a 2 pounder on my second cast on a popper and called it a night. Quit while I was ahead 😀

It’s now the Cicada Apocalypse in my neighborhood. The water is littered with thousands of dead and dying cicadas and fish of all sizes are feasting. I tossed a popper out there after work tonight but there’s so much carnage for the fish to choose from I didn’t get bit once. There are so many bugs on the water half the time I have to shake them off my popper when I go to cast again.

It has been ridiculous. I posted a story and photo in the Other Fish Series section last night about another good sized catfish I caught off my dock with a tiny Beetle Spin. They have been super aggressive with hitting everything. In the past week I have caught them on soft swim baits, crankbaits, Senkos, plastic minnows, and the beetle spin. It looks like they are taking over the lake. They pushed out the bass around my house.

Just another FFS observation- even when you’re slow rolling a bait on a 6:x:x reel that bait is still moving fast through the water column relative to the movements of bait fish. That makes me wonder if I should be throwing more glide baits, especially in the 4-5 inch range. I’m also better understanding the FFS sonar cone and why many pros use a combination of 360 or perspective view along with traditional FFS.

I was fishing after dock on my dock tonight when the unexpected happened. Since the cicadas overtook my neighborhood the other day the fishing has been lousy. I’ve seen tons of baitfish looking into the water and with FFS, but no predators. Tonight the water was littered with dead and dying cicadas, but only the occasional small fish went after them. I fished a few topwaters for a while with no luck. With little fish popping the cicadas I tied on a little beetle spin hoping I might land a crappie or two. In the dim of the dock lights I could see some baitfish near the surface, so I cast my little beetle spin on that direction and WHAM! The catfish tried to run, then dove under the dock by one of the dock posts. It felt like it wrapped and now I’m in trouble. I can’t see anything in the dark and I can’t budge the fish. Behind me and out of reach is a camping lantern (turned off) on my picnic table. I let out some line so I could get to the lamp. Now I realize my fish grippers and pliers are in my kayak up near the house, so I start calling out for my son who is in the house and no doubt on his phone. I’ve got my rod tucked under one armpit while I start reaching for the lamp. With the slack line the catfish takes off again moving out from under the dock. Now it’s really fighting and splashing everywhere. I get both hands on the rod and we battle for a few minutes and I tire it out. I’ve got 30 pound braid and a 10 pound flouro leader and I don’t want to try and hoist it on the dock. I decide to grab the lamp and then lead the fish to shore near my kayak so I can use my tools to unbutton it. But before I grab the lamp I whistle for my son and luckily he hears it and comes outside, grabs the grippers and pliers, and holds the light so I can see what I’m doing. I didn’t weight it, but if I had to guess it was somewhere near 20 pounds. That’s not a huge catfish, but I thought it was fairly impressive with a tiny bait and a tiny hook.

I should have stated I'll be satisfied with 2-3 keepers each day, not in total. It's a big lake and that makes it tough seeing it for the first time and being on a slow moving kayak. Because of the distances need to travel, I'll have to pick out 3 or 4 spots via map and research before I get there and hope for the best. Lake Murray had 250+ entries. I expect at least that at this event, plus there's another kayak tournament going on that Saturday and I'm sure at least 2-3 boat tournaments. But it will be crowded with kayaks alone.

You mentioned the water temperature of 54 degrees and pre-spawn, so I suspect that since you didn't find bass in the shallows that they will be sitting on ledges near the shallower water, staging for the spawn. A quick look at the depth map of that lake shows there aren't a lot of points so I would imagine they get a lot of pressure. Hence, I would look at the ledges and underwater points first, then move shallower later in the day. You also have a lot of really deep water there and I'm not familiar with fishing that deep.

Yes, but @Bluebasser86 is a better and more experienced tournament angler than I am. Honestly, while my goal is to win I’ll be happy with 2-3 keepers. But I will say this - as I better understand FFS it has changed the way I fish on my kayak. I’m also experimenting with perspective mode to better pick apart shallow water and find structure. My goal for practice is to get the lay of the land, er, water, and find some brush piles, rocks, etc.