Koz

Back in the 90’s I lived in Maine and ran a hotel in the Portland/Scarborough area. I was there when the big ice storm caused power outages for weeks across the state. I used to hop on my Cannondale bike and ride up to Freeport, grab an ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s, then ride back. The bike lane on Route 1 was like a car lane. I also remember getting twin 1 pound lobster dinners for only $9.99. We just submit pictures of the bass on a Ketch board through the TourneyX app. They verify the catch and we have live scoring.

Here’s how bad the fishing was at Lake Fork: 173 anglers in the tournament Only 278 fish submitted That’s an average of less than two fish per angler. And remember, this was a NO LIMITS tournament. If you caught 30 keepers (14” and greater) all of those fish would count.

Unfortunately, I don’t have that option. Hence my starting to look for a job with normal hours.

Tournament Day: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly My plan was to fish Mustang Creek for a little bit, then make a mile plus run down to Little Mustang Creek and Williams Creek. I caught one undersized bass in Mustang, then tried to run south. It was not to be. The waves were stacked up two feet high and the water was crashing over the bow so fast that my scupper drains were overloaded and I was taking on water. I couldn't even make it back to the ramp to pack up and go to another ramp. So I turned around and literally road the tops of waves back to Mustang Creek where it was somewhat protected from the winds. I hit a few of the coves and caught two more 13" bass, but the minimum was 14" to score. I pushed to the back of Mustang, rode a wave, and sat down smack dab on flooded timber. For 20 minutes I tried to motor and paddle, but couldn't get unstuck. I waved down another kayak angler, tossed him my tow rope, and he motored me off the timber. I pushed deep into a creek channel to fish some lily pads and my phone began blowing up with calls and texts from work. For the next two hours I barely fished as I was on the phone with work the entire time. and then I started my run back to the ramp, and missed the last hour of the tournament heading back and packing up. I went straight to the hotel, packed my gear, and drove back to Georgia so I could be back at work on Monday. With that, I canceled the last 4 days of my vacation. My phone had been blowing up with texts from work the previous 2 days as well. Running a small hotel stinks as it's 24/7/365, even on vacation. I think I've had enough and I'll be looking for another job. When I'm on vacation I shouldn't have to deal with work. That's the whole idea of vacation. I'm really happy for @LrgmouthShad and it was great to meet him for a few minutes. I'm really sorry that I had to bug out and we couldn't go to dinner or grab a beer. In hindsight, maybe I should have gone to Florida instead. EDIT: In the next few days I'll post a video of the waves I was riding out. It was nautical out on the main lake.

Very cool, my friend.

Woke up at 5 this morning to get to the ramp early and saw it is 38 degrees outside. I’m not going to rush to the ramp. I did bring thermals, heavy socks, warm layers, and winter fishing gloves with me, but I’ll be at the ramp at 7:30 instead of 6.

Day 5: Instagram Fishing II decided to take it easy today and didn’t get on the water until almost noon. There were no ramps near where I wanted to fish and it took me an hour just to get to my first waypoint. It was windy again today, but not as nearly as windy as yesterday. I was also fishing areas with very little flooded timber. My plan was to first fish wind blown points and then fish small pockets on the way back to the ramp. But with the late start, the long run, and my starboard navigation light out I didn’t have time to fish the pockets with the sun going down. I called today “Instagram fishing” because I had a ton of followers all day long. Some were pretty big, but they all peeled off at the boat and never hit the bait. I did catch four on the day, but again nothing over 16” long. In the tournament, we can launch 30 minutes before lines in, but this long run would cut into fishing time and the payoff was not good enough to risk it. My other spots are near ramps, so if a spot is not productive I can get back to the ramp, load up, and hit another ramp. I heading back to that heavy timber spot tomorrow, but winds will only be 6-12. Despite the adventures, I’m having a good time out here. I really needed the break from work. Other than a few texts and calls, my team is trying to let me relax. Tomorrow the lake should be packed with kayaks. It will be interesting to see where everyone is fishing.

Flooded timber is very heavy near the shore on that route and the safe passage markers are nearer the middle. I thought about making a run for shore, but my navigation maps showed that was not viable.

Day 4: Nautical My first thought was, “I’m in trouble. I’m in serious, serious trouble.” I hit the water about 8 this morning and made a run to a few creek channel points that I was told were promising. I caught a 15 incher off the second point when I noticed some lily pads. I can’t resist throwing a frog over lily pads so I took off in that direction. The wind was behind me blowing a steady 10-14 mph, so I couldn’t set up where I wanted and had to loop around the other side. But first I hit the narrow, hydrilla filed creek channel behind it. I got one hit on a spinnerbait but it didn’t hit the hook. The wind was pushing me all over the place and I briefly got stuck on a low point. It was a pain trying to fight the wind, find deeper water, actually cast and fish, and having my depth warning alarm go off every 30 seconds. I headed over to fish the pads again, set my spot lock, and wasted far too much time casting at nothing. So I headed back to the ramp, loaded up, and went to fish an area the guide told me about yesterday. I launched and the wind really started picking up. now blowing closer to 20 mph. I’ve fished in winds like that before, and I know to be careful. There’s a ton of flooded timber where I was headed, but if you follow the buoys there’s a clear shot most of the way. But it’s a circuitous route that would take me over an hour to get there. The other option is to cut across a minefield of flooded timber I followed the buoys most of the way, then cut across the timber to a submerged road bed. I push deeper into this wide creek channel and as the water gets shallower (3-8 ft) the wind picks up even more, now blowing 25 mph. The waves are even bigger in these shallows. I decide to head back, which means heading south. The wind is blowing south east, but heading directly south would put me into a thicket of even more timber. Now the waves are coming in stacked, so if I head west to the buoys the waves are hitting me broadside. My only choice is to head northwest, taking me further away from the ramp. I’m looking towards the sun, so it’s even harder spotting timber. I could use FFS to try and spot timber, but I also risk shearing off the mounting plate again. So I pull my FFS transducer pole out of the water. Another problem is I can’t run the motor too slow because the wind and current would push me all over the place, so I run between 4 and 5 (out of 10). Next thing I know I’m hung up on some timber, but with the aid of the motor and my paddle I get free. I make it a few hundred more feet and BANG! The motor crashes into timber, pops up, and spins the head around. Now the wind and waves are hitting me broadside and pushing me fast. I have to get out of my seat to get to the trolling motor to reset it, but it’s jammed. So I have my short paddle in my left hand trying to make sure I don’t slam into more timber while trying to free the motor with my right hand. I’m on my knees near the bow with water crashing over me. I finally get the motor freed and seated, fire it up again, and kind of idle and look around. That’s when I realize I’m in trouble. I didn’t panic, but I knew things were not looking good. There were no boats around and I’m still far from the buoys and even farther from shore. I have no choice but to keep going. The next thing I know a wave lifts me up and sets the stern down on a stump. So now the back of my kayak is in the air and the bow is in the water getting thrashed. That makes the kayak tip far from side to side, then spin so I’m no longer taking waves on the side. A bigger wave comes, lifts the stern a bit, and I paddle hard and get free. What seemed like an eternity later I made it to the buoys and the safe boat passage lane. Thirty minutes later I’m at the ramp. So, a poor decision on my part to fish shallow, timber laden waters on a windy day put me in jeopardy. Lesson learned. As I said, I’ve fished windy days like this before, but in narrower creek channels with deeper water and no imminent hazards. Thankfully, the forecast is calling for much less wind the next three days. My kayak is in one piece with no real damage. I have a few nicks in my prop that I need to sand down. I think I’ll fish mostly open water tomorrow and avoid the timber if I can.

Mine was the 10 pound bowfin. It put up a great fight, but it wasn’t the target species. Tomorrow should be a good day, but there is a small cold front moving in. It’s also going to be windy (7-14 mph) through tournament day. Above 10 mph makes for a lot of work on a kayak and slows down travel a lot. There’s one area I want to fish on Thursday, but it’s a 40 minute run from the closest ramp. It will take longer if it’s against the wind. Thankfully, this is not a pleasure boat lake with wakes adding to the waves.

Day 3: Pre-fishing, a guide, and ten pounds of junk. I was hoping that fishing with a guide would land a bunch of fish today, but it turned out to be a disappointment. My guide was a great guy, but we were never on a good bite. He did catch a 6 pounder and a few little ones. Me? I caught a 10 pounder - but it was a bowfin. Other than that, I had a few weak bites in the 4 hours we were out there. He did point out a lot of areas to me to check out, and the area where he caught the 6 pounder looked promising if explored more, especially with my livescope. Interestingly enough, the guide was not running livescope. I fixed my FFS mounting plate and made a depth change with the mount. But I still can’t get the starboard nav light to work. I’m super tired so I’m going to nap and call it an early night. It was interesting how the guide broke down the lake. I’m going to use that info studying the maps tonight.

Day 2 Pre-fishing - a rough day My plan was to fish the NW corner of the lake today, but when I got to that ramp it was a rutted mud hole. I didn’t want to risk getting stuck. Headed to another ramp near my hotel and this time headed north. It was breezy but not bad. I fished shallow along the concrete causeway then hit a dock and a concrete seawall and caught an 18 incher and lost another one. Then the wind really started picking up. My AP120 is stable and I don’t worry about flipping, but I was getting rocked around pretty good. I headed to deeper water away from the thickets of timber and caught a small one but I was tired of bobbing around. I made a long run to a creek channel out of the wind. Tons of shad but no bass. I started to make another long run to where I fished yesterday and as it was warming up I decided to take off my heavier hoodie. But first I had to take off my PFD. While holding it and taking off my hoodie, I accidentally got my PFD in the water. There was a loud pop and my vest inflated. It was then I remembered I did not bring a spare CO2 cartridge. Needless to say, I headed back to the ramp. The wind picked up again and I tied off to the dock. I backed my trailer down the ramp, then began pulling my kayak along the dock to the trailer. The wind caught the kayak, slammed it into the dock, and it sheared two nylon pins that hold my livescope mount. Luckily, I packed extras. I also got lucky that the tackle shop at my hotel had the CO2 cartridge I needed so I didn’t have to drive an hour plus to get one. The shop owner saw my rig and we talked for a while and he gave me two spots to fish later this week. Tomorrow I head out with a guide for a half day. It’s not easy going to a new lake and trying to break it down. But talking to folks at the ramp, they say they’re catching 1-2 pounders as well. Tomorrow should be a good day with the guide. then I’ll make the repairs to my FFS mount and my lighting.

My goal is to cover the cost of my trip. I believe setting goals leads to a higher probability of success. In the few tournaments I fished earlier this year I just showed up and fished. No real plan, no goals. No success, either. I treated it like a day fishing for fun on my home lake. I want to try a different approach and improve myself as an angler. I also want not only to be competitive, but also to win. That might be wishful thinking, but it’s a goal. I’ll fish for fun when I get home.

Day 1: Arrival I left around noon eastern on Saturday and didn’t get in until 6:30 am on Sunday. I hit some heavy rain and dense fog, so I pulled off a few times to try and sleep. Even though I’m short, squeezing and contorting into the cargo area of my Bronco Sport was not an easy task. I dozed a few times but didn’t sleep. Once I checked into the hotel I slept for three hours, unloaded, and set up my kayak. There was dense fog on the lake at 10:30 am, so before putting into the water I checked my nav lights. Wouldn’t you know it, the starboard bow light was not working. When I pushed hard on it, it would come on, but it wouldn’t seat properly. I fooled with it for 30 minutes to no avail, but by then the fog lifted so I launched off the ramp at my motel. The water level is down two feet and that makes navigation especially treacherous with all of the submerged timber. I spent more time using FFS to avoid hazards rather than finding fish. Since I have a rigid and not articulated transducer arm it spent half the time on my deck rather than risk shearing the mounting plate again. There were only 2 or 3 boats out in this part of the lake today and they all fished the mouth of a creek channel that I had marked. I didn’t see anyone catching anything. I was scouting and saw nothing in the shallows. There were plenty of baitfish near the surface in the 18-30 foot depths but I saw no predators. I came upon a flat between to lines of brush and saw some bigger fish on FFS in the 9-12 foot depths. i tried top waters, minnows and paddle tails, dragging a jig, a Senko, and a chatterbait and caught nothing. They would follow but not bite. Then I tied on a 3/8 oz spinnerbait and got bit on the first cast. I ended up with four 1-2 pounders in three plus hours. That’s not going to cash a check. Tomorrow I plan to run up to the NW corner of the lake and work my way shallow to deep. Water temps are 73-76 where I fished, which is about 10 degrees warmer than back home. My guess is that the bass are still staged outside the creek channels and pockets chasing shad, so that’s where I’ll start. Tonight is map study and getting rest. It’s a long day tomorrow.

You don’t know Buc-ees? It’s a cross between a giant convenience store and a small department store and a candy shop and a coffee shop and a grab and go restaurant and more. It’s something that has to be experienced.

I may have found the travel angler’s nirvana - a Buc-ees and a Bass Pro Shop on the same exit!

Tomorrow morning it's time to head out on vacation! After nearly four years without taking a vacation and months of deliberation between heading to Florida or Texas, I'm heading to Texas to do some fishing at Lake Fork. I had considered hitting Rayburn and Toledo Bend as well, but since I am fishing the Native Watercraft No Limits tournament on Fork I'm going to put in a lot of pre-fishing. I will probably spend a day at Caddo or Bisteneau on the way back. One cool thing about this trip is that @LrgmouthShad is going to meet me later in the week and he will be fishing his first kayak tournament. It's always great meeting BR members when I head to events. If any more of you will be at Fork from the 10th through the 17th, please let me know. Tournament day is on the 16th. Speaking of this tournament, it's a unique event. Normally, in a kayak tournament it's the total length of your 5 largest fish that count. But in this tournament, ALL of your fish (over 14") count. First place is $1,000 - $3,500 depending upon the number of entries. But wait, there's more! There is an hourly Big Bass Bonus every hour of the tournament. The payoff is between $700 and $1,000 per hour depending upon the number of entries. They also have giveaways every hour. I've got a 14 hour drive ahead of me and I'm thinking of stopping in Mississippi and fishing Barnett or I may stop and fish Caddo or Bisteneau on the way down. My hotel reservation doesn't start until Sunday, but I'm leaving Saturday, taking my time, and giving myself the option to fish somewhere Sunday morning. Monday I'll set out somewhere on Fork on my own, but Tuesday I hired a guide to help me learn the lake and find some places to fish. Normally, with Bassmaster, Bass Nation, and Hobie events fishing off a boat and / or with a guide during tournament week is prohibited. But since this tournament does not have that rule I thought I would take advantage of some local knowledge. I can mark waypoints in my Humminbird or Garmin app for when I hit the lake on my own. The biggest lesson I learned fishing the few Bassmaster and Bass Nation events I did this year is that I can't just show up to a lake I have never fished before and find fish. It doesn't matter how much I studied maps or what articles I read online. They are no substitutes for pre-fishing and covering water. I guess that's why anglers in the Elites and BPT were buying and selling waypoints. My pack out is done on my vehicle, and holy cow I have a lot of stuff including backup props and shear pins, tools, fuses, wiring, soldering equipment, battery charger, power inverter (to charge from my Bronco if needed), tools, spare tire for my trailer, clothes for all weather conditions, and a few bins of tackle so I should not have to buy anything once I get there (good luck with that, right?). I did pick up a few sponsors recently (i.e. I get steep discounts and occasional free stuff, no cash) and they want social media engagement so I'll have my GoPros rigged in hopes of getting some decent video. Hopefully I can put together a decent recap of the trip when I get home in a few weeks. My goal with the social media is not only to promote the sponsor products, but also to show what it's like for an average angler to fish in some of these bigger tournaments highlighting preparation, equipment, costs, etc. Anyway, I'm hoping this turns out to be an epic road trip. I'm going to try and post some updates throughout the week.

I gave brief consideration to the Power Pole Micro but I couldn’t justify the cost. It would take a 50%+ discount for me to consider it again.

What baitcaster do I use? All of them. The bait monkey can confirm.

I love the mods and gadgets on my kayak, but not this much. Someone put a complete Power Pro 2 unit on their kayak!

Hartwell in particular can be a wake fest with all of the pleasure boats and watercraft. As a co-angler, more than once I was almost pitched off the deck fishing the banks on the main lake.

I've heard that caffeine shads are great on a "buzz"bait. IYKYK

What this does is really help the guys not cashing a check every week and who have little or no sponsor deals. I’m sure that relieving that pressure is a huge deal for them. But part of me thinks this also ties into their decision on FFS. A lot of anglers wanted it limited, and that made MLF a little more appealing to some. Having no entry fees might make guys think twice about jumping.

If I decide to fish a river tournament I still have my Seastream Angler pedal drive kayak. Compared to the AP it’s lightweight and I don’t care if it gets beat up. If I did that I probably wouldn’t even put any electronics on it.

I think about it now and again. But for me it’s not just the cost of the boat. My Bronco Sport has a towing capacity of only 2,200 or 2,300 pounds. So that means either getting a 17 foot or under aluminum boat (and even that’s pushing the load limit) or also buying a new truck. At my age I really don’t want to spend that money. I’d like to be able to retire for a few years.