Unbelievably Bad Day

[Koz]

Yesterday was my first Bass Nation Kayak Series event and as luck would have it, the tournament was on my home lake. The lake is still junk right now as it's still muddle (less than 1" visibility) and there's lots of debris in the water.

 

I pre-fished for two days leading up to the event and had moderate success fishing switchbacks where the creek channel swung close to the banks. Timing was key as it is on any winter day, but these spots made for a short run for bass coming from deeper water to the. shallows. I also fished a bunch of inlets with lots of timber but didn't have a bite and rarely saw anything on my electronics. All this fish seemed to be in the main lake wherever I fished. The weather had been warmer in the 60;s and low 70's and I found lake temperatures ranging from 58 - 62 degrees.

 

A front moved in overnight for tournament day and temperatures dropped into the 50's. Weather became a big factor.

 

Anyway, as I'm packing out my dog, who is in the house, sees me loading my kayak and starts barking like crazy and won't stop. I guess I should not have given him a kayak ride the day before. I set off, get down the road, and realize I forgot to make an identifier card for the photos of anything I catch. I have no pen and paper in the car so I turn around and go home to get them. When I got home to grab that I realized I had also forgot my cooler. Old age is not so fun. My dog is still going nuts.

 

I get to the lake, unload, and start rigging up my main battery, motor, layout, etc. while tied off to the dock. I hit the button for my nav lights and - nothing. I open the hatch, try it again, and don't hear the servo click on my switch box. Oh yeah - rather than do this from inside the kayak I'm lying across the dock trying to service the issue. I pull the battery (which was charged the night before), check the battery connections, then lean in more to check the connections on the stitch box. Well, my key fob was in my pocket and I accidentally hit the panic button setting off my car alarm. So I get up to sprint back to my truck and knock my electronics / lights battery into 10 feet of murky water. Brilliant. Just brilliant. I tried to feel for it with my kayak paddle, but no luck. If the water was warm I would have went in after it, but the water is still cold around here.

 

We're minutes from the start of the tournament and rather than fumble with pulling cable runs, stripping cable connections, and connecting directly to my trolling motor battery (which usually isn't a good idea anyway) I decide to go without electronics for the day.

 

The spot where I want to start is about 20 minutes from my launch site. The temperature is about 55 degrees with winds 6-8 mph. On my way there I feel the temperature drop. Ten minutes into fishing the wind picks up and it's getting nautical out there. Winds are now 14-21mph and my sweatshirt, thermals, and rain jacket aren't keeping me warm. 

 

Luckily, my house is not far from there and I steam home and grab a warm jacket and some warmer gloves. Yes, the dog was still barking like crazy. On a side not, the other day I purchased a Striker Predator jacket ($177) specifically for when it gets cold out on the water. I am more than pleased with this purchase. It kept me warm and my PFD fit over it with ease. The say it also provides flotation assistance if you ever end up in the water.

 

I headed back out, but frankly it was pretty scary out there on open water in a 12 foot kayak. On open water the waves were crashing over my bow. I fished a few protected coves but got only one bite. I ran into half a dozen other guys on kayaks and in boat tournaments and no one was having any luck. So I abandoned my plan and made a long run (almost 2 miles) on open water to try a few protected coves that have produced in the past. No luck. And it certainly wasn't fun traversing that open water with the wind, waves, and wakes.

 

Even with a 100ah trolling motor battery, I'm pretty sure I was going through it quickly as I had to set it at 8/10 to make any headway against the wind in open water. The last thing I wanted to do is to be caught far from my launch and have to paddle in those wind and waves. So I headed back towards my launch and by the time I got there I decided to pack it in early. I was on the water for for only half a day.

 

Had the water been warm I probably would have toughed it out. And though I never felt like my kayak was unstable, I just didn't feel safe out there. Maybe if I had electronics I would have camped somewhere in one of the coves. 

 

In the end, nearly have the field of 50+ anglers caught nothing on the day. But the guy that came in first killed it with 98". That's great for any time of year. Anyway, I went home and bought a new battery. I'm supposed to fish a Bassmaster kayak tournament at Lake Murray next weekend, but I'm going to pass. Between the tournament fees, boarding my dog, hotel costs, food, and travel it's getting a bot expensive. No more 2 and 3 day overnight tournaments this year.

 

And no more knocking batteries in the lake.

[FryDog62]

Wow, sounds like a really tough day. You plan for these things and the wheels can still come off. You and I are going to skip Lake Murray, maybe something will be in the cards later this season or next year. 

[N Florida Mike]

Sorry you had a bad day.

I fished a 2 day tournament once, and my boat cracked open after hitting a big wave on lake George ( Fl). We patched the crack, but the next day the motor wouldn’t start. So we just trolled along starting at the ramp and still got 3rd place…

Sometimes aggravations can be blessings in disguise…

[Koz]

2 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

Wow, sounds like a really tough day. You plan for these things and the wheels can still come off. You and I are going to skip Lake Murray, maybe something will be in the cards later this season or next year. 

Guntersville May 18th and 19th?

[GaryH]

Wow.. what a day. I’m glad it wasn’t lightning out the way your luck was going. 

[Functional]

On the bright side....you knocked out just about every way to have a bad day on the water early in the season 😅

[Swamp Girl]

I've been on big water when the wind was howling too many times. I'm just glad you made it home safely. 

[Bankbeater]

Sound almost like some of my fishing trips.  At the end of the day, you're glad to be back safe on dry land.

[Bluebasser86]

Some days it just feels like the world is trying to tell you to stay home. 

[Fishingmickey]

On 2/18/2024 at 3:57 PM, Koz said:

Guntersville May 18th and 19th?

I may be up for that...It's a twelve hour road trip.

FM

[Koz]

5 hours ago, Fishingmickey said:

I may be up for that...It's a twelve hour road trip.

FM

I thought that my 4.5 hour drive was bad but that’s nothing compared to your haul.

 

FYI - there were over 250 anglers for the Lake Murray tournament. A full 1/3 of the field caught no keepers over two days.