Pickwick 4-24-2012
 

Headed to Pickwick today to see if the Crappie were up in the hole....they were not. Went over to the generator side and all that was over there was Skipjack. My two prime fishing spots were void of any good fishing for today. Since I had made the trip I went over to the lake side....where the dam and bank meet....hoping to salvage the day. I got into the Smallies. Now I have caught a lot of 20 plus inch Small Mouth. This was not going to be that kind of day. This was the best day for quantity of Small Mouth I have ever had or ever hope to have. I hooked and landed close to 100 fish all in the 11 to 13 inch range. Now I know those are not trophy fish but using 2# test line I had a great time. They were in 8 to 10 feet of water close to the bank. I was wondering why no Gills were hitting so started casting out further in deeper water looking for them. They were holding on the bottom in 25 feet of water. Now I had two specie patterned. The rest of the day was great. Cast into the deep and catch some nice Gills and a few Red Ear, and then cast back to the shallows and catch some Smallies for a while. My pics are not great. I am using the new waterproof camera I bought. There are 32 Gills and a few of them are Red Ear. Most of those fish are around a half pound. I think I will hit that place again Thursday. Oh...got some decent Large Mouth in the mix also.


Regards

nice fishing ! what bait? looks like live with that small sinker. thanks for pic.

Good mess of fish there Alpha.

Thanks....No bait...used a 1/64 Trout Magnet in black and gold color. That is a size B split shot I use when the wind is a bit much or I want it to sink faster. I don't think I will be able to duplicate that days fishing for a long time. Wasted two and a half hours fishing my first two spots or probably could have brought home 50 or more Gills. That is the first time I have ever been dialed in on two specie of fish like that....meaning cast to point A and you get a Gill...cast to point B and you get a Bass. I had about 6 Large Mouth like in the pic....all of them around 3 pounds. While it is nice too catch them it takes a long time to get one of them in on 2# test line. Believe it or not it is easier to get a 5 pound Smallie in than a 3 pound Large Mouth on 2# test.

Regards

Thanks Travis...would be headed out again today but have to be somewhere at 6:00 PM this evening and I know me...if I go and get into them again like that I won't come back by six....LOL.


Regards

That sounds like a great day fishing! And that last pic looks like a fish fry just waiting to happen :)

Looks like a nice mess of fish! What technique were you using on the TM? I am assuming a tight line casting... or were you using a float? Congrats on a great day of fishing!

That is such a great place to be... you have so many choices of fishing places and styles that if they are not biting like you like you can pack it up and try a different method.
All the way from river fishing to Dam fishing to lake fishing to creek fishing. That area is a fisherman's paradise!!!

Good job Alphahawk for staying with it and finding them!!

Wow, Alpaha you sure do put some fish in the kayak.

You know I went there wanting to catch Crappie..and if not them then Gills. When I got into the Smallies I just kept wondering why no Bluegill were hitting. This weather has cooled all the lakes I fish in...Center Hill water temps dropped almost 10 degrees. So I thought they had to be deep. Now it takes a long time for a 1/64 jig to drop 25 feet. So I had an idea to use a 1/32 Crappie Magnet Double Cross head. The Trout Magnet fits it perfectly. So yes you are right I was tight line casting using 2# test P Line CX Premium for the Gills. With the Smallies I was casting a Trout Magnet in Bison color and twitching it back to me....they were in about 10 feet of water so I had a size B split shot on that rig. Cant wait to hit that spot again.


Regards

Thanks Jeremy...that comes from fishing 5 days a week for 52 weeks a year for the past 12 years. I am no better than anyone else. tk can probably relate also as when you spend that much time on the water you have to learn about it sooner or later. Hey...what do you think about the Diablo Chubacabra vs the Ride 115? You can PM me I don't want to get in trouble hijacking my own post..LOL


regards

:eek::eek::eek:

You're living my dream!!!

Alpha,

If you want to start a new post we can (River Boat Shootout)

Wow, I thought I fished a lot last year when I logged 1000hrs. This year is looking like 800hrs, my wife getting a job has hurt our fishing. Now I have to mow the yard, clean the house, and cook. Last year she would have dinner ready when I got home from work at 3:30p, all the fishing gear packed, and kayakas loaded so we would eat and get on the water. Then the next day should would clean gear and put it all up. Those were the days.

I feel free talking openly about any kayak, because I will not fish for a kayak manufacturer. I see it to many times where it looks like people are drinking the cool-aid so to speak and saying everyone else's boat sucks because you don't paddle a particular brand. I buy the best for the water I'm fishing, that's why we own 6 kayaks soon to be 7, and maybe 8 by next year if we don't sell a few.

The Ride 115, and Diablo Chupacabra are both great kayaks, but there is a lot of overlap to the Coosa that you already have. They are about the same size the Diablo is slightly shorter and lighter. The Diablo will not take the abuse the Wilderness Systems will, due to the material that it is made of, so I wouldn’t take it down any kind of water where impacts with rocks would be likely. I’m sure it will take some abuse. The Diablo will be easier to stand in with a larger standing platform than the other two kayaks mentioned, and there is a lot of flat surface on the Diablo so mounting accessories would be simple. The Ride 115 will be the fastest of the three. The Diablo sits lower in the water than the Coosa so it will not be affected by the wind as much, and the rocker is a lot different so it will track slightly better than the Coosa. With the Diablo a lot of people carry 2 different paddles, a regular kayak paddle 240cm+, and a standup paddle board paddle.

If I were only fishing slow to moderate rivers with not many boulder to bounce off of I would choose the Diablo. If I were fishing more rocky rivers with some class II’s then the Coosa, and if I wanted something that would paddle well for lakes, and had the versatility for the rivers I would go with the Ride 115. For comfort when seated I would say the Coosa, and not very far behind the Diablo, then the Ride115. All three are comfortable, but sitting up higher like on the Diablo and Coosa is much more comfortable in my opinion, and getting to a standing position while in the seats like the Coosa, and Diablo is easier.

The big question would be “what will I be using this boat for?” I would go to Hook1 and ask if there is any way you could take both out for a day, or if you have trouble with that I’ll ask since I have a trailer and everything.

Jeremy

Thanks Jeremy......I think I need a Ride 115 with the more comfortable seat that Chris has I think for an extra 150 bucks. I need two kayaks as my son and or girl friend goes with me but I need something other than the Coosa for the lakes I fish. That way I can use the Coosa in the river and let my son use the Ride 115 and then for the other 4 days a week if I want to fish a lake I go by myself and take the Ride 115. I knew the Coosa was a so called spinner but did not fully know how much until these last 4 weeks...LOL. If I decide to do that I don't think it will be too hard to sell one Coosa.


Regards

Coosa's are an easy sale, I actually seen a guy looking on Craigslist locally for one the other day. For larger waters I love my Hobie Pro Angler the downside is big and heavy. The Native Ultimates, and Wilderness Systems Commander 120 and 140 make great lake and slow river boats also. The Commanders have a low seat and perched seating area. They are more of a canoe/hybrid style kayak that allows to pack even more gear.

One thing I forgot to add. The seat on the Wilderness Systems Ride 115 is a special type seat that adjusts forward and aft depending on what type of water you are in. Whitewater move it rearward so you can turn the boat quicker, or flatwater move it forward to get more of the nose of the boat in the water for faster travel (cuts thru the water better). If you want to stand move the seat rearward for a larger standing platform. The seat on the Ride 115 sits lower so it is more difficult to get from the sitting to the standing position than the Coosa. I haven’t done side by side tests to compare stability of both boats, but both are supposed to be very stable.

Here is a video to show you the stability of the Coosa. The guy in the video is Chad Hoover co-owner of Hook1 in Hendersonville. He is at least 6’3” and I’d say over 250lbs, so larger than the average guy. I’ve found that kayaks act more stable with lighter and shorter people. I have a Coosa and have fished side by side with other people that were 60lbs lighter and 4” shorter than I and they can do some crazy stuff on the Coosa.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAjOS-SX4Kc