The day ended as it began; a sandy freshwater beach and a
kayak resting half way between the water and earth. What was sandwiched between
is where the story lies.
Still wanting to test the Old Town Predator kayak further
and with another decent weekend weather-wise I decided to fish some waters I
have never been to before. I started cyber-scouting during the middle of the
week in search of a lake or river that had kayak or small craft access a long
with promising fishing areas within a somewhat easy paddling distance.
One other feature I looked for was fishing tips for the
cooler weather and water that late fall and early winter inevitably brings. At
one point I was considering several holding lakes in the state for power plants
that had warm water discharges. The idea seems very reasonable and when one ‘Facebook
friend’ announced he was heading to Belews it nearly pushed me to follow. If it
wasn’t for the fact I had been there before and I really wanted to test new
water I probably would have.
I settled on one discharge lake that is known for the large
bass that are prevalent throughout. But as I continued to read up on the
techniques I realized I would be targeting fish that could be in pre-spawn,
spawn, or even post-spawn phases. I wanted something more predictable.
As I filtered through the bodies of water I finally found
one that hit my fancy. I found several articles and blog posts on not only
winter fishing in the lake, but even some regarding winter fishing from kayaks
and canoes. It is hard to get much more of a match. It also provided the
potential for daylight catfishing and a species I had never caught before, the
white catfish.
I drove the hour and a half to the lake and found my turn
off with ease. As I progressed to the ramp I noticed several of the other
boating accesses gated closed. Had I just traveled all this way to get to a
ramp that would be closed as well? I cursed myself for the potential lack of
insight.
Luckily, the ramp I was searching for was open. There were
not many vehicles parked in the large ramp access. In fact there were more
vehicles with kayak and canoe racks than there were boat trailers.
It only took a few minutes to unload and hit the water. I
paddles around the point and headed to a bridge that I was targeting. There was
already one power boat fishing the supports. As soon as I was near enough one
of the anglers sprung backwards with a quick jerk of the rod. The first fish
had been landed. I did not want to crowd them so I paddled to another spot
about a half mile away. After an hour or so and no action whatsoever I paddled
back towards the bridge. As I neared I also noticed two other kayakers fishing
the structure as well.
All three boats welcomed me to join, with the power boat
even remarking they were leaving a few fish for me. After snagging the bottom
and cutting my line early on I pulled the cut line as tight as possible so as
not to leave it when it gave a little. I continued to tug until it broke free
and then noticed it start running to the side. Just a few seconds later and I
was hand lining a rather large bluegill.
We fished and chatted for several hours. Fish were caught
and released. And in between the beginning and the end, new friends were made.
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