Late Season Kayaking

The fish are starting to bite again as we go into fall.  I finally decided to buy a Jackson Coosa Kayak and I couldn't be more pleased with my purchase.  Over the past few weeks we have made several floats down the New River.  We have caught many bass, redeyes, and bluegills.  One of the highlights was a Musky that I got ahold of  behind the State Police Station.  I hooked him on one of my in-line spinners.  He looked to be about 35 inches or so.  We couldn't get an exact measure as once we got him on the boat the hook came out and he flopped around out of the boat and back into the river.  That's two in one year; I guess that makes up for the one I missed out on in 2011.

 

"Another Crappie Day" or "The Old Dog and the Sea"

Is that Mr. Peabody?

I hit the Lake again, this time with a different companion.  Bentley is always anxious to go somewhere and seemed pretty excited to check things out on the lake.  I went in the afternoon and the pits were crowded as a major bass tournament was wrapping up.  Launching the boat took some extra skill, but I have to say I've gotten pretty proficient at it by now.  I headed down the New towards the Dam to fish the East Shore.  Bluegills on a worm came easy and I quickly caught a couple dozen of the, but it was pretty hot and the beagle looked rather taxed.  I gave him some water and headed up the Bluestone River to find some shade and see what else we could get into.  I caught a few more bluegills and noticed a few bass and several large carp up shallow.  I started throwing a spinner in an attempt to catch one.  I had no takers, but I did manage to catch a pretty nice white crappie.  After that we headed back only to try again another day.

Bella Goes Fishing

None Shall Pass!





I've got one!

See what I caught

Look what I found

I had been promising to take Bella to the Lake for awhile now.  I got her her very own fishing rod a couple of months ago, as well as, a pink tackle box that she has been dying to try out.  I loaded up the boat with some snacks and drinks and we made our way to the lake.  There wasn't a lot of boat traffic and conditions were quite nice.  I drove us up the Bluestone River and anchored up next to shore.  I have found that the "Gulp Alive!" maggot imitations work nearly as well as live worms, but with less mess and greater durability.  It took a little bit, but it wasn't long before we started getting bites.  Bella became a little frustrated at first as it is going to take some time for her the master the concept of setting the hook, but she has gotten quite good at casting. At this point she insisted that I "get the fish on the hook" so that she could fight it.  We caught several this way, and while she lost interest fairly quickly waiting for a bite she was always more than eager to drop whatever had distracted her attention and reel the fish in.  After about an hour of this Bella insisted that we go to "our" campsite.  She seemed to enjoy the boat ride about as much as anything.  I tied the boat up at campsite 18, as no one was using it, and turned Bella loose to gather shells, throw rocks and pick flowers.  I fished a little bit off the docks and she always came running when I had a fish on for the opportunity to reel it in.  I'll take her back again soon and we've already begun planning a camping trip later in the summer.

Look at me!

The Rainbow "Fish" Coalition

I wanted to take another crack at the lake, this time in the morning.  There was a bass tournament going on so I was a little worried about the lake being crowded, but it proved easy enough to fish the spots I wanted to.  I started off hammering the pits with a crankbait, but couldn't get a bite.  From there I moved up the New River along the bank across from the east shore, closest to the marina.  I got a couple of bites, but no takers on a crayfish in-line spinner.  I was about to pop smoke on this spot when a channel cat slammed my lure.  He was nothing to write home about (being only 15 inches or so) but it was still a pretty cool catch adding to the diversity of species and sub species that I have caught this weekend.  I proceeded up the New River a ways for a couple of hours missing two or three bass and seeing a bald eagle doing some fishing of its own before reversing coarse and retreating far up the Bluestone River in pursuit of pan fish again.  I banged out couple dozen as I had done a couple of days before, this time on Gulp Alive maggot imitations.  It has been a pretty extraordinary weekend where I caught around 70 fish.  Some of which were nice size.  I caught at least 9 different species over the weekend which included musky, red eye, smallmouth, trout, crappie, bluegill, green sunfish, pumpkinseed, and catfish.  All and all an awesome weekend!

Riddle Me This...

 

 What does a 30 inch musky, a 3 pound smallmouth and a 18 inch rainbow trout all have in common?  The answer is they were all caught by me today.  I got up early and decided to wade in front of the dam on Cinco de Mayo.  I hadn't been fishing more than a few minutes when I hooked up with a musky.  I was using an in-line spinner with a willow leaf blade that I tied to imitate a shad.  I hooked up with this guy in roughly the same location that I hooked "The Beast" a couple of years ago.  Musky seem to patrol this shallow weed bed near the dam in early spring.  He put up a tremendous fight.  As I reeled him next to me I gripped him under the gill plate to get a closer look and take a measurement.  Catching these guys never gets old and having missed out on my annual musky last year this one puts me back on track.  I continued to fish, catching a few red eye and average smallmouth.  The water conditions were great, albeit a little high which made wading challenging at times.  The bass bite was starting to take off as I cast out over a nearby eddie.  Almost the instant the lure hit the water a marauding smallmouth ambushed it.  This guy had some decent size.  He was about 17 1/2 to 18 inches and right at 3 pounds.  As I continued to fish, switching to a in-line crayfish spinner now, I picked up several more bass.  Wading down the island bank opposite the channel known as "the arm" I hooked up with something that had as much fight as anything else that I had caught that day.  To my surprise it was a stocked rainbow trout washed down from the Bluestone River, a good 3 pounds plus.  I've caught hundreds of these guys when hiking in at Pipestem in the winter, but in the New River in Spring; this was defiantly a first.  I ended the day with 21 fish included the 3 brutes mentioned above.  The way this day was going it's hard to tell what I would have caught had I kept going.

A "Crappie" Day

 

I decided to take the boat out on the lake after work and see what kind of fishing action I could get into.  I spent a couple of hours trying to entice the bass with spinners, crankbaits and shakyhead worms but to no avail.  It was considerably windy, which made fishing difficult and keeping the boat in the optimal position a constant struggle.  Finally I gave up on the bass and took the boat up the mouth of the Bluestone River in an attempt to find shelter from the wind and to target a different species.  The wind was much calmer and with worms and a bobber I reeled in a couple dozen sunfish comprised of bluegill, green sunfish and a couple of pumpkinseeds.  I was even fortunate enough to catch a couple of black crappie to add to my mixed bag of pan fish.

An Afternoon on the Lake

 

We decided to take a shot at Bluestone Lake today.  It felt more like summer than spring.  The water was up a bit, but falling and it was very windy at the start of the trip.  Austin caught a nice bluegill on a crankbait just off the pit bank and I hooked and lost a 2 to 3lb. largemouth on a chartreuse in-line spinner.  Other than that there was not a whole lot of action to be had so we started fishing for pan fish with nightcrawlers.  The wind finally settled down and the pan fishing seemed to be as hot as it is in midsummer.  We probably caught close to 40 between the two of us in just an hour or two.  I did manage to catch a 2.7lb. smallie though.  It all started when a minnow sized bluegill took a swing at my bait and missed.  The commotion must have attracted the attention of a nearby smallmouth who proceeded to chase and eat the bluegill, but got my hook instead; the predator quickly becoming the prey to which Austin concluded that the bluegill had intentionally used my bait to deceive the smallmouth and escape.  He went on to speculate (using the analogy of Nelson the bully from the Simpsons) that before it swam away the bluegill tuned and looked at his captured pursuer to offer up a parting "ha, ha." 

Spring Fever: New River Style!

    








Spring is in full swing and the fish are starting to get more active.  Austin and I hooked up the Jon Boat and headed out for our first trip to Shanklin's Ferry this year.  The morning started out cold (in the mid 30's) but quickly warmed to near 80 by the end of the day.  The river was up a little with a slight stain and the water temperature was in the upper 50's low 60's so overall conditions were pretty good.  On our way in a large hen turkey darted out in front of the truck.  This is becoming somewhat of a ritual.  Every time we go to Shanklin's we seem to see at least one turkey crossing a river bottom corn field we drive past (I'll have to keep that in mind during turkey season).  The day was a mixed bag.  We caught 18 fish altogether, a couple of which were over 2lbs. There didn't seem to be a clear pattern. Some would chase others not, some were up shallow while others were out deep.  Some hit active baits like G-tails while others required a more finesse jigging approach with tubes.  In the end it was a day well spent on the water and we have plans to return in the next few weeks when patterns will start to emerge and the fishing should get even better.

Moncove Lake, Ho!

The unseasonably warm winter has continued its trend and spring fever is in full swing. With an urge to try something different Austin and I decided to fish Moncove Lake. This was a day of firsts for me. It was the first time I had ever fished Moncove, it was the first time I had taken my new boat trailer out (which is like a Cadillac compared to my old undersized one) and I caught my first perch. The day didn’t start out so great. With unseasonably warm temperatures comes warm air masses which create nasty thunderstorms when they collide with cooler air masses. It seems like the rain and lightening waited until right when we pulled into the parking lot before it decided to start. Rain is one thing but lightening is potentially lethal. We waited in the truck until it seemed to pass. Upon launching the boat however, the thunderstorm returned so we got off the water and waited some more. After about 3 or 4 of these false starts we finally got to fish. Austin caught a few bass right off the bat, but then things slowed down after that. I caught a big bluegill up shallow and missed another before we decided to head to deeper waters in the middle of the lake to try and pick up a few fish with nightcrawlers on a drop shot rig. I didn’t catch my elusive walleye but I did manage to catch a perch, which was cool, and Austin managed to follow suite with one of his own. I can’t complain, especially this time of year, and I look forward to coming back later on when the water temperatures are warmer and the fish are more active.

Crappie Fishing Bluestone Lake

It has been a strange winter this year with unusually warm temperatures. Not even 24 hours before we received 6 inches of snow. A day later the sun was out, it was very warm, and most of the snow had melted. Austin and I decided to take advantage of a President's Day that we both had off, not to mention the wonderful weather, and try our luck at some Bluestone Lake pan fishing. It was a very surreal setting with snow covered mountains accompanying spring time weather. Using nightcrawlers on a dropshot rig we caught around 40 fish comprised of multiple bluegill and a hand full of crappie.

End of the Year Fish

 

Given that the number of fish (or lack therof) Austin and I caught the last time we fished the Bluestone we wanted to take another shot at it while we both still had some time off of work.  This time the water was a little more manageable.  It was about a foot lower than what it was on our previous trip and had less stain.  Spinners and jigs were the weapons of choice.  Austin had particular success with a neon pink jig he calls "Pink Sexy." Pink Sexy is one of those ace in the hole lures that Austin breaks out from time to time, usually with great success.  I ended up catching nine fish that day and Austin caught ten.  A couple of milestones were met on this trip.  With the fish Austin caught this day he ended the year catching 1,111 fish in 2011.  I, on the other had, caught another 4lb rainbow giving me back to back citation fish on back to back trips.  The only downer was that I broke the tip of my fishing rod.  It was only the top eyelet so I was able to keep fishing and St. Croix has a great replacement policy so I really was no worse for wear.  All and all, a great way to end the year.

Two Will Do

            

On a day when the river was up, but starting to recede Austin and I hit the Bluestone again.  The water was just on the upper side of fishable with considerable stain.  It had come down from the flood stage it had been the week before, but was still difficult to both wade and fish. We had a few bites, but the action was very slow.  In fact, it wasn't until the end of the trip that we landed a fish a piece.  Our numbers were about as low as you can get, but the size of each fish made up for the lack in numbers.  I landed a nice citation size 4lb rainbow and Austin hauled in a 3 1/2 pounder.  These two studs defiantly made the trip worth while.

Big Fish on the Bluestone

 Rick and I figured we'd try our luck on the Bluestone again.  The window for fishing this river had finally opened up again.  A previous attempt just a week before proved futile as two days of rain showers had all but flooded out every river in the county.  Conditions were looking good though and we decided now was the time to try again.  It was a very cold day, in fact it was about the coldest I had ever felt down there, due in large part to being a little too lightly dressed.  The fishing was good and we caught and released around 30 total.  In-line spinners proved effective, but I also had smashing success with a 1/8oz micky finn hair jig I made.  It proved more effective in deeper moving water as it could get down to the bottom much easier whereas the spinners have a tendency to move towards the surface as they are retrieved.  I pulled a nice rainbow out of a hole using this jig, as well as, several others that the spinners were having a hard time reaching.  The highlight of my day was a couple of 4+ pounders that I caught out of the deep hole near the lodge.  I caught them both on spinners and they were so big that they both required use of the net to land them.  They were nice solid fish that were both citation size and would have each made nice mounts had they not been caught in a catch and release stream.  I look forward to going back soon to try and see what other monsters may be lurking there. 

Fishing the Bluestone Fall 2011: Round 2

I had been promising Rick that I would take him into the Bluestone to fish for trout for some time.  The river had been up for a couple of weeks, in fact it was at flood level at one point, and fishing had to be put on hold.  The waters eventually receded and with some time off for Thanksgiving Rick and I headed to the Bluestone for some trout.  Just recently Austin discovered a new path that you can drive to that puts you on the County Line trail.  You can then hike the County Line trail and use it to intersect the River trail, which you can tell by its description takes you to the river.  Up until now we have had only three other options.  Hike the River trail in its entirety, adding another 4 or 5 miles to the trek not a good option, use the Canyon  Rim trail to intersect the River trail cutting out those extra miles but introducing a brutally steep and exhausting section to traverse in the process also not a good option, and finally using an unmarked trail at the par 3 golf course to intersect the River tail again cutting out the extra miles and while steep not nearly the bear that the Canyon Rim trail poses by far the best option to date.  This new County Line option has been great though.  Although it doesn't shorten the distance of the hike any from option three it makes nearly half of it a hike on flat ground which is a cake walk compared to some of the mountain goat like trails we've have to traverse in the past.  This option probably won't be available if a deep snow hits because you won't be able to drive to it, but while the roads are clear I'll take it.  As we hiked in we saw a true rarity; walking along we jumped a grouse and were taken aback by the chance encounter.  The river conditions were perfect and using a combination of many different spinners we caught and released around 45 fish between the two of us on a very laid back kind of trip.  One thing that has helped mankind progress and evolve to the level he currently finds himself at now is the exchange of ideas.  Learning from others and adapting those ideas to fit your own needs.  I stressed the importance of a good wading stick to Rick when crossing a river, as we do when we fish the Bluestone to get to the good spots.  Any sturdy stick will do and we found Rick one by the riverside.  I took this opportunity to show Rick one of my gadgets, a collapsible wading stick.  Compact, sturdy and reliable making hunting for sticks unnecessary and providing you with access to one whenever the need arises which allows for greater versatility, a true peacock moment for me.  Rick returned the favor in kind.  The day before he mentioned taking a portable stove with him to cook soup and heat tea.  I scoffed at the idea, picturing a 4 or 5lb bottle of propane and a bulky hotplate meant for camps.  I told him that it would be a lot of extra weight to pack and hike in and out of the canyon, but sometimes you have to learn the hard way.  I was amazed when he produced it.  The burner was the size of my cell phone and the propane tank wasn't much bigger.  Along with some sturdy but compact cookware it provided many conveniences of the camp or kitchen but packed down next to nothing.  On a cold day hot soup and hot tea made my cold sandwich and cold soda look about as appealing as dog food.  Fortunately Rick was gracious enough to have brought enough for two and was willing to share.  Ramon noodles and warm tea may not sound like much in the comforts of your home, but sitting on a riverbank on a cold day when you've been wading in frigid water having something hot to eat and drink made me feel like a king. Touche Rick, touche.  Needless to say I bought one later that night.    

Fishing the Bluestone Fall of 2011

 Another fall has come and the Bluestone is once again stocked with large Rainbows.  Austin and I set out to test the waters for what hopes to be another good year of trout fishing on the Bluestone, and we were not disappointed.  We combined to catch over 100 fish despite the fact that the water was gin clear and there was no cloud cover at all.  We even managed to catch a few smallmouth as a bonus. There were more than a few 3 pounders in the bunch which provided an excellent fight.  Spinners and hair jigs were the weapons of choice on this day and we look forward to going back the first chance we get!

Kayaking Banaza

This will be known as the year that we discovered the potential of fishing from a kayak. Why it took so long to try I don't know, but the kayak has offered some tremendous opportunities for river fishing. My brother Brian deserves credit in advocating this method of traversing the water. The one among us least interested in fishing Brian does have a fondness for adventure, when it suits him, and had been pushing the idea of kayaking for some time. Like many things outdoors, the rest of us exploited it's ability to help us catch more fish. Austin, Greg and I spent many days from August through October fishing for bass in the New River and Greenbrier, with a couple of trips to Shanklin's Ferry. These small crafts have opened up possibilities that were otherwise too cumbersome or impossible to take advantage of. We all have personal pontoon boats so we are no strangers to the advantages of fishing from a small boat, but the kayaks offer a much stealthier, sleeker option that is both easier and faster to maneuver. A trip to Georgia is being planned in the spring to see what fishing adventures that state has to offer and the kayak is defiantly the vessel of choice for this excursion.