Rocky Fork Creek: A First Timers Tale

Preface:

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to float Rocky Fork Creek with Vic Mchenry. A week prior to this trip Vic and I had met up and fished for crappie out of my boat on the big lake. The bite was slow up until 4pm so we had a lot of time to talk about things. One such thing was floating Rocky Fork Creek. Vic had yet to experience this particular float and showed interest in heading back down to do so. Fast forward 5 days.....It's Thursday afternoon, I'm sitting at work dreaming about fishing. I check the weather prediction for Friday and looks absolutely amazing, I then start scouting water levels of local creeks and rivers. The very first place I checked up on was Rocky Fork Creek, Its a rather difficult creek to fish if the flows aren't perfect. Too high and your looking at Class II rapids (yes there are a few streams in southern Ohio that are classified as class II or better, not many but there are a few. Reference site: American Whitewater) and too low and you'll wear the bottom of your kayak out dragging through shallow sections of river. The creek just happened to be flowing at 190 cubic feet per second and dropping -2 cfs every other hour.  Now this was a little higher than I would have liked to fish the creek but it was safe enough to float and fish, in other words I wasn't going to waste this opportunity. I sent Vic a text to see if he was able to head down and fish the creek with me, and without hesitation he agreed to head down.


Story:

Vic and I met up around 10am and began moving kayaks from one vehicle to another. We arrived at the launch location around 10:30am and began carrying our things down to the water. Once our kayaks were loaded I told Vic that we were going to float our kayaks down past the first major rapid under the mill dam. This rapid was particularly violent, the current slammed into a large house sized rock, made a 90 degree bend, and then proceeded to run its course for 10 yards before running into another 90 degree bend with car sized rocks. Needless to say we were both relieved to get below this rapid. At this point I didn't realize anything out of the ordinary, I was leading the way and Vic was following. Vic on the other hand finally realized what I had gotten him into.

The next rapid came fairly quickly and he mentioned portaging and going around, the water was still ripping through this section so I portaged with him. The third series of rapids approached and he portaged yet again. This time around I went ahead and ran the rapid to show him that it was safe. At the bottom of the third rapid Vic mentioned that he had limited experience on moving water in his kayak. This was when everything clicked.

 (In my head I thought, "Great, I've brought this guy to one of the worst possible places to learn how to navigate moving water. We could have started out on Ohio Brush Creek or another small stream where riffles are miles apart and pools are slow moving.......OH NO! You've got to take him to the fastest moving stream in southern Ohio with riffles and rapids every 40 yards. Vic's never fishing with me again.")

Now that is what I thought, but I didn't dare speak it out loud. He needed encouragement, and quite frankly so did I....even if I didn't believe it myself. I just told Vic what I had been told to do on moving water and what I had learned through trial and error (lots of error). I told him to keep your nose going straight down the river.....Keep paddling through rapids.... always maintain control of your kayak, even if that means paddling faster......follow my path...etc... and you'll be fine.

Vic handled the encouragement rather well and began floating through some of the minor rapids. After each rapid you could see the relief in his face, he even made a few comments along the lines of....."I think I just peed a little!" The little bit of humor was just enough to dull the stress of the rapids, at least for a little while.  We'd each laugh and continue to float downstream to the next riffle. After a while his comments of concern seemed rather comical to me....We would approach a rapid that sounded particularly swift and he would make comments like, "That doesn't sound good!"...."I think I'll portage this one", Etc... And for some reason  I got quite the kick out of his growing concern for safety. At points I'd laugh so hard that I couldn't breathe....he quickly caught on and fueled the fire with more comments.

Halfway through the 6 plus mile trip, he had settled into a grove and was floating the rapids with confidence, even some of the trickier ones. 

He had essentially grew as a paddler as much in this one trip as I did in my first 2 years of kayaking. If someone would have dropped me in this creek on my first moving water trip I know for certain I wouldn't have handled it half as well as he did. After the third riffle I would have tried to find a way back to the car, I would have tied the kayak off and waited for the creek to drop if that's what it meant I had to do. In the end it was an experience that I was glad I got to share with Vic.

Soon enough Vic was rewarded for his efforts, as we reached the part in the float that we had been waiting for all day. (You really need to look at these pictures on a large computer screen to enjoy them fully....of course the pictures don't do the landscape justice)

Catfish, The Basics: By Russel Mcdonald

There are many techniques and presentation strategies for catching catfish and each style shines in different settings as well as  for different species of catfish. In this blog I am going to describe the techniques and gear I use for catfishing from a kayak here in Southern Ohio. While some aspects of catfishing in a kayak have carried over from my days spent bank fishing, others I have adapted to suit fishing specifically from a kayak. Enjoy!

Rod and Reels

 I will start with the fishing rod and work my way down.  For kayak catfishing I like a short stout rod for a few different reasons. One of the benefits a long rod offers is the ability to cast much further than a shorter rod...... a benefit that I have found to be rather useless since you can paddle to the exact spot you plan to fish in a kayak. Longer rods also have a better hook setting ability, which is needed when setting the hook on a fish that has taken your bait after a long cast.However, as I have mentioned above in a kayak I'm not making long casts, rather I make short 10-20 yard casts precisely where I want my bait to be. One thing that I have came to realize in the last year or so is that landing a fish with a short rod is much easier than landing one with a long rod because it brings the fish closer to the kayak. For the above mentioned reasons I choose to use 6ft-8ft medium-heavy to heavy action rods when targeting catfish from a kayak.

As for reels, I prefer the Abu Garcia Ambassadeur series baitcasters.  These reels are strong, smooth, and reliable reels.  I have a couple Abu Garcia 6000's  that I keep spooled with 20 pound Berkly Big Game that I just use for areas that I know hold larger channel cats and have the potential to hold flathead catfish. I consider this gear to be my "all around catfish gear". It will land fish up to 40lbs and still offer a battle with smaller channel cats.

Sean's channel cat rigs.

When I don't feel that a flathead catfish is present I will often times downsize my gear and go toe to toe with channel cats. In these cases I often target channel catfish with medium action rods spooled with 6-12 pound monofilament, what most would consider bass gear. Any combo you use for bass should get the job done and provide some versatility in case another species catches your attention. There is noting quite like floating down a small stream and working a log jam or current break when you see that 18" smallmouth swimming around and all you have is your heavy catfish gear. With the use of bass gear I can make a quick switch from my catfish rig to a crankbait, jig, spinnerbait, etc. and see if I can fool the smallie into biting.  I have recently started using braid (12-20 pound Crystal Fire-line and Spiderwire Invisabraid)  on my bass rods which work well for channel cats and other game fish. The braid has very little stretch so it allows me to set a solid hookset and then steer the catfish away from cover. These lighter combos will add some excitement to any day of channel catting, as a channel catfish over 5lbs will take quite some time to land on 8lb test. Throw in a few fallen trees and some strong current and your in for quite the challenge.

If the current is strong or I am expecting fish above 10 pounds then I will use the above mentioned all around catfish gear. On big rivers with known "Big Fish Populations" I opt to use even heavier gear, Abu Garcia 7000's spooled with 30+lb test and heavy action rods. Heavy rigs give you the ability to really put the pressure on the fish and drag them out of thick cover such as log jams and rip rap. With that said keep in mind that you can only apply so much power from a kayak, where as from a boat or bank fishing you can stand firmly and really pour the power to the fish. In a kayak you can only exert a fraction of the force that you would on the bank or in a larger boat.  This means not only is it harder for the fish to break your line but its also a lot harder for you to break your line.  More often than not, fishing for cats requires you to fish the heaviest available cover, which often results in a lot of snags. In order to break your line safely, it may be a good idea to use a little lighter line. It takes a lot of force to break 20lb test from a kayak, when you add swift moving water and log jams into the equation you can quickly find yourself in unsafe conditions. If you do prefer heavier line, bring a knife along and have it where you can reach it. Sean often uses 40lb monofilament for flathead catfish, which gives him a lot of insurance around heavy cover when his line rubs a fallen tree or rock, but he has said on multiple occasions that he could not break his line when he has gotten hung up. This is just something to keep in mind when catfishing from a kayak.

Sinkers

Before I get into rigging, I'd like to cover the different styles of sinkers I use for catfishing. Here's an article that Sean wrote a couple years ago on various sinker styles. It pretty much sums up everything that can be said. It is important to note that this article was written for all styles of sinkers, and for all species of catfish. For 90 percent of my catfishing needs I prefer to use egg sinkers, split shots, and no roll sinkers.

Over the last decade we have learned that certain applications call for different sinkers, weights, and styles. Sinkers are as diverse as each application, they come in hundreds of sizes and shapes. They range from sizes of a fraction of an ounce to several dozen ounces. In the past several years we have experimented with dozens of different types and sizes, and we have learned quite a bit about each. As mentioned before, we aren't experts.....just fisherman with a passion for the sport. 

Sinkers can be used for many reasons. They can be used to add distance to ones cast, to make a float stand correctly, keep a bait on bottom, or to increase the rate of sinking of a somewhat buoyant bait.

Some of the most common sinkers we use include: split shots, egg sinkers, coin sinkers (and hybrids), pyramid sinkers, bank sinkers, and no rolls.  Each sinker was tailored for a specific type of fishing, or type of application. By far the most commonly used sinker would be the split shot. These are the smallest sinkers made, and the easiest to use. Some models have wedges or tails near the back that allow one to open and close the split shot to easily apply to a line. With that being said, they have been known to cause line failures. By pinching the split shot onto your line, you are actually crimping the line, thus weakening it. It is important to note here that throughout our fishing experience we have found that knots are by far the weakest link of all fishing rigs. That is to say that we have broken off more often at the knot that ties the hook onto our line, than we have at our split shots. Applications of split shots vary greatly. The most common applications include the use of a float (slip or spring), some split shots, and a hook. Pictured to the right.

Slip float rig with split shots.

Other applications include a simple hook and split shot, artificial and split shot, etc.

Probably the second most common sinker we use is the egg sinker. The egg sinker ranges from one quarter of an ounce to several ounces. The main benefit of using an egg sinker is the ability of the sinker to slide on your main line. When fishing on the bottom the fish can take the bait, while the sinker stays in one spot on the bottom, thus not feeling the weight of the sinker. This rig is commonly referred to as the slip sinker rig. The problem with egg sinkers is that they tend to roll on bottom when used in settings with high current or used in area of high slope, such as a ledge. Egg sinkers can also be used on float rigs, used to suspend baits off of bottom. They can be used when fishing artificial baits and lures, often times called the Carolina rig. Once again the idea is to have the fish take the bait while feeling minimal resistance.

Pyramid sinkers have to rank among one of our favorite sinkers for large baits. They range in sizes of less than a half an ounce to over a dozen ounces. They are one of the best sinkers to use in areas of heavy current where other sinkers fail to hold the bottom.  The shape of the pyramid allows it to settle along bottom, often times sinking part way into the sand or mud bottom, and anchoring your bait. When used on soft bottoms, the sinker will actually bury itself in the bottom, however when it doesn't bury the corners of the sinker will catch the bottom as it is being drug in the current. With that being said, there are drawbacks to using such sinkers. The edges tend to hold onto things too well and often times find snags. Pyramids are often noted of falling into rock crevices as well. The geometry of the pyramid makes it prone to snagging when reeling in. The flat top tends to plane the sinker toward the bottom, thus coming into contact with more snags. 

Coin sinkers and hybrids are probably our least used sinker, simply because we are new to using them. The coin sinker has many types but are for the most part, often rounded with a brass eye. The main advantage of these sinkers is the fact that they plane upward when retrieving your bait. The sinker actually rises in the water column with increased resistance. When using these style sinkers one can use the current to bounce his/her bait down stream when fishing directly down current. This makes these sinkers great for anyone who is trolling or drifting for fish.  

No roll sinkers are probably our most commonly used sinkers in our arsenal. The flat shape of the no roll allows it to lay flat on bottom, thus catching less current. The flat sides of the no roll also eliminate any roll that might occur when fishing steep bottoms such as ledges. When retrieving the no roll sinker it tends to plane upward, avoiding most major snags. The only disadvantage of a no roll that I have found is that it takes slightly more weight to keep a bait down in heavy current. The drag caused by a large piece of bait will sometimes drag a bait with let's say a 1oz no roll that wouldn't otherwise drag a 1oz pyramid. 

Bank sinker led molded eye.

The final type of sinker that we commonly use is the bank sinker. Its rounded shape allows for a more aerodynamic design, resulting in further casts. The rounded edges of the bank sinker also reduce the amount of snags they tend to catch when shifting in the current or when being trolled or drifted. It's tall and slender design causes the bank to move significantly more in current, thus anchoring a bait less than a pyramid or no roll. The major design flaw of the bank sinker is the eye in which you attach the line to the sinker. The bank sinker was designed with a led eye rather than a brass eye. When attached directly to one's line it tends to rub, fray, and weaken the main line; causing line failure. Which brings me to the next point.

Aquarium tubing, sinker slide, and a bead.

Sinker slides, beads, and aquarium tubing are all often used to reduce the negative effects that sinkers have on knots and the main line. Sinkers that are allowed to sit on the knot of a swivel or hook can often times cause damage from casting and being in constant contact from lively baits, or rubbing caused from current. As mentioned above, not all sinkers have brass eyes that slide freely on your main line, so a sinker slide is pertinent to attach heavy sinkers to your main line. I even use the sinker slide for attaching sinkers with brass eyes, for the simple fact that the weight of the led sinker is spread over a larger area instead of just the thin brass eye.

Sinker slides are really handy to have. The snap swivel allows you to add and remove weight as needed. They allow you to tie rigs in advance such as sinker slide/bead/swivel/leader/hook, and add the weight as you find out where you will be fishing. Shown below. It's also great to be able to remove your sinker when carrying your rods from your vehicle to the water. This will prevent the chipping of your gloss and paint on your rod that is caused by sinkers coming into contact with it.

Sinker slide/bead/swivel/leader/hook

Rigging

I have three rigging styles that I use forcats from the kayak.  The first technique I use is to tight line a slip rig using a (1/2 -2 oz) egg/slip sinker above a barrel swivel followed by a 6-12 inch monofilament leader to the hook. Sinker type is determined by several factors such as the size of my bait, type of bottom composition, strength of current, slope of the bottom, etc. Generally speaking I typically throw either a no roll or egg style sinker for catfish. I use an egg sinker when I don't have to worry about current rolling my bait around on bottom, and I use a no roll when I fish heavy current. My leader length is often determined by two factors current and cover. If I am fishing right on a log jam I will shorten my leader to reduce the chance of my bait and hook finding a snag. If I'm fishing open water I often lengthen my leader since I don't have to worry about snagging up as often. When heavy current becomes an issue I reduce my leader length, sometimes even eliminating the use of a leader all together by simply running my sinker all the way down to my hook or by using a lead head jig.

My second rigging technique is used when I'm faced with calm water and heavy cover. In these cases I will use a jig head or even a weightless hook to pitch my bait into thick cover. This works well in calm quiet water where the loud splash of a sinker may frighten fish away. This is a much faster technique than the slip rig mentioned above. The slip rig requires you to be anchored and to patiently wait for a bite. This technique doesn't require an anchor as long as you are somewhat stationary, and often times yields a bite within less than a minute. Think of it like fishing a weightless plastic for bass, pitch your bait into cover, move it a few times, and re cast. More often than not, if you don't get an immediate bite you won't get a bite at all.
 

The third option is to use a float.  With a float you can easily identify bites when it is hard to keep a kayak still enough to tight line a slip rig on the bottom.  A float also gives you the option of drifting to seek out actively feeding fish outside of cover.  A slip or spring clip float can be added to either of the other mentioned rigs above with the appropriate weight to ensure the float sets upright.  A spring style float makes it easy to switch between tight lining on bottom with a slip rig and then switching to a float to cover water in between cover.  I often do this out of convenience but spring/clip style floats can also compromise the strength of your line.  If possible, I bring a separate rod along with a slip float already set up and ready for action.

Hooks

In the world of cat-fishing there are multiple options when it comes to hooks; circle, bait holder, kahle, octopus, octopus circle, etc. The two most common styles of hooks we use for channel cats are octopus and octopus circle hooks.  I mostly use Gamakatsu Octopus hooks because they are strong and extremely sharp. They are a modified j-hook, with an offset shank and bent eye-lit. The major difference between a j-hook and a circle hook is that a j-hook often requires the angler to set the hook, however with a circle hook the angler actually has to apply slow and steady pressure as the fish swims off. The design of a circle hook is such that as steady pressure is applied the hook maneuvers into the corner of a fishes mouth. As the fish continues to move off the hook buries itself into the fishes flesh. Once an angler has perfected the use of a circle hook, the mortality rate from gut hooking a fish almost completely disappears. Nine times out of ten the circle hook finds corner of the  cats mouth where it stays until the end of the fight. This style of fishing is really suited to the use of a rod holder, in which an angler casts out his slip rig with a circle hook and sets his rod in a rod holder. As the fish picks up the bait and moves off the rod begins to bend, at this point things become tricky. As the rod bends you will see 2 stages, (1) as the fish casually swims off the rod slowly bends, and (2) as the circle hook finds its mark and the fish realizes its hooked the rod begins to violently bend and rip drag off of the reel. The key to the successful use of circle hooks is determining when to pick up the rod and begin to battle the fish, if you pick up the rod too early and begin fighting the fish you may pull the bait out of the fishes mouth before the circle hook had found its mark. Patience is key, its better to wait too long, than to not wait long enough. Sean said at one point he spent nearly 3 months perfecting the use of circle hooks, missing dozens of fish along the way. Now he says that he hooks 9 out of 10 fish that bite. Its a steep learning curve, one that I'm not willing to commit to just yet.

A third hook style, one that many of us started out using for panfish, is bait holder style hook. A bait holder is a plain J hook with barbs along its shank that keep your bait from sliding off of your hook shank.  I'll use hooks from size 4 all the way up to a 4/0 depending on bait size and the size of the fish I am expecting to catch.  Bait such as shrimp or liver will attract fish of all sizes and species, so you will have to decide on the size of bait and hook required for what you want to catch. Smaller hooks and small pieces of bait will bring more fish into your yak, but a larger hook and bait has the potential to attract larger fish. Sometimes when I have a large chunk of bait out and its getting bumped but not eaten, I'll switch to a smaller hook and bait to identify what is nibbling at the end of the other line. Larger hooks will be required when using larger bait such as cut bluegill or shad.  These larger cut baits will also increase the likelihood of attracting larger catfish.

Bait

Even though I did catch multiple channel cats on spinnerbaits last year, I usually go with something natural.  Smell is always important when targeting catfish.  Scents like garlic, anise, and cheese are popular additives among channel catfisherman. In my opinion blood is the best option available. Any predator, whether it be on land or in water, is attracted to the scent of blood.   This is a good reason why liver and fresh cut fish are two of the most popular catfish baits.  Smaller cats seem to be more opportunistic feeders and often go after anything that catches their attention.....store bought baits, homemade concoctions, rotten meat, etc . On the other hand, I believe that larger mature cats are more selective in their food preference. I believe they look for larger meals composed of native forage fish such as sunfish, creek chubs, shad, and skipjack herring. These types of baits are my favorite for almost every species of catfish. Gathering these baits typically consume more time than i'd like, but it gives me an opportunity to fish with my children who are too young for kayaking. After I gather my baitfish for catfishing I immediately put them on ice to preserve them or into a bait tank. If I were fishing for flathead I would rather keep them alive so I put them into a bait tank, often times a large cooler with an 110volt aerator will suffice. When freezing bait I typically I throw 8 to 10 fish in a freezer style ziplock bag and place them in the freezer. (If you don't have permission from your wife you better hide them in a brown bag and bury them in the back of the freezer.) If you have a food sealer you can use it to prolong the freezer life of your bait. 

Anchoring

As I mentioned before tight lining from a kayak can prove to be a difficult task.  Wind, current, or a combination of both will cause your kayak to spin, sway, and drift.  Keeping slack out of your lines or stopping your bait from getting pulled across the bottom can sometimes be impossible.  An anchor trolley can help but it does not always fix the problem.  Sometimes bottoming out the kayak close to shore or tying off against a log are your only stable options. I regularly take two anchors with me while catfishing.  By disconnecting the D-ring clip in the middle of the trolley line I can attach anchors to the front and back of the kayak.  Wind may still move the kayak but this keeps me facing the direction of my lines. To help with this issue I recently made a stake out pole, which I drive into the river bottom after my kayak has drifted into position after dropping my first anchor. If the bottom is soft enough you could drive your paddle into the bottom like Sean......just make sure to have it on a leash in case it comes loose. Anchoring a kayak in swift water can be dangerous so be cautious at all times.

Location

Luckily finding catfish is fairly easy since catfish are one of the most wide spread and abundant fish in Ohio.  They inhabit most streams and lakes all across Ohio, and the ODNR regularly stocks channel catfish in state lakes. The good thing about catfish is that you can toss a bait out and eventually one will find it by following the scent trail.  The advantage of a kayak however, is that you don't have to wait for that to happen, instead you can find the fish.  Just like multiple other fish species, the key to finding catfish is structure/cover....... especially in moving water.

A perfect spot for channel cats. Trees sitting in 5-8 feet.

 When it comes to catfish (especially channels and flathead), trees in 3-10 foot of water are hard to beat.  In moving water I find the cover to be much more important than depth.  I usually start at the upstream side of a tree and work my way down stream.  Here I cast one bait out just past the end of the structure in the deepest portion of the cover, and then  I will put another bait half way to the bank just at the edge of the three.  With a single tree it usually does not take long for any fish hiding there to follow the scent upstream.  If it is a large log jam or if there is a large washout on the down stream side then I will spend time on both sides of the cover (logjam, riprap, etc.)  On the right stream you can work your way from tree to tree hitting the most concentrated pockets of fish.  If there is no structure around, then drifting a bait along various sections of the stream is a good way locate feeding cats. While I usually drift weightless rigs or float baits on slow moving water, Sean has landed multiple nice channels and blues this winter by drifting both jigheads and floats in strong current.

Chartreuse jig head drifted with a chunk of liver

 If the only structure available is small and spread out, then pitching baits to these spots while you drift can also be effective.  In clear streams below riffles I have seen channels resting under small logs hardly larger than themselves. A riffle in the middle of the summer is like a refrigerator......when fish get hungry that's where they go to get a bite to eat. The highly oxygenated water attracts minnows, crawdads, and smaller fish which the attracts larger predators such as the catfish. Remember this is not sitting on the bank all night waiting for the fish to come to you.  You are out looking for the fish so the pace will be much faster.  Although I may spend an hour in one spot if I am getting bites and catching fish, I will not hesitate to move on after twenty minutes without a bite.

One final note to end on is that timing is key. Spawning catfish can be difficult, if not impossible to catch. At any given point during the spawn at least one sex of catfish is not feeding....either the male guarding the nest or the female laying eggs. In theory this cuts your success rate in half. Now with that said, you can still catch fish so don't completely rule out fishing during spawn. Another important aspect of timing is peak feeding times. Catfish are notorious for being night time prowlers, feeding primarily at night. With that in mind, the typical spots you target catfish during the day may not be the best spots to find catfish at night. You can still catch fish at log jams during the night, but these may be the inactive fish. Don't be afraid to target areas below riffles, sand bars, islands, etc....especially if there is a log jam or deep water nearby. Consider the cover as their home and the riffle as the local buffet. Midnight to them might as well be noon for us, If you go knocking on their doors (log jam) at lunch time (midnight) they may or may not be home. However, if you go visit the local buffet (riffle) at lunch time (midnight) your bound to find more than one catfish willing to eat. 

Quality Fish versus Environmental Conditions

Background:
A few years ago I kept an extensive fishing log using Microsoft Excel. For each fishing trip I took I logged the date, air temperatures, water temperatures, wind direction, barometric pressure, fish species, moon phase, and so on. Here's a screen shot of what that fishing log looked like:

The log continued for several pages to the right, which included various environmental aspects/trip information, and even scrolled down for 130 trips. The log also contained a locations column which I removed to protect a few smaller bodies of water that I enjoy fishing. The columns are color coded by location however, for example the red indicates a trip to a local warm water discharge. I kept this sort of fishing log for three years before I realized that I wasn't gaining much or learning anything from keeping this amount of information. I crunched the numbers each year, comparing environmental factors to numbers of fish, size of fish, etc. using scatter plots and other analytical tools. In the end I discovered that very few environmental factors were directly related to fishing success, even despite the common theories of wind affecting fishing ("Wind from the west, fish bite best. Wind from the North, don't go forth. Wind from the south, blows the bait into their mouth. Wind from the east, fish bite least."), barometric pressure ("High pressure makes fish feel full, therefore they don't eat as much."), moon phases (Excellent, Good, and Poor moon phase charts you see in magazines and online.), etc.

So what's the point to all of this? Well, a few months ago I had a conversation with a fellow fisherman who seemed to believe that we were catching more quality fish during certain environmental conditions. I told him about the log that I had kept in years past and that I hadn't found any correlations between environmental factors and fish in the three years I had kept my log. In short, that conversation sparked my interest once again. I began to question myself, Did I really know what I was doing three years ago? Was blind luck a factor that I had overlooked?


The Work Begins

This morning I began compiling a folder of fishing pictures from 2014. I only collected pictures of fish I deemed as "quality fish", which would help me cut down on the amount of data I had to collect and analyze. This time around I was really only concerned about what makes the "Big Fish" bite. I began by choosing a minimum length requirement  for each species of fish. This limit was based on sample size and quality. For example I set a limit on largemouth at 20", which gave me a sample size of 10, If I had set the limit at 18" my sample size and work would have doubled.  Once I had the folder complete I opened a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel and began entering the information that each picture provided.  Here is one example:

From this picture I can see that the largemouth went 20.5" and was caught September 9, 2014 at 17:38 (5:38pm). I went through each picture and entered the Species, Length, Date, and Time into the spread sheet. After I had collected all of the data from the pictures I went to www.wunderground.com and began looking up the weather for each day in the "historical records". From the website I collected the data that I thought might be useful such as Wind Direction, Wind Speed, Humidity, Pressure, and Moon Phase Data. At this point I had an Excel Spreadsheet that looked something like this.

(I collected samples for 49 fish, ranging from trophy gar, flathead catfish, drum, largemouth, smallmouth, etc. )

Now the work began! I began by categorizing each factor....

Wind Direction became North, South, East, and West: These were determined by the predominant wind direction during the entire fishing trip.

Wind Speed became Calm, Moderate, and High. I deemed calm as wind speeds under 5mph, moderate as 5-15, and high as greater than 15mph.

Pressure became Low and High. I chose 30 inches of mercury to be the determining factor. Most people would argue that the pressure at sea level (29.92) would determine high or low pressure, however,  for my purposes I chose to round up slightly.

Humidity became Low, Medium, and High; I simply divided 100 in three parts....low became humidity of less than 33%, medium became humidity of 33-66%, and High became anything greater than 66%.

Moon Phase became New, First Quarter, Full, and Last Quarter. These were determined by rounding.


Once I had categorized all of the factors I crunched the numbers as a whole, not distinguishing between species. I had collected data for 49 different fish and the results were as follows:

I found this rather surprising, typically I don't see such a strong correlation to one wind direction over the other. Wind from the south certainly produced more quality fish than did any other wind direction. As the old saying goes "Wind from the south blows the bait into their mouths", and it certainly did. However the saying "wind from the west, fish bite best" didn't pan out so well here. Of course these are only my findings, not to be taken as a fact. Its possible that the wind in Ohio during 2014 blew from the south more often than any other wind direction.

I caught fewer quality fish during high winds (15MPH+), and to be fair if I knew the wind was going to be greater than 20mph I probably stayed home. I am somewhat surprised at the fact that moderate winds more than doubled calm conditions when quality fish were concerned. When you think about it though, a slight chop on the water that is produced by a 10mph wind conceals a lot of sound and vibration that anglers give off when fishing. Maybe, just maybe, the larger fish weren't as shy on those particular days.

 This is very surprising to me....when I crunched the numbers from previous years the one thing was constant was that low pressure was directly related to more fish per trip. Now its possible that if I had ran data on all of the fish I caught rather than just the quality fish, that low barometric pressure would still relate to those trips where I had caught more fish. At almost 4:1 high pressure produced quality fish over low pressure in 2014.

 This is the first year that I have looked at humidity as it relates to fishing. I had no preconceived notions when I began running the numbers but it does appear that the higher the humidity, the better your chances are for catching quality fish. 


Now this is the one we see every time we look at a magazine and see a calendar with "Excellent, Good, and Poor" marks. Typically the Good/Best/Excellent days come around the quarters and the poor days occur during the new moon phases when the moon is the darkest. I could go on to explain how they come to categorize the days further but one look at the graph above will tell you all you need to know about how accurate those calendars are. The new moon phase was far from the worst moon phase when pertaining to quality fish. While doing research I came across another article written on moon phases and fishing activity....http://www.anglerguide.com/articles/522.html.....The author too had kept a log and discovered that the solar lunar/fishing calendars where bogus. However, in time he came to prove that the moon did have significant impact on fish activity.

So what does all of this mean? Well nothing really, I mean sure it can be speculated that south winds are the best winds to fish, and maybe a full moon produces trophy bass after sunset (I haven't ran specie specific numbers yet...but I will soon!), maybe low pressure produces more fish, big fish feed on windy days, and so on. However, the one thing that I can tell you with certainty is that your not going to catch fish from your couch. Don't look at a calendar in a publication and sit at home because it says that the fish aren't going to bite. Fish when you can, fish often, and you will catch fish there is no denying that. With that said, I didn't write this to tell you that there are no patterns, and that weather doesn't influence fish activity because it does. What I am saying is that you can find a pattern that produces big fish for you, maybe even on a specific body of water. When your time off and those weather/environmental patterns line up, get ready to target those big fish.

My Evolution of Fishing: Boats and Kayaks

In January of 2012 I purchased my first boat, a small 14 foot aluminum jon boat. Up until this point I was limited to fishing from the banks of local lakes and wading small creeks. I had my fair share of fishing success from the banks, but after 8 years of bank fishing I felt like I needed a change. In 2011 I began scouring the internet for local boat sales, and in less than 2 weeks I had my first boat. It wasn’t what I wanted, but it was what I could afford at the time.

After nearly a year of fishing from my small jon boat I discovered a few major flaws.  First and foremost, fishing 3 people out of the 14 foot boat was unsafe and uncomfortable.  Wind, waves, and wakes off of other boats became an issue when we met or exceeded the recommended weight capacity. Fishing behind two other anglers while casting for bass or crappie often caused arguments. In hindsight it made me a better fisherman, but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t want a first cast at each good looking spot too. There came a point in time in which I would have rather fished from the bank than fish 3 people out of the small jon boat. This put me in a tough position, to which I had to choose between fishing with my fishing partner, my girlfriend, and or family members. At the end of 2012 I began brainstorming on how I could keep everyone happy. Getting a larger boat was out of the question since I was still a broke college student with a run down vehicle. The question became: "How could I get 3-5 people out on the water, allow them to fish where they wanted, and be able to haul all of them and their gear in my car?" The solution…….kayaks!

In March of 2013 I purchased 2 kayaks from our local kayak retailer and brought them home on the roof of my car. A few weeks later I sold my boat and trailer and purchased a small 4x8 utility trailer, which I later modified to haul multiple kayaks with. After I had a means of hauling more than 2 kayaks I purchased a 3^rd kayak for my brothers to use.  We spent the next 2 years exploring small creeks/rivers, small state lakes, and even larger waters such as Lake Erie and the Ohio River. If I had to be honest, we caught more fish from our kayaks than we had in the past. Five pound bass (21.5-22.5”) became somewhat common for us.  We even stumbled upon waters in which flathead catfish were under pressured and landed multiple fish that exceeded 30lbs (40+”).  No one had to fish behind someone if they didn’t want to, we each had our own personal space, and we could fish for whatever species we desired individually. (bass, catfish, crappie, etc.) By the end of 2014 I had acquired a total of 5 kayaks and a heavily modified trailer. In total I had well over $5,000 tied up in kayaks, paddles, kayak accessories (mounts, leashes, rod holders, crates, lights, waterproof gear….), etc. Fishing 3-4 times a week was beginning to wear on our old kayaks, the kayaks we had bought in 2013 were starting to show significant signs of wear. The hulls were scuffed and scratched, the seats were sun-faded and falling apart, holes from old mounts riddled the decks, and new kayaks were hitting the market almost monthly.

Last year, 2014, I found myself having much more success on larger bodies of water than I did on small rivers and lakes. However, the kayak I was using at the time was not suited for larger bodies of water. It’s wide flat hull design was perfect for floating through swift shallow river sections but it was too hard to paddle in wind and waves on larger bodies of water. I knew that I needed to find a longer and narrower kayak to help me cover water more efficiently for my big water adventures.  At this point I sat back and started debating what I wanted to do. Since 2012 I had purchased a new vehicle that had a towing capacity of 3000lbs. I could now haul a larger boat if I wanted to.  With this in mind I began brainstorming. [Thoughts in my head] "What would benefit me the most? Do I buy a 6^th and 7^th kayak for Amanda and I, or do I just purchase a large aluminum boat?  If I bought a boat what would I need? A boat capable of handling 2 foot waves would be sufficient for 95% of water and weather conditions in Southern Ohio. Etc..."

 In the end I chose to purchase a 17.5’ aluminum bass boat.  I chose to go with a boat for 3 reasons:  1.) Cold Water Fishing: It honestly scares me to kayak in water below 40 degrees.  It’s not that I fear for my own personal safety as much as I do for the others around me. If I had the option to fish from a boat or a kayak in cold water I'd probably chose the boat for safety purposes 2.) Comfort: I’m 6’0 and 270lbs, I can stand in most of the Sit On Top style fishing kayaks on the market, but fishing out of them while standing is next to impossible.  Fishing from a kayak for extended periods of time (8+ hours) resulted in leg, hip, and back stiffness/pain. 3.) BIG Picture: For $2500 I could purchase two big water yaks for Amanda and I (for a total of 7 yaks) or I could buy a boat for ~$5000. A boat that would allow me to fish our local big water, fish cold water safely, and be comfortable.  At this point I also considered my investment and resale value. It appeared that a few years of extremely hard abuse was as much as most kayaks would take and to be honest after that point I would feel bad even giving it away to someone.  An aluminum boat on the other hand last for decades.

Conclusion:

In the last 4 years I have fished from a small jon boat, kayaks, and now a large aluminum bass boat. The question that I find myself asking, and even some of my kayak fishing partners asking is, “Is there a place for both kayaks and a bass boat in ones fishing schedule?” In my opinion if space, money, and your significant other allow I say yes there is a place for both in day to day fishing. Just as one doesn’t limit himself/herself to driving a car, truck, motorcycle, four-wheeler, etc. you don’t have to limit yourself to one fishing vessel. Each watercraft has its own purpose; A kayak for an adventure, comradery, and challenge;  a boat for comfort, safety, and proficiency. 

Here are some questions I found myself asking while writing up this article and the answers I found from reflecting on the past.

Q+A:

Q: Is owning a kayak/s cheaper than owning a boat?

A: Yes and No.  In short, the initial investment of kayak angling will be less. If you plan on purchasing multiple kayaks, and probably close to 9/10 of my friends do, you’re looking at roughly $1000+ per boat for most of the big name kayak retailers. If you plan on floating sections of rivers with friends you will need a means of hauling multiple yaks……which means buying roof racks and or trailer. ($200 for cheap racks up to $2000 for high end trailers.) And then you have accessories……rod holders, rails/track systems, mounts, etc. which add up over time. More than likely you will have a few thousand tied up into kayaks, significantly less than buying a new boat but not too far off of a quality used one.

Q: Is maintaining a kayak cheaper than a boat?

A: This one is simple…..Yes. Typically once a month I run my kayak trailer and kayaks through a car wash and give them a good bath. Boats aren’t quite that simple. Carpet needs cleaned monthly, carburetors need rebuilt annually, motor needs winterized, moving parts need greased, trailer bearings need replaced, batteries need charged, ….the list goes on and on. 

Q: I frequently fish with a half dozen different people; which would be best for me, a kayak or a boat?

A: Kayaks are by far the most enjoyable method of fishing with multiple people. As mentioned above, you don’t have to fish directly behind someone if you don’t want to. You can choose to paddle across the river and fish, or even fish 70 yards behind/in front them if you’d like. You can choose to fish near your friend, and  avoid your that guy your friend brought along who only wants to talk about last night’s game or even worse, his marriage. (Just as an example. )  In a boat you are stuck with whoever is on board.  The sport of kayak angling is very club oriented as well, tournament trails are hosted all across the states, forums specific to kayak angling have been created, etc.  

Q: I am limited on space; will kayaks take up more space than a boat?

A: Again this is really determined by how many boats you own. I know a few guys who own small homes and apartments that bring their kayak inside and store them in a spare room or on a back porch. With a roof rack system installed on your vehicle you should be able to cut down on space requirements as well. However for a few of us, our fleet of kayaks do take up more space than owning a boat. I personally have 5 kayaks (2 of which are typically on the trailer and the other three are lying beside the garage), 4 paddles, 5 removable seats (since I store the yaks outside), 3 milk crates, a kayak trailer, etc. 

Q: Will I catch more fish from a kayak than I would in a boat?

A: This one may get me in some trouble with my kayak angling friends…..but: Yes, In my opinion you will catch more fish from a kayak than you would in a boat. Kayaks allow anglers to get to more unpressured waters such as streams, electric only state lakes, and wilderness area ponds such as the AEP Wildlife ponds in the eastern part of Ohio. Catching a fish that’s only seen a lure/bait a few dozen times its entire life is much easier than catching one that sees a lure/bait a dozen times a day. With this said landing a fish in a kayak is much harder than landing one in a boat. With a little practice and whole lot of patience it will become second nature to the angler.

Q: If there were a tournament with boats and kayaks who would win?

A: Assuming that the skill levels of the anglers were the same I would presume that the anglers in boats would win the majority of the time. The benefit of fishing under pressured waters no longer matters at this point because both anglers would be fishing the same water. There are a lot of factors that could play a role here such as water displacement (advantage kayak), shadow created (advantage kayak), noise of trolling motor vs. paddle strokes (Even or even slight advantage to boat), etc.  In my opinion the largest benefit would now go to a boat that could move from spot to spot at much faster speeds.  Throw in the fact that a boat can hold a dozen rods with a dozen different bait combinations, multiple fish finders/ larger screens, hold 4 times as much tackle, etc. and you have an seemingly unfair advantage.

2014: Year in Review

As each year passes I find myself wondering how I will top the previous year. In 2013 I set a handful of new personal bests, but for the most part it will be remembered as one of the first years I consistently caught quality largemouth bass. Twenty inch bass became common, where as in the previous years I may have been lucky to land one or two twenty plus inch bass all year long. I surpassed my 2012 personal best bass of 4lbs 0oz. a minimum of 12 times and tied my 2013 personal best bass of 5lbs 1oz twice.  Throw in a bonus 31 pound flathead catfish and you'd have the makings of a pretty darn good year. 2014 on the other hand was in a league of its own. Here's a few of the highlights with links back to the original posting.



March 2014: Hybrid Striped Bass

23.75" 6lb 6oz Hybrid Striped Bass

In March I was fortunate enough to run into Todd of Smack Tackle one evening on the river. To make a long story short he pretty much schooled me on how to use a blade bait for hybrid striped bass. At the time I wrote a blog called Building Confidence with Todd, check it out if you haven't yet. (I share what I learned and was able to snap a few pictures of Todd's giant hybrid striper.) A few weeks later I took what Todd had taught me and I put it to good use, which happened to be good enough for a new personal best 6lb 6oz hybrid striped bass. Check out that blog post here: 4 Days on the Water


May 2014: Lake Erie Walleye

6.25lb. 27.5" Walleye

In May I had the privilege of fishing Lake Erie with Jim Martin and Aaron Stiger. Jim had arranged the trip a couple of weeks in advance and we patiently waited to see if the wind and waves were going to let us out on the water. Needless to say the weather and fishing was absolutely phenomenal. We trolled up a half dozen giant walleye including this 27.5" 6.25lb walleye, my new personal best.  I wasn't the only one to set a personal best though, check out what everyone else caught here: Lake Erie Kayak Trip




August 2014: Flathead Catfish

44" 46lb flathead catfish

August was a hot month for flathead catfish. Russ and I spent many nights out on the water and were graciously rewarded for our efforts. We kicked the month off with a bunch of little guys that had just finished up spawning, blog here. We didn't get much size that night but in the back of our heads we thought that maybe some of the bigger fish were still spawning. With that in mind we hit the water a few more times and found exactly what we were looking for. On the 20th of August I shattered my personal best of 33lbs with this incredible 46lb 44" flathead. I titled the blog, "The One That Didn't Get Away" . Russ had his shot at a giant too, less than a week later he landed a giant as well. Check it out here: Flathead Red Hot



September 2014: Largemouth

22" 6lb 3oz Largemouth

As mentioned before, 2013 was really my first year of consistently catching 20" bass. That trend continued well into 2014 as I racked up well over a dozen 20" bass, including 3 over 22". Although my personal best bass was broken during daylight on this particular trip: Two Trophy Largemouth in under Two Hours , I'd have to say that 90 percent of my quality fish came well after dark. Night fishing for bass was new to me, and as you can tell from this blog post I'm willing to learn just about anything if someone is willing to teach me. In early Summer I met Shawn Skidmore a night fishing guru, and he began teaching me how he went about night fishing. We hit the water and immediately had success....Night Bassin' In this blog we try to hide our fishing waters, particularly because we were the only ones on the water fishing after dark....and we liked it that way! I can say that the lake that put up the largest fish on average was one of Southern Ohio's largest lakes.....exceeding 2000 acres. The night bite was red hot nearly all year for us, in fact we had a success rate of over 80% when it came to landing a 20+" bass each trip. I cant remember the exact numbers but I do know we had 7 or 8 trips in a row before we broke our 20" streak....Night Bass Fishing SMOKIN' HOT



Conclusion

At first it may seem that I'm pretty arrogant, posting and re-posting quality fish....your may even be thinking, "I've seen it once already. Quit bragging!" Or at least that's what I think could be going through your mind. However, in writing I get a unique chance to look back and reflect on the past,  which I think is something everyone needs to do from time to time. So often things happen and we only get to experience that event once, in writing about it we get to relive the experience again and again. In reflecting on the past year I began to realize that many of my quality fish came from the help or indirect help of others. The hybrid striped bass in March wouldn't have been possible without the proper direction from Todd; in May I surely wouldn't have caught a personal best walleye on Lake Erie without the invite and guidance from Jim; the flathead both in 2013 and 2014 came from one of Russ' rivers and if I hadn't met in through kayaking in 2013 I would have probably given up on flathead fishing; and finally the 6lb 3oz bass came from a lake that I had only discovered while waiting for Shawn to get off work before one of our night fishing adventures.

Good luck to everyone in 2015!