Go Pro, The death of the article?

So I get this question a lot, "Sean, why don't you have a YouTube channel?" It is a fair question, one I've thought about many times myself, but never really given it a lot of thought. Since 2011 I have been writing blogs, posting on forums, sharing pictures and  stories on social media, so forth and so on. So its safe to assume that a youtube channel would be a reasonable outlet for me to share information. To be honest I have shopped for action cameras such as the go pro, and really I think I would enjoy watching my season highlights over and over. However, I realize the amount of work it would take in editing such videos to share, the attention it would bring to certain waters I fish, the nagging and annoying comments videos tend to attract, etc. Very rarely do you see trolls out there commenting on well written articles, but spend some time on YouTube and you'll find no shortage of these comments. Maybe reading is above these gentleman's IQ level, I'm joking.....sort of.  My decision to write and shy away from shooting videos goes a little deeper than that though. First and foremost, writing allows me to reflect and ask myself questions that I would otherwise ignore. (Such as this post.) Furthermore, I feel that a reader and the author of a written text share an equal part of a story. I can sit at a desk and write the most detailed description of an event that I could possibly imagine and the reader would still find a way to make it relatable to him or her in a way that no one else could. For example I wrote the following on Facebook a while ago regarding a recent musky trip:


"About two hours into the trip, while standing in my kayak, I made a long cast over a fallen tree. As my bait bounced off of the topmost limb and began swimming (upright) again I saw a torpedo launch itself from the depths. It was a musky, and a good one at that. By the time the musky had gotten within striking distance it was almost under my kayak....I immediately took the fish into the first turn of the figure 8...The fish stayed within inches of the bait across the nose of the kayak and had made the first turn down the side of the boat. As I began sweeping my bait away from the stern of the kayak, the rod loaded up and the water exploded. The fish was hooked."


Not publishable quality, but a story none the less. So what did you picture? Was it couldy, raining, or sunny? Was I on a large lake, a wide low gradient shallow river, or maybe below a dam fishing trapped pre spawn fish? Was I casting a topwater, a bladed bucktail, a large swimbait? This is the beauty of writing. If I asked a dozen people each would have their own set of details, probably formed from some memory of their own. It could have been a stream they had seen a musky on in the past, a lake where the guys from In-Fisherman targeted musky on, etc. The written article is far from dead, it may not be the most popular outlet to share information but its here to stay.

Time for Reflection

Photo Courtesy: Toledo Blade 

If you were offered Kevin VanDams job and lifestyle would you take it? It's a fascinating thought that most fisherman would jump at without question. What if I told you, without hesitation, that I would pass on this opportunity. Let me explain. I grew up fishing with my family, and as the stories go I caught my first fish from my car seat before I could even walk. From the day I turned 16 and could drive myself I have spent the majority of my free time fishing. I've kept extensive fishing logs, spent countless hours blogging about fishing, been a member of almost a dozen different fishing forums, helped manage fishing websites, etc. If I wasn't on the water fishing, I was thinking about fishing. So to say I would turn down a professional fishing job still seems crazy right?

Well sit down and think for a minute about the things it takes to be a professional bass angler. Long hours on the road, being forced to fish in all conditions physical and weather related, very little free time to do what you really want, your family (pets) have to constantly travel or worse see them very little, your forced to promote products that you may or may not use/like, have to give seminars in crowded malls, etc. This doesn't sound appealing to me at all, and I'd be willing to bet very few of you reading this would enjoy it either.

The idea of getting payed to do what you enjoy doing is something we all dream about, but how many people really stop and think about how much work it takes to get to that point? OR, if they would still enjoy their hobby as much if they were forced into doing it every day of the week? You see guys, and girls, on social media pushing this product or that product because in their mind it makes them feel like they are on their way to becoming a paid fisherman. The term Pro Staff gets pushed around a lot, and by now most people understand that it means promotional and not professional. My social media is full of people who "Pro Staff" for dozens of products, most of which they don't even use or support. (Guys its obvious!) Some individuals even change prostaff positions annually. One year they push this boat manufacturer, the next the competition, so forth and so on. I just wonder what these people think this looks like to the outside world? "Man this person has "prostaffed" for all of these companies, they must really be a great fisherman...…" I'm sorry but that's not at all what goes through my mind, and I'd be willing to bet others see through that crap too. It shows a person who has zero loyalty and is willing to step on others if they feel it will get them ahead in whatever they are doing.  I'm not saying all people who pro staff are only doing it to make a name for themselves, however, I do feel the vast majority are.

Ok, so I'm getting off track and I'm probably going to make some people very upset. However, if your reading this and think I'm talking about you take a minute to reflect on your goals. Why did you start fishing? What made you enjoy fishing to begin with? What do you want out of social media, youtube, twitter, etc?  Do you still enjoy fishing as much as you did in the past? If not, when did things change? Even if you got that KVD spot, would that really make you happy?  Sometimes in life we get so focused on trying to be better than everyone else that we don't take the time to think about what we really want. So I guess the point of this post is to ask people to reflect on what makes them happy....and if that means pro staffing for Billies Sport Bras then have at it.

Testing: Check 1, 2

Wow, I cant believe its been nearly four years since my last blog. Over the course of the last four years social media has served as my primary method of sharing fishing information. However, recently its became cluttered with political bullshit, self proclaimed professional fisherman, fad diet salesman/women, keyboard warriors/trolls, etc. On a recent float with a friend, Scott, we discussed the topic of blogging. He had followed the blog in the past and was curious to why I had stopped writing. I was blown away at the fact that he had once read the blog, and even more so after we had finished fishing. That conversation sparked my interest in writing again. I went back and forth for almost a week before I decided to jump on the computer and see if I could remember my old username and password. It took a few tries but here we are. I feel now is the right time to step back into writing, if nothing else for my own enjoyment and reflection.

Many of you may be wondering why I stopped writing the blog? The short, and purposefully clouded, answer is politics within the kayak fishing community. Maybe......No most certainly.....I felt I had payed my dues and was more deserving of recognition than some of the others in the community. As many of you know, or will soon find out, having unreasonably high expectations of yourself can often lead to some of the most disappointing and frustrating adventures. It is those experiences that humble us and allow us to learn and grow. Well that's essentially what happened with the blog but instead jumping back in and continuing to write, I tossed in the towel. My purpose in writing had changed and was no longer enjoyable for me. In the end I am glad things worked out how they did. I have matured a great deal, and realize now more than ever the purpose fishing has in my life.

 Additionally I'm not the sort of guy that needs to be in the spotlight anyway, especially when I'd be dancing to someone else's tune. So for now grab the flashlight and we'll put on our own little show. 

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!

Scouting Report: Dayton Kayak Fishing Experience

At the beginning of the year I wanted to post scouting reports for all of the stops on the

Buckeye Kayak Fishing Trail, but soon realized that I would basically be rewriting all of the information already on the internet (Ohio Game Fishing, ODNR, old Kayak Fishing Alliance blog posts, etc).  Finally, at the last trail stop, I think I can add some value to

those hitting the river this weekend.  Other than playing a major role within the BKFT, what qualifies me to write this scouting report?  I have fished the Dayton area rivers for over 30 years (roundabout 23 yrs from a kayak), so I know each of them fairly well and consider them my home waters.

To expand on the river information I was already going to post I figured a good addition would be to actually fish all four rivers within the eligible sections of the tournament and fish them within days before the tournament.  Ultimately, I was able to fish the Little Miami, Great Miami, and Mad Rivers and not making it up to the Stillwater.  Aside from the small amount of rainfall we might see later this week the rivers should be pretty similar to the conditions I recently fished.

Before I start here are the eligible waters for Saturday:

*Great Miami River - MAP

  Twin Arches Reserve, Miami County Park District north of Troy (GM 108.8 on the map) downstream to Crains Run Park (GM 62.0 on the map)

*Little Miami River - MAP

  Narrows Reserve at Indian Ripple Road Bridge to Riversedge Canoe Rental located   at 3928 US 42, Waynesville, OH PH (937) 903-6468
*Stillwater River - MAP

  The entire river from State Route 718 (SW 27.0 on map) downstream

*Mad River - MAP

  Entire river South/downstream from SR 41 (MR 27.1 on map) 

***There are lowhead dams throughout sections of the eligible fishing waters! Be sure to know what is on the section of water you are fishing!

Stillwater River
Description
The Stillwater River has the appropriate name, so if you plan to fish it you are sure to hit some long flat sections.  The upside is that in my experience the Stillwater has the largest concentration of largemouth bass than the other rivers.  This could be an advantage if you are able to get them to bite.  Certain sections will also have quite a few shallow riffles you will need to drag through.
Recent Trip
Since I wasn't able to fish the Stillwater in the last couple of weeks I will give you some information from my past experiences there.  There are some very, very large bass in the Stillwater.  I have witnessed a 5 lb. largemouth caught in the Stillwater as well as a 20" largemouth that I lost boatside this spring. The larger pools hold the bigger Largemouth and can be tempted with the typical lake lures (jigs, plastics, spinnerbaits, etc).  Don't be suprised if you land a big largemouth in some swift current at the upstream side of a big pool or right before the next riffle on the downstream side of a big pool.  The water will be slightly stained, so color options are endless.  The primary structure you should fish on the Stillwater include the numerous laydowns (ones in current are fish magnets) and above/below any and all riffles.  If you don't fish rivers often and don't have confidence in smallie fishing this might be the river for you.  Most of the areas in the northern stretches of the eligible water hold quality fish.  Catch rates seem to dwindle the closer you get to the GMR confluence.
Trip Recommendations
The Miami Conservancy District Map has shows your best put-ins/takeouts.
If you are looking to put-in/take-out at the same location there are several areas in the northern stretches that are just large pools with small riffles in between, so getting back upstream is very easy.

Little Miami River

Description
All of the eligible waters on the LMR have canoe livery traffic, but it usually dies down this late in the year and shouldn't be a problem.  As far as the fishing goes you will want to target the several lay downs and especially the ones in deeper moving water.  Also not to be overlooked is any rocky structure you can find even if it is as shallow as a foot deep and especially if it is before or after a riffle.  Since there are very few rocky areas on the LMR smallies tend to hold to them.  Good lures to use are plastics and bass jigs flipped into the laydowns, stickbaits or square bills to run through current and rocky structure, spinnerbaits, and buzzbaits. 
Recent Scouting Report
Last weekend I floated about a 3.5 mile stretch of the Little Miami River and the water level was low and the water clarity was pretty clear.  Having fished this section several times over the years I knew the water level wasn't out of the ordinary for late September. Unless we get a decent amount of rain this week you will have to drag through the occasional shallow rocky riffles. As far as how the fishing went I caught a total of about 7 bass in about 3 hours.  My top 3 were 16.5", 15", and 14".  Of the 7 fish caught all were Smallmouth except for one; the 15" Largemouth.  There are Largemouth in the LMR, but the smallies reign supreme in the eligible sections for the tournament.  

On a side note, about 6 or 7 years ago I caught my personal best smallmouth of 22" on the LMR in the eligible waters, so you may get your photo taken with a true Ohio football!
Trip Recommendations 
There are several put ins and take outs along the eligible waters. Most of them are fairly easy to access.   You can also contact one of the Canoe Liveries (Bellbrook Canoe Rental or Riversedge Canoe Rental) to arrange for a shuttle.  If you are looking to just put-in and take-out at the same location about the only spot to do so easily would be at the Indian Ripple Road bridge (The Narrows).  From that point you can easily drag your kayak upstream to a small pool or go downstream to the larger pools about a mile or so.  Getting back upstream from this point is fairly easy with easy drags through shallow riffles.

Mad River

Description 
The Mad River is not like the typical river in Ohio.  It is spring fed and has a much cooler water temp in the summer than surrounding rivers.  This cool water is why the upper sections of the Mad is one of only a few rivers or streams in Ohio that can harbor trout year round.  The river levels downstream of Buck Creek can also fluctuate due to dam releases from CJ Brown Reservoir.  These releases occur every weekend during the fall and rises the Mad a small bit, but sometimes enough to trigger a very good smallmouth bite. If you are able to catch the river on a rise under perfect weather conditions you can catch a lot of quality smallmouth and the occasional largemouth.  The eligible waters on this river can flow pretty quickly and you will need to know how to maneuver your kayak well to target some of the best spots.  If you don't have very good control of your kayak I would look at fishing another river because chances are you will float by most spots too quickly to fish it properly.  This river also flows right through the Midwest Outdoor Experience where registration and measure-in will take place.  Since a majority of this river flows fairly fast it is primarily a rocky bottom river with very clear visibility.

Recent Trip
This past Saturday I floated a section of the Mad River with Amanda Jones, Sean Stone, and Brad Lehman (with a shout out to Jeff Scrader for the shuttle!).  None of them had floated this section of the Mad before so they were both scouting and looking to land a YAK Ohio smallmouth.  With only a few days left a 19" smallmouth would earn them a top 3 YAK Ohio.  I even felt a little pressure in finding a 19" smallie for one of us, but not because of anything they said or did but because I knew the rivers in Dayton could provide one.

At the put-in I guided everyone to a certain spot I had done well at in the past.  Sean and Brad paddled up to one bank as Amanda and I paddled up to the other bank.   As soon as we got into place I landed a 15.25" smallie within 5 or 6 casts.

After I landed my smallmouth I told Amanda to slide into the spot I was fishing in and pointed to a specific current break I wanted her to cast into and with what lure. Within 5 or 6 casts she landed a 15"+ smallie!

After about another 20 minutes we drifted down stream to our first portage.  As we were dragging our kayaks around the portage I told them that the section coming up is very wide and shallow, but it held some really nice sized fish.  Most of the water was only a foot deep and held some small fish, but I told them to focus on the narrow 50 yard long ditch that was about 3' deep.  As everyone began tying on new lures Amanda had another hook up....a 15"+ smallmouth on her first cast!

Soon after, I landed a couple of little smallmouth until I hooked into a smallmouth that I was able to put the Kayak Wars stretch on (mouth open, tail pinched) and get it to 15".
After a few more small fish caught by Brad we decided to float further downstream where we picked up some smaller fish, but nothing to speak about.  I ended my day on the Mad River with a 3 fish total of  43.75".

As far as fishing tips on the Mad, natural shad color imitations work best.  Let me repeat that: natural shad color lures work best!  Leave the chartreuse, red, orange, black, blue, or any other dark colors in your tackle box.  The water is very, very clear, so scaling down a bit won't hurt either.  In my experience, I have caught some of my largest fish on smaller baits in the Mad.  If you do your best with bass jigs or plastics this isn't your river.  The recommended  lures would be any shad imitation such as square-bills, shallow running cranks and stickbaits, lead heads with twister tails, and any variety of minnow imitating top water baits.  By the way, the Mad River had the record smallmouth bass in Ohio stand for 51 years!

Trip Recommendations 
Harshman Road (right at the entrance for the Midwest Outdoor Experience) is an easy access put-in.  From there you can float down to Whitewater Warehouse on Valley Street.  This trip is just over 3 miles, but fast flowing so it only takes 3-4 hours to fish it thoroughly. If you want to float a bit further you can go down to the GMR confluence and take out over near the Kettering Fields softball diamonds.  This take-out requires dragging kayaks up a tall levy and isn't easy.  Another option is once you hit the GMR confluence is to paddle upstream past the Kettering Fields and portage upstream around Steel Dam (easy portage on left side facing upstream) and then paddle up to Triangle Park.  The water above Steel Dam is a bit deeper and you can spend several hours fishing just this sections that includes the Stillwater Confluence.

Great Miami River

Description
The Great Miami River is by far the largest river in the eligible waters and sometimes stretches several yards wide.  Some stretches (usually upstream of the lowhead dams) have a mud bottom and other stretches have a rocky bottom.  This river offers the greatest variety of structure out of the four and if you have a "go to" bait this river will offer a situation that the bait would work.  Structure includes current breaks, bridge pilings, laydowns, riffles, submerged weed beds, weed beds along the shore, etc, etc....

Most of the river is only 3-5 foot deep with an occasional deep hole (some as deep as 20' in spots, but that is not the norm) or a deeper flat water section above a low-head.  The water clarity is typically pretty stained in the summer and fall while maintains a brown algae tinge to it from the slower moving current in the low water months.

Recent Trip
After Amanda, Sean, Brad, and I hit the Mad River we decided to hit the GMR for one last attempt at landing a 19" smallie.  Once we hit the water we noticed a major difference from the super clear Mad we fished earlier in the day.  The water had its typical brown stain and was a bit lower than it normally is in the fall.  It did still have a decent flow to it, so we knew fish would still be active.  As soon as we hit the river we paddled to the swiftest moving water we could find. After about 20 minutes we only found one small bass that Brad landed in some pretty swift and shallow water.  We decided to move downstream a bit to some slower moving, but deeper water and it immediately paid off.  I hooked up on a big fish and as soon as it bit it ran straight to the surface and jumped.  Brad was fishing nearby and saw the smallmouth jump and knew it was a big fish and started paddling my way.  After I set the hook I didn't notice any weight on the other end of the line and figured I just didn't get a good hook set since the fish went straight to the surface.  Once he dived down again I tried to get a good hookup on him again and found the drag on my baitcaster was set to nearly the lightest setting from moving rods in and out of cars and kayaks all day. I immediately tightened the drag down as fast as I could and set the hook for the 3rd time and realized I still had the fish hooked up.  I got the smallie to the boat and recognized he had that nice long tail that larger river smallmouth in Ohio tend to get.  I laid him on the board and he measured out at 19.5"!

After the 19.5"er everyone perked up and casting a little faster and with more purpose. Soon after, Brad landed four more smallies all in the 12-15" range. Which would have given him around a 42" total in the short 3 hours or so we were on the GMR.

Sean feeling left out on the day and with only 30 minutes of daylight remaining finally got his chance by hooking and landing his first fish of the trip. Now he'd probably like to tell you that it was a drag ripping, acrobatic, tank of a smallmouth, that nearly threw his hook twice.....but.................

Now if you end up fishing the GMR Saturday and use a shad imitation to catch some smallies make sure you go and thank Sean for his contribution to this post!

As for what works on the GMR, pretty much anything goes because it has so much structure and so many types of structure.  Due to the brown stained water I would use the typical colors recommended for that type of clarity.  What worked for us on the GMR Saturday were chartreuese shallow diving crankbaits.  I landed the larger fish on a KVD chartreuse squarebill.

Trip Recommendations
There are several sections of the GMR that can be easily accessed.  Using the Miami Conservancy District map will show your best put-in/take-out spots.
If you are looking to put-in and take-out at the same location an easy spot would be the East River Road boat ramp.  This area has a large flat water section downstream (around a mile or more) that features a few bridge pilings, steep dropping banks, and a large feeder creek.  The section upstream has more moving water, but if willing you can paddle upstream as far as the dam (around a mile upstream).  Many sections north of Dayton on the GMR are also popular and a shuttle service can be obtained by Adventures on the Great Miami.

Sponsor Challenge
Now that I have completely ruined whatever plan you had or have you completely

confused on what to do I have one more bit of information for you!
Smallie Stix has laid out a sponsor challenge....The FIRST person who measures-in a Fish Ohio 
Smallmouth Bass (20"+), 
Largemouth Bass (21"+), 
Northern Pike (32"+), or 
Saugeye (21"+) 
will win a custom Smallie Stix fishing rod!

Here are your best waterways for landing a FISH Ohio:
Largemouth Bass: Stillwater (Best), GMR (Good)
Pike: GMR Only
Saugeye: GMR (Best), Stillwater (OK)
Smallmouth Bass (ALL OF THEM!!!!)

Well, I hope this information helps out....
Good luck and while I am working the Buckeye Kayak Fishing Trail booth during the Midwest Outdoor Experience festival I sure will be wishing I was out on the water with you!

-Neil

PS: Be sure you give yourself time to walk around and check out the Midwest Outdoor Experience on Friday or after the tournament on Saturday.  It is a pretty cool deal. Also, if you qualified for Angler of the Year the prizes are going to be EPIC including a Wilderness Systems Ride 115X!