Primer for the Buckeye Kayak Fishing Trail

2013 Big Slab Winner - Chase Bateson

With one of the worst Ohio winters of memory nearing an end I thought this would be a good time to let everyone know what to expect on the Trail in 2014. Judging by all the online chatter it sounds like we will be seeing a lot of both new and familiar faces this year.

Before I start talking about the Trail in 2014 I want to talk a little bit about our sponsors. We had a couple rocky relationships with sponsors last year and we became a little more selective in now our 2^nd year....you live and you learn. However, our 2014 sponsor lineup is nothing short of AMAZING. I mean c'mon, we are raffling off a freaking WildernessSystems Ride 115X of all things! (more details on that in a bit) Whenever possible please look at purchasing items from our sponsors since they are the reason the Trail exists and how we are providing some ridiculously cool prizes this year!

Rumble on the River - 4 way Big Fish Tie

PLANNING

We began to plan for the 2014 schedule as soon as we handed out the money and trophies at our last event in 2013; the Midwest Outdoor Experience.

All along we knew that there were going to be 5 events that we were going to repeat due to popularity and proximity...

1. Big Slab Crappie Challenge on Indian Lake – This was probably one of the harder choices on this list
   

   

   One of the many 20"+ Lunkers at Kiser

   for a repeat just because there are a lot of great crappie lakes in Ohio. What tipped the scales in favor of repeating at Indian Lake again was the numerous protected channels. Last year the wind howled across the lake at 20+ mph, but anglers found a ton of protected water and caught a lot of fish. As everyone knows, Spring weather in Ohio is ridiculously unpredictable.
2. Rumble on the River – Columbus Area Rivers – One of our more popular events last year with eligible waters loaded with br
   onzebacks!
3. Kiser Kayak Classic – If you attended Kiser Lake last year you know why it is a popular kayak
   

   

   Buckeye Open - Fish your Honey Holes!

   fishing spot.....pads, pads, and more pads!
4. Buckeye Open – Labor Day Weekend – Our holiday weekend event was pretty popular last year because it offered 4 days of fishing and anglers could hit home waters or travel to other Ohio waters. It also offered anglers a way to fish at their own pace; some fished all four days straight and some only a couple days.
5. Dayton Kayak Fishing Experience @ the Midwest Outdoor Experience – Probably the most popular event last year. Dayton
   area rivers are stacked with smallies and it showed at the measure in. Not only do we name our Angler of the Year, but we also hand out prizes/trophies for the YAK Ohio's. And then there is the cool festival taking place
   all weekend. The festival offers free camping, craft beers, and a number of activities to watch....a popular one is always the Ultimate Air Dogs!

Find your pot of gold (or Ride 115X) at the Midwest Outdoor Experience!

After our first year we learned a lot and found that a large base of our anglers were from the Dayton and Columbus areas (or very close). In 2013 we scheduled a couple events that were a pretty long drive from both those areas (Nettle Lake & Three Lake Throwdown – Milton, Berlin, Deer Creek Reservoir) and didn't get the draw we were hoping for. So in 2014 we decided to try and stay a bit closer to the Columbus and Dayton areas. With a few locations already in stone since they went so well in 2013 we only had to make a couple changes. We wanted to schedule something to the Northeast of Cbus and something to the Southeast of Cbus.

Note: We want to schedule a location closer to Cleveland and the northeast part of the state in 2015, so those anglers wanting to see that happen come out and show your support and tell us where you want to see the BKFT next year!!!

Selecting a lake is much more complicated than just saying meet here on a certain date and a lot of work is required to be sure an event can be pulled off...

*Are permits required?

*Lake size – big enough for 30+ kayaks?

*Motor boat traffic – safe enough for 30+ kayaks?

*Are we giving our anglers the best chance to catch fish?

*Make sure there aren't any other events going on at the same time like a corn dog, fried twinkie, or some other crazy festival in town
*Try to eliminate weather occurrences if possible

*Does it have enough camping that is close

A lot of these items is why we have been so hesitant to try something on Lake Erie, but possibly we try down the road.

NEW EVENTS

Buckeye Blitz – We originally held this online tournament later in the year, but decided to move it up to Memorial Day weekend since the Labor Day weekend online tournament did so well last year. Labor Day usually falls into pre, post or spawning LM bass times, so it should be interesting.

Paddlefest on Cincinnati Rivers – In 2013 two of our three most popular events were river events. You can't have too much of a good thing can you? This event will highlight some of Ohio's excellent fishing stretches of river.

Breaking Bass on Burr Oak Lake – Being a fairly short drive from the Columbus area as well as being rated as an excellent LMB fishery for both numbers and size by the ODNR helped make this lake an easy choice.

Knockout on Knox Lake – This was a lake unfamiliar to me and brought into the discussion for the same reasons Burr Oak Lake received the nod. It also has an ODNR rating of excellent for both LMB numbers and size while also being within a short drive from Columbus.

SCHEDULE

May 17^th - Big Slab Crappie Challenge – Indian Lake

May 23-26^th – Buckeye Blitz Online Tournament (any Ohio waters)

June 21^st - Paddlefest – Cincinnati area rivers

July 19^th - Rumble on the River – Columbus area rivers

Aug 2^nd – Breaking Bass on Burr Oak Lake

August 16^th – Kiser Kayak Classic – Kiser Lake

Aug 29-Sept 1^st - Buckeye Open – Online Tournament (any Ohio waters)

Sept 13^th - Knockout on Knox – Knox Lake

Oct 4^th – Dayton Kayak Fishing Experience at Midwest Outdoor Experience – Dayton area rivers

Submit Fish All Year Long!

BONUS

Since most anglers also participate in Kayak Wars and fish year round outside the Trail we decided to add
the Buckeye Bass Challenge. The Challenge in simplest of terms is anglers can submit bass (LM, SM, Spotted) throughout the year. At the end of the year each angler stacks up their 5 best fish and the tops spots will receive points in the standings if they qualify for Angler of the Year (more on AOY later).

WHAT TO EXPECT

For those new to the Trail in 2014 I will walk you through what you should expect...but first read up on the RULES.

All events have a centralized check-in and registration location. You can prepay online for an additional small fee or just pay the morning of the tournament. The events all cost $20 with an optional $5 for the big fish pot. If I had to guess I would say that 90% or more all paid the additional $5 for big fish. Remember, 100% of this money is paid out at the end of the tournament to the top spots and the angler who caught the big fish. All of the check-in/registrations include a short 5-10 minute angler meeting outlining the basic rules for the event and then anglers can launch at any public launch site on the designated fishing waters. While on the water it is recommended you stay close to at least another angler in case something were to happen. You also want to be prepared for ALL weather conditions. Last year we saw 25+ mph winds, massive storms with a lot of lightning, and very hot, hot days for different tournaments. Be sure to have sunscreen, liquids to hydrate, and something to munch on because it can be a long time on the water.

If you have never caught a fish and tried to measure it on a measuring board in a kayak I can give you one

It happens to the best of 'em!

piece of advice: Practice, Practice, Practice! Most fish aren't cooperative and tend to flip off the board at the exact time you take a picture. The lip of the fish MUST be touching the zero lip on the Hawg Trough and it must be easily seen in the picture. Often holding a fish with fish/boca grips covers the lip in the photo, so be careful and make sure it is shown in the picture. The mouth can be open and the tail can be pinched. After a lot of discussion last year we decided on using the same rules Kayak Wars uses. It makes it very easy for us measuring fish...we only have to make sure lip is touching the zero mark and then determine the total length.

The measure-in will be announced at registration in the morning (and is often located at the same place). It is critical that you plan ahead for the check-in. Every 1 minute you are late an inch is deducted from your total length. If you are a far paddle from the measure-in or vehicle be sure to give yourself plenty of time to make it back. Most anglers are back about 30 minutes early to be safe.

Once at the measure-in you can locate BKFT staff and start measuring fish. If your camera does not have a removable SDHC memory card it is your responsibility to provide a cable or adapter for us to read the pictures. It is also highly recommended that you have only your fish pictures on the memory card. It takes a lot longer and delays the announcements if we have to browse through photos of your pet iguana to find the fish pictures. After all the fish are tallied we will announce the top finishers and award the cash. All anglers that DID NOT place in the cash are then eligible to win prizes donated from our sponsors! We draw a number and the person selected gets first choice until the prizes are gone.

NEW FOR 2014 EVENTS

*A new rule for the Trail this year is that everyone is required to use a Hawg Trough brand measuring board. You can find them at several locations online, but we suggest one of our sponsors: Hook1.

After measuring all of the fish last year I can tell you this small requirement saves us A LOT of time and trouble.

*We are hoping to have a “Leaderboard” (whiteboard) at the measure-in where we will update the top spots as we tally them!

*The winner of each event will receive a custom designed BKFT jersey!

LEADERBOARD FOR ANGLER OF THE YEAR

2013 AOY Jeff Bennett rigging his new Ride 115X!

To be eligible for 2014 Angler of the Year you must participate in no fewer than 4 events. Of those 4 events only one can be an online event. Last year we only required 3 events (max. 1 online). Of those anglers who qualify for Angler of the Year the top spots will be awarded prizes. The Angler of the Year has first choice, then the runner-up, and so on.

Also, anyone that qualifies for Angler of the Year (ie: participates in 4 events, max one online event) is
entered into a raffle to win a kayak!!!!! Wilderness Systems has donated a brand new Ride 115X...if you haven't seen one or wonder how it performs be sure to ask 2013 Angler of the Year Jeff Bennett how he likes his....he is rigging his new Ride 115X as I type this blog entry.

(Not so shameless sponsor plug: Whitewater Warehouse, a major BKFT sponsor has an assortment of fishing yaks available to demo. If you are interested let me know).

YAK OHIO

YAKOhio started on February 1 and lasts until October 1^st , but with ice covering most Ohio waters it has

Michael Murphy already posted an unbeatable Carp YAK Ohio??

been a slow start. I expect a lot of categories to really heat up in the next couple of weeks.

All of our categories will have prize packages for the top 3, so start catching some impressive fish!

Here are the categories for 2014:

*Pike/Musky/Gar – Gar was added to this category in 2014. It was a logical fit as the gar and musky state records are very close with the pike record not too far behind.

*Walleye/Saugeye

*Crappie

*Striped/Hybrid/White Bass

*Catfish

*Carp

*Largemouth Bass

*SmallmouthBass

I am going to go out on a limb, well maybe just a very large branch and say that all the 2013 YAK Ohiowinners wouldn't win in 2014.

Well, I hope all of you are chomping at the bit to get this thing started and rid yourself of cabin fever!

If you have any questions refer to the website:

http://www.buckeyekayakfishingtrail.com/

or send an email to buckeyekayakfishingtrail@gmail.com

We also have a couple more open slots for sponsors so send contact information to our email address if you know someone interested! Be careful out on the water and let's have an awesome 2014!!!!

-Neil

Buckeye Kayak Fishing Trail

Fishing the Rising River, 2/19

Wednesday I met up with Russ and hit the water around 8:30am. I had originally planned on sleeping in and meeting Michael Murphy at 10:30am. However, after a few texts back and forth with Russ he decided that he didn't need to sleep after he got off work. Sleep was overrated and he would be fishing Wednesday morning as well. Here in southern Ohio we recently experienced a significant snow melt, which had most of our smaller rivers out and over their banks. The Ohio River on the other hand takes several days after a large rain event or snow melt before it fluctuates. The NOAA had the river at 34.8 feet and that it would rise nearly 18" during our time on the water Wednesday. This was slightly alarming, but not enough to keep us off of the water. Russ and I met in the parking lot at 8:30 and began to unload all of our gear into our kayaks. We then drug our kayaks down small hill and into the water.

We then proceeded to paddle upstream, our goal was to then to drift downstream hitting current breaks and log jams along the way. Russ and I had slightly different plans, I wanted to hit a few spots for hybrid striped bass and he wanted to focus on catfish. On our way upstream I convinced him to give the hybrid stripers a shot before he switched over to strictly catfishing. We pulled up to the "Hybrid Striper Spot" and worked our baits in and out of the current breaks. I tried Smack Tackle's Gizz 3 (crankbait) and a tandem Zoom Super Fluke Jr rig before I decided to break out the shrimp and liver combo. I rigged a piece of shrimp onto a size 1 hook attached to a 12" leader, swivel, and a 1oz casting sinker. I tossed it out near a current break and watched as my bait drifted into the slack water. No sooner than my bait had settled on the bottom I felt a tap. I paused, dropped my rod tip, and set the hook. On the first cast with shrimp I landed the first fish of the trip, a small 18" channel cat. (Good enough for 10 points for our Kayak War tournament) I then proceeded to re bait and toss my bait back out into the current. After a brief 10 second wait I felt another tap, this time around I feel several taps before the fish starts to pull my rod tip down. I dropped the rod tip to give the fish line and then I set the hook.

This went on for about 45 minutes before I decided to move. I caught over 20 small hybrids and a couple channel cats. I was burning through my bait and I wasn't even halfway through my trip. By this time Russ had headed back downstream to his log jam. He had already been gone for 30 minutes, and it was now around 11:15am. I knew Michael had to be on the water somewhere so I paddled downstream to see if I could find him and say hey. As soon as I rounded the bend I found Michael setting on the bank casting toward a tree in the middle of the creek. I stopped to strike up conversation and to see if he had caught anything. He was still working on finding his first fish of the trip, but he said Russ had pulled in a nice channel cat off of a fallen tree. I believe Mikes actually quote was, "I was paddling upstream when I saw another kayak fishing near the bank....I didn't know if it was Russ or not, but then I saw the guy pull in a big channel cat....then I knew it was Russ." I found this pretty funny because once you spend any time at all with Russ, you will figure out he's all about catfish. We could go bass fishing and he'd catch catfish on bass baits.

Mike and I spoke for another 5 or 6 minutes before I decided to paddle downstream and check on Russ. I previously had Buckeye Kayak Fishing Trail's #1 spot on their YAK OHIO Catfish category with a 25.25" channel. I figured he had a good shot of beating me, but I wanted to know for sure. Sure enough he had landed a channel .25" larger than mine. He also told me that he had racked up 30 points for our Kayak Wars team. At this point I only had 10 points so I had some ground to make up. I paddled over to the next logjam downstream and tossed some shrimp and liver at the head of the logs.

I caught a few small channels, most of which were right at the 18" mark. I actually ended up losing one nice acrobatic channel cat. I had moved from the head of the log jam to the core by tying off to a tree branch near the surface of the water. On my first cast I felt a thump and then my line went slack. I started to reel up slack when all of a sudden the fish decided to make a run. My rod began to bow, and my drag began to sing. On the fishes first run it decides that it wants to make a 1' jump out of the water and over a tree limb....which then of course wraps me up in the tree. I could see the fish struggling below the surface so I dropped my rod tip and began to pull my anchor when the line went slack. If I had to guess I'd say the channel cat went every bit of 22-24".

After that fishing got pretty slow, and at about 1pm Russ paddled over to Mike and I and said he was headed home to hit the sack. Mike was working a deep log jam probably 20 yard upstream of the fallen tree I was fishing. Less than 5 minutes after Russ leaves I hear Mike say hes got one. I didn't think much about it at the time so I told him congrats and went back to fishing. Two minutes later I hear him say, "Its a nice one." At this point I'm amazed that he is still fighting the same fish, so I look back to find his rod doubled over and him struggling to keep his rod tip up. He was using both hands to hold the rod up the fish was taking drag at a rather slow rate. At this point I knew it was time to pull anchor and take a closer look at Mike's fish.

  He fought the fish for another couple minutes before we caught a glimpse of the fish. It made a huge boil and we saw a good chunk of its tail. It was too dark to be a hybrid striper, and to tall from top to bottom to be a catfish. We were clueless. After another 30 seconds of pulling and lifting, Mike brought the fish to the surface. It was a giant buffalo. Now came the fun part, how in the heck do we get this thing in his kayak? He reached behind his seat and pulled out a net that was probably 12" in diameter, something I would consider a good crappie net. I looked at him and said, "Nope that ain't going to work, Do you have fish grips?" He then pulled out a set of metal fish grips and tried to get a grip on the buffalo's "sucker like" mouth but failed to find anything to hold onto. I offered to give him my set of Fish Grips, they had a larger surface area than his metal fish grips so they might just clamp on enough to lift the fish into his kayak. He then reached behind his seat to pull out his very own set of fish grips. (Why he had 2 pairs, I'll never know) He then proceeded to clamp onto the buffalo's mouth and then pull the fish out of the water.

At about halfway out of the water I noticed the fish grips slip down the buffalo's mouth, so I told Mike that we should try to lift the fish from both the head and its tail. We then grabbed his crappie net and got the tail into the net. From there it was pretty easy, Mike hoisted the buffalo into his kayak and began to prepare for photos. First we started off with a picture of the buffalo on the hawg trough. (Mikes actually on another Kayak War Team)

The buffalo then proceeded to make a few flops and crack Mikes hawg trough. I feel pretty confident in saying that he didn't mind one bit.

Mike and I then went back to working the fallen trees and log jams. Near the mouth of the creek we found another hot bite. One particular spot gave up 3 channel cats in under 30 minutes, the largest of which was this nice 24" channel.

At this point we had drifted all of the way to the mouth of the creek, it was only 3pm so we decided to paddle back upstream and try all of the spots again. For the most part things were slow, the first few spots were very disappointing. I did manage my first kayak war blue cat of the year while drifting chicken liver on a 1/2oz jig head.

Shortly after this blue, I caught another little guy. However, he was a few inches short. Eventually we made it to one of my favorite spots in the creek, a deep hole, with several trees, and a small feeder creek. I dropped anchor and tossed two rods out. I set one in a rod holder and held the other one in my hand. Then the rod in the rod holder began to bend, and bend, and bend. I quickly grabbed the rod and set the hook. By this time of the day, the water was up at a minimum of a foot from where it was when we arrived, so the current was getting pretty strong. With that said I knew I had hooked a good fish, the current may have played a role but this fish was definitely putting up one heck of a fight. It kept its head down the whole fight, using the current to push itself to the bottom every chance it could. I brought it to the surface at least five different times only to watch it tuck its head under the current and dive back down to the bottom. Eventually I won the battle and the fish rolled over onto its side and gave me an opportunity to get a fish grip in its mouth. I got it on the board and was shocked when it only went 25".

Mike paddled upstream and took a picture a quick picture for me.

After the picture Mike decided to head back home, a nearly 2.5 hour drive. I stuck it out and worked a few more trees until the sun set.

On the trip I landed approximately 18 channel cats, over 24 hybrid striped bass, and 2 blue cats. Michael had landed a giant buffalo and caught a nice channel cat around 20". Russ had caught over a dozen channel cats and one small hybrid. We were covered in fish slime and wouldn't have had it any other way.

Florida....2/12- 2/16

As many of you know Neil and I took a trip down to Florida last weekend to do some inshore kayak fishing. The weekend wasn't quite what I had expected of Florida, but I had a blast none the less. Air temperatures were in the mid to upper 50's nearly every day, water temperatures were similar. The fishing was slow, but we did manage a few good fish. As always I'll start from the beginning and walk you through our adventure.

Tuesday I received an email from Neil asking me what time I could get off work Wednesday to leave. We previously talked about leaving after work around 5pm Wednesday night. He then informed me that there was a bad snow storm heading toward Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama all of which were states that we had to travel through to get to Pensacola. The storm was to hit the region around 8pm Wednesday evening and was predicted to drop a couple inches of snow. After a few emails back and forth we decided to leave as soon as we could Wednesday morning and try to beat the storm.


Wednesday February 12

Wednesday morning I woke up around 4am and loaded the car down with gear, clothes, equipment, kayaks, etc. I then took off to work  to run a few samples before I left town. I got to work early and began running my water samples, I finished everything up and hit the road around 8am. I quickly took note of the air temperature, hopefully it would be the last time I would see these air temps and snow. My car read -5 degrees just west of Peebles, Ohio.


I then made the 2 hour drive up to Dayton where I met Neil and loaded all of his gear up. We then hit the bank and grabbed a bite to eat before leaving Ohio. Around 11am we were officially on our way, a nearly 12 hour journey to Florida. Things were going pretty smooth up until about 4pm when we received a call from Neils step dad telling us that is was snowing an hour south of where we were. At this point air temperatures were still in the 40's so we didn't think much of it. As we made our way into Tennessee the snow began to fall. The further south we went, the larger the flakes got. After another 30 minutes the snow was starting to stick to the roads. This is where Neil began his passenger seat driving. Once I saw the snow starting to stick to the roads I slowed down to the speed limit (65MPH), I was doing 5 mph faster before which already had him irritated enough. Once I hit the speed limit he started making his jokes. "Whats the matter, you've never driven in a little snow before?.....Your from Ohio aren't you?...You want me to drive?....", etc.  I told him that we will get there when we get there. I just wanted to make sure we made it down to Florida.


We pulled off at a gas station in southern Tennessee and I took a quick picture of the snow flakes, I figured it was pretty rare to see in southern Tennessee. We filled up the tank, used the bathroom, grabbed some snacks, and hit the road. Once the sun set and temperature dropped the snow began to completely cover the roads. I had slowed down to 45 mph and was getting passed by semi truck drivers, which really got Neil going. We drove for 3 hours at this pace. Once we hit the Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia line Neil needed a break so we decided to hit an exit and stop by Bass Pro Shops. It turns out that 2" of snow completely shuts down Alabama and Georgia because not only was Bass Pro closed, even Mcdonalds had even shut down. The roads at this point were covered in 2-3" of snow, there was little to no traffic, and no sign of salt trucks or plows around. At one point we were on a interstate that was completely covered with 2-3" of fresh snow and no tracks from previous vehicles. I had no idea where one lane started and the other stopped, this particular highway was a 6 lane so I had 3 lanes to chose from. There wasn't a single car around so I chose to use all three lanes. I weaved back and forth between lanes at about 20 miles per hour, which called for some more passenger seat driving from Neil. "Left...go left, your in two lanes.... What are you doing?...Those are the reflectors from the other lane your hitting. ......Follow those tracks, NO STAY IN THE LANE." I just laughed and kept driving. About halfway through Alabama the snow turned to rain and we got back onto open roads. Around midnight we made it to Florida.


Thursday February 13

In the morning we got up around 7am and made our way to a local bait store. We needed to get our Florida licenses and Neil wanted to pick up a reel. We got our licneses and I picked up a few baits, including Gulp Alive Shrimp, DOA Shrimp, popping corks, saltwater jig heads, etc.

Neils reel wasn't in stock at any of the local bait shops so we took a trip to a local bass pro shops. Neil picked up his reel, and we grabbed a few bags of frozen shrimp in case the bite was slow. We then drove over to a local boat ramp and hit the water at around 3pm.....finally some fishing.

The game plan was to work a pair of bridges in a sheltered bay. The bridges attracted fish of all species and Neil was certain we'd find fish here. We quickly worked the first bridge with artificial (Gulp Alive Shrimp on a 1/4oz Jig for me personally), but failed to find the fish. We didn't waste much time at this bridge, Neil said the other bridge was in deeper water and was much better fishing. We made the 10 minute paddle over to the other bridge and began working every pillar we could. This bridge wasn't nearly as sheltered as the first one (seen above). The wind and current was ripping through making it hard to stay in one spot long enough to make a cast.

We worked the bridge with artificial baits for over two hours before we decided to paddle over to the bank and take a break. Neil assured me that the fish where here. At this point it was an hour before sunset so we decided to stick this spot out and see if the wind died down and the fish started feeding.

I pulled off my Gulp Alive Shrimp and threaded a frozen shrimp on my jig head and went back to working the bridge area. If anything was going to catch fish it was going to be real shrimp. I hit the front side, the back side, in between pillars, etc.. but nothing seemed to matter. The fish just weren't willing to bite. We stayed till dark and then made the paddle back to the boat ramp. This was not how I imagined this trip going at all. All we could do is hope that the fishing was better in other spots tomorrow.

 We loaded the car up, grabbed a bite to eat, and drove back the house. Once we got the house Neil's step brother Jon asked us if we wanted to go out on the big boat in the morning. We looked at the weather and decided that if we were going to take the big boat offshore fishing, that Friday was the best day to do so. The wind was supposed to  be calm until around noon, and the waves were only forecasted to be 1-2 feet transitioning into 2-4 feet afternoon. We set our alarms for 5am and went to bed.

Friday February 14

Friday we woke up, loaded the truck and boat, and hit the water. We made our way out of the bay and drove about 10 miles offshore to a spot that always produces fish. We got to our destination and dropped anchor. We then broke out the cigar minnows and squid. Our rigging was simple, a modified dropshot rig with extremely heavy weight. I had a 6oz pyramid sinker tied onto the bottom and then a 2' leader with a 2/0 circle hook about 3 feet above the pyramid sinker. We wanted to get our baits to the bottom (100 feet plus deep) and keep them there.  Jon, Neils step brother, dropped a line down before the boat had even drifted into position. As soon as his bait got to the bottom....BAM, fish on!. Everyone then scurried to get baits on and in the water. The first fish of the day on the first cast of the trip was a little Red Snapper. Jon quickly released it and went back to work. Mike, Neils Stepdad, was the second one to land a fish a small Gray Snapper mere minutes later.

Then Jon's girlfriend got in on the action too, with an impressive Red Snapper.

The bite was hot, this is how I imagined inshore fishing out of kayaks. Less than 15 minutes later Neil got on the board with a very cool looking rock fish.(The coolest looking fish of the trip, in my opinion)

About 30 minutes later I had gotten my first fish of the trip, a little red snapper.

From this point forward everyone caught 2 or three more snapper each, and occasionally a new species would make its way to the surface. My coolest fish of the trip was a small 10" Sea Bass.

About halfway through our trip we were interrupted by a very curious dolphin. Everyone else had seen dolphins before so it wasn't a real big deal to them, however I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures.

At about noon (Florida time....my camera was still set for Ohio's time.) we noticed a school of fish busting about 40 yards away from the boat. As time passed the shcool of fish grew and got more aggressive. Jon was pretty dead set on trolling for these mystery fish so we decided to pull anchor and see what these fish were. Neil's stepdad, Mike, went to work making wire trolling harnesses. We rigged up two cigar minnows and tossed them out 30 yards behind the boat weightless. We then began trolling at about 5 miles per hour. I think pretty much every one but Jon thought that trolling was a waste of time.We made a couple passes through the school and then all of a sudden one rod goes down. Jon jumps up and grabs the rod, making sure to tell us that he told us we would catch them trolling....and he was right.

After a 3 to 4 minute battle he brought a nearly 30" Bonito into the boat.

 We trolled for another hour but we failed to catch another fish. The wind had picked up and the school was either harder to see or had left the area completely. We then decided to drop anchor and see if we could jig up a few more fish before the wind and waves got worse. We dropped anchor and Mike quickly pulled up a nice red snapper.

Less than ten minutes later I added a new species to my list, a Trigger Fish.

Neil soon added another species to the boat as well, this time with what I believe to be a Red Porgy.

Shortly after Neil's Red Porgy the wind picked up and the boats anchor began to slip. The wind picked up quick and so did the waves. After a few minutes we decided to call it a day and head back in before the 2-3 foot waves turned into 4-5 foot waves. I headed up to the nose of the boat and begin pulling the anchor up against the wind. I get about 50 feet of rope in before I start to feel resistance. At first I thought Mike must be extremely strong. He had pulled the anchor up earlier when we began trolling and he did it with ease. I on the other hand was struggling to get the anchor up this time around. After about 2 minutes of trying I looked back and told him that I thought his anchor was snagged. We then both began tugging on the anchor rope while Jon eased the boat forward. It was hung up, and hung up good. Eventually we got the anchor up and squared away.

It was probably a good idea that we decided to head back when we did because the ride back in 3' waves was rough enough. If it had been 4 to 5 footers, I'd still be sore.

We got back to the boat ramp around 4pm and began loading the truck up. We then drove back to the house. With a little under 2 hours of daylight left Neil and I decided to go out and look at a few spots to see if we could fish them in the morning. We were concerned with wind and the current created by the tides. We stopped at the first spot and it was pretty obvious that if there was any wind at all we'd be in trouble. We then drove 30 minutes over to another spot that Neil had fished before, this was his Sheepshead spot. The way I understood Sheepshead was that they were similar to bluegill fishing in Ohio. If the fishing was tough we could at least catch sheepshead. This spot was a small canal that had some deep water nearby. It was protected as well, so we decided to give it a shot in the morning.


Saturday February 15

Neil and I woke up at 6am and drove over to a local bait store to pick up fiddler crab for sheepshead bait. While at the bait store we struck up conversation with the older gentleman behind the counter. We talked for nearly 30 minutes about how the fishing was, and where he thought the fish would be. At one point we asked him what was biting to which he replied "Nothings biting well. These last two weeks have been cold and have shut almost everything down." He then continued, "You may be able to catch a few sheepshead down by the bridge", which was exactly what we had in mind. With a hint of reassurance we grabbed a couple dozen fiddler crabs and hit the water. 

We worked every square inch of the bridge, both sides and failed to catch a single fish. After 4 hours on the water without a bite I was pretty upset.....and to be honest I contemplated dragging the kayak up on the bank and taking a nap. Instead I paddled over to the other side and began working a the bridge again. I dropped a fiddler crab down on a drop shot rig and began to bounce it as I drifted back with the current. I then felt a tap...tap. I waited for a second and lifted my rod slowly. I didn't feel any weight, I paused for a few seconds and then began to reel my bait to the surface. I had gotten cleaned,  I officially had my first bite of the day. I worked this spot for another hour, losing at least another 10 crabs to the bait thief. The sudden surge of bites had fueled my spirits enough to continue fishing. At about 4pm Neil and I gave the bridge a break and decided to paddle over to a nearby grassy flat. The thought was that the bright warm sun would move fish into the shallow waters......well that didn't work out for us. We worked the flats up until an hour before sunset. We then paddled over to the bridge and went back to work probing the depths for sheepshead. At around 6pm Neil hooked into a fish. He then proceeded to bring the fish up out of 20 feet of water. After a short battle Neil had got the first and only fish from a kayak of the trip, a 13.5" sheepshead.

We worked the bridge until we could no longer see, but failed to land another fish.

Sunday February 16

Sunday we woke up at 6am and started packing up our things. Neil wanted to go look at a spot and possibly fish it for a few hours before we made our way back up to Ohio. I on the other hand, was not interested in wasting time fishing for these stubborn Florida fish. We had a 12 hour drive to Dayton, and then I had another 2 hour drive from there. I just wanted to get back home and get some rest before I had to go into work Monday. Instead of fishing we went over to Joe Patti's Seafood Market and got some fresh Shrimp, Crab, Grouper, and Snapper for the road. With a cooler of fresh sea food we hit the road and began our 12 hour journey back into the freezer that is Ohio. We left Pensacola at 8am with air temperatures at 63 degrees, I arrived in Peebles, Ohio at midnight with air temperatures hovering around 10 degrees and well over 5" of snow on the ground. At that point I realized that not catching fish in 50-60 degree weather wasn't so bad after all.