Thursday, April 21, 2011

Lake Sherwood, Warren County, MO, April 20th, 2011: Panfish are starting to warm up.....



Lake Sherwood is probably like most lakes in east central Missouri right now....high with water!  I did not know how the fishing would be after we had that massive cold front move through yesterday.  It was colder than I expected when I got out there.  I am glad I keep my gore-tex jacket stored in the kayak just in case.

Picked up some nightcrawlers and had one of the rods set up for a bottom rig, but due to the wind and the fact that my sea kayak does not have an anchor, I went back to mini spinning rigs (silver or gold spinner, jig head and mini grub).  Caught a couple of nice bluegill and a small slot size bass (the slot at Sherwood is 12-15"). Really enjoyed my time out in the water.
If you watch the video, I get the jig stuck in my hand about 2/3rd through it.  I like how I just tried to shake it off.

The thing to remember about sea kayaks and fishing is that there are some limitations.  I bought a rod leash and some foam rod floats.....leash D hook was cheap, fell off, and actually lost it in the water.  Rod fell in water and turned kayak around to find in floating.  Rod leash= FAIL  Rod Float= thumbs up!  Keep that in mind if you are fishing from a sea kayak.  I will be breaking the SOT fishing kayak out very soon.

Fish ON!

MLT

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Lake Ft. Smith, Arkansas, April 8th, 2011: Some success with Crappies!

What an incredible lake!  I only had a few hours to kayak and check this lake out, but I made sure to bring my fishing pole along.  Caught a few small Largemouth Bass, and then hit a log with a bunch of "bigger than your hand" crappies.  What a fun spell of fishing!




It seems like right now the roadrunner/white grub is the lure of choice with all the fishing I am doing.  Started throwing a small beetle spin and then switched to the roadrunner.  I was using 6# test, which I think helped with this lake.  Seems almost as clear as Table Rock Lake.

The lake has expanded....according to my GPS, I was on land the beginning of the paddle trip.  Lake Shepard Springs had the dam breached and it merged with Lake Ft. Smith.  Nice, large lake in NW Arkansas.  Really looking forward to going back.

Fish ON!

MLT