Kayak Bass Fishing National Championship Day 1 - March 23rd, 2018

Today was Day 1 of the two day KBF National Championship. 752 qualified anglers from 41 different states and Canada have all ascended on Kentucky Lake in search of the $100,000 first place prize or at least part of the $275,000 overall purse. Spradling, Nahodil, Harper, Steve Gunter, and myself all headed back to Smith Bay because eventhough they were short we had always caught fish there and I had done ok there last year. There were 17 kayaks at the launch ramp at 5:30am waiting on the event to start. Greg and I got to the point we wanted and started catching fish fast at 6:30am once the flag dropped. I caught 4 keepers quick all small but above the 12" minimum then moved up the bay and picked up a 14.5" smallie to round out a limit by 8:00am. Despite going on to catch 34 bass total and more drum I never could upgrade at all. I was sitting in 102 out of 752 at the end of action on day one. Only 12.5% of the field caught a five fish limit. More than 25% of the field blanked and was effectively done. Harper caught a strong 73" limit just around from me and Greg and four keepers.

Post Cold Front Lockdown- March 22nd, 2018

It warmed up some today on this our final day of pre-fishing. We headed to Blood River and it was a disaster. I think I caught one bass and 3 drums. There were anglers from all of the country everywhere. I was in one cove with a guy form Louisiana, another from Wisconsin, and yet another from Michigan. We tried hard but opportunities here were hard to find. The fish on the blood river were spread out and heavily pressured.

Wind that Won’t Quit- March 21st, 2018

Post cold front high pressure front. That is about all I have to say about that. We headed back to Smith and nearly got blown off the face of the planet. It was a tough day with only short fish on Ned rigs to show for our effort.

Springtime in Paris - March 19th and 20th , 2018

 Today our crew of five plus Jeff Ross and Brandon Olmstead headed out to fish in Paris Landing Marina since it was protected from the high winds associated with a big cold front that was headed our way. We new that our window for catching some fish was short with bad weather headed our way. Nahodil and Ross found some fish quick on a flat adjacent to the sea wall. Harper and I picked up a couple on cranks at the mouth of the marina and then later in ring with docks around it. I picked up one of my larger fish for the week. Harper got stuck under a bridge earning himself the name of the "Bridge Troll" then later caught a drum. Once the rain hit we rain up the road and ate some of the catfish that Paris is famous for, it was some of the best I have ever had.

“Cold Front” - March 20th, 2018

Today we headed out in snow gear to 35 degree air temps with 15 mph sustained winds at Little Bear Creek. Very little of it was even fishable with the wind but we were determined to try since that is what we come to do. Greg caught a big drum off the first point and I about flipped us trying to get a picture of it out in the wind. I later caught a smaller drum on a crank bait off a secondary point. Those were the only two fish caught today. We did manage a few fish off the dock which was surprisingly sheltered later in the day, but still fish were pretty sparse. Big bass have been really hard to find. .We did eat some more awesome catfish at Fast Eddie's, which may be one of the best bait and tackle stores in the area that also has a great restaurant.

Trash Fish Day - March 18th, 2018

Day 1 of pre-fishing for the KBF NC found Greg Harper, Nahodil, Jerrry Spradling, and myself catching lots of small fish in Smith Bay. We were catching a lot of short fish on crank baits and ned rigs. I picked up a 40 inch long nose gar that I thought was world class largemouth and a drum that weighed close to 7 pounds that also fooled me into thinking I had a big bass. We had a good time and picked on each other all the day long.

Breaking Camp - March 17th, 2018

 Twenty-five of us from the WVKA and SCKBA headed south for a fun week of fun, fellowship, and pre-fishing for the 2018 Kayak Bass Fishing National Championship on Kentucky Lake. We rented 3 different houses that all shared the same driveway along a point that also had two shared docks. When we arrived it was 77 degrees and sunny on this Saturday afternoon, this would be the last time for the week we would have warm stable weather. Jack Gillespie and I walked down to the dock to fish for the last hour of daylight. Jack quickly started rounding fish up with a orange pumpkin ned rig. I pickued up a couple on a magnum trick worm, but the fish were much more interested in a Ned rig, a sign of things to come. Although we did not catch any big ones it was nice to catch a few and share a laugh to start the week off.

High Skies and Wind - March 4th, 2018

Greg and I floated around the upper Shanklin's islands on a windy and high skies day with no clouds to be found. The water was only 46 degrees and the wind made fishing slow very difficult. I managed only one 15" smallie on a hula grub in around 3 feet of water. Greg caught a 32" musky on a tube, his 2nd musky in 2 trips in 2018. We fished for 2.5 hours. Greg hooked and lost an 18" class fish but it got off right at the bank. I dream of warm weather and warm water in the months ahead.

First Smallmouth of 2018 - February 25th, 2018

On an unseasonably warm Sunday afternoon I put my waders and went jig pitching. Within 5 minutes I landed my first smallmouth of 2018. He was 16 inches or so long. He was up shallow on a current break and scarfed up a hula grub before it could hit the bottom. I could use a whole lot more just like him.

Lost Photo - February 24th, 2018

Greg and I headed out to the Bluestone River on our first outing of 2018. The water was high and moving to quick to pick apart the areas we had came to target. As soon as we arrived the rain started. Greg hook a big musky on a tube with his third cast not even 10 yards from where we parked. I started paddling towards him and even took a picture of him fighting it. I got the musky in the net and as soon as I did the jig fell out of his mouth. The musky continued to flop around and I put the slimy thing in a head lock. I held it while Greg attempted to put the fish grippers on it. In the process of doing that he dropped a box of tackle that he had to go chase down. He got it back and go the grippers on it. He held it up for me to take a picture but there was so much fish slime on my hands that I could not get my iPhone to take a picture. I wiped my phone up and raised the camera to take a picture right as the musky went nuts and flopped into the water. As it fell into the water the fish grippers hit the boat gunnel and came off. The muskies back dorsal fin got sheered off as the went back into the water leaving us with only a keepsake of the experience. We fished two more hours with no hits or fish to speak of. Today was a warm up to start the 2018 season but you can really see we have gotten rusty over the winter. Why we did not take the musky to the bank for pictures which is standard operating procedure when dealing with muskies in a kayak remains a mystery.