Afterwork Floatilla - May 28th, 2015

Greg Davis, Randy, Greg Nahodil, Jamie, Brad and I floated from the point to the first takeout from 6pm to dark. The bite was slow early. The fish did not seem to want g tails. I landed 13 and the bulk of with came off of a zoom super fluke. It seemed like you could get a consistent reaction bite but they just did not want to chase today. Jamie hooked and fought a large musky (35 inches plus) on a Booyah spinner bait. He got it right to the yak before it broke him off. This makes four trips in a row that somebody has hooked, caught, lost or been broke off by a musky, they are taking over the New river.

Memorial Day Morning on the South Branch of the Potomac - May 25th, 2015

I wade fished the South Branch of the Potamac from 6am to 10am and saw only one other fisherman. Joe Fly elite 1/4oz. spinners were the order of the day up there in gin clear water. I landed 17 fish from 6 differnt species(smallmouth, redeye, bluegille, fallfish, brook trout, rainbow trout). 6 of my 17 fish were trout the biggest being a 2lbs rainbow. I left my camera at the house and was afraid to take my phone wading with me so sadly I got no pics. I had 2 more trout hooked that got off and had 2 more chases as well. The funny thing is that the two area I was fishing (Riverview Drive and Welton Park) are not stocked. The fish I was catching just wash down from the North Fork of South Branch stocked areas and also escape the State hatchery that is just upstream from there.

The Dew Chasers - May 23rd, 2015

Brad and I hit the river at 5:45am on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. We had it all to ourselves for the first hour or so. The air temps were in the high forties when we started but they warmed up around 9am. We ended up with 46 fish between the two of us, mostly all on white gitzit g tails. Brad caught a musky about 24 inches long, but we dropped it before I could get a picture of it. The Greenbrier side of our Bellepoint to Southside float continues to produce well.

Friday Afternoon Float - May 22nd, 2015

Unloading kayaks ahead of a busy Memorial day weekend.

Bass birthmark

 

Brad, Greg, Jamie and I floated from the two bridges to the first takeout from 6pm to dark on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. The river was already starting to be a crowded place with a lot of people setting up camps along the river bank. We landed 41 bass in 2.5 hours of fishing between the four of us, I had 15 the biggest being only about 13 inches. The water was clear and a little cool from a low in the 40's the night before. The wind made fishing a little tougher than usual. I felt like I spent as much time working on boat control as I did casting. It was a pretty sunset and fun evening.

Dawn River Patrol - May 17th, 2015

Brad and I floated from the dam to the first bridge between 5:45am and 8:15am. Brad landed 16 and I landed 15. My biggest smallies was 15 inches and my best 3 totaled out to 42 inches. I hooked a small musky and fought him all the way back to the kayak but he go off right at the boat. He was not huge maybe 20inches or so. It was a productive morning given our shortened time frame. We caught the majority of our fish off of g tails but a few came off of spinners as well.

Fishing with the State Road Boys - May 16th, 2015

In an informal get together Charlie and I fished with some of his fellow State Road workers on Bluestone lake. I only caught one fish but it was the biggest of the outing at 4lbs. 7oz. largemouth bass on a shakey head worm. Charlie landed a nice 2.5lbs bass on a KVD 1.0 but other than we struggled terribly. Nothing was hitting up shallow and the lake was a buzz with boats from the UMWA tournament that was going on. Greg and his boat had the biggest bag at 8.04lbs. Charlie and I won big fish and ended up with 6.5lbs. I wish we had fished more jigs and shakey head worms in deeper water. I spent a bunch of my time throwing a fluke and not getting a single hit even though the fluke is the hottest thing going in the river right now. I intended on getting a pic of my bass but Jason Dickenson throw it back in the lake right about the time I realized I had not got a picture yet.

Last Light Greenbrier Float- May 15th, 2015

I put my kayak in about 7pm below the house on the Greenbrier and paddled up river to the concrete plant. I was able to catch 7 smallies the biggest about 14 inches mostly on flukes in the last hour before dark. I let my phone battery die and didn't get any pictures.

Bass Eating Flukes on the Greenbrier - May 12th 2015

I cashed in a comp time day to go fishing with Greg and Joe on the Greenbrier. We  floated from Pence Springs to Talcott on a windy Tuesday morning. The wind brought fishing to a halt at times. We landed 63 total fish between the three of us in 4.5 hours of fishing. Zoom super flukes were the most productive lure for both size and numbers. My best three smallmouths were 17, 16 and 15 inches on the hog trough. For some reason today the 5 inch super fluke was out fishing the fluke jr. Anywhere there was a log in the water there was a bass or two on it. Greg hooked and lost a 20 inch smallmouth below the Lowell railroad crossing.

Carpesourus Rex - May 9th, 2015

  

At the starting gates.

 

 

13 lbs Carp

9 inch Rock Bass

Greg's New Ride...NRS Outlaw

 

Greg Davis, Greg Nahodil, Brad, Jamie and I floated from the dam to the first take out between 8am and noon today. We landed 56 total fish the biggest being Brad's 13lbs whopper carnivore carp that actually ate his spinner bait. The fish were in slack water and when you found them they were in bunches up shallow. The grass beds are not growing yet but soon will be. I was a fun day to be on the water. The air temps reached the low 80's which is warm for early May, but I will take it after 5 months of dark cold days and snow. I think peak river fishing is about 7 to 14 days away.        

Bass Starting to Chase on the Greenbrier - May 3rd, 2015

Nathan, Crash and I floated form Pence Springs to Talcott. The bass were starting to chase. The river was up just enough to make fishing the Greenbrier fun. We floated the 6 miles trip in about 4 hours. Jamie landed 12 fish, I got 12 and Nathan got 2. My biggest was 17inches and came off of a Zoom Super Fluke in pocket water below a shoal against the bank. It was a warm sunny spring day, perfect for a day on the river. This time next week if the extended forecast holds the bass will be really getting after it and stacked up shallow.

Easy Like Sunday Afternoon - May 3rd, 2015

Brad and I took Bella out for some pond fun. The girls did really well catching bass, bluegills and some crappie on a hot Sunday afternoon in May. The crappie were up shallow on beds and the bass were cruising around. It is a fun time of year to take kids out fishing ponds.

Southwest Virginia Kayak Anglers Spring Kick Off Camping Trip - May 1-3rd, 2015

 Even though the river fished tough a good time was had by everybody the banks of New River above McCoy Falls for the 2015 Southwest Virginia Kayak Anglers spring kickoff camping/fishing trip. The fish that we caught were caught fishing precise and slow but were good sized fish. The water had been up and muddy but was steadily falling. The air temps at night were very cold for even this time of year. The turnout for the outing was big over 25 folks. It was cool to put faces with the online forum avatars from the SWVKA website and get to spend some time hanging out.