Sunday Afternoon Bluegills and Bass - May 18th, 2014

Brad, Brian, and I fished the pond for a couple hours. We all caught some smaller bass and bluegills. Brad used a flypole and it was most productive. The cold nights and high skies have fishermen working hard to get bit on even ponds right now. Better fishing conditions will be here soon as we return to a more normal weather pattern and the stream flows return to less than obsene levels.

Saturday Evening on South Branch - June 14th, 2014

I waded from Welton Park up to Eagles Nest Outfitters in 1.5hours on Saturday afternoon. Despite the short window of time I landed 15 fish from 6 differnt species (redeye, smallmouth,bluegill, fallfish, tiger trout x 2, and a spotted bass) All my fish were on a brown 1/4oz. Joe Fly elite. The elite's always seem to produce on the South Branch. The water was very low and gin clear. It was as much sight fishing as any I have down all year. It woulda been an ideal day to fly fish. I fish from 7pm to 8:30pm.

Home Base Float - June 11th, 2014

I fished ahead of big thunderstorm below the house for 2 hours today. I floated in my Coosa in the hole directly below my house then paddled up to the concrete plant and floated back down. The water was a very clear. I fished the middle of the river and weed edges mostly. I landed 8 fish. Four fish on g tails and four on topwater (zara puppy). The largest came off of the Zara puppy.

Mud Brier - June 7th, 2014

Derrick, Missy, Hunter, Dylan, Brad and myself floated 6miles on a very muddy Greenbrier river from Pence Springs to Talcott. The fishing was about 20% of what it was the week before. when 3 of us landed 105 fish. The mud came in overnight and the river was 2 plus feet higher than the week before. The overnight temps dropped pretty significantly  the night before our float. I think the colder temps slowed the bite as well. As the day warmed back to 78 or 80 degrees the bite seemed to pick up. Both boys did pretty well. Both catching fish and keeping their kayaks up right. Brad braved the Narrows (Williams Falls) and rolled his at the bottom end of the switchback. Lessons of years past prepared him for this and he was able to recover all his stuff minus a bottle of water thanks to rod floaters, life jackets, and a tied off net. Brad and I each landed 17 fish on this trip.

Avery's 1st New River Float - June 6th, 2014

I took Avery on her first New River float today in the Big Tuna. Greg went with us in his Coosa. Avery did well. The bite continued to be a bit on the slow side. Avery and I caught 10 and Greg caught 10. We floated from the dam to the 1st Southside takeout. Avery had a good time and did pretty well.

Afternoon Float - June 2nd, 2014

Brad and I floated from the dam to Advance Beach during the last 2 hours of daylight. We each caught 9 fish. The bite was a little slower than it had been the weekend before. I caught about half of my fish off of a topwater Zara Puppy. The biggest was shy of 12 inches. The water is falling and we need a little rain to get the river bite stirred up again.

Brad's Hot Hand - May 31st, 2014

Brad, Greg and I fished while Brian spectated from Pence Springs to Talcott on the Greenbrier River. The float was 6 miles and last 5 hours and 9 minutes. During that time Brad landed a whopping 51 fish, I had 31 and Greg had 23 in hand for a grand total of 105 fish. We were averaging a fish every 3 minutes over a five hour time span. The largest was Brad's 19 inch small mouth seen in the pics below. A truly nice fish for the Greenbrier or New alike. We missed and lost a ton more bass. The bite was very lite. We had a great day and the river was in near prime conditions for this or any time of year.

Memorial Day Musky - May 26th, 2014

Greg, Brad, Kevin, Patrick, and I floated from dam to takeout #1 from 6am to 10am before the holiday weekend crowds got out it force. Brad, Greg and I landed 22 fish each. Kevin and Patrick kicked in a few more to make a 4 hour bass total of 81. Greg was fishing on the island side while Brad I fished the Rt. 20 side. We heard Greg start yelling for help and I knew he had hooked a musky. We quickly paddled over and helped him net and photograph it. The musky was 28 inches long and he caught him on a G-tail. Despite holiday pressure we scored a lot of fish.

Memorial Day Weekend Float - May 24th, 2014

Brad, Greg, and I float our Coosa's from the dam to the 1st takeout. We hit the water early before the crowds did. The water had some stain but was falling. The air temps at daylight were pretty cold around 45 degrees. We landed 58 fish in 4 hours of fishing between the three of us. The bite was not as good as it can sometimes be this time of year. The colder air and falling water had an effect. All of our fish were smaller fish. I did hook and loose about a 4 pound smallie on backside of the arm after a good fight she came off right at the kayak.

Slow Day on Bluestone - May 22nd, 2014

A slow day on Bluestone again. Caught 4 fish in 3 hours. One largemouth, one smallie, and one spot. Catching fish here should be alittle easier this time of year but it was a grind here today for me.

Cold Windy Day at Moncove Lake - May 17th, 2014

Brad and I headed to Moncove to do some bass fishing since the 5 inches of rain we recieved on Thursday had flooded everything else out. The weather was cold and windy. The temp was 38 when we started fishing and never made it to 60 degrees. The wind blew hard all day. We managed to catch 15 between the two of us. All were small fish. Brad did catch a perch which is knida rare.

Bluestone Lake Running Behind - May 12th, 2014

Ballard and I fished the Stone for 2.5 hours on a perfect spring weather afternoon. The fishing was much slower than I expected for this time of year. The weather and the water looks like it is May but the fish act as if it is mid April. We managed to catch 10 or so fish but we had to really work at it. We had a couple nice gills and the bass seen in the pic. A better bite is around the corner and it's shouldn't be long now.

It's Hard to Beat a Good Pond - May 12th, 2014

The girl's and I fished a friends pond for a couple hours. The fishing was every you would expect a good farm pond to be in mid May and then some. There were bluegills and bass cruising and chasing and even starting to show signs of spawning. We had a good time and the weather and sunset were spectaular. Both Avery and Annalyn caught some fish all on there own (making the cast, setting the hook and reeling them in).

 

Coosa's On the River - May 6th, 2014

Greg, Brad and I caught 29 bass while fishing from our Coosa's for the 1st time on the river in 2014. Greg and I didn't even wear waders. We fished from 5:45 to 8:00pm and floated from the dam to Advance beach. It was a really great feeling to be back on the river in a kayak catching a few bass. The main lures were g-tails, although some were caught on tubes, and Brad whacked a few on the ever faithful Rebel Crawdad.

Guntersville 2014

 

 

 

Starting to Chase - April 21st, 2014

I walked below the house to the Greenbrier river and fished a spinner for about 30 minutes. I had 4 hits catching a smallmouth and a redeye while missing one more hit and having another come unbottoned. This was the first time all year I can remeber smaller fish up shallow chasing lures. Up to this point it has been all tubes and jigs fished slow on the bottom, playing the waiting game.

Hard Luck or None at All Stretch - April 9th - 21st

On three short fishing trips and and one all day outting I managed to catch just one small large mouth bass. I went flipping tubes on the Greenbrier one afternoon for a couple hours with no bites and only 3 lost jigs to show for my troubles. Next I fished Mountain Valley Lake 2 afternoons with Greg and Todd for 2+ hours each outting with only one missed bite to my name, although Greg and Todd caught some fish that day on black and blue jigs, but I was slow to change colors and get in on that run. Next Greg and I fished Dan Hale for 7 hours last Saturday and I caught my one lonley LMB on a crank bait and missed 2 more bites. Greg missed 2 bites and hooked and lost a 3 pound or so trout. It has been just a brutal unproductive stretch for me as of late. I am hoping that is about to change and the days keep getting longer, the water warmer and the fish keep moving shallower.  Like the quote says,"sooner or later my luck WILL CHANGE"!

Sunday Afternoon Pond Fishing with Family - April 13th, 2014

 

 

Avery, Annalyn, Aleshia and I fished a farm pond for bass and bluegills on a windy Sunday afternoon. Despite the slow bite the girls each caught a bass and a bluegill. It was  pretty, warm, and windy Sunday afternoon. It is really nice to be back home and together again. Last month my youngest daughter Annalyn was diagnosed with Leukemia. She was hospitalized for 23 days at WVU Children's Hospital for the Induction phase of treatment. We just got her back home on Friday April 12th. So even though we didn't catch any huge fish or great numbers today was special.