Maiden Voyage

I finally got the NuCanoe Frontier out. The day started out with me getting to the boat ramp around 8:45 and 35°. After 30 minutes of rigging my poles and messing with setting up the Frontier I was off. Fishing started off slow but I hooked a 13” largemouth about 2 hours in so the skunk was gone and the Frontier had its first fish.

I was seeing fish on the depth finder but they didn’t want what I had to offer. After that I was seeing fish on the depth finder but they didn’t want what I had to offer. I didn’t get anything else so I moved spots. It was getting late in the day so I switch over trying to catch some crappie. I landed a couple of bream and a small bass. I figured I’d finish the day off trying get another bass and that I did. I caught a bass just over 20” which is my biggest bass from a kayak this far.

To top it off I caught it on a pole I had just completed wrapping on Friday. The day was good. It could have been great if I would have tried my second spot first and tried for bass only.

Let me know if you have any questions or if I can get a picture of something I missed.

Kevin

NuCanoe Frontier

I got my new kayak on Monday. It is a NuCanoe Frontier. I tested it out when Blake and Deanna with NuCanoe were passing through TN on the NuCanoe Frontier Tour. So far I am keeping things pretty simple as far as rigging but will go with four Mighty Mounts in the spaces provided.

Close up of the Might Mount which I will use either for Rod Holders, light,flag or camera pole.

Besides that I will add an anchor trolley but everything else will be on the track system provided for the seats.

I have to get some pretty pictures outside but for now here are the messy garage pictures.

I am going to Tube rod holders on Ram Ball Mounts that can either go track system or Might Mount.

Mighty Mounts up front.

Mighty Mounts in back.

Fish Finder on Ram mount on 1" ball. Can be used on track system or Might mount.

I hope this weekend to get it mostly rigged up and get some better pictures.

Cast and Blast Float Trip

I went out Saturday morning hoping to jump shoot some ducks on a creek I have always wanted to check out. I knew for the most part the depth didn’t get deeper than 3 foot so I figure I was pretty safe going alone. I thought about seeing if anyone wanted to go along but feared if I did not see anything it would be a waste of time. Just in case I threw in a casting rod with some tubes in case the fish were biting.

Long story short there was not blasting and the casting was for nothing. I did not see any ducks and the fish didn’t like what I was offering. The creek was very cool looking though. The camera did not make it into my pack so I did not get any pictures. It has a few good looking pools that I will check out again. I did not make it very far downstream after having to deal with a log jam. I wasted about thirty minutes trying to get around it. It had the creek blocked totally and the only way through it was to go around. The bank was steep at the point adding to the problem but I made it around without getting wet. The trip was not a total waste since I found another place to fish this spring.

Fall Fishing

Saturday was the opening of muzzleloader season here in TN. I wanted to go but I had to be home by around 10. I figured if I did get one by the time I took care of it my curfew would have passed so I went fish on Couchville Lake for a couple of hours. It was really foggy and pretty cold. The water temp was around 53. I ended up catching a couple and had a pretty good time. I am starting to get the hang of Couchville which has been my arch nemesis.  It is pretty close to my house but I have not had much luck fishing there. Putting a depth finder on the NuCanoe has really helped.

Well I have not posted in a while. It has not been for lack of things I just got lazy I guess so here is an update on the last couple of months.

Back at the beginning of August I caught the biggest bass I’ve caught from a kayak. I was supposed to meet up with a buddy to go fishing that morning on the Stones. He had a new baby so sleep kept him from making it. The day was pretty slow until I caught this bass.

It made up for the big one that got away in June but I don’t know if this one was a big as the one that got away. I guess I’ll never know.

My buddy Geoff started a webpage for Tennessee Kayak Anglers http://www.tennesseekayakanglers.com/ . It has a blog page along with a forum. There is also quite a bit of info on kayak fishing. Stop by and take a look if you get a chance and feel free to join.

I made it fishing in August, September, and October a couple more times but nothing to brag about happened.

On October 24th Blake and Deanna with NuCanoe stopped b y Nashville on the NuCanoe Frontier tour. I had a blast catching up with then and the Frontier is awesome.

I like my NuCanoe 10 foot but I will be getting a Frontier. I had no trouble standing up. I am 6'5" and weight around 250. Tracking was good, fishing platform was good, and stability was great. At one point Jeremy and I both got in and while we did take on some water from the scuppers I still felt comfortable.

Would I fish two men from the Frontier probably not. Would I take my wife or daughter out yes. The only thing I saw that could be an issue was the rod locker. I fit my 6'8" pole in but it was tight. A 7' rod my have trouble but since I don't have any 7' poles it will not matter to me.
Check out the review from Yakangular.com to read more about it http://www.yakangler.com/articles/reviews/boat-reviews/item/1282-review-nucanoe-frontier-12-pre-production .

 

6-27-2011 Stones River

I got to go fish the Stones River with Blake and Deanna Young from NuCanoe today. We started out trying to fish the Caney Fork but with generation it did not work. Sunday was the original plan but rain messed us up so it ended up being Monday.

 It was a day of highs and lows. The highs are I put around 42 inches of bass in the boat. The lows are I did not put my fishing partners on any fish and I had the biggest bass I’ve ever had hooked get off at the kayak. I forgot my net and tried to horse it in to the kayak by grabbing the line. As soon as a grabbed the line the bass shook the hook. I don’t know how big it was but it would have been a personal best by far. I thought it was a carp at first. That fish will haunt me. I did catch a couple of 15 inch bass and a couple of 12- 13 inch bass.

The weather was great and if I could have spent more time I think I could have hooked a few more. I tried out the new swivel seat and the kayak cart. Both worked great. I can not say enough great things about my NuCanoe.  As most folks will say no kayak is perfect but I really like mine.

6-18-2011 Caney Fork

I got a chance to hit the Caney Fork for some trout fishing with a buddy up the street. I hoped to use the float to pre scout the river for next weekend if I get a chance to float with some folks from NuCanoe. The weather started out fairly nice partly cloudy but ended up in a thunderstorm.

 It was a 5 mile float which was awesome and the NuCanoe was a blast to fish out of.

We launched around 7 in the morning and finished around noon with a 1 hour delay on the side of the river in the pouring down rain and thunder and lighting. I caught a little bream on a trout magnet to start the day. Next a hooked into a 12" brown trout.

Around 8 they started generating with one gate and the river picked up for around an hour. During that time the fishing wasn't too good because of me not really knowing how to float and fish at a fast rate. Once the generation slowed down a switched to a Little Cleo and caught a couple that got off at the boat.

I had a good rainbow hooked but he shook free at the boat. That will teach me to use a net. I landed one more brown trout about 14" and then the clouds got dark and I started paddling like I heard banjo music.

We pulled over on the bank for about an hour and let the thunder and lighting pass.

After the lighting passed we hit the water for the last quarter mile stretch.

We ended up not fishing the last part of the river trying to bet the storm and get off the water once the lighting passed. I landed 2 browns and 2 bream. I had another brown and a rainbow shake the Little Cleo at the boat. I think I figured it out right before the rain so next time I hope to do a little bit better. We saw beavers, minks, and all kinds of birds. All in all it was a blast.