On A Whim

On A Whim

My buddy Kenny, his boy and I decided to hit the lake this evening, with storms passing it seemed like a good enough idea.



Worked some larger crank-baits on the channel ledges with no success. I moved on too worming the back side of a small island off the main channel, the water was 85 ish with lots of shade and seemed like a good spot but still no fish so I switched to a top water buzz bait. First cast I got a small 12", 2nd cast the same, 3rd cast yielded a 14 or 15" bass, this went on for another 10 minutes before they shut off.


Moved on down a bit and started worming some structure in deeper water where I found a few 2 and 3 pound fish, a 4.5 and a few other smaller ones. Kenny did well pitching tubes on the structure as well. At one point he was doing so well he said he may have lost his his biggest fish ever.


Like I said, seemed like a good enough idea.

Chuck 

Kenny

                                       
                                       

                                       

Chuck Conder
Twitter-@chuckconder
www.yakin4bass.com

B.G.Y.M. Stoner Creek Tournament by Joe Maione

The Bluegrass Yakmasters held their 4th points bearing event on Stoner Creek in Paris, KY on June 22, 2013. Registration was held at Fryman's Boat Dock and anglers had two pools of stoner creek to fish from. 30 club members showed up bright and early ready to wear out some fish and have a great time.

I arrived the afternoon before to do a little pre-fishing and get to know the creek. Put in at Fryman's around 5:00pm and fished until dark. I didn't catch a lot of fish, but brought some nice sized largemouth to the boat and left for the hotel confident about the tournament in the morning. Taylor decided to take this tournament off ..... well she had an offer to go tubing with her best friend at Barren River.

Tournament day.... and registration went off without a hitch. Myself and most of the 30 anglers decided to launch at Fryman's and fish this pool while a handful headed off to fish the other pool. Turned out the bigger fish came from the other pool - story of my life! Anyway I launched and within the first 20 minutes I already had my 3 fish limit albeit on the small size. I continued to catch fish with regularity throughout the rest of the morning and then the bite just shut off. I was able to increase my limit to 40" for my 3 fish. I did catch a half dozen more in the afternoon but was unable to make any upgrades.

I had a pretty good day and ended up in the top 10 finishing in 9th place. I probably had the second biggest total of those fishing the Fryman's pool.... ahhh but that handful of guys that headed and launched at Ike's in the other pool got into some nice fish. Matt Schaefer finished first with a total length of 49.25". With 47.25" Keith Brown came in second with Drew Russell bringing in 45.25" to round out the top 3. A total of 976" of fish were caught with a 3 fish average of 32.5". Big Fish went to Keith Brown with a monster over 21".

A great time was had by all. As with all tournaments in the club cash prizes to the top 5 and 6-10 recieve prize packs from sponsors. I got a hat and a bunch of cool baits for my 9th place finish. Off to the next tournament - Licking River on July 27, 2013.

Seat Base Modification by David Bagley

This can be altered/changed anyway you want. I used 1 x 4 Cedar. Rot resistant, light weight, but strong enough. I used a miter saw set at 45 degrees for most of the cuts to give the edges a little nicer look.

Cut two boards 18 ins long, drill two holes 1 3/4 centered using a 1/2 in spade/wood bit.

Cut two boards 13 ins long, center them on the 18 in boards, set two inches in from each end. Glue and screw them down.

Install these on the Freedom track and screw them down loose.

Cut three boards 25 ins long and place them on the boards on the Freedom track, screw one screw in to hold the board in place (no glue yet). Make sure they slide on the track without binding. Make sure they are centered and glue and screw them into place.

Cut two boards 9 ins long and glue and screw them down leaving enough space to mount the swivel seat mount.

Cut two boards 8 1/4 ins long. I did not use a 45 degree angle on these.

Cut two boards 13 1/2 ins long using a 45 degree angle again and place these across the previous boards.

It should come out looking something like this.


And you can stain, paint, or leave it natural to your liking.
This is the 3rd one I've made. Each time I've "tweeked" it a little. Hope this helps. This base will not flex with a swivel seat installed. Make it taller to fit a battery underneath. The one I made is 5 ins from the bottom of the kayak to the bottom of the seat mount.

Was it Worth It for One Little Largemouth?

I woke up at 4:05 to get to the lake by 5. I took a look at the forecast and it was a very chilly morning to say the least. With temps like this, I didn't have hopes of catching a single fish. I loaded up the Frontier 12 and headed to Windsor Lake anyways. Got to the lake by 5 just as I planned. I started by fishing a point that is known to hold some monsters. I didn't bring my drag chain, so I was getting blown into shore by the wind. I decided to paddle to the far side of the lake where I would be sheltered from the wind.


I was fishing a yellow blockhead popper. I wouldn't actually say I was fishing. I was more going through the motions and enjoying the beautiful brisk morning and having the lake all to myself.

Haphazardly stripping the Blockhead Popper, I was pleasantly surprised by a surfacing Largemouth Bass. It is amazing how violently Largemouth Bass hit the surface. Even the little ones make your heart skip a beat.

To answer the question, was it worth it? Absolutely! I had the lake all to myself on a beautiful brisk morning. To top it all off I landed a largemouth albeit  it small. Fishing is more than catching fish.

Blockhead Popper: Not just for Smallmouth Bass

Typically when you think of the Blockhead Popper, you think of fly fishing for Smallmouth Bass. The Blockhead Popper was created by Minnesota native and Mississippi River guide, Sheldon Bolstad.  The pattern was made popular by  smallmouth expert Tim Holschlag. I was turned on to the Blockhead Popper by my good friend, Jonn Graham. Jonn Graham is a smallmouth expert from Central Illinois. Every year I take at least one guided trip with Jonn to learn more about catching smallmouth. Check out his blog Streamstalker.

What I have noticed lately is that many of the flies that I fish for Smallmouth Bass work well for Largemouth Bass. I had a chance to get out on Windsor Lake to target Largemouth Bass. It has been a strange spring this year and the temps here in Northern Illinois have been below normal. I decided to try top water despite the below normal temps. It may still be a little bit early for top water but I managed to catch one little and one medium sized Largemouth Bass, the biggest of which devoured a yellow Blockhead Popper.

When fishing the Blockhead Popper, first cast as close as or even onto the shore. When your fly lands in the water let the rings settle and give it a pretty aggresive strip. The Blockhead Popper will dive into the water with a large gurgle. Let the the rings settle and repeat all over. 

Meet Amy & Keith Adams

Hometown:  Estherville, IA

NuCanoe Owner Since: May 2013

Model: Frontier 12 Desert Sand

Contact: amyadams402 @ gmail.com


Dealer Sponsor: Kilpatrick's Marsh & Field

About Us
We have been avid paddlers (and outdoor enthusiasts) for many years with our traditional aluminum Browning canoe. We have had an Ocean Yak for a couple of years and loved using that for our "solo" trips. We have been friends with Rick and Tammy Kilpatrick for many years and have shared many paddling trips on our local waterways together. After trying their NuCanoe boats we loved them and have finally purchased our own NuCanoe.

Why I Chose NuCanoe

We especially like the stability and easy maneuverability of the NuCanoes.  We like that we need very little clearance and can maneuver through much more shallow water than with an aluminum canoe. We also like the easy grab handles to lift and load the canoes.

Getting Out There
We love to paddle smaller rivers and small secluded lakes and marshes to enjoy nature and wildlife.

Our Favorite NuCanoe Story
We have limited actual NuCanoe stories at this time, but on our very first outing of our own NuCanoe, we paddled on a small lake that is not well known in our area, it is fairly secluded and has a shallow back area that has a rocky point that has to be maneuvered to get back into. This was no problem for our NuCanoe and we experienced a plethera of wildlife sightings from turtles, fish, numerous types of ducks and geese, including also hearing a couple of turkeys calling back and forth to each other. You could tell that the local animals were not used to seeing many humans and was awesome to witness them in their natural environment.

Where to Find Us

•  Iowa Outdoors webpage/forum
• NuCanoe Forum

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