Waderjon's quest for the record !!

Where do you find your peace in the world ?

2013-03-23T20:39:00.002-04:00

I find mine on the river in places like these.

There is something special about launching your kayak in the early morning hours on a cool
crisp spring morning when there is a early fog rising off the water and all you can hear is the sound of the flowing water and nature waking up around you to greet the day. This is where I find my peace and that is just where I plan to be tomorrow morning. My happy place. A place where I can clear my mind and enjoy
this beautiful world that we live in. I may catch a fish or two or maybe not but that does not matter. What matters most of all to me is being able to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city life and the craziness that surrounds us.

Kayak fishing has afforded me the opportunity to go and see places that most people will never see or experience and also to meet people that I would otherwise have never met. I have met and enjoyed the company of some of the greatest people that share this love of the great outdoors all over the southeast that I now call my friends.

As I write this my kayak and gear is loaded, the cameras are charged and my lunch and coffee pot
are made and ready. Its been way to long since I have been on the river and I am so looking forward
to launching my boat in the morning and paddling off into a world of solitude. The weather is questionable
with a 50 % chance of rain and thunder showers which means I have a 50 % chance of having a good day or bad and that perfectly fine with me. Hey the fish are already wet anyway right ? I hope to post a great fishing report tomorrow night but if not I will certainly be posting a report of my day of peace and solitude on the river.

I leave you with this picture of a beautiful spider lily. A site that you will only see on a very few rivers.
Just one example of the beauty that I experience on every trip.

Wish me luck tomorrow my friends and I hope you all find your peace in this world.
Fish on !!!
WJ

The Hat

2012-03-25T21:17:00.003-04:00

A few months ago I had made a post on face book and changed my profile picture to one of when I was a child and the post was about a couple of very special friends that I grew up with that have both passed on and a hat that was made for me by one of their mothers that I have held on to for all of the years. Below is the post and picture I made one Face book.

Jon Freeman This photo was taken around 1978/79.The rail road hat I am wearing was hand made by Mark Watkins mother.She made one for me Mark and James Blackburn. James and Mark are are gone. I still have my hat. Soon after this photo I grew a beard and have only been seen without one once.

I miss Mark and James and will never forget the hours days that we spent together as kids roaming the woods and creeks and lakes fishing and camping together but this past weekend I was reminded that life goes on and as we loose special friends and family in our lives we continue on . We make new friends and we build new relationships and kayaking and river fishing has allowed me to meet and become friends with some of the most incredible people that I have ever known.

After several weeks of being in such a deep state of depression due to some recent events in my life I finally decided it was time to shake the funk and get back on the river. I was joined by my good friends some of which drove several hundred miles to join me. Danny Bell , John Robins, and my new friend David Williams came in from South Carolina and of course my good Buddies Glenn Anderson and Sean Brodie were there to join us for my first river trip in almost four months. We had a total blast and I started the day off with a laugh for everyone by falling in the river at 08:00am. The water was chilly but luckily I dried off quickly and it did not ruin my day.

The weather was great and we all had a blast . No big fish were caught but everyone caught a few and the comradery was incredible. After the trip we all joined at my house for a steak cook out and a few cold ones and of course a bunch of great fishing stories were told. It was a big time had by all and I felt absolutely like a new man. Like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. It was great feeling to have such an incredible group of guys to go out of there way to come down and join me on my first trip back on the river..

The next morning we all got up and had a few cups of coffee and and talked over our trip the day before and some future trips to come. As each one of those guys loaded up and got ready for their trip home every single one of them hugged me and told me that if I ever needed anything to call them no matter what. I watched each one drive off and thought to myself. Life is good and it will only get better. How could go I wrong when I have a bunch of buddies that care about me that much to go that far out of their way to get me back on the river. I gotta be thinking that Mark and James are up there looking down cheering me on too.

Oh yea... I still have my hat.

Fish on my river fishing friends fish on.

Update

2012-01-28T14:26:00.001-05:00

Due to some recent events in my life I have placed the Quest on hold.
I hope to be able to return to my adventures soon.

Winter is just around the corner.

2011-11-24T20:23:00.003-05:00

Our northern neighbors are already experiencing some tough winter weather but one of the beautiful things about living in Georgia is if the weather turns nasty just wait a day and it will change. You cant ever tell what the weather is going to do here. I remember times in recent years when we were wearing short sleeve shirts at Christmas time. One day its cold the next its warm.. Its constantly changing. Georgia weather can be down right weird at times . Last week in a span of three days we experienced winter like conditions one day then it warmed up and we had thunder storms and tornadoes and then turned off cool and windy.

Even though winter is approaching there will be warmer days here and there right up to January before the cold weather really sets in. So when the really cold weather does set in what do we do ? Stop fishing ?
Naaaa.. Just put on some extra clothing and stay at it. Even though the fish get a little more lethargic and their metabolism slows down they still have to eat every now and then. Its tough to get em to bite in the winter but it can still be done. Usually when you do get a bite though it will be a good fish. Here is a fish that I caught early this year on a very cold January day. I fished for eight solid hours that day and literally only got one bite but as you can see it was a good one.

Fall fishing this year has not been as productive as I had hoped it would be but I did catch a few good ones and best of all I was able to explore a couple of new spots that look promising for spring. Fall is technically not over and there will be several warm days and good opportunities to fish before winter arrives though and I plan to take full advantage as long as possible. Once the cold weather sets in I will use my time to scout out new locations and prepare my kayak and gear for the spring and you can bet I will slip in a few days of winter fishing too.

So stay warm out there folks and don't let the boring winter months get to ya. Put on a few extra layers and get out there and enjoy the great outdoors. The fish still have to eat they just don't eat as often but you never know when you might just hook into a monster that happens to be hungry when your bait comes passing by.

If you do get on the water this is the time of year to take extra precaution. Wear your PFD and always take a dry bag with some dry clothes in case you get wet. Be prepared and always fish with a partner.

I hope everyone has a happy holiday season.

Stay safe out there

Fall Fishing and roosters on the river.

2011-10-30T14:13:00.001-04:00

Fall on the river in Georgia is the most beautiful time of the year to be fishing in my opinion and can also be one of the most productive times to fish. As the water starts to cool down the fish sense that it is time to start preparing for winter and fattening up. You don't catch as many but when you do its usually a quality fish.
Fall is a great time to be fishing large baits and is also the best time to fish top water type lures. The big bass are out in search of a large fulfilling meal that is really going to fill them up without expending a whole lot of energy to get it. The weather conditions can be a bit challenging in the fall but if you really want a chance at a trophy fish or a shot at the record you should take advantage of any opportunity you can to get on the river. It will not be long until winter is here and that opportunity will not present itself again until spring.

River fisherman like most fisherman are always looking for a sign they are going to have a good day and this was exactly the case on my latest outing. First sign of the day was realizing I had left my paddle and two cameras in my truck at the take out after we had done the shuttle and having to go all the way back to get them. This seemed like a bad sign at the time. The next sign we encountered was three roosters that greeted us at the beginning of the trail where we were suppose to enter the river. It appeared almost like they were blocking the trail trying to stop us from fishing.. Turns out both of these events would be good signs at the end of the day.

After we made it past the rooster guards and launched our boats it would not be long before there would be another sign that we were in for a good day on the river. Within just a few minutes of getting started I had cast a buzz bait into a large deep pool and was greeted with a massive top water explosion. This fish smashed my bait like she had not eaten in a week. I immediately knew I had a good fish on. My scales would not register so no weight was taken but the fish measured 19 1/2 " and we estimated her to weigh some where in the 4 lb range. As you can see this fish was fat and very healthy. A good sign that the fall bite is on and the fish are feeding heavily.

As you can see in the picture I am dressed for cold weather. The wind was brutal gusting up to 20 mph so as you can imagine it made it tough to fish but we made the best of it. We were moving so fast that all we could do was fish fast moving re action baits and buzz baits turned out to be the ticket for the entire trip. A few minutes after I caught my first fish one of my partners Glenn hooked into this nice 6 1/2 lb largemouth and before they day was out he had caught another one over 5 lbs and several other good fish. Glenn had dialed in on the largemouths holding on wood cover and ended up catching quite a few good fish. Two over 5 lbs in one day is nothing to sneeze at. Here is Glenn's big fish of the day.

I did not catch any more big ones on this day but did manage to catch quite a few fish but that one big girl made the trip all worth while. You never know when that fish of a life time is going to show up but the fall of the year. is a good time to be out there trying. Our other partner Sean rounded out the day with his big fish of the day very near the take out point. This fish also nailed a buzz bait.

The fall of the year is truly a special time to be on the river in Georgia. With the changing leaves and crisp autumn air it can be very relaxing and rewarding time to get out and enjoy the great outdoors. On the weekend prior to this one I had made a trip by myself and did a short paddle up and also had a productive day. Here are a couple of fish that I caught that day.

So the quest continues.Don't miss out on some great fall fishing my river fishing friends and watch for those signs. Its a great time to be out there and you just never know when you might catch that fish of a life time or who knows maybe even a world record. Good luck out there and be safe folks.Until next time.. FISH ON !!

How to sink a Kayak

2011-09-30T21:01:00.002-04:00

Well you start by fishing a river that is so low and has so many exposed rocks that you never knew ever existed and then you do your best to crash into or drag over as many as you possibly can. This seemed to be the case this past Sunday when me and my partner for the day Andrew AKA Piratewader set out to fish one of our local flows here in Georgia for shoal bass.

The past few years we have experienced some of the worst drought conditions that we have ever had in the state and this year is no different. In fact this has to be one of the worst that we have seen. On this day we set out in hopes of finding the shoal bass in the places you would typicality expect find to them in the beginning of the fall months but there was no water there. The usual pattern that we had hoped to see was none existent. We did eventually find fish and both of us managed to catch a fair number but the fishing was just not what we expected it to be.

By the end of the day I had managed to bang into and get stuck on so many rocks that I developed a half moon shaped cracked around one of the scupper holes in the bottom of my kayak under the seat area. By the time we were a mile or so away from the take out my boat had taken on so much water it had become very unstable and kind of mushy feeling and hard to handle. Felt kind of like driving a 70's model Vista Cruiser station wagon with 10 drunk teenagers in the back on the way to a Ozzy Osborne concert. Trust me I know what that feels like.

Anyway..Got back home and made contact with the fine folks at http://www.oceankayak.com/ to find out if they sold a repair kit to fix the leak. Sure enough they emailed me that same day and offered to send me some welding rods free of charge. Thank you good folks at Ocean. Hopefully I can patch the old girl up and get back on the river real soon. My drifter has been a good boat and taken a lot of abuse for 5 years now so it was just a matter of time before this happened. You cant expect a plastic boat hold up to that much torture and not develop a leak eventually.

So there you go... No big fish to report at this time although we did manage to catch a few decent ones and salvage the day. I had a great time fishing with Andrew. He is a great guy to fish with and I look forward to fishing with him again. We are currently planning a 3 day float in south Georgia this fall that I believe will turn out to be an exciting trip.Here is Andrew with a very nice spotted bass the he caught on our trip.

Here is my best best of the day which I am sad to report only weighed in at 2-5 but it was fun to catch none the less.Shoal bass always put up a good fight no matter the size.

Until next time folks when the old Drifter is repaired and I get back on the river again.In the mean time lets all pray for some rain and hopefully the river rises and rocks sink and the fish get back into the usual fall pattern that we all love to fish..

Take care and be safe out there.

Trip report 09/16The fall bite begins

2011-09-17T22:05:00.003-04:00

First let me apologize for not making a post in such a long time but that's because it was been just way to hot to fish. The summer months in Georgia have been brutal this year. They reported on the news the other day that we had 45 days straight with heat over 90 degrees in the state. We have not had a summer this hot since back in the early 80's. In addition to that the lack of rain fall and near drought conditions have brought the rivers down so low that they are almost unfishable. I did make a couple of attempts to fish during the summer but did not have much luck. It was so hot at times that I could only really stand to fish a half of a day or so and would be so drained from the heat that I would just have to pack it up and go home.

Well within the past couple of weeks it seems we have headed into the fall weather pattern and it came on quick. The temps have dropped by 20 degrees at night and about the same during the day. This past week I had taken a some time off of work that I needed to burn and managed to get in a couple of days on the river while I was off.. The fish are not in the full blown fall pattern yet where they are putting on the feed bag for the winter months but they were definitively noticing there is a change in the air.

I guess it does not take long for the fish to notice the water temps to start to drop even just a degree or two. On both of the days I fished last week the fish had moved up shallow and were hitting top water baits early in the mornings up until lunch time.. This is a good sign that the fall bite is coming.

On the first day that I had a chance to fish I had gone by my self and did a paddle down and back up and only managed to catch a few fish on top water early. Once the sun had cleared the trees the top water bite shut down and I fished a worm for the rest of the day and managed to catch a few more..
No big girls at all but it was good to catch a few and get a taste of the fall bite that is gearing up.
Here are a couple of pics.

Now please excuse picture number one as it is a spotted bass and not what I am after but it was a formidable fish none the less and exciting to catch especially after the dry spell that I have had this summer so I added it in.

On Friday the 16th I had the opportunity to host a few fellas from Alabama that had planned a trip to Georgia to try their hand at shoal bass fishing. The weather had turned pretty sour on this day with a cold front moving through the day before but they had planned their trip already and I had the day off so what the heck.. We hit the river and made the best of the situation and it actually turned out to be a pretty good day.
It was 56 degrees when we put in and only reached a high of 72 and the wind was howling up to 20 MPH gust at times. That makes for a tough day of fishing.

Even though the conditions were tough for us the cooler air must have continued to bring the water temps down and spark the interest of the fish. The same pattern that I had experienced a few days before remained.. Top water bites on the buzz bait for breakfast and bumping the bottom with worms and craws for lunch seemed to be the ticket. At the end of the day I had boated 20 + fish which were a mixed bad of Spots Large mouths and shoal bass and the other three guys had done the same. Not to bad for a rough day as far as the weather goes. No big girls showed up on this day either but that's ok because it was a clear sign that the fall bite is just now beginning and the big girls will move up soon.

Here are a few pics of the better fish I caught on this day .

So the quest continues.The summer months were brutal but fall is finally in the air and I am totally excited to be back on the river chasing that fish of a life time. Fat girls we like to call them in the river fishing world. I have recently been been faced with some health related challenges but I will not let this deter me from my quest.In fact it has only made me want to accomplish my goal even more.

Stay safe out there folks and fish like you are fishing for that world record.You never know.

Trip report 08/06/11 A tricky situation

2011-08-07T21:30:00.001-04:00

Despite the brutal summer heat that we are experiencing in Georgia I decide to get out for a day of fishing even though I knew not to expect much in the way of big fish or big number either. I guess I just needed to get my fishing fix anyway. You see after a week or two of no fishing I start to get river fever and even though I know deep down its probably a waste of time I just have to go wet a line anyway.

Well just as I suspected the fishing stunk to say the least.After about 4 or 5 hours I had only boated 3 or 4 bass and all of those would have weighed in ounces not pounds. That's a pretty sad day on the water right there. Finally later in the day I did manage to boat one that might have went 1 1/2 lbs tops.
My partner Glenn did manage to find one hole that had a few hungry fish in it and he was able to pull out two good ones. A large mouth that was around 3 lbs and nice shoal bass that weighed in a 4-4 he caught on a Sammie walking the dog on top. Here is a picture.

Then things got a little tricky. A storm started to roll in that was producing some lightning off in the distance so we decide to move back up stream toward our vehicles just in case things got nasty. Glenn and Sean had gotten ahead of me and I came to a set of shoals where I had to get out of my kayak and drag it up over some rocks and through a chute.As I was doing this I slipped on some rocks and reached down to grab the side of my kayak to catch myself. When I did this there just so happen to be a rod in the same place that I grabbed for that had a Devil horse top water bait that was full of treble hooks and as my luck goes two of those hooks impaled the top of my index finger on my left hand. One went in right above the big knuckle and the other between the big knuckle and the second knuckle before the finger tip. OUCH !!!!!!!!!!

Well there I was in a tricky situation once again. I have hooked my self many times on the river since I started kayak fishing but this time had me in bad position. My buddies were up stream from me where they could not hear me and there I was stuck in the middle of this chute on slick rocks in swift water holding on to my kayak and hooked to one the rods. I couldn't go forward and I couldn't go back. I was stuck and there was only one thing I could do. I had to remove the hooks right there in the river.

Luckily the first hook that was just above my big knuckle did not penetrate past the barb and I was able to remove it without much trouble but the second hook had went in past the barb and was not coming out easily. I was able to reach back into my kayak and get my pliers and pull out the first one but number two would not budge. I tried then to get around the hook shank and cut it off of the lure in hopes I could get to the bank and remove it there but the trebles were so small I could not get the cutters between my finger and the hook. And of course while trying to do all this the pain was excruciating. At that point I realized I had no choice but to do what I feared the most and snatch it out.

I grabbed the shank of the hook with the pliers and gritted my teeth and gave it a hard yank and it was out.

Man that hurt like heck but it was out.Thank goodness but now I am bleeding like crazy but before I could perform first aid I had to finish pulling my kayak up over the rocks and get over to a dry spot where I could get to my first aid gear. All the while I am bleeding all over the place. Once I got to the bank I quickly got out my first aid kit and cleaned up the wound , applied some antibiotic ointment and wrapped it up and stopped the bleeding. It always pays to have a fully stocked first aid kit on board when you are on the river in a kayak full of fishing gear. You never know what might happen. I have been hooked no less than 8 times now in the last 6 years since I started kayak fishing and in all kinds of places.

I once even had two hooks past the barb at the same time in my thigh of all places.

After that excitement was over I continued to fish a few more hours with hardly any luck at all. It was so slow I finally got out my ultra lite rod and a beetle spin and fished for bream and red breast just so I could feel that tug on my line. I manged to catch a few of those which was fun. The bream and red breast in the rivers in Georgia are some of the most beautiful I have ever seen.

Well there you go folks. Be prepared for all situations especially when you are out fishing on a river in a kayak where the conditions can quickly change on you. This is a good example. There I was with a hook in my finger and a thunder storm quickly approaching stuck in the middle of the river. Thanks goodness the dam operator up stream didn't decide to release water from the dam. I would have been in a real pickle then huh ?

Until next time stay safe out there and be prepared. Fall is just around the corner and that is when the hunt for the World Record Shoal Bass will be back on my priority list once again.
My quest is not over. Its just been to dang hot to fish.
Take care.
WJ

Build a better bait.

2011-07-24T21:21:00.008-04:00

Sometime you just have to make it your own. What I mean by that is you cant always take a new bait right out of the box tie it on and expect to catch a fish with it. If you are like me sometimes you just have to tinker with it a bit and make it work for your style of fishing. This is what I had to do with the jig. When I got into this whole river fishing thing I realized that I would need to adjust my fishing style a bit and update my tackle box. The jig is a bait that I had just not ever had much success with and probably more for the reason that I had not given it much of a chance. When I started researching river fishing and especially the Shoal bass I realized that the jig was a bait that I would need to learn to fish.
River bass love craw fish..In fact the craw is one of their primary foods so there was no doubt it would need to be on WJ's menu of baits to offer up to those monster shoalies that I wanted to catch.

Well the jig also happens to be one of those baits that I had struggled with in the past. I always seemed to get hung up on logs or rocks and break them off. I really had a hard time learning to fish this bait but it wasn't the bait itself that was the problem it was more of me not being able to pick the right one that worked for my fishing style and for the river conditions that I was fishing. This is where it pays to do some research. It also pays to join up with one of the local fishing forums and reach out to some of the veterans for advice. Well that's exactly what I did and was fortunate to get some really good advice and direction from one of my fellow river bassers on how to make my own jigs. Now I am not talking about building from total scratch which you can do if you like but I am talking about getting the right components to put together a bait that works best for your fishing style and the river or lake that you are fishing.

In the picture above are the components that I found that enable me to put together a jig and craw combo that worked well for the way I liked to fish and worked excellent for the conditions that I was fishing. The jig itself was the most important part in that it was the perfect weight and shape and style.The trailers are made by http://www.netbait.com/home/ The skirt is a finesse style skirt which allows for a slow fall and the trailers worked perfectly with the jig and skirt combo. It took some experimenting to come up with the right combo but with some guidance from my fellow river fishermen and some old fashion trial and error I finally came up with a good combo that worked well for me and has helped me catch some nice fish.

The picture above is the finished baits and I can assure you that these have become some of my go to baits in my arsenal. So the whole point to this post is that you cant always go to the store and buy lure and expect to catch fish right out of the box. Some times you just have to modify it a bit or tinker around and figure out how to make that bait work for you and your fishing style.. It can actually be very rewarding when you modify or create your own and go out and catch a nice fish. All you have to do is a little research on what you are trying to accomplish and go out there and find or make the tool you need to do it. Fishing forums and clubs can be great resources to find the information you need and there are some great suppliers out there that have all the parts you need to make or build just what you are looking for .Before you know it you will have a box full of home made special weapons like these.

So there you go folks.If you are trying to learn a new bait and the stuff you are buying at the store is just not working for you just take a look at it and do a little research and see if you can modify the bait to work better for you or just build your own..Don't get frustrated and give up.

I would like to give a big shout out to http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/ who is a great resource for all your lure building supplies.At the bottom of this post I will also had a few links to some other great river fishing resources.Fish on my river fishing friends and don't give up if you are getting frustrated with a certain technique you are trying to master. Reach out to some of the forum resources, study hard and make that bait your own..Make it work for you. Hey and I am always willing to help where I can..Shoot me a email..If I dont know the answer I bet I know someone who does.

See you on the river .

http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/

http://www.barlowstackle.com/

http://southernriverfishing.com/site/

http://www.riverbassin.com/site/

http://canepoleadventures.com/

Remembering the good days and the bad.

2011-07-21T21:25:00.001-04:00

In the image above there are a couple of interesting things that brings back some memories for me that are good and some that are bad. In this photo you will notice there is a calender that is still on the month of Sept 2001 and it hangs in my garage as it as since that faithful day that is now almost 10 years past. It has remained unchanged and now covered with dust and cob webs since that day. There are also two mounted bass on either side that were caught back when I was around 9 to 10 years old. Hate to tell my age but that's about 35 to 36 years ago. They are looking a little tattered these days from being moved around a lot but they bring back some very special memories of my childhood.

As a child I was very fortunate to have a family that enjoyed the outdoors and loved to fish hunt and camp and all sorts of outdoor activities. I spent many days roaming the country side with my grand father fishing farm pond all over Henry county Georgia. You see my grand father was a welder by trade and had many farm customers that needed his services on their farm equipment and most of those same farmers had ponds on their property. My grandfather would make deals with with these people and do a little welding on the side for access to these ponds so you can imagine we got to fish in some great private lakes that rarely were fished by anyone other than us.

These two fish were the only two that I ever had mounted so don't worry I stopped taking fish a long time ago and even back then we only kept what we needed for dinner and released the rest. Heck.Now days I don't have the heart to even keep a couple to eat..They are all released unharmed. These two fish really bring back some fond memories of days spent with my grandfather and brother bass fishing.
My dad was more of a trout fisherman and hunter so he and I spent many days on trout streams in north Georgia or hunting for deer.

The calender also brings back some memories of a time that none of us should ever forget. Very soon it will be ten years to the day and I know exactly where I was and what I was doing at the moment it all went down. I have been in the air freight industry for over 20 years flying cargo on commercial aircraft every day. Not many people know that when you get on a jet to go see grand mother in another state there is more than likely a whole lot more than baggage up under your seat. This is what I do so you can imagine that my professional world was turned upside down on that day but more importantly than that thousands of people lost their lives and freedom to enjoy this beautiful world and make memories like we all we do everyday.

So there they hang day after day the old fish and the old calender collecting dust and spider webs. It wasn't meant to be a memorial of of any sort but it it just kind of turned out that way.The calender is like a old clock that just stopped ticking and the fish were just to tattered to hang in the house any more. Every now in then I just stop and look and they bring back memories of some good days and some bad. So we keep on going out there and hope that that the good memories out weigh the bad I guess.

Keep on keeping on my river fishing friends.That's all we can do.
I want to leave you with a good one though.
The pic below is of my good friend Glenn Anderson's son Evan just this past weekend..The smile says it all and that's what its all about right ?
WJ

Learning to fish soft plastics

2011-07-02T20:58:00.007-04:00

Here is a rehash of a article I submitted to another website a couple of years ago on fishing soft plastics.
Fishing soft plastics can be very productive if you know how to fish them but very frustrating if you do not.
I hope you enjoy.
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How many times have you made a trip to the river in hopes of having a day of repeated top water blow ups and rod jarring spinner bait strikes only to find that the fish were just not in the mood? That’s why I always have a worm or soft plastic craw tied on for just such occasions. Usually even on the worst of days when the fish are not cooperating you can mange to catch at least a few small one’s if you have the patience and knowledge to effectively fish soft plastics.

I grew up fishing home-made black plastic worms with my grand father in middle Georgia farm ponds, and that was all we fished. So, today it’s a type of fishing that comes naturally to me but for some people it can be a difficult style to learn. Why so difficult? Patience. It takes a lot of patience and the hardest part is not how to fish a worm but knowing when you are getting a bite. I saw the section on the site that said “submit content” and thought I would use it to share a few tips that might help you catch more fish on a worm.

The Rig and Bait:

There many different was of fishing soft plastics but what works best for me in a river is the Texas rig. I generally use a 1/8 up t 3/8 ounce bullet style weight depending on the amount of current I am fishing. You want to use just enough weight to sink the bait to the bottom but not so much that you get hung up in the rocks. This is something you will just have to experiment with and see what works best. As far as a hook goes I use a 3/0 to 5/0 extra wide gap (EWG) off set worm hook. Try to use as large a hook as you can get away with especially if you are using a really big worm or craw. I like a big sturdy hook.

Go as natural as possible when choosing your bait. It helps to know what the fish are feeding on where you where you are fishing.Turn over some rocks and find a craw fish and see what color and how big they are if you can.Use natural colors like blacks browns and greens. I use lighter more natural colors and smaller baits in clear water and darker and larger baits in stained water. In clear to slightly stained water a green pumpkin 6” finesse worm works well for me.

The presentation:

Not a lot needs to be said about where and when to present the bait. Cast to structure like trees, rocks, current breaks anywhere that looks like it might hold a fish. Most of the time when you are fishing current with a plastic, you’ll want to try and cast up stream and allow your bait to flow down with the current in a natural direction. The main thing is to stay in touch with your bait. When you cast allow the bait to fall and at the same time keep your rod tip up in the 10 o clock position and keep the slack out of your line. Keep just enough tension on the line to keep it up off of the water but not move the bait. When you are ready to move the bait reel down on the line and then pick the rod tip back up to the 10 o’clock position dragging the bait at the same time.

Here is a tip. If you are using a baitcasting reel (preferred) instead of holding the butt of the rod, palm your reel and hold your index finger under your line just in front of the reel where the line lays across your finger at the point where it comes out of the reel. This way you can feel the slightest tick in the line if a fish picks up the bait.

The Bite:

This is the most important part, yet the most difficult part to learn. How to know when you are getting a bite. Have you ever been fishing with someone and you were fishing in the exact same place using the exact same worm but your partner was catching fish but you were not? Well you can just about bet that you were getting bites but you did not know it. Here are a few tips on what to be looking for.

Watch your line! If you see a twitch in the line that you did not cause, set the hook! If your line starts to move in a unnatural direction like to the side or up stream, set the hook!
If you feel a slight jerk in you rod tip or in the line laying across your index finger, set the hook! If you have tension on your line and you start to feel a heavy sensation in the rod, set the hook! When you really get good at it you will often be able to tell the difference between a bite from a small fish and a bite from a larger fish. Smaller fish tend to give those machine gun type tap tap taps you feel but with a larger fish you will most likely feel one thump followed by that heavy mushy sensation.

Finally when you do decide its time to set the hook don’t waist time trying to feel the fish. Reel down on the line taking up the slack and draw back with the rod as hard as you can.
Remember that a bass’ mouth is nothing but bone and thick membrane so you want to get a good deep hook set. Imagine swinging a bat in reverse trying to hit a home run.

Be patient and don’t get discouraged. If you keep fishing the worm it will all come together and eventually it will become your back up bait when all else fails..

And always remember…..When in doubt…SET THE HOOK!

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I hope you enjoyed this and it helps you become a better angler with soft plastics. Fishing worms and craws have become my favorite way to fish. And dont let anyone tell you cant catch a big fish on soft plastics.
My largest riverbass to date was caught on a 6' Zoom Finesse worm and I have caught quite a few others on the same worm.

Fish on my river fishing freinds !!
I hope everyone has a safe and happy July 4th.
God bless our service men and women that make it all possilble.
WJ

Spring 2011 recap Blessed by the river gods

2011-06-26T21:09:00.009-04:00

I first want to say that the spring 2011 season was a absolute blast for me and I caught some of the best fish that I have ever caught on the river. I did not catch a world record fish nor did I even come close.
I know deep down that my chances of catching a world record fish are about the same as winning the lottery but that is not what this is all about.

The whole idea behind this blog was about setting a goal for myself and instead of just randomly fishing for what ever is biting focusing my efforts on a specific target. This blog was created to be a place where I could share my adventures with friends. Hey and who knows..If I really did end up catching a record fish how cool would it be to have a record of the events leading up to the big catch.

One thing that I can says is that by setting this goal it has helped me become a better fisherman. Over the past few years since I started river fishing exclusively I was going places and fishing all over for what ever bass species that might be biting at the time..Not any more. The past few months I have focused totally on catching a record shoal bass and nothing else. In doing so it helped me really hone my fishing skills in on this one specific target.. I have traveled places I would not normally go and fish in ways that I would not normally fish. . I have not landed the big one so far but I sure caught some of the best fish that I have ever caught on the river which tells me my efforts are paying off.

Below is a slide show of some of the fish that I caught this past spring. It was a total blast and now all I can think of is the upcoming fall season..The shoal bass will move up once again in preparation for the winter months and guess who will be there waiting..
Thanks for looking and I hope to see you all on the river.
Take care.
WJ

Hot summer fishing..A recent trip report.

2011-06-25T20:43:00.001-04:00

Well there has not been much to report lately as far as big fish go. Seems like since summer kicked in and things heated up the big shoal bass headed for deeper waters to hide out until things cool off. Over the past few weeks we have experienced drought conditions around the state and the rivers have been extremely low and super clear.

I believe the big shoal bass seek out deeper water with cooler temps where they can hide out during these times. In a couple of months though we will start to transition into the fall pattern and the fishing should improve. The fish will move back up into the shoals to feed and fatten them selves up in preparation for winter..This is when I will have my next opportunity at that record fish.

You can bet that I will be there and be ready.
Here is a recent trip report that I made on one of the forums of a trip that me and my good Friend and fishing partner Glenn Anderson took a couple of weeks ago..The fishing turned out to be ok with both of us catching quite a few smaller bass and both ended up with one good fish each for the day.
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Trip report 06/11Big ol bass and fresh fruit

RatherBfishing likes his fruit prepackaged frozen in a bag.

I like mine fresh cut and chilled.

Nothing like some ice cold fruit on a hot summer day to refresh you and give you a energy boost.

And it was a hot one..It was in the mid 90's for about the 16th straight day I believe in the state of Georgia.
That did not keep up from getting out there though..

The morning started out slow but once we got into some shoals we found a pretty decent top water bite
that lasted until the sun cleared the tops of the trees around 11:00am..RBF scored on buzz baits and rag tail shads and
I caught a few on the ol trusty Torpedo..After the top water bite turned off it did not take long to figure out the ticket would be
soft plastics fished on the bottom in the deeper sections with current..The hot bait of the day was a watermelon seed zoom trick worm.
Watermelon seed is a excellent color choice when the water is super clear and we proved it on this day.
Between the two of us it was a 50 + fish day..Mostly dinks and 1 to 2 lbers but fun fun fun no matter how you look at it.
I had thought with the heat that we would be ready to call it a day around mid after noon but now way...We fished from sun up to
sun down..It was a blast...I even took along a ultra lite rod and some beetle spins and had a blast catching a few small bass and red breast.
There were red breast beds every where that we found a sandy bottom..

We caught a bunch around this size.

We caught a good many in the 1 to 2 lb range.

RatherBfishing caught the first big one of the day and what was really cool is he saw this fish and

kept casting to it until he coaxed the girl to pick up his worm..Way to stick with it there buddy and
a darn nice shoal bass...Congrats

Now RBF is my buddy and I enjoy seeing him catch a big bass but no way could I let him get away

with catching the only big fish of the day...Well it took me the majority of the afternoon to do it but I finally
was able to hook into a good one myself.

At the end of the day we were totally drained from the heat and the long day on the water but we had fun so all that just did not matter.

I would do it again in a heart beat..Summer fishing is always fun when it it comes to numbers of fish..I have had many a day
like this in the summer months when it seemed like you could almost catch one on every cast when you found the right spot.
It was fun but I am looking forward to the cooler days of fall when the big ones start fattening up for winter.

Fish on my river fishing friends..I'll see you on the river.
WJ

What happend to going from spring to summer ?

2011-05-18T21:29:00.001-04:00

We are going backward ? The weather in GA has been really jacked up this spring.The lows this morning was in the 40's and only warmed up to the low 60's today..It has been super windy and cool for the past week with low cloud cover but no rain ? In fact it has been super dry and the rivers are very low and clear.To be so cool you would think there would be more moisture but it is almost draught conditions at my house.My grass is dying and has not needed to be cut in two weeks.

After all the mothers day activities and the big birthday party weekend before last I was all geared up to go catch some big spring shoal bass before the spring time spawn was over but it just did not happen..We went but the conditions were less than favorable.The water was low and super clear and a cold front moved in the day before that just screwed the fish up big time. We caught a few fish but mostly juvenile males in the 1 to 2 lb range..There were several times that I could see big mommas in that were easy 4 or 5 lbers swim by but they were not interested in any bait that I had to offer.

Shoal bass like all other black bass species are at their prime in the spring when the females fatten themselves up for the spawn..This is the time of year when you have the best chance at catching a record shoal bass..I think that I may have missed my chance at the record this spring.The fish that we did catch last weekend were either small males or spawned out females that were very skinny so that tells me that the spawn has already taken place or is in progress and about to end.I also noticed some big fish sitting on top of the rocks in open water acting like they were totally uninterested in any feeding activity.This tells me they are in that post spawn funk.

I may have missed my chance at that big fat spring time momma shoalie that I have been looking for but I did catch some really nice ones so no disappointment here..There is always the fall and next spring.
They will be back in that heavy feeding mode when the water starts to cool down in the fall getting fat for winter.Who knows...Might even hook up with a big one over the summer months.

I will be back at it soon..May even take a break and go after some small mouth up in the Carolina's soon.
Stay safe out there folks.
See you on the river.
WJ

I am going to loose my mind !!!

2011-05-04T23:52:00.002-04:00

I cant go fishing this weekend !! Mothers day on Sunday and the grand baby has a birthday party on Saturday and I am the hot dog cook....Of course I would not miss either event for the world but it just dawned on me that I have been lucky enough to fish just about every weekend at least once since the first of the year...Cant complain about missing one weekend can ya ? I have truly been blessed to be able to get out and fish and have a family that understands my addiction..So where is that world record shoal bass you might ask ?
Still in the river I guess but I can assure you it not because I have not been trying to catch it.

So no report this week but maybe the big girl shows up next weekend .I will dam sure be out there.
This weekend the focus is on the the grand baby and the mothers..I hope every one has a great weekend and a great time with your families.

Take care and be safe.
WJ

Fishing Tornado alley 05/01

2011-05-02T21:57:00.002-04:00

The shoal bass fishing has fell off a bit for the past couple of weeks.For me it has anyway..My buddy Bruiser has been on a streak the past couple of weekends catching several nice one including two over 5 pounds.The shoalies seem to be in that mode where they are about to spawn or have spawned out and they are in the pockets and deep holes right in the roughest part of the shoals that are tough to get to and fish.Its not like fishing a lake or even a river its like fishing in a small pool or a barrel even.
You have to be able to sneak up on these pools and drop a lure in there without spooking the fish.
Bruiser has been doing pretty well at it.I have been catching a lot of fish but mostly smaller ones.

Anyway here is my short report of my trip on 5/1 which also include a couple of pics from the tornado damage in Georgia from last week..

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Trip report 05/01

While Bruiser was down stream breaking paddles and reeling in 5 plus lb shaol bass I was up stream messing around with the worn out spawned out largemouths that were hanging around the banks in the shallow water and trees..I managed to catch this girl that looked like she had been though the ringer..Her fins and tail were ragged and red and she was very skinny..She may have been a 6 lber prespawn but
she only tipped the scales at 4-11.Caught on a green pumpkin zoom finesse worm thrown right into a tree.

I only managed to catch a few small shoalies and spots up in the shoals for the rest of day on worms and finesse jigs..After around 1:00pm when the sun was up high the bite turned off.
After we left the river we went buy to take a look at a spot where a tornado must have crossed the road.
It was absolutley amazing to see what a tornado does to a tree..I feel for the people that took direct hits from these storms and pray for those who died or were injured or lost loved ones.

Behind these trees is a house that looked like it only had roof damaged but we could not see it to well..Looked like the storm went through the front yard.

Fish on my riverbassin friends.

See you on the river.

Pre trip report 04/23Low water tactics

2011-04-22T21:57:00.007-04:00

Yes..That's right..I said pretrip report...I am sitting here brain storming on how I will handle some really tough fishing conditions tomorrow..Some of my fishing buddies hit the river today while I was at work since they all had Good Friday off. All are reporting that they had a pretty bad day due to the fact that the water was really low and super clear.I will be hitting the same water in the morning with my fishing buddy Bruiser..I have no choice but to go since I only have Saturday to fish this week because of Easter and its prime shoalie time so I have to go give it a shot..So what do you do when the water is super low and super clear and the fish seem to be in the lock down I'm not biting kind of mood ? Well I have a theory and tomorrow I am putting it to the test.

This theory includes the following..A stealthy approach..Finesse type baits.As natural as possible looking baits and as much patients as I can possibly muster.
I will up date this report tomorrow night on my return and let you know how I do.Even though the river has dropped dramatically and conditions have changed I know the fish are still there and they have to eat some time.I am going to see if I can figure out how to get them to bite tomorrow..
Stay tuned.

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The Results
I think I broke the record today..The record for the most times falling down in the river in one day that is. It was a major struggle to get up stream to the shoals with the low water conditions..The rocks were very exposed and very slick..Seemed lick every time i turned around I was taking another spill and by the time I finally reached me destination I was soaked from head to toe. On top of that it was fairly cool this morning with a lot of cloud cover and a mist in the air which made it very uncomfortable..I was cold to the bone for most of the morning to the point of shaking until around noon when the clouds finally broke and the sun came out..

The fishing tactics that I had planned to use in the low water conditions did not seem to pay off in the way they I had hoped.I threw worms, jigs swim baits and even tried a little top water action but could never really get into a groove or pattern that worked..I tried my best to stay in a stealth mode to keep from spooking the fish but that was tough with the slick rocks and my inability to stay on my feet.I did manage to catch a few fish but most were small..My fishing partner Bruiser seemed to have his game on though catching three fish over four lbs early in the shoals..Not sure what he was doing different than I was but he had them dialed in for a little while.

Most of the fish I caught were around this size.

I managed to catch a total of maybe 10 fish for the day mostly on a green pumpkin Zoom Finesse worm and a couple on top water on a Hedon Torpedo..Once the sun finally came out and warmed things up including myself the bite pretty much died off for the rest of the day for me.

This was my best fish..Don't let the picture fool you..This fish only weighed around 3 lbs or so..I used the old fisherman's picture technique to make it look bigger than it really is..

The shoal bass is a tough fish to figure out..When will they spawn ? Where will they be? In the shoals ? In the slack water ? The river conditions are constantly changing and are influenced not only by the weather but you also have the dam up stream effecting the river levels..This make it very difficult to to figure out when to and where to go..So do I allow myself to be discouraged by this one bad day of fishing ?
I think not.
Two weeks ago I had one of the best days ever and last weekend was not so bad either so I cant let this one bad day discourage me from my quest.

I will be back out there next week I am sure trying to figure out this fish...Looking for that big one.
The World Record Shoal bass !!

Fish on my friends and have a Happy Easter !!
WJ

Trip report 04/16 Big storms and high water

2011-04-15T22:24:00.003-04:00

I am hitting the river in the morning no matter what the conditions might be.Right now it is raining cats and dogs here at the house in Mcdonough but I don't think all the water will actually make it into the river system for 24 hrs or so..May stain it up a bit but that can be a good thing.I am going to visit an old friend that I have not fished in a while and if history holds true the big shoal bass should be up in the shoals.

I have been thinking about this all day planning where I will go and what pockets that I plan to fish..I am so freakin excited I know I will not be able to sleep tonight.Tomorrow could be the day..The day that the big girl shows up or at least a six or seven pounder could be caught..Who knows but I can tell you this ..I am going to fish it like i am fishing for the world record..Just like I have done every time I have been on the river this season..Maybe tomorrow night I will post the report of a life time maybe not but I can assure you that tomorrow come hell or high water that I will be out there fishing for the world record shoal bass.

Wish me luck !!
WJ
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Well this trip turned out to be a good one over all but the big girl that I am looking for did not show up this time.I met up with my partners for the Glenn (RatherBfishing) Anderson and Sean (Bruiser) Brodie at the river around 07:00am.The dam operators decided to release I guess because of all the rain we had received the night before so the river was up and running at a pretty good clip. In addition to that we had planned to put in at our normal take out and paddle up to a set of shoals about a mile upstream that is known to be home to some big shoal bass this time of the year.

I have never paddled so hard in all of my kayak fishing days.It took every ounce of energy I had to even paddle enough to stay in the same spot let alone actually get up stream. There were several times when I just had to get out of the kayak and wade in water sometimes up to my chest to make any head way..It was absolutely exhausting but after a couple of hours I finally made it up to the shoals where I had planned to start fishing..RBF and Bruiser decided to take the high road and start at a spot farther up steam than I did.Once we split up I did not see those guys for several hours.

Once I got in the shoals it did not take long before I would hook into the biggest shoal bass that I would catch on this day.I got into position and made a couple of cast with a swim bait into a promising looking spot and on maybe the forth or fifth cast BLAMO...It was on ..A big shoalie smashed my swim bait and began a fight that would last two or three minutes in some really swift water..I was not sure if I would get this one in..She was using the high swift water to her advantage and put up a hell of a fight but I finally got her in.
Here are the results..A nice 4 lb 11 oz shoal bass.It was a real struggle trying to take this picture in the swift water.

After catching that fish I thought to myself..Alright it is on now..Today just might be my day..Today might be the day that I catch that fish of a life time..I continued to fish may way upstream moving from pocket to pocket looking for deep holes in between the rock and shelves that might hold fish..Each time I would come to a likely spot I would catch a small fish or two out of each one but nothing bigger than 2 lbs or so but by the time I had reached the top I had caught over 15 decent fish..Needless to say I was having fun.

Later in the day I finally met back up with RBF and Bruiser and they reported that they had caught a few with RBF landing the biggest with a 3 lb 3 oz spotted bass.We continued on fishing together for the rest of the day but the bite had seemed to slow down a bit..The fish were just not as active as they had been earlier in the day...I did manage to catch another nice shoal bass and a decent spotted bass before we were done.

I think I ended up catching a couple of more small fish before making it back to that take out but that was pretty much the end of my day..Not to bad over all..Total fish caught was some where around 20 to 25 with that 4-11 being the biggest..I'll take a day like that anytime.

One more thing I would like to mention that happened to me on this trip..Early that morning after I had split up from RBF and Bruiser I had a bad experience that reminded me that I should not have strayed away from the company of my partners.I had come to a narrow section of river where the current was very swift and there was a small water fall that I needed to get over..There was no way to go around and my only choice was to climb the middle which was a three to four foot drop.As I was climbing the fall and dragging my kayak behind me the water formed a suction and pulled my kayak in under the fall and swamped my boat.It immediately flipped the boat and dumped every thing in it including my tackle box.

I was quickly able to flip the boat back over and grab my rods but I looked up and saw my tackle box headed down stream fast. My tackle box not only had all of my tackle in it but I had also stowed my wallet and truck keys in a side pocket. I immediately jumped in the kayak and and started paddling after it..I had to get to it as soon as possible because there was a fallen tree that was across the river about 45 yards down stream..My heart was racing and I was scared to death..Well I caught it just in the nick of time but then had to stop my self before hitting the tree in my kayak which could have turned deadly.

After this ordeal was over I stood there in the middle of the river holding on to my kayak and tackle box shaking uncontrollably until I regained my composure.It was at that moment that I realized that I had done something that no one should ever do when kayaking or any other out door sport like it..
NEVER GO ALONE..If something would have happened to me there would have been no one around to help me and Bruiser and RBF would have never known that I was in trouble.In addition to that I did not have my gear properly stored or I would not have found myself in that position in the first place.

So there you go folks..No fish in the world is worth risking your life over not even the world record.
I almost started to say that I learned my lesson on that one but that is a lesson that I should already know.
Fish on my fellow riverbassers..Stay safe out there and go catch a big one.
WJ

Trip report 04/08/11**New Personal best and a all around big fish kind of day

2011-04-12T22:20:00.000-04:00

Below is the is the post I made on Riverbassin.com the night I returned from one of the best trips I had been on in quite some time.I was so excited to finally have a good day on the water that I just had to get some pictures up for everyone to see.My week of vacation that I took primarily to fish for the record had been uneventful up until friday 04/08 so you can imagine how excited I was to finally get into some big fish.

Even though the river was still to high to fish I had to go give it a try anyway as my vacation time was quickly running out.

Here is the post I made in riverbassin.com

I took a entire week off of work this week in order to get in on some spring time shoal bass action.
With all the recent rains and high and muddy river contions all over the state I have only been able to get out on the river twice since last saturday.Even though we knew the river would still be high again today we took a stab at it but at least this time we found some clear water.Today was just one of those days
when you just happen to be in the right place at the right time under the right conditions with the river gods on your side.

Today I caught my personal best shoal bass and my second best shoal bass and a few other nice bass to boot.Swim baits worms and finesse jigs seem to be the pay off baits.I broke a rod got hung up in the trees
run most of the line off of one of my reels lost a few baits as my gift to the gods but they rewarded me for my losses.Please excuse the the poor picture quality and multiple pics of the same fish..I forgot that my flash was off and took some dark pics but I tried to lighten them up a bit.

My new personal best Shoal bass....5-6 caught on a swim bait.

Another shot of the same fish..Sweet huh ?

Nice 3 something shoal bass...Did not weigh this one.

I would have been happy to call it a day at this point.

But then just a few minutes later I caught this fish out of the same spot..Holy cow I could not believe what was happening..I just caught this big girl.
My second best shoal bass..4-15 nailed a finesse jig..two pics.

This was incredible..Not only had I caught my personal best Shoal bass over 5 lbs but I had also
caught my second best Shoal bass in a matter of minutes apart and another nice fish to boot..I could have left and went home a happy man and not made another cast but no.. I still had one more kicker fish to come.
We had headed down stream after a while of fishing the same hole and getting no more bites when I hooked into this one very near the boat ramp where we had put in..

A 5-5 Large mouth...This girl was spawned out..Long skinny with a big head.She may have went over
six prespawn..

In addition to that I had caught this largemouth a few minutes earlier..
No weight on this one but no dought a nice fish.

After several trips previous to this one that were far less productive and a few where I did not catch anything at all you have to know that this was a major confidence booster..Breaking two personal records in one day just minutes apart was incredible and put me up on cloud nine..But I soon realized that although I had caught some really nice fish that I had come no where near my goal of catching the world record.. I would need to catch a shoal bass that was more than 3 lbs heavier than the biggest fish I caught on this day..That is a huge leap...I cant even imagine what it would be like to fight a shoal bass of that size but I sure would like to know.

So my quest to catch the world record shoal bass continues although for one day I did have a few minutes of glory I still have along way to go.
Who knows..The very next cast I make may be the one that catches the record.

Stay safe out there folks and fish hard.
WJ

Trip report 03/26The quest gets dangerous

2011-03-27T19:23:00.007-04:00

The spring time weather in Georgia can be very unpredictable which makes the hunt for the world record shoal bass all the more challenging. Spring rains,high muddy water, the threat of thunderstorms and the possibilty of tornados and lighting can bring some dangerous conditions on the river. Well this is exactly the types of conditions that I have been faced with the past few trips to the river. Since my last post I have been on the river three times and each time I have had little success due to the weather and river conditions and the fish being uncooperative. I keep going back in hopes that I am going to be on the river at the right time when all the conditions are favorable for a steller day. It also does not help when I can only go on the weekend when I am off work and can only hope the conditions are in my favor on that day.

Well on Mar 26th me and my good friend Sean Brodie aka Bruiser decided to go give it another shot, even though the weather forcast was calling for late afternoon scattered thunder storms and the possibility of strong winds and lightening. We were hoping the storms would stay to the north of us or at least hold off until late and let us get in a few hours on the water before we had to call it a day. Right from the start I had my first challenge of the day. I ran into a major traffic jam on the interstate on the way to meet Sean caused by a major accident with fatalities that had the highway shut down. I had to cross the median and make a 28 mile detour causing me to be over an hour late. As I drove I was wondering if this was some kind of sign that it was going to be either a bad day or a awesome day..Hummm ???

I finally met up with Sean at the agreed location which was a new put in location that we had been surveying for a while that looked to be promising. This location was directly below a major hydro electric dam. I had called the dam to check the generation schedule for the day and although there was no generation schedule for the day they were releasing 1000 cfs additional water thru the spillway. This had the water churned up a bit and murky but not so much so that it was unfishable and the current seamed safe enough to navigate in the kayaks so we geared up and launched the boats.

After a couple of hours and covering about 200 yards of river I had only managed to get one short strike.
It was not looking very promising until Sean hooked into a nice Largemouth that weighed in at around 4 lbs.
After a couple of pictures the fish was released and we continued to fish down stream for another hour so. We finally decided to pack it up head for our back up float down stream a few miles and try and find some Shoal bass..That was a nice Largemouth that Sean caught but Largemouth were not what we came for..We had to get into some Shoal bass territory before the afternoon storms moved in..The weather had cooperated so far but it would not be long before all that would change..
Here is a picture of Seans Largemouth..

So we packed up our gear and headed for the honey hole as we like to call it. After a breif stop for some lunch we were back on the river..We were in a little town called Valley AL and little did we know that a Tornado watch had been issued for the area and some strong storms were headed our way. Things were about to get real interesting. We paddled up stream to a spot on the river which is right below a head dam where there is a large area of shoals that is known to hold some large Shoal bass.. Just as we started fishng it began to rain some large drops and we could see some lightning off in the distance but nothing close.. We could also see an area of blue sky off to the south so we decided to pull up on the bank and wait it out hoping it would pass us by in a few minutes.After about 20 minutes or so the rain stopped and we got back in our boats and headed up on the shoals.

It was not long before I looked up stream where Sean was and noticed he had hooked into a good fish and I thought ok here we go... Maybe that storm had turned them on and we were about to have the day we had hoped for. Sean was at least 100 yards away in swift water so I did not try and paddle up to see his fish but I later learned he had caught a 4 lb Shoalie and a few minutes later a good size Striper.
So I positioned myself up in the shoals and decided to tye on something I had not tried that day. I tied on a silver and black back slash bait and started ripping it through the shallow water in the shoals.. On the second cast I finally hooked into my first fish of the day a 2 lb shoal bass.. Right at the same time is when the weather started to make a change for the worse.

After that fish was photographed and released I noticed some black clouds had moved in and we started seeing some ominous lighting strikes headed our way and the wind was starting to pick up. I made another cast and WAM another fish hit and this time it was much bigger but I lost it after just a few seconds.. Holy cow I thought.. Is the weather change getting these fish fired up? The lighting was getting closer and the wind stronger.. I made a couple more cast and hooked into another shoal bass around two pounds. I landed the fish and while I was taking the picture lighting strikes were firing off repeatedly and getting closer.
In this picture you can see I have my eye on the storm that is quickly aproaching.

I could not believe what was happening.. I honestly believe that this storm or maybe the lighting had turned on these fish and we were about to have one of those days we all dream about, but should we risk our lives to stay and find out? That question was about to be answered when we heard the sound of Tornado sirens going off in the town of Valley. Sean looked over at me and I raised up my hand and made a twisting motion with my finger. He knew what I meant..Its time to get the hell out of here.. Sean paddled over to where I was standing on a rock and asked me what I thought? I said I want to keep fishing man!!! But I knew it was time to go.. Thats when we stated hearing a roaring sound much like the sound of a jet engine on a plane reving up for take off. There was no question what needed to happen at that point so we started paddling for the take out which was a good 200 yards down stream. My heart was pounding out of my chest and I kept looking back to see if I could see the funnel cloud.. I kept running into rocks and getting hung up and having to get out and get unstuck and back in my kayak.. I was wondering if I was going to end up climbing under a rock to keep from being blown away.. We finally made it to the take out and quickly loaded our gear and got out of there.. Wow..What a scare that was..

On the way up the highway I was thinking about what had just happened and wondering what if? What if we had stayed and rode out the storm and had one wicked day of fishing? It could have been the trip of all trips or I guess it could have turned deadly.. I don't know but it sure did get my old heart ticking for a few minutes.. I think we did the right thing and left and probabaly should have done that before it got so bad.
On the way home I came across an area on the highway where the strom must have passed though because there was hail piled up on the side of the road and a thick erie fog in the air..
I took a couple of pictures.

I guess I can chalk this trip up as a hell of an experience if nothing else.. Taking that kind of chance on the river is probably not the best idea in the world and I would not recommend it to anyone but I can't help but wonder what would the fishing had been like during or after that storm. It sure seemed like the fish all of the sudden became very active... I guess I will never know. One thing I do know is that Spring has arrived and if we can catch a break from mother nature and rivers remain fishable then right now is my best chance to catch a monster Shoal bass so I am going to keep on trying.

I would like to thank my good friend Sean Brodie for joining me on this day.
Sean is a great guy, a master fisherman and is also an awesome photographer.
Be sure to check out Seans web site http://www.canepoleadventure.com/ for some great articles
and information and also Seans awesome photography.

Until next time folks. Stay safe and be careful out there. There is no fish worth risking your life over.
Only I can do that.
WJ

2011-02-27T20:50:00.003-05:00

Trip report 02/26Never give up

2011-02-26T21:45:00.003-05:00

Below is a fishing report I made on riverbassin.com today.In addition to this trip report I would like to add
that I have made two other trips out this year since January and came up empty handed both times.
That makes today's catch even more important to me..Catching that one good fish today helped pull me out of a slump.No where near a record I know but it restored my confidence...

Trip report 02/26Never give up*

Me and RatherBfishing hit the river this morning at day break thinking we would have a banner day after
all the warm weather we have had for the past two weeks.We fished for 3 or 4 hours without a single bite throwing every thing in the tackle box at them..Finally RBF drew first blood with a decent 2 to 3 lb large mouth
on a white spinner bait..At that time the water had warmed up to 48 degrees from 47 when we started..
No picture taken on that one...Just a few minutes later I hooked into a nice shoal bass on a black finesse worm.We were thinking that maybe the bite was going to pick up..Here is a pic of that one.

After that we fished for another 2 or 3 three hours without a single bite..Not even a smell.
At that point I had just about given up..If RBF had said lets go home I would not have argued but instead we continued to fish and actually paddled back up stream to our starting point to give it another try hoping the water had warmed up some more and the bite would turn on.
A few minutes later I here RBF holler out fish on and see him struggling with a big fish so I paddle over to assist and look at what he had .

That was exciting and now we both had new found hope that we might salvage the day and catch a few fish after all...A few minute later I had spotted a submerged rock out in the middle of the river that looked promising..I had been using a finesse jig some but decided to tie on a heavier mop stlye gig
with a larger trailer thinking a bigger bait might be the ticket.I paddled out up stream of the rock and landed the bait on top of the rock..I pulled it slowly off the edge and as soon as it fell BLAMO !!
This girl nailed it on the fall...Did not get a weight because my scales were dead and I did not know it.
Two pics.

A little while later this large mouth hit the same mop jig and that ended my day..

So not a bad day after all I guess.I only caught three fish but I have to keep reminding myself it is still winter..We still have a few weeks until spring arrives when the best shoal bass fishing gets started..Will I catch the world record shoal bass ? I dont know....Am I capable of catching the world record shoal bass ?

Damn right I am..

For now I am just going to keep on trying.

Until next time.

See you on the river !!

Preparing to fish for "The World Record Shoal Bass"

2011-02-09T22:12:00.006-05:00

How do you prepare to catch the world record shoal bass ? Well you don't really but what you can do is be as prepared as possible as I always do any time I go fishing. I am not a very organized person in my personal or business life but when it comes to fishing I probably take it to the extreme. Part of the fun to me is getting prepped the night before a fishing trip spending hours making sure my boat and tackle are well organized
and ready to start fishing the moment I arrive at the river.

This year when I decided to focus my fishing efforts on catching a record I decided right from the start that I needed to get my vehicle, gear and tackle ready for the challenge. So I wasted no time getting things ready.

First order of business was my vehicle..Getting the old truck ready was top priority. Last year I had put many miles on the old girl and I knew that this year would be even more as I reached out farther in my search for the big one. I went thru the usual maintenence and on my truck..Oil and filter change, lube, air filter, general touch up, fluid top off and just a overall check to make sure everything looked ready to go and a good clean up.

Next item on the list was my kayak..My kayak had been through some major wear and tear during the 2010 season so I went over it with a fine tooth comb..There were some issues with the seat that needed some repair and adjustment for comfort..The drag chain needed some repair and also needed to be re wrapped. Basically a tune up so to speak and a little TLC was needed to get the ol Drifter ready to get back on the river.

Now on to the really important stuff.
Rods and reels.These guys take alot of abuse when fishing rivers and in kayaks.. A whole lot more than if you were fishing from a bass boat so it is important to maintain them or you could find yourself in trouble if you hooked a big one and a reel locked up or rod malfunctioned..All of my rods and reels were dismantled and cleaned thoroughly..Rods were inspected for any cracks or damaged line guides and replaced if necessary..The reels were each taken apart and cleaned and lubed with a quality grease and of course new line was installed on all of the reels.

Then comes the tackle box..
This year I totally dismantled my tackle box and reorganized. Over time you tend to accumulate a bunch of unnecessary tackle that you never really use. All of my tackle was reorganized by category of bait so that the items I needed would be easy to locate..Each tackle tray was dedicated to a particular type of bait..Top water baits in one box, Jigs in a jig box, flukes in one and swim baits in another...All of my worms and worm hooks and weights were placed in a dedicated side pouch...Crank baits in a box of there own and a wallet type separator was dedicated solely to spinner baits and buzz baits organized by skirt color.

The final list of items are just as important and not to be forgotten by anyone fishing for a record or just kayak fishing in general. First aid kit and dry bag with extra dry clothes was restocked with any missing items..
Sun glasses,PFD,Sunscreen all on board..And most important if you are fishing for a record is a good set of scales with extra batteries and a measuring tape. And of course don't forget the camera and extra batteries to record your catch.

Will all of my preparation increase my odds of catching a world record fish ?
Probably not but you never know and being prepared sure makes for a better
fishing experience and an enjoyable day on the water.
Fish on my friends...I'll see you on the water.
WJ

Patients Prevail..First attempt of 2011

2011-02-01T22:46:00.004-05:00

Not really an attempt at the record but more like a desperate attempt to shake off the cabin fever
and get back on the river after several weeks of non fishing and being house bound during the cold of winter. Now you would have thought that we would have picked a day when it was some what warmer
to do this but no way..Me and my fishing partner Glenn (RatherBfishing) Anderson picked the first available day we could go which just happened to be the worst day of the weekend.

The low temp that morning was in the 20's and the high for the day might have hit 40 and the wind howling like it was it might as well have stayed in the 20's..To top that the dam up stream was releasing water when we arrived and we had to paddle and wade upstream for approx a mile against some strong current and climb one hefty set of shoals to reach our honey hole..Remember now...Patients prevail right ?

After about an hour long struggle in fridged temps and water we finally reached our fishing destination
just in time for the winds to pick up and start blowing us around the river and making it nearly impossible to fish. If you made a cast into a good looking spot by the time you reeled in you would be blown up stream or spun around in another direction..After all we went through to get there it was becoming very frustrating trying to fish and control our kayaks in the strong current and wind.
But I was not going to let the conditions stop me from catching at least one fish..All I needed was one fish to get the 2011 skunk off so I just kept trying..

After a few hours of fishless frustration and a fridged shore lunch that was so cold it had no taste we got back on the water for another attempt before we headed back down stream.I kept looking for a break from the wind or some trees to block it but the wind kept coming from all directions..I finally rounded a bend while hugging the tree line and all of the sudden I found myself in the perfect spot with no wind what so ever..It was abosutley still and right in front of me was some perfect deep water just outside of the main current.I wasted no time in taking advantage of the opportunity because I knew it would not last long..

Considering the time of year and the cold water conditions, I knew that the fish would not be very active and that it would take a slow presentation with a bottom bumping type bait like a plastic worm or craw type lure.I had tyed on a finesse jig with a plastic craw trailer on to one of my rods and that is the one I chose.
On the very first cast I allowed the bait to sink to the bottom and sit for a few seconds and then slow lifted my rod and moved it just slightly..That's when I felt that tell tale tick in my line..I waited for a moment and then applied a little bit of pressure until a felt a mushy sensation..I reeled down taking the slack out of my line and set the hook...Fish on !! Finally got one on...Sweet !!

Well the fish I guess was so cold it barely put up a fight and never broke the surface until I lifted it from the water and brought it into my kayak.To my surprise though it was a pretty darn good fish..No where near a record but I had removed the skunk and boated a nice 3 to 3/12 lb Shoal bass to start the 2011 season.
My patients had paid off and saved me from a fishless trip on a cold January day..It would have been great to catch a few more that day but after all that we had been through I was perfectly content to
just catch that one fish..We fished for a while longer without another bite and called it a day.
Here are a couple of pictures.

I have spent many days on the river in the spring and summer months during the best of fishing conditions only to wish I had caught just one good fish like that one..Can I take this as some kind of sign that the 2011 season will be my year ? Do I have a shot at catching the world record Shoal bass ? I dont know but I can assure you that I am going to give it my best shot and maybe just maybe..
My Patients will prevail..
WJ

How it all began

2011-01-30T19:30:00.005-05:00

I have enjoyed fishing in general for most of my life but 5 years ago by accident I discovered the fairly new sport of kayak fishing.One day while sitting in my office day dreaming about fishing in my younger days with my father, brother and grandfather and wondering what it would be like to go back and vistit some of those old fishing holes that me and my brother Greg use to go to on the Ocmulgee River. I did a general search on the internet for directions to some of those old honey holes and what do I find ? A whole bunch of information on river fishing in Georgia and links to various fishing forums dedicated to river fishing from kayaks. I had no idea that it had become such a popular activity with kayakers and fisherman.

Since that day I have become consumed in the sport to the point that I live it, think it and breath it on a daily basis. Since I started I have fished for all species of black bass that are found within the southeast but have become very fond of chasing a unique species of bass that is found only in the rivers of Georgia and a very small portion of Alabama and Florida..I am talking about the Shoal bass.The Shoal bass is one of the most beautiful river bass species..Well this year I decided that I was going to focus soley on catching the world record Shoal bass.Thats right..The world record.Call me crazy but it is a record that I beleive is not impossible to catch.There have been a couple of recent catches that have come close so why not give it a shot..I have just as much of a chance as anyone to break the record and I am going to increase my odds by focusing on that one fish..So no more fishing for what just happens to be biting that day..I created this blog to keep a record and share my efforts to catch the BIG ONE !! Follow me and lets see what happens...Wish me luck !!