Disclaimer….this post may ramble ’cause the heat has made me a bit delirious according to my Joy…
HOT.
I really do not know what else to say about the last three days of fishing.
HOT, HOT, HOT….I guess saying it three times is not really saying anything different.
On Friday I squeezed in two hours before work fishing Yellow Creek before the Lake Barkley KBF event. Then that afternoon after a long day of work, I met a guy (new to the CAKFG and kayak fishing) at Paris Landing Marina to help walk him through the ropes – catching, measuring, photographing and submitting fish on TourneyX. I was also fishing a one night stand tourney Friday afternoon…never do well in those because I do not fish at night…need to stop signing up for them, but I usually hope to catch some big ‘uns before dark.
Oh yeah, was trying to improve on my June month long Tennessee tournament.
For the month long and one night stand events, I finished:
36th out of 117 (top third) in the KBF June one night stand.
12th out of 35 (dang, almost top third .34) in the TN KBF June State Challenge.
26th out of 42 (not so good – .62) in the AL KBF June State Challenge.
15th out of 31 (middle of the road – .48) in the AR KBF June State Challenge.
……….Back to HOT……..
So, home late (for me) on Friday night, then up at 3 a.m. for the KBF Barkley Event.
One other kayak was at the Yellow Creek boat ramp (Donnie Bennett), so I was glad about that; but by the time I had my mirage drive in the Hobie…I was sweating. I had found good fish the week before – just shy of three miles up the creek, so I took off in the dark.
I really never used a depth finder for much other than keeping my boat off the bottom or to know the water temp; water temp plays a huge role in my (comfortable) style of fishing, so when I saw the water was up a foot and the temp down by almost nine degrees to a cool 77 degrees…I was a bit worried. The current was twice as fast as it had been, and it was almost chocolate brown in spots due to rain.
I landed a 16.75 inch fish early with a Rapala Skitterpop….ok, maybe. Then I caught one shy of 10 with the same lure in the same area.
Sweat poured for the next hours (HOT), then a 12.75 on a Yamamoto Senko….then two more hours….sweating, drinking water…HOT…too HOT for fishing hot, splashing the creek water all over me to keep from passing out HOT….a 13 inch bass on a Black/Blue Strike King jig.
The fish I had found the week before – ranging from 15-18 inches – had been affected by the rising water and lowering temps.
I went back to the spot where I had fished the National Championship and pulled a 13 inch fish with a Mann’s Classic spinner bait after trying several baits.
I was struggling to fill a limit of anything decent so I pedaled to the mouth of Yellow; there are always some 12 inch dinks living there….except when Satan has the thermostat! They were not there.
Almost out of time – around 1 p.m. – I moved to a spot that should hold a small fish…or it usually did…good thing about fishing closer to home…
I dropped back to a 3 inch Yamamoto Baby Bass Senko and flipped it into the spot; BAM!! Ok, not really bam…but I finally had a limit with an 11 incher. And then I started upgrading; losing the nine and some change incher to a 12….then the 11 with a 13….I sat in the spot and caught around seven fish, and lost a solid 14-15 inch bass.
Through the pouring sweat, I loaded up the kayak (I REALLY am missing my Tennessee Trailer!!!) and took off to the Busy Bee for a good ole bologna (typed to the old Oscar Meyer commercial music – Google it if you are young) sandwich; not a plug, but if you like a good bologna sandwich…just sayin…
Skip ahead….I caught…blah, blah….I lost…blah, blah….two fish, one fish….three fish…hmmmm….I was counting how many had not caught a limit in my head…how many had not driven to the check in…how many checked in and left….hmmmm….
In the end, by catching a limit in the blistering Tennessee heat, I had landed in 8th place!
DAY 2 – CAKFG Kentucky Lake
……….HOTTER….launched at 3:30 ish with little to no sleep…fished in the dark for a bit…then looked at Facebook and Instagram (hate fishing in the dark) while I sweated in the night!
Just as the light started showing itself, I had an 11 inch fish bust my Skitter Pop.
Threw it more, then a Whopper Plopper….a buzzbait…a Senko, spinnerbait, jig….a small tantrum….then loaded up and moved to a spot on the main lake.
Fished some docks when I wasn’t wiping sweat or trying to drink enough to keep me alive as I fished in Hell….pulled a 13 incher…fished…fished…sweated, sweated….talked to a guy about the stability of the Hobie and where he could pick one up…
Nothing.
Loaded up for the second time – REALLY MISS my trailer…..and moved farther south having already missed the morning bite.
I launched in a spot I had not fished in over thirty years…the water temp…90.9…dang it. I knew my day was over…I was out of time to fish in that temp water without knowing where the fish might be….caught a solid 9 inch fish, not long enough for KAST rules…
So today, day three of fishing in the oppressive heat, I finished 21st in the CAKFG event………but I did not pass out, so there is that………..
…and I wasn’t skunked….
…..celebrate the small victories………
Topwater Moon 