Family Fun and Park Time for Paul

We have been trying for the past couple of days to get out of the house. The weather has been nice if a bit chilly. But today we finally drug ourselves out of the house and went to Munden Point Park with the kayaks. That meant some Oakum Creek time as well. Always a plus for daddy!

We made it over there right around 11:45 or so and immediately headed out on the water. Paul again did really well around the boat dock so that made Danielle and me extremely happy. The water was down a little bit from my last trip there and it was a little bit more murky. No gin clear water this time so my hopes were higher than the last time for an increased bite. But with a weather system coming in tomorrow and a cool down over the last few days I knew it would be a puzzle to say the least.

Nothing for most of the way up the creek. We made it up the boat dock and stopped going there. Partly because Danielle caught this HUGE twenty inch Chain Pickerel:

Danielle's 20" Chain Pickerel. Notice who got his hands dirty with Mr. Toothy!

That plus Paul was getting restless....A LOT! We made the decision to head back, but I could not leave that bend in the creek. I got a couple of solid bumps that just fueled the fire to work the spot thoroughly. But time was gone so I had to head back to the dock. I stopped in a couple of spots I knew held fish, but with no luck. In one spot I was working I received a text from Danielle. She told me that she was already at the boat dock and had already taken her kayak out of the water and was waiting on me. So I high tailed it back to the boat dock and there they were waiting for me.

So all totaled Danielle had the only fish of the day. Oh well. Keeping mommy happy is more important sometimes.

Frustration of the Highest Magnitude

I made plans earlier in the week to go fishing with my buddy Rob some time this weekend. We zeroed in on today, Saturday. The hard part was deciding where to go. After much conversation, and multiple suggestions, we decided on Oakum Creek. I knew it was going to be tough, though, because of Charlie's report from the other day. Plus the fact that a weather system recently passed through and warmed up air temperatures greatly. The high today was in the mid-seventies on the first day of winter!

Anyway, we met up in the parking lot at Munden Point Park around 0900. We were on the water shortly afterwards. It was then that I realized just how difficult the day was going to be. The water level was up a little bit, the water temperature was still low, but the clarity was unreal. There was easily four feet, or more, of visibility. I have never seen it like this. No matter what lure I threw I could see it all the way back to the boat no matter what the depth it was running.

At any rate, we headed up the creek. My arsenal to work with today was three bait casting rods and my old trusty ultra light spooled with braided line. My first attempt at using braided line, too. To make a long story as short as possible here is a list of what all I threw today:

- Three different suspending jerk baits in different colors and sizes
- Three different jigs with craw trailers in different colors and sizes
- Three different spinner baits in different colors and sizes
- Two different Texas-rigged worms in different colors
- One smaller hair jig rigged in the Beetle Spin fashion

Even with all of these fancy, expensive lures in multiple colors and sizes the only thing that even produced a strike - a short one no less - was the humble Beetle Spin. I rigged it with a 1/8th ounce red jig head and a solid white curly tail grub. I do not know what the blade size was for sure, but I think it was a number two size. This lure was the ticket to any action all day. It produced five different, yet violent, short strikes. However, I missed them all. Thus the mounting frustration.  It was especially frustrating because with the water still being cold I was concentrating on the deeper channels and drop offs. But this would not work out one bit. The only thing that seemed to work throwing the lure up to a Cypress knuckle and work it towards deeper water. That is the only way I got any hits.

I finally just gave up and started heading back to the dock feeling defeated. Rob had not had any better luck either. We were both facing the dreaded skunk! It was on a straight stretch between two deeper bends that I was just paddling a few strokes and casting to more Cypress knuckles. I do not even remember exactly which one I threw to, but I tossed the Beetle Spin up towards the knuckle and started retrieving it. Out of nowhere I had a hit. I light one, but it was a hit. I honestly thought I had just bumped a submerged stick or something. But when I jerked it set the hook on this little guy:

This little twelve inch Largemouth Bass went nuts! He was quite the acrobat jumping five times! I brought him to the boat, snapped a photo, and released him. He shot off rather quickly, too!

The wind blew me down the creek a little bit so I turned around and headed back by that stretch "just in case".  That is when I caught this:

This seventeen and a half inch Chain Pickerel hit the Beetle Spin hard and then went BERSERK! I have never seen a Pickerel jump that high nor that many times! He also made some long, hard runs next to the boat. Once I took the photo he decided to release himself and launched off of the measuring board, into my lap, and then right back into the water.

Those were the only two fish I caught and I caught them in the last twenty minutes on the water. So, while the frustration level was extremely high at least I avoided a skunk.

Killing Time

I took a short trip out to “The Pipe” yesterday afternoon. I figured why not. I had a little time to kill and it was my birthday. So I grabbed a couple of rods, my tackle bag, and headed out. I figured I would only be wasting time and, as it turned out, that is exactly what I did. It was fun, though, and that is all that matters.

Quick fix

Sometimes you do what you have to to save an expensive item. Add this to the list of the millions of things you can use 550 cord for. I used a modified Uni-Knot on both ends. The Uni-knot is supposed to have five wraps. I used 3 three.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving 2013 will go down in the books as a good fishing weekend! Thanksgiving Day was rather quiet, but the food was good so I ate myself into a coma and went to sleep fat, dumb, and happy.

On Black Friday, instead of fighting the crowds (which I NEVER do), Danielle gave me a "day pass" to go fishing. Now, I knew it was going to be cold so I had to think of where to go. I decided on West Neck Creek. I'd never been there before, but from what Charlie says it is the place to go in the winter. I launched after 1000 into ICE! It was at this point that I was starting to think I was indeed a bit nuts, but the wind had broken the ice up out in the channel so I headed out there. It was cold, but not too bad. I was layered up pretty well so I didn't really feel it. I did put a beanie on shortly after being out on the water, though, along with my new neoprene gloves. Those things are AWESOME! Anyway, the traffic was REAL light on the water with only a couple of power boats and Charlie in his kayak. I ran into him as he was heading south away from the bridge. He said the fish were biting just north of the bridge on a point. I thanked him for the tip and made my way up there. However, I guess the dinner bell had rung by then, or he caught them all, because I could not even get a tap. Oh well. All totaled all I got was one ever so slight bump that I missed at another spot. I decided to head in a little while later, not out of frustration or being too cold - sort of, but because my feet were FROZEN. That's one thing I am definitely going to have to work on this winter. Keeping my feet warm!

Fast forward to yesterday, 01 December 2013. Charlie mentioned in an e-mail that he was headed out to Oakum Creek so I talked Danielle into going with me. We were to meet Charlie in the parking lot at Munden Point Park at 1000. However, a 3 year old has their own schedule so we were late. When we got there, as I suspected, Charlie had already launched. We unloaded the truck (yes I get to drive it every once in a while) & headed to the canoe/kayak dock. Our launch went very well! You never know what "Mr. Man" has on his mind around water, but Paul was eager to get on the water. Surprises never cease I suppose. So up the creek we go. Danielle had a Zoom craw Texas rigged and a beetle spin tied on. I figured keep it simple for her since she had Paul to start out. I had a jig/craw, a suspending jerk bait, a spinner bait, and a shallow running crank bait. The crank bait would never see the water, though, as the other three would do the lion's share of the work. We focused on the outside-to-middle of the bends. Especially the deeper spots. A few bends in I had something pick up my jig, swim around with it for a few seconds, then spit it out all before I realized it and could set the hook. That was he oddest thing I've ever seen! I put that down and threw the jerk bait. A couple of casts later I connected with this little guy.

This little guy fought hard considering his size.

Small but healthy for sure! He fought way above his weight class! Now it was Danielle's turn. We were coming to the dock in the corner about halfway up the creek. I had a feeling that, if there was a spot that she could connect with something, this was the place. I told her to throw her beetle spin right down the middle. Two casts in I hear her holler! I had Paul by this point so mommy could focus on fishing. Paul and I look over to see mommy's rod bent over pretty far. After a short fight she brings in (as Charlie calls it) the Fish-of-the-Day!

Danielle with her Fish-of-the-Day!

I was so proud of her! She caught it, took it off of the hook, and released it all by herself! 

We kept going further up the creek and finally ran into Charlie. He said his day had been rather slow with only a couple of smaller Pickerel on the fly rod. We bid him good luck after a short chat and pressed on. We made it all the way up the creek to the duck blinds. Now, by this point the tree gods had already taken their sacrificial lure offering in the form of Danielle's beetle spin so all she had (after calming down) was her craw. She tossed it up on a cypress knuckle and got a bump, but it was so light she did not have time to set the hook. Paul and I chased a water fowl for a bit (anything to amuse him, right?) and just soaked up the family time. So Paul went back to mommy's boat and we headed back. When I got to the spot where Danielle had her bump I tried my jig/craw. Sure enough...bump...SET!!! I didn't know what it was until it made it to the surface and I realized it was a Pickerel.

I could not believe how hard this Pickerel hit a jig.

For as little as it was that thing went berserk! It got that jig good too! The hook was through both lips! After show and tell with Paul (who wants to touch every fish we catch) I released it back to do whatever it is Pickerels do. We kept going down the creek, with no more action, until we ran into Charlie again. He said the action had continued to be slow so we bid him good day and left for the dock.

Getting out of the water was just as easy as getting in! While I loaded the kayaks in the truck Paul and mommy went to play on one of the many playgrounds at the park. Just a good day for everyone in Paul's house! Mommy and daddy caught fish (mommy's was the biggest), we had fun on the water, and Paul got to play outside! I'll take more days like that please!