Stealth Rider

The kayak is a quiet and efficient vessel for stalking fish. I have had trout and bass rise to take something off the surface within a few feet of my kayak. It also allows you to get into shallow waters and places that are inaccessible to other craft. These are the kind of places that usually hold the fish you are seeking. Once you get into kayakfishing you will likely acquire more than one "yak" if you are serious about your yakfishing.


A 16' sit-on-top is a good choice on big lakes. It is able to handle the rougher conditions you may encounter and is also capable of moving you along quickly. In addition it is able to carry a lot of gear should you wish to camp as you fish.


The 12 foot sit-on-top is a good choice for use on moving water. it is long enough to track well yet short enough to negotiate quick turns on a winding river.


The other choice for me is a kayak that I can stand in. The ability to stand allows you to stretch your legs and gives you a good vantage point for sight fishing and casting and fishing with a flyrod.


I still have the original sit in kayak that I started with but compared to the modern sit-on-top kayaks it is uncomfortable to fish from and it hasn't moved much since I got my Wilderness Tarpon 120 kayak. My canoe has hardly seen the light of day since I discovered the much more efficient kayak. I would still enjoy "canoe-tripping" with a buddy but I haven't given up on trying to figure out how to portage my kayak. The portaging and carrying factors are the weakness of the kayak.

Stand Up Yak

 

Here's a friend demonstrating the stability of his Commander. 120.

BACKWOODS BASS

The new Wilderness Commander 120 is earning it's keep. It allowed me to get through an almost impossible back lake access. Often negotiating a tough access can pay off in handsome dividends. Check out this handsome brute! Had these big bucketmouths breaking my tippet so I had to switch to my baitcaster. Caught a lot of these fish which made the extra effort to get in with our kayaks very worthwhile.

Beadchain Bugger Scores at Dusk

After fishing the local reservoir in the afternoon from my yak where one lone crappie avoided the "skunk", I decided to drop in at the trout club on the way home. I was fishing the evening rise from shore with my intermediate fly line. On my last cast before calling it a day this magnificent speckled trout was hooked on a wooly bugger with big beadchain eyes. The beauty of it is that the club does not stock brook trout they raise and stock only rainbow trout. This speckle is a wild fish that has been in the system for a while. They must be naturally reproducing in there or they somehow get in from one of the creeks flowing in or out. Water is getting warm quickly. Time to get out for some river smallmouth.

MY NEW STAND UP YAK

After enjoying a fishing session with my grandaughter in my old canoe I started to save for the Wilderness Commander 120. This kayak with it's "captain's perch" would enable me to paddle her around while she fishes. With the sliding seat and the Captain's chair the yak effectively becomes a tandem for grandfather and his fishing buddy. I was extremely fortunate and was able to purchase this "angler version" for less than half price at a year end close out back in November. Now this cold ice and snow needs to go away. I'm really anxious to get this yak on the water. 


On my way home from the dealer. I was able to test it out on a nearby lake. It paddles and tracks really well for having a pontoon style hull. I didn't notice it being any slower than my 12 foot Tarpon. I checked out standing capability and it works. This is going to be my "flyfishing machine".

Haliburton Bass

On a Fall trip to the Haliburton Highlands in search of smallmouth this big pike was caught while dropshotting for bass sitting right on bottom. All the big deepwater smallies I have caught have bulldogged down deep and were reluctant to come to the surface. This pike which was at least a 10 pounder, had me convinced I had finally hooked up with a trophy smallmouth. I did get some big bass but they were of this variety........

Fishing was good and the Fall colours were spectacular. I will definitely be going back next season.

Smallmouth vs Largemouth

Floating the River In My Pontoon

Although in the same family these two members of the sunfish family are distinctively different. Length of the lower jaw and dorsal fin differences aside the two fish just look different, Smallies are brownish in colouration while largemouth are green in colouration. "Bronzeback" is a common name for smallmouth and the largemouth is oftened referred to as the "green bass". The largemouth above was caught in one of my favourite eddies on a local smallmouth river. The smallie on my plywood standing platform was caught while fishing a spot on the Rideau System where I normally catch only largemouth. These situations can often occur, but generally, smallies prefer rocky habitat, (Crayfish hide in those rocks!) whereas the largemouth likes the weeds and lily pads. (Frogs like to sun themselves on the pads and the largies lie in wait.)

The smallmouth also likes to dine on the four legged amphibians and largemouth share a liking for crayfish. Where the two species of bass co-exist you can often catch one type of bass in the other's preferred habitat.

Smallmouth bass are masters of camoflauge and will take on the colouration of their surroundings. Fish in tea stained waters will be true "bronzebacks" while Southern Ontario river bass tend to be olive coloured taking on the same hue as the river bottom.

My pontoon float partner and I have very different stles of fishing. He likes to anchor and stands on his seat to cast. I usually leave my "standing board" at home when I'm on the river as I use fins to help control my drift. I can slip out of the seat in water that's not to deep and wade to fish a good looking spot thoroughly.

Earlier this year I caught my first musky on this river. On this last trip, my friend observed several follows from toothy critters and managed to land a 10 pound pike. In a pontoon you are seated up fairly high, but the perspective he has while standing gives him an edge with the toothy critters who have a reputation for following lures right to the boat. Last time out with my friend, I used my flyrod most of the day. He caught all his fish baitcasting and spinning so on this outing I left the fly gear at home and did well on the regular gear. That blue Rapala crank accounted for all my fish on that float. When we return were going to toss some musky baits to see what happens.

Passing the Torch

My little grandaughter who has never fished before came out with me recently. I got down my old canoe from the rafters. I had been saving it for fishing with the grandkids and that time has come. After going through some timing issues on the release of her cast my darling grandaughter got it dialled in and was casting spinnerbaits and buzzbaits right into the pencil reeds. As the day progressed she was even casting Rapalas into the pockets in the reeds. I enjoyed myself immensely just teaching her how to fish. She handled her own weed removal and tip top tangles with almost total independence. Even though no fish were boated she kept telling me how much fun she was having. I was having a blast being her guide and discovered that old canoe when rowed is just as fast as my kayaks. Most of my grandaughter's casting was done standing near the bow. Quite the fishing craft! It's not going back in the rafters yet!

Combat Fishing

I kearned a long time ago that big fish like to hide where nobody will fish for them.
One of the ponds I fish has an inflow from another pond down at the far end where nobody goes because the water is shallow and covered in most areas by extensive "weed mat".

I'm about the only one who ventures deep into this heavily weeded area. When fishing this area from my float tube I have noticed a lot of light coloured circles on the bottom with no weed growth. This usually means there is a spring in that area. Sure enough as I kick into the weeds heading for one of the circles. I feel cooler water. I discovered that there are several springs in the weedy area. Cooler water and cover from the weedmat plus lots of minnows foraging the weeds make it a natural spot for big trout to hang out. The culvert offers shade and flowing water and makes for a perfect ambush station to snap up those forage fish that are constantly cruising by.

It's a bit of a challenge to quietly work through the weeds to get in range for a cast and present a fly to the culvert. The cast has to be perfect as there is pretty much the width of the culvert that is clear and the rest of the area is weed.

Well the Lord was with me. I made the perfect cast and plopped the beadhead right in front of the inflow and set the hook on the ensuing swirl. I never even felt a strike. After some interesting moments with the fish trying to wrap me in weeds, I brought this beautiful male rainbow to hand and snapped a couple of pics before releasing him back to his chosen environment. Made my day! Gotta love fly fishing!

This is the third big fish I've taken from the culvert.

Natives In Stocked Rainbow Ponds

This season I have caught a few really nice sized wild brookies from the ponds at my trout club. The club hasn't stocked anything but rainbows since the 70's so these fish are a pleasant unexpected bonus. Ironically two of the "specks" I have caught at the club were bigger than any I caught on my wilderness trip to Kwagama Lodge last spring.

First Musky

With bass season finally here. I got together with a friend to kayak fish my favourite smallmouth river. I gathered all my bass flies and got my six weight with a floating line and an extra spool lined with a "Streamer Express" line. When I got up at 4 a.m. it was pretty windy so I replaced the 6 weight with a 9 weight floater and an 8 weight fast sinker. Well even those weights were no match for the strong winds which pushed us back upriver as we tried to drift down. Fishing was tough under those windy conditions and all we had to show near the end of our float was a small smallmouth that my friend caught almost in sight of the takeout. I had missed one fish that struck right beside the yak and I was headed for a no fish day. However, I stopped flailing with the flyrod and started tossing a Storm "HotnTot" with my baitcaster. Just before the takeout my first ever musky nailed the lure and after an exciting battle, I brought him to the net. Thank the Lord that I had remembered my pliers. The fish slimed me pretty well but didn't do any damage. The debarbed hooks came free and I was able to get the fish back in the water to fight another day. This fish definitely made my day. Now I want to get one on the flyrod.

Bead Chain Bugger Scores at Dusk

After kayakfishing the local reservoir where I took a back seat to the fishing prowess of my friend, Peter, I decided to stop by my trout club on the way home. I wanted to fish the evening rise from shore. This magnificent brook trout took a wooly bugger with big bead chain eyes cast on my intermediate "camo" fly line. It was the last cast before calling it a day. What a fish! Thank You, Lord.

LOVING COUPLE

I came across these two while finning along the shore of one of my favourite stillwater trout ponds. Fishing has changed dramatically as a lot of yearling rainbows were stocked. They seem to beat the big rainbows to the fly. They are fast and energetic and give a good account of themselves. Last year I caught a lot of big rainbows and I am used to fishing big streamers. These little guys just nip the tails on my big flies and are frustratingly hard to hook. Whereas some of last years big boys made me start fishing my 8 weight flyrod, these energetic 12-14 inchers have got me thinking 3 weight with normal nymphs and wet flies.

I have hooked a couple of the big guys but two of them escaped by straightening my hook and the other one broke my leader at the fluoro to mono connecting knot. I have had a lot of problems with fluoro/mono connections and usually avoid them when I can.

This was my first outing in a while as it has rained a lot this May. Yesterday was pretty decent weather wise and today was insanely hot. I'm glad I chose yesterday rather than today.

BIG FLIES/BIG FISH

I got a couple of friends of mine to consider upsizing their flyrod offerings. The results are self evident. Now I have to show them that although the fish like "wooly buggers" there are lots of other effective streamers to try.

Fishing With My Boys On The Rideau

I guess it's every dad's dream to spend time doing what he loves with his children. Thanks to the kindness of my wife's cousins, my boys and I have been able to spend time together fishing on the Rideau. The cousins have a place just north of Kingston and they have graciously offered us the use of it for a while the past two summers. My older boy is a very serious university student and has many years of study behind him and still ahead. He really appreciates the chance to unwind and fish alongside his younger brother and his dad. We catch a few bass and a few pike but we really have a blast fishing for bluegills and crappies from the kayaks and float tubes.

I really enjoy watching my sons catch fish and supplying them with my hand tied jigs. They are impressed at how well they can catch fish with dad's " fur and feather stuff"


There was even a new personal best bluegill for Dad on our visit in July of this year.

Solo Kayak/Camping /Fishing Trip

I was all set to go out with a fellow yakfisher and had my Tarpon on the car and all my gear packed when my friend suddenly had to cancel. Since I was ready I decided to go to another lake closer to home where I have soloed in the past. This lake has big smallmouth in it but the shoreline is swampy almost every where. There is only one good place to camp. I set up right at the water's edge. Kayak paddled a little easier with the two coolers on shore. It's rather amazing to find this one grassy piece of solid ground in a place where the shore line is a boggy mess of Labrador Brush and drowned cedar trees. Anyway this would be my bed and breakfast for this excursion.


I was able to pitch my tent right at the water's edge and my kayak slid right up on the grass in front of it. One of the most convenient pitches I've ever made. I was able to organize a nice cooking area with some logs and an old piece of plywood. After cooking lunch I inflated my backpackable float tube by mouth. It rolls up small enough to lash onto the bow of the yak. Got my flyrod and a couple of boxes of flies and kicked around in the tube for a couple of hours with nothing to show for it except a couple of rock bass.

The day was too windy for the flyrod and the float tube so I explored a bit with my spinning rod in the kayak. After a couple of hours of casting practice I paddled back to camp and pulled up the yak for the night. After supper when the winds had subsided I planned to go out in the tube again and cast surface poppers with the flyrod. It took quite a while for the wind to die down and the results of my efforts with the flyrod were again a couple of rock bass. I decided to call it a night and get up at dawn.

In the early light of morning I made coffee and enjoyed a breakfast of bacon and eggs. I'm a surviving heart patient who underwent quintuple bypass 10 years ago so I hardly ever eat bacon anymore. Boy was it good!
With little to show for my efforts with the flyrod and the spinning rod I decided to give my baitcaster a workout. That proved to be a wise choice as you can see below.

That is a big net and that is one of the biggest smallies I've ever caught. It was just shy of 23" long and with the girth I estimate this fish was easily 6 pounds. It fought hard for quite a while and went on several reel screaming runs. Tried to throw the hooks on a couple of spectacular leaps but for once, I was able to land the big one. With bass I usually just "lip" them but too many fish lost at the last minute have made me wise and I now carry a net for the big ones.

The fish took a white "lipless" crankbait trolled slowly from the kayak. So as you can see although I love to catch my fish with flies I am definitely not a purist and will try a number of different presentations before admitting defeat. Twice now I have camped on this lake and almost been "skunked" but both times I caught a very significant fish to save the trip. Last years fish was almost a clone of this one and it too was caught on a crankbait. Unfortunately I had "stowed" the camera as I was on my way out. That fish took on the "proverbial last cast". It's picture is permanently etched in my mind and the "last cast" aspect will help me remember it for a long time.

River Smallmouth From the Pontoon

Last outing was for river smallmouth, floating and fishing from my pontoon boat. I took along the whole arsenal. Baitcaster, ultra-lite spinning and of course the flyrod with a zillion flies. I even added some nice new crayfish patterns that I had tied up the night before. As things go I started out with a jig and twistertail and the fish wouldn't let me put it down. I missed a huge bass on a Zoom Fluke with the baitcaster. With results like this the flyrod didn't get exercised the way it should have. My buddy was doing okay with his flyrod crayfish but he wasn't hitting fish the way I was on the jig. So to make a long story short. I had my small tackle box full of Rapalas, cranks and spinnerbaits, a big carry bag of plastics and my usual arsenal of flies. I got all my fish on that one jig and twistertail. I keep telling myself that one of these days I'm going to go minimalist and fish out of my shirt pockets but it hasn't happened yet. You never know when you might need something that wouldn't fit in the shirt pocket.
Here's the first fish to grace my new landing net.

Yarn Flies

I enjoy fishing streamer type flies. For several years now I have incorporated various craft store yarns in my tying. They have been very effective. Some of the poorest quality "Dollar Store" yarns have great mobility in the water. Try it you might like it!

Personal Best Crappie

Got this "binder-sized" crappie on a tiny chartreuse and white jig fished with an indicator on my 5 weight flyrod. Bluegill and crappie are a blast on the fly. So too are their beautifully coloured cousins, the pumpkinseeds. These panfish give a good account of themselves on a light rod. (3 weight is even better) I'm hoping my next post will include lots of panfish caught on my upcoming trip to the Rideau River north of Kingston, Ontario.

Hybrid Yaks/Standing

As a 64 year old man I am blessed with good balance and have always been interested in standing capability in a self propelled fishing vessel. Recently I had a chance to fish from a Native Ultimate 12 on the Grand River near Paris and Bradford. It's probably a good thing that I didn't come away impressed by being able to stand in this yak. (more money invested in the fleet). I can stand almost as well in my own Tarpon but even with good balance, standing in a kayak is an accident waiting to happen. I have no qualms about standing in my 16 foot canoe but even these hybrid canoe yaks need stabilizers to provide confidence while standing to fish. All that aside, this Native Ultimate has an incredibly comfortable seat that all yak manufacturers should seek to emulate.

Pentax Optio 90

I recently purchased a new waterproof camera and all the recent pics uploaded are coming from it.



I still haven't had the courage to "dunk" it yet for some underwater release shots but I have checked out its fine "macro" capabilities. Here are some fly shots from my early experimentation.











Here's just the head from the same streamer.