Weekend kayak & fishing report

Tom photographed at Brown Co State Park

I took my kayak to the Lake Monroe tailwaters on both Friday and Saturday evenings.  The crappie were hitting like crazy both days on 1/16 oz jigs.  The water level had fallen about 4 ft on Friday, which I think could have been the reason the bass were not too excited about hitting.  I tried a floating Rapala and got several look, but no hook-ups other than small ones.  On Saturday the bass were more cooperative and I was able to land a few on a shallow running crankbait, but still not the big ones I was looking for.  As I was preparing to beach the kayak and crawl up the rip rap bank, an older guy just downstream, asked if I had a dip net to help him land a walleye.  I managed to get the fish in the net and handed to him.  It was about 19" and would make a nice meal.  The weird thing was he was fishing with a small hook on the bottom with a worm trying to catch bluegill for bait.

Sunday afternoon, me and my oldest daughter kayaked a stretch of Guthrie Creek.  The weather was perfect, the stream was clear with a good flow and we kept our face and neck covered with vanilla spray to hold off the gnats.  We saw several deer along the bank, lots of big soft shelled turtles, and two freshly hatched wood duck families.  The paddle took about a hour and forty-five minutes and we had to portage around two drifts up steep muddy banks, but it was great fun!

Freshwater drum - best crankbait ever

Cotton Cordell Deep Diving Big O (crayfish pattern)

The discontinued crankbait pictured has taken more drum than we could keep track of.  Why is it lure companies discontinue some of the most effective lures they produce.  If anyone has one like it they would like to sell, let me know.

Lake and river update

Channel catfish taken with chartreuse/crayfish pattern

Lake Monroe update: this morning the lake is 4.3 ft above summer pool and the Army Corps has shut off the discharge to the minimum flow (212 cfs) due to the greater than 2 1/2 " inches of precipitation in the last couple days.  The East Fork of White River is rising at all 3 locations: Columbus 4 ft; Seymour 11.1 ft; and Rivervale 13.8 ft.  

I visited Bradford Woods north of Martinsville yesterday and noticed bluegill beds along the shoreline.  I thought it was a little too early, but I was wrong.

Redhorse Sucker spawning

Smallmouth Redhorse

I went on a redhorse sucker recon trip Saturday morning before daylight hoping to find large numbers of suckers spawning in the riffles of a small creek that flows into the East Fork of White River.  I walked along the stream shining my flashlight onto several riffles and only saw 1 fish.  Maybe the best time is after sunset instead; I don't know.  I've always heard stories from years ago when guys used to go out after dark and gig lots redhorse suckers in the riffles for the protein.  Not long after daylight the gnats started swarming me and i tried every plant around me to deter them, but nothing worked.  Before I hurried back to the truck I made several casts with a floating Rapala hoping to interest a bass, but got no action at all. Later that afternoon I took the kayak to the Monroe tailwaters for a paddle.  The current was fast (1925 cfs) and I had to cover the cockpit with my rain coat a couple times.  I paddled down to the mouth of Clear Creek and back up to the parking lot.  I threw the Rapala some, but only got a couple bluegill.

Joke fishing lure

How many times have you been fishing with someone that seems to have their lure in the trees more than the water.  They might as well have the right lure, since they're fishing for squirrels.  Enter them into the "Squirrel Anglers Club" with this gag gift.  I hand made the lure from an English walnut; the stand is solid wood with a solid brass hanger and the entire thing is varnished for protection.  If you'd like one, search for "River Rat Craftsman" on Etsy.

Freshwater Drum fishing

Freshwater drum are very willing to hit crankbaits.  The one pictured nearly swallowed the whole lure.  Drum seem to love crayfish and they also eat small freshwater mussels.  Several years ago we caught a decent size drum with a bulging stomach and later found out it was full of Asiatic Clams, an invasive specie of freshwater mussels present in nearly every water body in Indiana.  From the IDNR website: The first record of the Asiatic Clam in the United States was documented in 1924 on the west coast, and it was discovered later in the Columbia River in Washington in 1937. This species was thought to enter the U.S. as a food item by Chinese immigrants. By the 1970s, the Asian clam had found its way into most of the 
Mississippi Basin, the Gulf Coast and on the east coast. By 1990, this species was recorded in New Jersey, Delaware, New York and Connecticut. Most species of freshwater mussels prefer a solid bottom with gravel/rocks and so do crayfish.  Since the drum's forage prefers solid, rocky bottoms, it's fairly easy to locate the most likely stretches of the river to focus on.  We concentrate on outside bends with rock-covered bottoms.  Drum can be caught on the same lures catfish like such as crayfish and shad imitations.  The lure you choose must be in contact with the river bottom bouncing off rocks to be effective.  Drum hit hard and seldom ever dislodge the lure's hooks.  They also fight hard for a short time then usually give up, but they're still fun to catch.  I have also caught several drum on a fly rod with flies I've tied to imitate crayfish.

Flathead catfish on crankbait

Here's another one of those surprise catches on a crankbait.  We usually catch a flathead catfish or two every year on crankbaits in the East Fork.  It seems like after dark is the best time, but if you get close enough to them during the day they'll hit a lure hard.  They like both crayfish and shad imitations.

Hand tied lures available on Etsy

My hand tied gar rope lures and crappie jigs are available on Etsy.

Lake Monroe tailwaters and kayaking

Visited the tailwaters Saturday before lunch.  The Corps is still dumping the lake (1960 cfs) and this morning it's down to 5.6 ft above summer pool.  Since the current was high in the creek I found a ditch flowing in with calmer water.  Caught lots of the usual small crappie and one small spotted bass that looked fat with eggs ready to spawn. Saturday evening my daughter and I kayaked the upper end of Sugar Creek cove on Monroe.  We saw lots of turtle, ducks and several fisherman on the shore.  A large beaver surprised us sunning on the shore when it rocketed into the water.  Sunday afternoon we took the kayaks to Fairfax SRA and paddled around the point.  We noticed 3 geese nesting on high ground.  The gnats or midges were annoying when we were close to shore; I guess it's time to start using the vanilla spray.  The weather was great both days.

East Fork White River - watershed

This GIS map gives you a good idea of the land use practices in the watershed of the East Fork I fish most often.  Some people don't understand what a watershed is or that they actually live in one.  No matter where you're standing you're in a watershed.   Here's a good definition: 

A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place. John Wesley Powell, scientist geographer, put it best when he said that a watershed is:

"that area of land, a bounded hydrologic system, within which all living things are inextricably linked by their common water course and where, as humans settled, simple logic demanded that they become part of a community."

Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. They cross county, state, and national boundaries. In the continental US, there are 2,110 watersheds; including Hawaii Alaska, and Puerto Rico, there are 2,267 watersheds.

I think it's important everyone realizes land use activities in their watershed has an affect, negative or positive, on water quality.  We are called to be good stewards, which to me means wise use. Don't confuse "wise use" with environmental extremism.  I believe you can honestly be an "environmentalist" without being a tree-hugger.