Heartbreak at Beaverdam Creek Reservoir - 09/06/2010

The shoreline was ~15' from where it

 normally is.

Today I decided to hit Beaverdam Creek Reservoir in the late morning. When I got to the lake I was surprised at how drawn down the reservoir had become. My plan was to fish the cove to the right of the dam, work my way along the dam, and then work the shoreline back.

As I started paddling out towards the dam and saw a hump in the middle of the lake at ~20'. I decided to throw my wacky rigged jighead and on the second cast I caught a little guy. As any good fisherman would do I ignored what the fish were telling and decided to continue on with my original plan. :)

After several hours of no success it was getting late and I started paddling back to the launch site. While paddling I realized that while I was fishing shallow with no success I should have been fishing deep which was my only success. I knew there was some old bridge ruins and a submerged roadbed by the launch site.
As I came up on the launch site I watched my sonar carefully. As soon as I saw the road bed I threw out a buoy.

I decided to use the wacky rigged jighead again. On my first cast I felt a hit, no joy. Because I threw out the buoy I was able to replicate the cast. As I was working it slowly, I felt a hit again. I set the hook and the rod doubled over. I started to reel her in and she jumped. I kept my rod low to keep her from jumping again and she started to swim down. I pulled her back up and got her to the kayak. I had her head out the water and as I was reaching to lip her she shook again and the knot failed. She had to be 17" at least and that's being very conservative.

I tried the same cast again and again felt a hit. I set the hook and my heart skipped a second until I realized there was very little fight, I pulled out another little guy.
 After that the bite had turned down and I called it a day.

View Beaverdam Creek Reservoir - 09/06/10 in a larger map

Picking Up the Rod and Paddle Again!

After about a 4 to 5 year hiatus I am getting back into kayak fishing again. This time I am looking to start fishing in the Warrenton, VA area. There are definitely plenty of fishing holes in this area. I am looking at hitting Lake Brittle, the Occaquan Reservoir, Lake Anna, and the Potomac. I also want ot particpate in several of the kayak fishing tournaments this year.
I have been frequenting the kayakbassfishing.com forums and there is a lot good guys over there. The guy who runs that site is Chad Hoover. If you have not picked up his book "Kayak Bass Fishing" you should. Lots of good information in there.
As for this site I am planning on posting articles on my rigging experiences, new tackle I try, fishing reports from my trips, and basically anything related to kayak fishing.
I look forward to sharing my experiences with the WWW and promoting the sport.
Until next time 'Tight Lines!'