Date:May 7, 2008
Location: Taylor River, kayak
Bait: Wave Worm Tiki Sticks
Conditions:Medium Wind, Sunny, high 60s/low 70s
Time of Day: Afternoon
Friends:Al Neller
Experience: 9 out of 10
What a cool day to fish. I was insulating with a friend on the Seacoast and we finished early. It was sunny, warm, and I just had studying left on my agenda for the day so, obviously, I thought to go fishing. I called a few friends but they were all working (go figure) so I grabbed a buddy's kayak, paddle, and vest and headed to the river.
I was out for about 15 minutes when a friend of mine, Al Neller, showed up. you'd think Al was trolling with a net for all the fish he pulls into his boat. On days where I'm struggling, he's pulling in fish to his boat like an assembly line. He had already caught two pickerel within 5 minutes of launching his boat. We decided to fish down by the highway, and boy, am I glad we did. Al went his way and I went mine and started prospecting for bites.
It took a little bit to figure out what the fish wanted. I started with a green/white Senko with no luck. I switched to a red Wave Worm with a Chartreuse tip and caught a 16" pickerel but nothing else. Then, I switched to my fall back, the hallowed Sweet Potato Pie Wave Worm Tiki Stick. I love this bait! As soon as I put one on, I had a pickerel hit so hard it rolled the surface and ran off with my worm and hook. Once I tied another on, I had another hard strike on my first cast. This one was an awesome fighter and made it to the boat; he was a nice fat 18" pickerel.
About 25 minutes later, I caught my next species - a 10" Crappie. I was fishing along the shore as I drifted and threw my worm just off shore by some submerged brush. He grabbed it right away. I had never caught one of these before. Man, they are beautiful fish. I love the speckled pattern on their body.
Shortly after that, I drifted into a stumpy bay that I rarely fish, manly because the water level is normally too low.
This day was another story. Water level was up and it was a perfect place for sunning bass. I had several pickerel strikes drifting in (and lost a few more worms as their teeth cut the line). Just at the end of the bay, I caught three fish on three successive casts. The first was a pickerel, the second was another crappie, and the third was a 16" bass sitting in shallow water by a downed tree. I was able to work my way up the other side of the bay and hooked into two more as I left.
All throughout the day while fishing, I'd watch the birds on the shore. It must be Blue Jay nesting season because they were busy! They'd flit from tree to tree looking for little branches and twigs. They'd grab them with their beak, snap them right off the tree, and fly off with a 10" branch to there nest somewhere else. I knew they were brutes at bird feeders but this gave me new respect for their strength.
Paddling back, I stopped in my favorite cove to see if I could scare up a few more bass. I saw what I thought to be a bass rolling the top of the water and let myself drift to casting range. On the third cast, I hooked him - it wasn't the bass that I thought. Instead, it was a decent sized sunfish. Normally, I hate catching sunfish but this guy was beautiful. I ended the day with 6 pickerel, 3 largemouth bass, 2 crappie, and 1 sunfish. I saw more Blue Jays than I could count, an osprey, 2 muskrats, and these cool little plover type birds running along the shore. I ran into a friend who also pulled in his share of fish. The only drawback was that the kayak didn't fit my feet really well and my heels went numb. When I got out of the boat, I almost collapsed in a heap (They stayed numb until the next day). It was a price worth paying for a great day.
As I was tying another hook on, I looked up and saw this monster Pickerel still sitting where he sliced my line. This was the point where I started my career as a guide. I pointed it out to Dad who cast right over. The monster spun around and focused on Dad’s leech. A second later, he grabbed it and Dad hooked a beautiful 22 inch Pickerel. We landed two more fish (another pickerel for Kevin and a Smallmouth for me) and then headed home.
