I'll start this conversation and ask the rest of you guys to keep everyone up to date, on your fishing activities. Let us know what you're catching and what the fish are hitting on and all. It's not like anyone is going to sneak into your own little "honey hole" and catch all of your fish. So, no pressure there. Maybe we can all catch more fish and have more fun while we're out.

June 10, 2022. Largemouth bass are hitting on minnows.

Big Donnie, Bill and I were out last week, more or less just to get out. We were fishing mainly for bream, using nightcrawlers. We'd caught a couple small bass too.

I caught one little bream, too small to keep and almost too big to use for bait. I'd guess it was about 4.5 inches long. That's too big.

I took it off the hook and rehooked it, I shoud have changed to a bigger hook

Long story short, I flipped it out there, still had a bobber on the line. Something hit it, took my bobber under and was running hard. I gave it probalby 30 or 40 feet of line, pulled the slack out and went to set the hook and missed it.

The minnow was still alive, so flipped it back out. It wasn't there a minute before something nailed it again. I handed the pole to Bill and told it let it run, and he missed it. All together we had 3 bites on that one minnow. Didn't get any of them hooked.

I started fishing for bait, using the smallest hook that I could find. Changed hooks on another pole and Bill missed 2 more fish, using minnows. One of those freak things, now and then a hook will get twisted around and stick the minnow.

If the weather is decent, I'm going to go seine up a bucket of creek chubs and we'll try them again this week.

The week before last Bill and I did catch a nice mess of bream, fishing the same pond.

I've been catching a few catfish. Got a 6 lb blue and a four pound channel cat a couple days ago. Missed the spring fishing on account of Miz being laid up. -- Hal

Here a few from yesterday. Four pounds was the biggest.

Another mess. Five pound blue cat on the left. I don't get many blues.

I'm glad to hear that Miz is feeling better.

Hal, you've been catching some nice fish, just curious, are you fishing in a stream or a pond ?

Bill and I didn't go fishing last week, he said that it was too hot, and I didn't argue. The girl that works at the greenhouse said it went up to 117* in that thing. I'm pretty sure it has exhaust fans too.

That was last Thursday, Sunday morning I had 49* at daylight.

Talked to a guy the other evening he was getting ready to go nightfishing, in the river. Talked to him the next day, he said between the three of them fishing they caught 15. With one of them being almost 10 pounds.

They started out with worms, and then switched over to cut bait. They released all of them except the little one they used for bait.

Not many people keep fish out of the river anymore.

Fishing in a backwater off the Ohio.

Ok, I've never fished in the Ohio River. My WV license is good for the Ohio, but a 4 hour drive from where I live.

Reading the West Virginia fishing regulations, we have a "Fish consumption advisories".

For most of our fish they advise no more than 2 meals per month. There is a section about the Ohio River, they advise catfish over 18 inches: Do not eat.

Reasons being, mercury and PCB's.

Trout, there are no guidelines. Eat all you can catch. For anyone not familiar, our stocked trout are pretty much a "put and take" deal. Those trout are raised in the best spring water in this part of the state.

I've mentioned this before, but I'll tell you the story again. About 20 years ago I was out bass fishing. I was alone, just wade fishing using live minnows for bait. I caught a 3 pound bass and a 6 pound catfish. Fishing in the daytime and all, only 2 fish on the stringer. Anyway, I took the fish from the water and put them on ice, brought them home, weighed them and cleaned them up. Soaked the meat in salt water in the fridge overnight and Mom baked them in the oven the next evening.


I remember the fish looked perfect! We were eating, Mom didn't like either one. I asked Dad, what do you think of the fish? Dad said, well, the bass isn't too bad. I really didn't care for bass either.

So I figured if we can't eat the darn things, I'd just put them all back in the water. Not counting trout, those were the last 2 river fish that I've cleaned.

The mess of bream that Bill and I caught in the flood control dam, I thought they were very good.

How much meat do you get from a 10 pound catfish? Thanks.

Difficult question to answer! I'll guess that from a 10 pound catfish that you'd get around 3 pounds of edible meat.

Catfish have a big head. But it would depend on how it was cleaned.

A while back I mentioned the bucket full of fishguts and trimmings that Moe gave me. (I put that stuff out at my #1 camera.) Anyway, Moe filleted 16 sunfish/bream, and he left more meat on the carcass than he saved. Honestly some of the fish were borderline keepers.

The mess of sunfish that Bill and I caught the other week, Bill cleaned that batch. Bill scaled the fish, cut the heads, tails and fins off. gutted them of course. He rolled them in flour and fried them in butter, real slow.

Bill just lives down around the corner, so he brought me supper one evening. I asked him how he'd cooked them. But you could open the fish up, catch the top of it's spine and it'd come out pretty much intact. My opinion the fish skin was the best part.

I haven't scaled a fish in 40 years. Skin them all. Catfish you just pull the skin off. Scaled fish, I fillet then lay the skin side down and slide the fillet knife between the skin ang the meat. Throw away skin, scales and all.

Hal, would you say that 3 pounds of meat from a 10 pounder would be about right?

Not sure? But I guess with a catfish you'd skin it before filleting the thing? We'd always take pliers and pull off the skin. Same with an eel.

Here's a link to WVMetro news. I heard about it Tuesday. A DNR officer called me here at work and asked if I had digital scales, and I told him that my WV certified scales only went to 30 pounds. South Mill Creek dam is about 45 minutes from here. But that is one big fish!

https://wvmetronews.com/2022/06/22/virgi...O_4kpZ4E-rH-6r0

Well, I finally had a chance to go swimming last Friday morning. We had a heavy rain storm Wednesday night, it only lasted and hour or so, but anywhere from 0.9 to 1.2 inches of rain.

I was swimming at the town park, same place those guys caught the 15 catfish the other night. The river was up 2 feet or so? Visibility was over 6 feet in the new water comming into the hole, different parts of the hole visibility dropped down to about 3 feet.

That hole has changed since last summer. If you'd look at it from above, just say it's a sheet of paper. Water comes in at the top left corner and goes out the bottom right corner. The top right and bottom left corners are pretty much slack water.

I did see a few small smallmouth bass, lots of little sunfish. A dozen of 15 suckers swam under me, I really couldn't tell if they were white or yellow suckers? Several times I'd get a glimpse of something, couldn't tell what it was.

I don't know what percentage those fish dress out. Next time I get a big on I'll check it out.

Good luck catching a big catfish. Not sure what the favorite bait would be for fishing in the Ohio River? Around here most folks would use chicken liver for catfish.

We have that big chicken processing plant here in town, and can buy them cheap. Heather that worked for me, she's salary at the plant, I sent her a message yesterday, asked her to get me 10 pounds of livers and 5 pounds of hearts. I'll bag them up and sell them for bait. With the holiday coming up, there should be lots of people out fishing.

Talking about how a fish will dress out and all, I'd say the bigger the fish, the higher percentage of meat you'd get. Not positive, but seems to me that it would be true.

Search: How to fillet a crappie. I watched a Utube video the other day, the man cleaning the fish made it look easy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvE9hhPoTNA

Last Sunday I went out with intentions of swimming and finding some good junk. The river below town was muddy, so I went on downstream to where I wanted to go to start with. Thinking maybe I could get ahead of the muddy water, it wasn't quite as dirty, but wouldn't have been able to see 2 feet or less. I never got my gear out.

There was a young man fishing at one of the places where I like to search for junk. He had a rental canoe, said he was from Solomon, Maryland. He was fishing with some kind of grub on a leadhead jig. Some kind of big plug on his levelwind reel in the canoe. He hadn't had a nibble yet.

For some reason, I got the impression that the young man felt out of his "zone". Not because of me or anything. But you take a young man, a long way from home and alone, I think that he was intimidated by the river. That's good in a way and bad in a way. Hard to explain, but you need to respect the little rivers too.

Where I talked to the young guy, we were about 75 yards above the start of the meanest patch of water for miles. We could hear the water splashing around on the rocks down there. I remember the boy said: I'm in no hurry. We only talked for a minute or so, and the last thing I said to him was: Ok, have a safe trip. And I hope he did!

But if he lost his tackle and all, I hope I'm the one that finds it. lol. That was a $100 baitcasting reel he had laying across the canoe.

Most times our rivers are calm and easy to work in a canoe, but when they get up 2 or 3 or 4 feet, it's a different game.

I'm waiting for it to warm up, we were down in 50's last night. Think I'll go back down there and go swimming. I'll probably find some junk. Hope the water is clear.

Do you guys ever magnet fish to catch gear others have lost?

I have one of those fishing magnets. I remember we talked about it here on the forum, probably 4 years ago or so? I forget the specs on it, but it's a good strong magnet. I remember taking it out 2 times. Once in the river and one time at Mt. Storm lake. In the lake I'd get a glob of rusty gunk every time. Every cast in the river it or the rope would get snagged under a rock. It was a pain and I didn't find anything with it.

Well, was out swimming yesterday. I tried the same 2 places where I was the other day, when the river was muddy. The water is warmer and visibility was about 6 feet. Nothing at the first spot. Found some girl's sunglasses where I talked to the guy from MD the other day. I told the young man that I was planning to swim, and told him to fish out around this big rock in the edge of the river.

I told him that there are always fish under the rock. I checked yesterday and there were a few under it. Nothing special.

Stopped at the 3rd spot last evening, I'll give you a list of junk I found. Two folding lawn chairs, something else in a bag, feels like a smaller chair? A Zebco 33 reel and half a pole, a whistle and a Black Diamond carabiner. Two black rubber stretch bands.

The reel looks pretty good and that is an expensive carabiner. I can use the chairs next time we're out fishing.

Talking about that magnet, I was in the water for over 2 hours yesterday, it may have been 3 ? Figure where the water was less than 6 feet deep, I was covering a swath 8 or 10 feet wide. Up in the white water I was covering a spot 10 inches wide. I probably pulled up my swim shorts a dozen times yesterday. That water is swift in the first 2 places where I searched and it'll strip your shorts off in a heartbeat. Blow the top of your snorkel underwater. In swift water you've almost got to look directly into the current, if you turn your head it's strip your mask off.

Was running short on time the other day, I'll give you the fish report.

We have yellow, white and spotted suckers in our local streams. I did see a nice bunch of yellow suckers, 15 or 20 head? That happened pretty fast, there might have been 50?

I've only been out 2 times so far, honestly I'm not seeing many bass. All but one have been less than 12 inches long. I did see one smallmouth Thursday that would go an honest 16 inches. He'd be fun to catch.

I've swam through 3 or 4 batches of fish fry, little things only 1/2 inch long. Too small for me to identify.

I'll tell you about the boat traffic, the first place I swam the other day, there were 5 or 6 canoes that went past in a bunch. They went past me pretty fast but there was an adult in the front canoe, everyone was dressed the same, all wearing their PFD's, I'd say the rest of the bunch were in their early teens.

I could see them coming so I moved out of the main channel. I was in the clear, but I don't think that any of them had noticed me until they were 50 feet away. The adult up front pointed me out and motioned for the boys to go left. We waved at each other, but I guess I would have been hard to see. I was in the water up to my shoulders, nothing but my head sticking out.

A while later there were 6 kayaks that went past me. None of them were fishing, just floating the creek.

I was talking to my Budweiser Man, Scotty the other day. He's been fishing a good bit, we were talking about these new kayaks. They've really improved in the last few years.

Years ago I had a white water kayak, closed cockpit with a skirt and all. Uncomfortable as all get out! No compartments to store anything at all.

I've been looking at fishing kayaks online. You can get them with rod holders, stretch bands front and back, little compartments to keep your valuables safe, spots for your tackle and all.

That's why a feller like me don't find much good junk anymore!

I'm not sure which ones are best? But I really think I should have one.

I told you about the Zebco 33 that I found. Took it apart the other morning, cleaned out the river grit and rinsed it off in the sink. Let it dry overnight, a couple drops of oil on the gears, seems to be working smooth now. First time for years and years that I've cleaned a reel.

Now all we need is more time to fish!

I'll give you an update on my last 2 outtings. Sunday July 3, 2022. I went to the local town park, the place was crowded, 2 guys fishing down near the end of the hole.

When I first parked, there were about 10 kayaks sitting on the boat ramp. I'd guess a family group, folks in age groups from, maybe 5 years old on up to in their 60's or so? I walked down the ramp with my gear, about 5 adults were standing there beside their boats. I asked them who had the best kayak?

They were all different colors, different styles, different brands, different seats, etc. We were all looking them over, the one older lady just shrugged her shoulders.

I'm seriously thinging about getting a fishing kayak. Some of their boats, looked to me like it'd be VERY uncomfortable it sit in the thing.

Anyway, I got out of their way, took a swim for an hour or so? Their bunch went down the creek in a cluster. I guess the 2 little kids were with part of the "pick up crew"? Dropped them off and would go downstream and pick them up later.

While I was swimming I didn't see many smallmouth bass, all of them were 12 inces or less, except 1. And that one bass would be a strong 16 inches. Did see a good many small sunfish, 3 inches or less in the shallow water.

I did find a nice utility knife. Probably the best one that I have? Blade is still sharp and all too.

July 4th, I went to one of my hot spots. Had to walk upstream 300 yards or so. Swam around another hour or so? Did kick out 2 water snakes, and found a bunch of crawdads. I think that one would have been 5 inches long. If I'd been fishing I'd have caught the thing, I like them for bait. One that big you don't need to worry about sunfish or rockbass pecking at it. Most times.

Walking up there, I went through a little pocket of water, it's pretty much still water. Warm as could be and that little patch of water was covered up with little crabs. Small crawdads, and inch long or so? That's the area where I almost stepped on the snakes.

But talking about the kayaks, none of those folks had any fishing gear, they were just floating the creek. There was an older couple sitting in the shade on the west side of the river, don't think they moved a muscle while I was there. Just sitting there taking it all in.

But the park was busy, just a guess, there were at least 150 people up on dry land. But, on a Sunday, beautiful sunny day, it's nice to be beside the river when it's in the 90's.

I'm sure some of you guys have kayaks, tell me what I need.

Search: Top 10 best fishing kayaks.

They've really changed in the last few years.

I have a bath tub kayak. Paddles like a big wiggling side to side. Plus you get wet with each stroke as water drips off the paddle. I don't have the "funnels" on my paddle.

The negatives I find with kayaks are the following. They can be cold. You are sitting on the water. Enclosed kayaks can be damp and have insects in them. All kayaks can be difficult to enter and exit. I know someone that uses a trekking pole to help her get in and out of hers.

But they are light, tough, and not tippy.

Kayaks have really changed or improved, designed for what you want or need.

The whitewater kayak that I had, it would turn on a Dime. One hard paddle stroke and I could turn it 90 degrees. No room for storage and very uncomfortable.

I've been looking at these folks floating and the boats that I've walked past. Some of the seats that I've looked at, some of them, the backrest wouldn't come up more than an inch or 2 above your hip bones. After more than an hour or 2 that would very uncomfortable and hard on your back. Seems to me.

A man paddled past me the other day, his kayak had one of those cloth type of seat, the backrest came up almost to his shoulders. He looked comfortable, reclined, if that thing would have had a headrest I think you could take a nap in that boat.

I'm probably going to get myself a fishing kayak before long. Not sure what I need? Really don't need one anyway. But I'm looking at the "sit on top" type with cloth or net style seats. That will keep your butt off of the water and put you up a little bit higher so you should be able to see a little bit better.

I'd like to have one that would track pretty good, in calm water with no wind you should be able to make 2 or 3 easy paddle strokes and coast 50 feet or so. But I'd like to be able to turn it quick too. There are lots of options.

Do a search: Top 5 best fishing kayaks. Some of them are high dollar. I'm not going to blow a bunch of money on something that I'll only use now and then. But, in my opinion, if you're going to buy something that you intend to keep for years and years, you're going to be farther ahead to spend another 100$ and get what you're going to be happy with.

But for a person like me, I'm usually out by myself, it just seems like it would be so easy to load up a kayak and all of my gear and be gone in an hour.

Beverly, a girl that I went to school with posted a picture on facebook the other day. Bev and her husband were in their new inflatable kayak out on a lake. It was the first time that they'd had it on the water.

Bev said in her comment that it was a successful trip and they were ready to try the river. She's a pretty girl and I commented something like this: Very nice. Next time let's see your smile and get rid of the shades. She commented back, "I was lucky to even be able to take a picture". That boat did look tippy.

A day or 2 later she posted another picture of her and her hubby out on the Potomac River. She was smiling that time, still wearing her shades. I picked on her about that too. They live down near Washington DC. The Potomac River that far downstream is a big, wide, slow and lazy looking stream.

When Bev said that they were ready for the river, I wasn't sure if she meant down at DC, or if she meant here in our local water. I was thinking that if she'd bring that inflatable back home, she's going to be disappointed.

We've talked about boats before and I think I've mentioned this before, years ago. Anyway, Big Donnie bought an inflatable raft one time. Thinking that it'd be easy to handle, for days when he'd be out alone. He started down the creek and didn't make it very far before it started to go flat. D. had a patch kit with him, so he patched it up and pumped it back up and set sail again.

I forget the details but he hit another rock that cut a gash in the new vessel, 6 or 8 or 10 inches long, and that was it. Not sure what he paid for it, but that was probably $50 or 75$ down the drain. Buy it today and set it out for the trash guys next week.

Years ago I bought a Coleman canoe, that's been almost 40 years ago, that was a good investment! It's got a lot of rough miles on it!

Tough to beat a Coleman canoe.

I'm wondering how those inflatable paddle boards are going to hold up. They are quite the rage here now. I am betting they will go the way of the wind surfer.

I'm not familiar with paddle boards, I wasn't exactly sure what you meant. I searched the other day and looked them over, watched a short video or 2. Honestly, they look more like a pool toy. For me they would be useless.

I guess if you'd just want to go out and lay in the sun or tinker around they would be ok? Early this summer a guy told me that he and a bunch of friends were going to float down the creek on inner-tubes. That is a short float, he told me later they were out in less than 4 hours. Four hours on a tube would be more than enough, I'd think.

The paddle board thing that I looked at was priced over $400. I don't see them getting very popular on our streams.

The folks that make fishing kayaks would be money ahead if they would design them more user friendly. I know these things are made as fast and as cheaply as they can be and all. Little things like cup holders, and there's no reason that they can't have a small ice chest built in, part of the boat. Something small, big enough to hold something like a 6-pack and a box of worms. Some kind of hooks or loops on the sides where you could tie on stuff like your minnow buckets and fish stringer.

All of that stuff should be within arms reach. Maybe there is a kayak designed that way? I'm sure one day there will be.

Look at a Canadian Tire flyer online and you will see many kayaks designed for fishing. They must exist in the States, also.

Paddle boards are used mostly on lakes here. $1500 for a solid one isn't an unusual price. Blow up ones are less expensive.

The paddle board that I mentioned above was inflatable, and over $400.

I searched Canadian Tire, if I'm not mistaken 2 or 3 of their fishing kayaks were in the "Top 10" list. It seems that just about everything that you search for will take you to Amazon.

These "Top 10" lists change. Search today and an item might be there and search again a week later and it won't be.

That one kayak that I was looking at the other day online, it was made of basically the same material as Coleman canoes/boats. If that's true, it would last a lifetime. Forget the brandname, but it was around $400. I think it came in as #4 in the top 10.

I'll tell you one thing that I'd like to do before long, go out and Jitterbug one night. Bass should be hitting on top. Pretty boring most times, but you never know.

A hundred years ago, if you said you wanted to Jitterbug, you'd probably want music, too!

True.

I was out swimming yesterday, one of my favorite spots. I didn't find much.

While I was driving down along the river on the west side, I noticed a bunch of canoes on the east side. The boats were lined up on the rocks, just getting ready to take off. I was going to swim about a half mile downstream, so I figured I'd just wait for them to pass. I waited and waited, thought they should have went past me by now. I walked up the river a couple hundred yards where I could see.

I looked upstream, it looked like a log jam coming at me. Boats pointed in all directions, sideways and backwards. Two boys had their canoe wedged against a bridge pier. Two other boys had their canoe stuck on a ledge. They were using that boat as a see-saw. Boy in the back would jump up, the boy up front would hit the water. Oh, it was fun to watch!

I talked to the one guy, it was a 4-H group, I think there were 16 canoes total. The guy beached his canoe amd yelled upstream for someone to hurry up. I walked over and talked to him and just a minute later, some little boy came floating down the river with 2 paddles under his arm. I'm not sure what the deal was there? Someone took a spill.

After they cleared out, I started searching. In full sunshine visibility would have been about 8 feet, when a cloud would pass over, it's almost like the bottom would drop out. Everything looked the same. I went downstream 200 yards or better, zig-zaged back and forth. Did find 3 bottles of tropical fruit Gatorade. The seal wasn't broken, but pretty gunky looking, the one I picked up only had a small bubble of air in the bottle. It sank fast when I dropped it. Surprised me.

A full beer can will float, full beer glass bottles sink. One thing that I will say, I'm not seeing as much trash, bottles and cans like I sometimes find. That's good.

But I did find one of those fold up lawn chairs. It's in good shape, I should have enough of them now.

Not sure? I was in the river yesterday probably 3 hours or so? I did see a guy and girl in a canoe that were fishing, he was. Otherwise none of those boys that went by had any gear. They were just floating.

I did see a nice school of yellow suckers. As far as bass, I didn't see one that would have been over 10 inches. Just not seeing many bass total.

Well, I was out swimming again last evening on my break. Seems like the water was just a little bit cooler than the last time, guess they had more rain upstream. But it was overcast too. Visibility would have been 7 feet or so.

I did find a channel catfish that would have been a good 3 pounds or better. It was really black looking. And it was laying on and old tire, about half full of sand. It's tail was inside of the tire, like where a tube would go, and it's head was resting on the sidewall. Maybe it's nesting?

Did find one smallmouth that would have been in the 14 to 16 inch range, otherwise all of the bass would have been 10 inches or less.

Finally decided on a kayak and got it ordered the other day, hopefully it'll be here this week.

It's a "Lifetime Tamarak Angler 100 Fishing Kayak" $400 plus tax. Paddle is included.

Take this for what it's worth, but this is how I decided on this boat. It's been consistently in the "Top 10" best fishing kayak list. I've watched 2 or 3 short videos, I've read about all of the reviews.

It's 10 feet long, only weighs 55 pounds. I think it's rated to hold up to 275 pounds, and is only supposed to draft 5 or 6 inches deep. It's made of a material very similar to the material used in Coleman canoes.

It's not perfect but I think we'll get along just fine.

I'll give you a first hand report before long!

Sounds like a good purchase. I am anxious to see how it performs.

Same here. I've told several of my guys and they all want to take it for a ride too.

It should be here Friday, I think. I've been thinking about the meanest patch of water on the South Branch of the Potomac, in this area. I think that's where I'll take it for it's first trip.

I can find someone to ride with me and drop me off, and bring my truck home. Then have them pick me up later.

But the trip I'm thinking about would be 10 miles or so? Should be able to figure out what it will and won't do in that float.

The one video that I watched, it was made by a young man with a creative mind, he had some good ideas. One thing that he did mention, he said that the floor of the kayak is very slick when wet. He used some kind of "traction tape" in the foot areas. Basically the same stuff that folks put on the floor of their bathtub. Good idea.

Above where I mentioned making the boats more user friendly and all. Deed honest I didn't know it at the time, but this same company, Lifetime, they also make ice chests.

Do a search: Lifetime.com

They make picnic tables, storage boxes, kayaks and ice chests. Not sure what else?

Not to say anything bad about anyone and all. But you'd certainly think that someone at that plastics plant, would have put 2 and 2 together. Looking at it from the outside, seems like it would be an easy job to change the top part of the kayak's mold, to where it would fit one of their small ice chests.

Anyone that's ever spent a sunny day on the water, when it's 90*, should know that you're going to need something cold to drink from time to time.

Now that I've got this boat ordered, watch, they will have a model with an "ice chest holder", within a year!

Above where I said built-in coooler, this would be an even better design, if the cooler was separate. Lift the cooler out and use it anywhere or to rinse it out and all.

Before I forget, I was out swimming yesterday and did find 2 smallmouth bass that would have been an honest 14 inches. Yellow suckers and a fair amount of sunfish. Didn't find any good junk at all.

I was back in the water this morning, visibility would have been a good 12 feet. That's about as good as it gets! Didn't find any junk, but just a beautiful morning to swim. I was in the South Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River today.

Talking about this new kayak, and I'm sure that about everyone here can relate to this. I have a boat, it's a good boat. And I can handle it alone, it's a handfull. But it's a chore. And honestly, that's why I'm out swimming.

I've got all my swimming gear in the trunk of the car, and I can be in the water in a half hour. It's just easy.

But looking at this kayak, I can have it loaded and on the water fast.

We'll see what happens. And we've got an early Canada goose season coming up before long. I'm going to check out this new boat.

Well, still no kayak. I was told that it has been shipped, guess I'll get it in a day or 2.

Never know, maybe the FedEx girl is floating the river in it now?

Talked to Brian, one of my best friends from school the other day. Brian and his dad, Gene were out floating the other day. I forget, Gene is up in his late 70's. They weren't fishing, just floating, spending time together. They went on a short, easy, 3 hour ride.

Brian told me that after the trip, his dad could get up, but he just needed an anchor point to step out of his boat. So he gave him a hand. Just thinking, there are probably more people hurt and banged-up getting into and out of their boats, than there are on the water.

Our streams are low now, we need rain! We had a thunder storm last evening, think we got maybe 1.5 inches of rain? It was a hard fast rain, that's won't change the river much. We're dry.

I was out swimming Thursday evening, it was 95* here in town, and a couple of hours to play with on my break. Water is nice, could see about 7 to 8 feet. Did find one smallmouth, an honest 15 inches. Back out Friday morning, not many bass, and nothing over 12 inches. Most were less than 8 inches.

Kayaks have changed a lot in the last few years, they've cut the weight, better seats, more stable, track better and all. I'll admit, I'll looking forward to taking if for a test run!

Well, still no kayak. It was ordered over 2 weeks ago, I was told last week that it had been shipped. I read a message a day or so ago, that it was in transit. Found out yesterday that it will be delivered, between 8/1/22 and the fifteenth. Not sure what the holdup is?

It was shipped from Seattle, Washington. Seattle is a long way from here, but there are trucks on the road everyday between here and there.

I am looking forward to taking it for a test spin. I've got 3 places that I'd like to search for lost goodies, and with the kayak, that would be the easiest way to get into them. Hope I get the boat soon, before long the water will be too cold to swim.

I stopped to check on Wardney the other day, his grandson's kayaks were laying in the edge of the yard. They have Jackson HD kayaks. Do a search, their boats have a list price of $2,000 each. Years ago a local man was a river outfitter, he rented his kayaks, would drop you off and pick you up later. It got to be more trouble than it was worth, so he sold his kayaks cheap. Somewhat cheap, I think he offered me one for $1,200, not sure? I think the boys paid $1,000 each for their kayaks.

Anyway, Wardney and I walked over and snooped around and checked out their kayaks. They are a well made kayak, with 3 small compartments. One front, one back and a small one in the middle. One thing that I did notice in the front compartment, looked like he had a rain jacket and some other stuff. But he also had one of those cloth tape measures wadded up in there, like a seamstress would use.

A good tape measure is something else that could be molded into the boat, it wouldn't add to the weight, wouldn't be in your way or anything. There a lot of places that have size limits and slot limits. That way you'd know if your fish was legal or not.

Little stuff like that would make the kayak more user friendly.

But I guess for now, I'll be waiting for the horse and wagon to show up with my kayak.

A good magic marker will give you your tape measure. Write it sitting in the kayak so that it is handy while fishing.

I think you will have a lot of fun once the package arrives. It might be late due to size. One kayak equals a lot of other packages. And the kayak does not fit well on a pallet!

Just thinking, if a feller is going to make his own fish ruler and all. I'd put my inch marks, about 3/4's of an inch apart. That way I'd gain a 1/4" per mark. A fish that was an honest 18, would figure out to 24. lol

It would look good in the picture. Folks 30 or 40 years from now would look at the picture and think: By God we don't catch them like that anymore!

Seriously, for anyone that's never fished our streams back 30 years ago, you'd just be amazed at the bass we did have. Back at the time I'd fish about a day a week. With a good bucket of minnows, you could almost always catch a smallmouth 18 inches or better. My best smallmouth was 21 inches, 4 pounds or so? I remember the fish, I've swam there or in that area 2 or 3 times this summer.

My bud Scotty and his guys have been fishing in Lake Erie, they've caught some nice bass this summer, short little chunky smallmouth bass. I think the biggest one so far was 5 or 6 pounds, But only 16 inches or so? Built like a football.

Well, got a message about my kayak. The tracking # isn't working, but Amazon said that the USPS has the boat now. There is a hub, that's an hour drive from here, so it should be fairly close by.

Talked to my mailman today and asked him to be on the lookout, so I should get it before long.

I am looking forward to playing with the contraption.

Search: How is a kayak made. I watched a short video this morning, from the Discovery Channel. It was pretty neat. I can't copy/paste on this machine, but I'll try to find it later.

This is the Utube video from the Discovery Channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc9pKiV5wag

Kind of like why it's best to marry a woman with small hands.

True, I guess. lol

Well I was told my kayak was in the southern part of the state over the weekend. As far as I know it's to be delivered tomorrow, Thursday. We'll see.

Search: Headwaters Adventure co. I think it's located in Redding, California. They have a bunch of different models of kayaks and all. Seems like some of them are more of a boat.

But there are 2 or 3 videos of the shop and folks working and describing what they make.

One thing that I've been thinking about, there are things that I'd like to have in my kayak, that some folks would never need. I'm thinking about a gun rack. If this boat is as solid and stable as I think it will be, I'll goose hunt from the thing.

Never know, it might be fine the way it is, and have a little spot to put a gun?

Otherwise, I've been thinking about using Velcro tape, so a feller could strap it down if you'd get in a patch of rough water. And still be able to get it in your hands quick.

But I'll check this thing out. Get 2 or 3 of my guys to see if we can sink it. I've got a list of stuff to try before I decide if it's ok or not.

But I think it will be fine. We'll see. I've got a few patches of new water, places that I've never floated, and I am looking forward to just check it out.

I do not think you will sink it. You might dip it over if all three of you try hard enough.

Some sort of ATV gun holder fitted onto the kayak might be a doable solution for hunting.

We'll see. It'll be interested to see what happens when I swamp the thing, and see if I can still sit upright.

If I'm not mistaken this kayak is open from front to back, I mean between the top and bottom halves. And that's one thing that I don't like. Just say you'd put a can of bug dope in the back compartment, bump into a rock semi-hard, now the bug spray is up front.

The Jackson kayaks that I looked at the other day, they have like a mesh bag in the compartments as well as I could tell. Just to keep stuff from rolling around. I'm not positive about the front and back ones, but I know the middle one did.

I picked up one end of those Jackson kayaks the other day, I checked online and they are over 90 pounds empty. They are a top of the line kayak and for $2,000 that's what you'd expect. But kayaks have changed. Lighter, track better, more comfortable seats and all.

But talking about the gun rack and all, it's very possible that a feller could put your gun on the floor of the thing between your feet? I'll just need to wait and see.

Above we were talking about water drips from the paddle, a little bit of water won't hurt my guns. But if this boat tracks, somewhat good, it's only 10 feet long, it's very possible that a man could just use a regular boat paddle. And just paddle on one side, like you can a canoe. We'll see.

But thw mailman shoud be here within an hour or so? I'd certainly think that they'd be getting tired of kicking that thing out of the way by now!

Well, still no kayak.

I've bought big, bulky and heavy stuff online before, and never had a problem with shipping like this before.

It is frustrating.

You see when I first searched online, the only place that had the kayak that I wanted was Amazon. The sporting goods store Dick's, they were sold out. Same with Tractor Supply.

Not positive, but I think there are 4 or 5 Tractor Supply stores within an hour or so drive. We have one here in town.

So, I called the local Tractor Supply yesterday. Told the man exactly what kayak that I wanted, he read it back to me over the phone, said the price was $350. And they had 3 in stock.

I walked into the place, talked the the same man that I did on the phone, he said that kayaks are a seasonal thing and that they were outside.

Long story short, they had 3 kayaks that were very similar, but not the one that I asked about. Lifetime brand, but I forget the model? It looked ok.

Not sure how long the kayaks had been outside? No roof over them, just setting there in the sun and weather. The one on top had a little tag on it, manual or something, faded out, plastic wrapping about half ripped off and all.

So, I asked the man, What's the best price you've give me and I want the family discount. It was priced at $350. He told me, Oh, I can't change the price. So, I asked when they'd be on sale? He said I don't know, I wish they'd tell me.

That's one thing that I hate about doing business with big stores. There were a dozen of so folks working in the store that morning, and nobody is authorised to make a decision!

If the young man would have dropped the price on the boats $25, I would have bought one. I almost did anyway.

If he'd have dropped the price to $300 each, I'd have probably bought a pair of kayaks. My brother needs one too.

But, as far as I know they are still out in the weather. The one on top looked to have a gallon of water inside, it'll be green and stinky in a week or so?

We'll see what happens.

It isn't a problem if a kayak gets and stays wet! They wash up nicely.

But sunshine will fade and eventually dry out the plastic. However, that will take a LONG time. A couple of decades hasn't done it yet to some boats I have.

Forgot to tell you this. Friday evening I was here at work and the Fedex girl pulled in and parked her truck just outside the front door. I though: Oh yeah! Here we go! Her sidekick jumped out with a little box in one hand, the box wasn't as big as a pound box of saltine crackers. She came in, set the box on the counter and said: "There you go". lol

I thanked her and waved by to the driver and away they went! My excitement didn't last long!

The kayak that I looked at the other morning at Tractor Supply, was a Lifetime Tioga. They were blue. It was a 10 foot boat. The man that first showed me where they were located, he and I talked about it. I told him that all of this stuff on top is going to go to hell setting here in the sun. I mean the bungee cords on the front and back, the seat, the straps on backrest and all.

But the water that I was talking about, it wasn't on top or the outside of the kayak, it was inside, between the top and bottom halves of the kayak. Not sure if someone left the hatch open or if the rain water just seeped in? But that's something to keep in mind before you'd put your $300 camera or high dollar phone in there. It does have a cup holder too.

Honestly, the door to the inside compartment felt cheap, and that's probably the weakest thing about that kayak. It's light and looks like it'd be fun.

A lady that works at Tractor Supply, stops here now and then, pretty sure she's the manager or one of the managers. I don't know Cindy's last name and don't have a way to get in touch with her. But I'll put the word out and see what she can do for me. If I can save $50. Fifty bucks is fifty bucks!

Not there yet?

Maybe they are paddling it over.

No, nothing yet.

I've got my fingers crossed, I did get a phone call from the shipping company yesterday. I was told that the kayak would be here today, between 4 and 7Pm. So, we'll see what happens.

Didn't want to bore everyone with my shipping problems, that boat should have been here 2 or 3 weeks ago. I had my daughter Kim order the thing because she has one of those Amazon Prime cards.

She paid for the kayak over a month ago. And Kim has been in contact with Amazon, just about every day for the last two weeks. She's tired of messsing with it, so am I.

Amazon told her the other day that they were going to send another kayak, with a different carrier. And for us to refuse to sign for the first kayak, in case it would be delivered. If the first kayak is delivered today, I'll sign for it. If they deliver another one tomorrow I'll sign for it too. That's their screw-up. I'll pay for the second one, but I'll expect a discount.

Talked to my brother yesterday, he'd like to have one too. And really, if you're going to be out on the river, and go anyplace. There are going to be at least 2 people involved anyway. Someone to drop you off or someone to come pick you up.

But we've had some rain, mostly thunderstorms, but the rivers are running at the normal water mark. Hopefully the kayak will be delivered this evening, I'm off work tomorrow. (or should be) With the water running good, it's very tempting to just take off and follow the current!

That would be a good test run.

I'll be. A man called me a little bit after 5pm today, told me where he was with my kayak. I've got it.

I like the looks of it. It's more solid than the kayak that I looked at Tractor Supply the other day.

My kayak is self bailing, has 6 holes for the water to go out. 2 little hatches to get into the inside. 2-piece paddle, rod holder, 2 other stationary holders for rods. All kinds of caution and warning stickers. It does have a cup holder too.

Anyway, Moe is to meet me at the park at 10am in the morning, and haul me and the boat up the creek, not sure? It'll be 15 or 18 miles, and I'll take it for a test spin.

It's rained here for the last 3 hours, should be a fun trip. Not fishing, just taking this new toy for a ride.

Also, heard that a guy caught a 17" trout, just above town the other day.

I'll update after the trip and see what's good and bad. But I can pick it up with one hand, hard on the knuckles, but we shall see.

Had the new kayak on the water yesterday, had to change my plan because of the water level.

Moe said that 15 ot 18 mile trip was too long for my first trip, wish now that I'd done it.

Last Sunday the South Fork river was muddy and flowing at the normal water mark. Yesterday, it was crystal clear and down 10 inches or a foot.

Moe followed me up the road, parked where I was going to take out and brought my truck back down. Looking at the water, I cut the float down to about 5 miles. Not sure exactly, but I was on the water about 3 hours. I stopped to take pictures and all. It was a decent ride, would have been more fun and quicker if the water was running normal.

I only had to get out of the kayak, 4 times I think. Three times for shallow water and once for a strand of barbed wire across the river.

I'll tell you it is kind of awkward getting into and out of the boat. There is nothing there to hold onto.

One thing that I will say, it's very quick and it will spin on a Dime. I doesn't track as good as I had hoped. I tried it in a patch of still water, from a dead stop, about 3 kind of easy paddle strokes and I could glide 50 feet or so.

I don't like the paddle. That was an easy run yesterday, the water did come up over the front of the kayak a couple of times, rolled in over the sides 2 or 3 times. Nothing serious.

Overall, it was a decent trip, wish the water would have been up a foot or 2 or 3.

Pretty scenery down through that area, had it all to myself. I did see 3 decent buck deer together, before I could get my camera out they were locked on me, so didn't get a pic.

I'll take it out again before long.

Glad you had fun.

There are many different types of paddles. It sounds like you might have to experiment a little to find which style suits you best.

I agree with Moe. I thought your planned first paddle in a new boat was a long one.

I should have 2 other kayak paddles. I remember that I found one in the river a year or 2 ago? It was wedged under a rock, 5 or 6 feet down.

The paddle that came with this kayak, it's ok, but the blade part just isn't curved like it should be. My opinion.

You see, I was on the South Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River the other day. I first planned on going to the North Fork, it's just a bigger and stronger stream. At normal flow.

I knew when we dropped off Moe's car that the river was low, that's when I cut down the length of the float. From where we were, back down and over to the North Fork would have been a 50 mile drive. It was just too late to change plans that much.

Just playing, I turned it around and paddled upstream, angled across the strongest current and back into a little cove. It handles good and is easy to paddle. I could have done the same thing in my canoe.

About the only advantages this kayak has over my canoe are it's length and weight. It's easier to load and unload, tie on secure and all.

Talking about my 15 foot Coleman canoe, one big advantage it has over this kayak, is room to haul stuff. And, it's easier to get in and out of too.

Not sure, just thinking about the kayak and canoe. Both of them have advantages. Need to check this thing out more.

They are both boats but they are definitely not the same thing. With a kayak you feel that you are more part of the water. They maneuver quicker and are more agile. Their ease in transportation is a huge plus.

But I am a canoe guy! A Coleman is tough to beat. They are also tough to portage.

Today makes a week since I had the kayak on the water, so I've had time to think. I've had a canoe for years, and I did compare this kayak to canoe the other day. My opinion, a canoe is more usefull, there are more things that you can do with a canoe. That's the thing. If you use it.

There are also things that you can do with this kayak, that you can't in a canoe. I've pretty much decided that the kayak is made for warm weather and warm water. If you'd be wearing a wet-suit, you could take it out about anytime. But you are going to get wet. Just from paddle drips.

As far as hunting, you can keep a gun dry in a canoe. Our early Canada goose season starts September 1st. I'm going to try this kayak, if I get a chance. Think I'll just load up the magazine and stuff it in a trash bag, and keep it between my feet.

Above where I said: If you use it. This kayak sure does have the advantage over a canoe as far as loading and unloading.

If a feller only has 3 or 4 hours to fish or whatever, I can have this thing loaded up in 5 minutes, and ready to go.

I won't put my gun in the bottom of a canoe but I don't care if it gets wet. Once home it gets dried and rubbed down with an oily cloth. But my stocks are plastic.

The latest Musher's Tails video has my son, grandson and I out on a pike fishing excursiion near the house. We used my son's Sportspal canoe. He has a set of pontoons he attaches that makes the canoe hyper stable. He says that a Coleman isn't stable enough if the little guy doesn't sit still. I disagree but I am not going to question how he deals with his child's safety. (Unless he is unsafe!)

The Sportspal is very light and loads/unloads quite easily.

I'm way behind watching your videos. I'll try to do that today, or part of them anyway.

I searched Sportspal, I'm not familiar with that boat.

My buddy Moe has a canoe, forget what brand, but he had some kind of outrigger rigged up for it. If I'm not mistaken it was a piece of 3 or 4 inch PVC, that was capped off on each end. So it was parallel to the boat. He would clamp it down on the canoe, honestly, he showed it to me years ago, I've never seen it on the water. Moe said it works good? But he's never had his canoe in a patch of water like where I was the other day.

Moe's canoe hasn't been on the water for 20 years or better.

Moe and I talked going up the road the other morning, I told him that he'd just as well get a kayak. He's been looking, reading reviews and all, the same thing that I did before buying. Honestly, he's zeroed in on the same boat that I ordered.

But I wanted to tell you this too. Moe sent me a message the other day, said that he was at the Cabela's store in Charleston, WV, asked if I needed anything. I had him get me 2 boxes of 2 3/4" steel shot.

Moe said he'd been shopping for a kayak. He said they had one similar to the kayak that I have, but he liked mine better. Cabela's boat was priced at either $900 or $1,000 ? Mine was $400 plus tax.

Anyway, Moe is to meet me in the morning and take my boat for a spin. Think I'll take him out to the town park and let him mess around, he'll have swift water and still water to play with. Once he gets in the thing, I'm sure he'll enjoy it. We'll see. I might take it on down the creek when he's finished?

Well, they were calling for 100% chance of rain here the other day, long story short, Moe hasn't had a chance to take the kayak for a ride. I would like to watch someone else in the boat, just to see how well balanced it is and all.

I'll tell you about the weather forcast, they were calling for 100% chance of rain, and thunderstorms most of the day and into the night. We had a light rain shower from about 8am until 8:30am and that was it. Just enough to get the grass wet. A very bad prediction on our weather, about as bad as you ever see.

Above we talked about these kayaks being open, from front to back, between the top and bottom halves. Moe was here the other day and we talked about that, he had his arm up inside feeling around, checking out how the boat was made.

That one video that I watched, the young man had a string tied to his little tackle box, so he could find it, and pull it out of the cubby hole. I first thought about taking a can of that spray foam, and spraying a "bead" of foam, in front and behind the cubby hole, just to keep stuff from rolling around and all.

The best thing that I can think of (so far), is to cut off a little piece of that foam weather stripping, like you'd use to seal up around a window AC unit, and stick it to the bottom. In front of the cubby hole and behind. Either way, you're going to be doing it blind. If you'd put your arm up in that little hatch, you're not going to be able to see what you're doing.

But the other day, I put my camera and phone in the front cubby hole, and finally found it behind the back hatch. I just had my hand back in there feeling around for it.

It's kind of hard to estimate stuff like this, but just looking at this kayak, it's 10 feet long, I'll guess that it would hold between 75 and 100 gallons of water. I mean on the inside. If you think about it, that's a lot of wasted space. Not like a canoe.

But I'm going to try to get it out on the water tomorrow.

Well, I finally had a chance to get back on the water. This is a busy time of year. School started here about a month ago, my daughter is a substitute teacher, so Kim is always on call. That means that I'm always at work.

We've had 3 or 4 or 5 inches of much needed rain here within the last week or so. As of last Thursday, our rivers were up a little bit and green. Not muddy, just a little bit dark.

Anyway, last Thursday, Big D. and I went out fishing for the evening. Working between rain showers and all, we didn't get started till noon. Went out to one of my favorite spots to get minnows, I knew the water would be up, but I didn't think it'd be up that much.

It rained here an inch and a half the day before, the water was almost waist deep on me, and cold. Ten days ago, the water in that little pocket, would have been 18 inches deep. I made 3 or 4 passes and ended up with about 2 dozen small minnows. Mostly creek chubs, 3 inches long or so? Almost to small for bass bait.

I've probably mentioned this before? I have a styrofoam cooler that I use to transport minnows. An EMT gave it to me, it's heavy duty, thick foam, and works good. With only 2 dozen small minnows and cold creek water, they were all on the bottom, and looking good an hour later.

But we tried the minnows on a bobber, down 2 or 3 feet, tried them down about 5 feet, tried them free and clear with small splitshot sinker, tried down at 20 feet. Just not much action.

D. did catch one largemouth bass, about a foot long, it was chunky, but put it back in the water. I don't like to mess with just one or 2 fish.

But we were fishing in the middle of the day, and they were very sluggish. We loaded up about 2 hours before dark, it seemed like the small bream were starting to hit pretty good. After we loaded the boat and all, I was standing there on the bank, I had something like a size 18 hook and a tiny piece of worm on, had 8 or 9 bites within a minute. Just holding the rod out at arm's length. I could see them pecking at it. A month or 2 ago, a feller could have caught some nice bass with those little sunfish for bait.

I tied the boat off to the concrete riser/discharge thing for a while, I'll tell you there was a lot of water going down the drain. It was roaring pretty good, made it hard for D. and I to talk. Not sure if all of the cold rain water made the fish sluggish or what?

But we had a great day on the water, and didn't have any fish to fool with when we got home.

Where's Waldo? No, where's Tim?? He stranded somewhere in his kayak? Covid? Over worked?? Always look forward to his orations. Need a kayak report.

Frank.

Yes, I was here at work when I first read your comment, I put in 13 yesterday.

It's just a busy time of year. I'll tell you the swim season is over for this year, I had 50* the other morning. Folks out of town have been down in the 40's. With the rains that we've had and the short days, our rivers just won't warm up enough to go swimming.

I'll tell you this real fast. One morning I was out swimming, beautiful sunny day, don't remember exactly how long I was in the water? Probably and hour and a half, maybe 2 hours? I was swimming in a shady area of the river, I got back into the sunshine and noticed I had goosebumps on my arms. I'd been out long enough and was headed back to the car anyway.

So I walked back to the car, flicking the water out of my hair, trying to warm up. Put my gear away and got my towel. There was a lady sitting in her car, about 5 spots away, I didn't know her but we waved at each other. She had her car parked under a shade tree, with the windows up, I know she had the AC on. There I was, 50 feet away, standing in the sunshine, covered with goosebumps. I was cold, I was chilled to the core.

When I got back into town, it was like 92*. And I was still chilled.

But the kayak is setting out on the porch. $400 ornament for now. I could take it out today, but the dog needs to go for a run.

Moe still hasn't taken my kayak for a test drive. I've told him to come get it anytime that he wants. I've only had it on the water once, but it's pretty tough, and there isn't any way that he can ruin it.

I think Big D. wants to go out fishing again this week? If we do I'll take the kayak.

Cindy, the manager at Tractor Supply, I've talked to her, she said that they probably won't put their kayaks on sale. She said they have a whole wareroom full of kayaks. "Seasonal". So I don't know, but she knows that I'd like to have one.

Honestly, I'm thinking about buying one for my daughter. That would be a nice Christmas gift for Kim. And I look at it like this, for $350, something that will last a lifetime and give us a chance to spend time together. That's dirt cheap.

So, we'll see what happens.

Good plan for Kim. But store the boat at your house so she has to go with you!

That's a good idea. Oh, I know she'd enjoy playing in the river.

Kim and I stopped at Tractor Supply 2 or 3 weeks ago and looked at their kayaks. Honestly, the 3 kayaks that we looked at were just about identical to the one I have, and $50 less.

I thought about this the other day, when I gassed up my car and truck. I forget the total, but it was well over 100 bucks! And both vehicles had 1/4 tank to start with yet! And here I am trying to save $25 or 30 or 40 bucks on a kayak.

I'll buy her one, might get my brother one too. But if you think about it like this, by the time we drive 2 vehicles around here and there, one for the pick up point and the starting place. $350 won't go very far.

I've thought about this too, I know a bunch of girls that like to paint, fancy writing and all. That would be pretty cool to have their names written on the side too.

I had 46* this morning at daylight.

We've been talking about boats and fishing, here's a story I just found in national news. It's pretty sad! I've said it before, money makes people stupid!

I'll post a link to the story, and try to copy and paste the text. Put the kids outside and watch the video.

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/lake-erie-fishing-tournament-ends-cheating-controversy

Lake Erie fishing tournament ends in cheating controversy
Fishermen have apparently been duping competitors over several recent events
Ryan MorikBy Ryan Morik | Fox News
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Fox News Flash top headlines for October 2
Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

A fishing tournament on Lake Erie resulted in the champions getting caught for cheating.

Chase Cominsky and Jake Runyan were caught stuffing their fish at the Lake Erie Walleye Trail in Ohio on Friday with lead weights, fish fillets and other debris to take home a money prize for heaviest fish.

The tournament ruled the duo as winners after a weigh-in, but a voice in video from the event can be heard saying someone else's fish were larger than Cominsky's and Runyan's, leading to a debate.


CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Someone decided to cut open one of the winners' fish and found a weight, causing absolute mayhem.

Lake Erie Walleye Trail in Ohio hosted the controversial tournament.
Lake Erie Walleye Trail in Ohio hosted the controversial tournament. (iStock)

They then proceeded to cut all of their fish and found something stuffed inside to make almost every one heavier.

WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE


Lots of F-bombs were dropped toward the cheaters, and someone threatened to call police.

MARYLAND MAN WINS $4.4M FOR REELING IN 77.5-POUND WHITE MARLIN

The duo have been widely suspected of cheating in the past. It's rumored they have won six figures in several tournaments, although the exact numbers are not clear.


Fox News reached out to tournament director Jason Fischer for figures, but he has not responded.

The tournament director apologized on social media.
The tournament director apologized on social media. (iStock)

Fischer released a statement on the tournament's Facebook page Saturday.

"Disgusted guys and gals, I’m sorry for letting you down for so long and I’m glad I caught cheating taking place in YOUR LEWT at the same time …

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"I'm still at loss for words and for that I apologize … All LEWT anglers deserve better, I will take time and figure out how I can solidify the integrity of our sport here on Erie."

There used to be a "heaviest coyote" contest in a town I know. A guy got caught filling a yote full of water through the butt. All the yotes were frozen so ....

I'll tell you, it makes you wonder! I'm sure that went over good in a small town. One thing for sure, we don't want to drink from his garden hose!

Talking about this cheating deal on Lake Erie, I watched another video, it shows the 2 guys, that "won" the tournament. All smiles and proud of themselves, in front of the crowd, holding their trophy fish up high, for the cameras.

Then 5 minutes later, after they'd been caught cheating, there they are looking like a whipped puppy!

It's sad in a way and funny in a way. From what I could see, these guys were well known in the fishing circuit, on a first name basis and all. And now their name isn't worth squat!

It'll be interesting to see what happens. If they lose their fishing rights? Fines and all? Who knows?

Scotty, my beer man and I talked about it yesterday, he fishes Lake Erie now and then. I think it's about a 7 hour drive from his house? Scotty told me that all of the sponsors that these 2 guys would probably be pulled this week.

Fancy jackets with your name on them, fancy boat and all of that junk is down the drain!

But one thing that really amazed me, you could tell things were pretty tense there for a minute or so. I'm really surprised that they didn't get their asses kicked.

Money, and if I'm not mistaken, they were set to walk away with almost $29,000.

I've never fished in any kind of tournament, seems like it be more fun just fishing with a couple of my friends.

Here's a link to the fishing/cheating deal.

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/pair-of-a...-felony-charges

Felony charges.

Guys, if you're thinking about buying a kayak, now is the time to buy.

About 6 months ago, my buddy Moe said he was going to get a kayak. If you remember from above, Moe dropped me off the day that I had my kayak on the water. One thing that I think really impressed Moe, was when I picked it up outta the truck bed, carried it down the river bank and just gave it a fling. The thing only weighs 50 pounds. I just tossed it out in the water, it bounced around, stayed upright and all.

I offered to let him take it for a spin, but he didn't.

Anyway, he got his kayak the other week, it's identical to mine, just a different color. Lifetime Tamarak 10' sit on top fishing kayak.

He hasn't had it on the water yet, we were down in the teens, 3 mornings last week.

While I've got a chance, I want to tell you this too.

If you remember, last summer I'd planned on getting a kayak for my brother and one for my daughter. We talked a little bit about it, just to give us something more to do together and all.

I've been keeping an eye on things and all, the other day I noticed that the local Tractor Supply Co. had new kayaks. Online, it said the TSC had 7, Lifetime Tioga, 10' angler kayaks for $350. $349.99. Same thing.

I called the store, the man said that they had 3. I told the man that I was at work, and asked if they'd hold 2 for me. My hearing isn't the best, not good at all on the phone. He said that they were blue, said that I could buy them online. I told him that I'd just come down at my first chance and pay for them cash.

So, I went down to the store 2 or 3 days later, they had 3 kayaks that we'd talked about, but they are green. Priced at $350, each. Written on the tag, hold for Malcomb. That's my name, but it's spelled wrong. So, I didn't know if they were for me, or if they were for someone else. The 2 guys at the store didn't know either, I personally know both of them. We also have families in this valley that spell their name that way.

I didn't want to take someone else's boat, so, gave them my right name and asked the guys to give me a call, if they were mine or for someone else? Like I said, I can't hear, but I can tell the difference between BLUE and GREEN.

Tractor Supppy didn't call. Last evening my daughter Kim and sister Barb were here working (on the clock). I told Kim to come on, lets go shopping. Kim knows the whole deal.

Anyway, we went to Tractor Supply, I showed her the kayaks, walked around to the other side and they were priced at $299.99. $300 each. Went back inside, paid the man $600, and were back home within an hour.

So, now we've got 3 kayaks. Kim didn't really come out and say anything on the way home, but I know her well enough to know, she's a little bit excited.

We have some pretty streams around here, as soon as the water warms up a little bit and we have a warm, sunny day, I'll take Kim out and let her get a feel for her boat. It won't take long, but it's been years since she's paddled. Honestly, I'm a little bit excited too. She'll love it!

You are going to have a great time.

Sounds like the hearing issue is a good thing ..... for your wallet!

Do you have sales tax? That $600 would have been $690 around here.

Sounds like you got a deal!!! And if you can't hear, you need some hearing aids. I just bought some on line. This is my second set. The first came from Beltone. HORRENDOUSLY over priced. These new ones are better and only about 20% of that.

Sorry for the delay.

Yes, West Virginia sales tax is 6%. I live in one of about 5 towns within the state where sales tax is 6.5%

I forget exactly how that happened, (the town is greedy) I remember there was a big stink about in the local newspaper for weeks.

There is no tax on food, but we do have a beverage tax. Just say that you'd buy a bag of chips and a Pepsi. No tax on the chips, but 6.5% on the Pepsi. Outside of town, your Pepsi would be taxed at 6%.

I remember folks saying: Well, it's only 0.5% difference. Buy a vehicle, that extra half percent adds up.

Here at work I do have a "sales tax exemption number", we use it for items that are for resale.

Moe stopped by yesterday and checked out the new kayaks, he's PO'd because he paid about $100 more for his, and had to buy a paddle.

About my ears, I'm tone deaf. Part of it is hereditary, from Mom's side of the family, and part of it from my lifestyle. The jobs I've had, equipment, dirt bikes, chainsaws, gun powder, etc.

I can hear, but if there is something like a TV on, or other folks chatting, that makes it really hard to figure out what's what.

I know a man that recently got a set of hearing aids, he's a little bit older than me, but his lifestyle has been very similar to mine. I keep forgetting to ask him, but I know at the time, they were driving him crazy. I hear stuff constantly, he did too. His Dr. told him that after time, those sounds should fade or lessen. But I'll ask him how that's working for his aids.

If I'm not mistaken, he paid about $10,000 for his set. Not positive, but I think Mom's were around 3K each.

Like me on the phone, I have folks call here, it sounds like they're calling from inside the dog pound, at feeding time, kids screaming, TV blasting, I just can't make out squat! I'll tell them that you've got a lot of noise on your phone, can you go to a better spot? They can go outside or to another room and we can talk just fine.

Then you can't hear. That's a classic sign of hearing loss. I know, I've been there. As far as being overwhelmed with new sounds -- It's what you get used to. If you are used to diminished hearing, and all of a sudden you can hear normally, you'll think something's wrong. It's like staying in a dark room then all of a sudden dashing out into the sunlight -- it bothers your eyes. I had a little trouble with "new" sounds at first. That's one reason you are supposed to wear your hearing aids all the time, so you will get acclimated to hearing again. As for cost, in August 2022, the FDA created a new category of over-the-counter hearing aids. That knocked the snot out of the brick and mortar sellers. My first Beltone hearing aids were $7,000. My new ones I bought on line were $1,500 and they are better than the Beltone.

Well, I'll admit that I can't hear. You see, I've had hearing trouble since I was a kid.

Today, I see young kids with hearing aids. 50 years ago, hearing aids were a new thing or just being developed.

Uncle Randolph (one of Mom's brothers) was about the first person that I can remember ever having hearing aids. It was probably back in the late 70's or so? I remember that he told us, once you start using hearing aids, if you take them out, you're almost or nearly deaf. That was a long time ago, I'm sure that they have improved.

Just thinking about the folks that I know and deal with that have hearing aids, about half of them still can't hear.

I can think of 2 or 3 other guys that recently got their first set of hearing aids, I'll ask around and see how they are getting along.

I did look online the other day, and found a few links to digital hearing aids. That might be the way to go? The prices looked to be $1,000 or so?

One thing that I will say, I'm very protective of what hearing that I do have. I have earplugs everywhere. And safety glasses.

My daughter and I finally had a chance to get our kayaks on the water yesterday. It was Kim's first kayak trip, I've had her in the boat and in canoes before, kayaks are a little bit different.

We've had a chilly spring and the water is cold, I had 46* this morning. But it turned into a beautiful day yesterday, looks like today will be nice too.

I debated where to take her for her first kayak run. We went to a patch of water she's never floated before. I could tell she was kind of stiff, a little bit uncomfortable there for the first 3/4's of a mile or so. Then I could tell she'd loosened up and was having fun.

Be both got soaked, from paddle drips and splashes and all. But we spent about 4 hours on the water, and went down the creek right at 4 miles. Other than a man and woman at their river camp, mowing grass, we didn't see a soul. Just a pretty day to be out and Kim had a blast. She's #1.

I'll give you an update on the latest water adventures. My daughter Kim and I have been out 2 more times in our kayaks. We've got a few folks here on the forum that are familiar with our local streams. So, I'll tell you where we were and conditions.

For our second float, we put in at the Rt. 220 bridge, in Petersburg, WV. We floated down to the Gap Bridge. That's a 3 mile trip, Kim and I made it in an hour and fifteen minutes. That's actuall time that we were on the water. The water was low and cold. But we made good time, and that's a nice ride.

On our 3rd trip we started at the Gap bridge and paddled to the Fisher bridge. That's an 8 mile run, and took us 5 hours. I'll tell you there are a couple tricky spots on that run. One spot a tree uprooted on the west bank, and the crown of the tree is across the main channel of the river. It's between the access point and the Gap bridge, you can't see it till you're almost on it.

Kim was about 50 feet in front of me, headed right into the tree top. I yelled: HARD RIGHT hARD RIGHT. She made a power stroke on her left, turned her boat 90* and before she could make a stroke on the right, her paddle was up in the brush.

If she'd had another 5 seconds, she'd have been in the clear.

The current took Kim and her kayak into that pile of trash broadside, the water had it crammed in there pretty good. Kim just fell out and was standing there, water about 4 feet deep. I told her to hang tight as I beached my boat.

Her kayak was wedged on 2 big tree limbs, kind of cocked up at like at a 45, with a foot deep bead of water holding it there. Long story short, if that kayak didn't self bail, it would have been a real pain to get it unstuck. I got my arms under the thing and lifted it up a little bit, once it bailed itself, then I could handle it.

I plopped it back into the water, it took off, Kim grabbed the T-handle on the back end. The kayak yanked her across that log and down the creek she went. She's scratched up a little bit, across her legs and her arms. Other than a couple bruises on her arms, she's good to go.

I'll add more in a bit.

One thing that I will add, Kimberly was wearing her PFD.

If you know the river, there is a tricky spot where the railroad tracks are beside the river. The water is fast and it'll keep driving you into the big rocks. It's been like that forever.

I guess it'd be about a mile above the Fisher bridge, there is a bad spot. The water breaks hard to the left, swirls around the undercut roots. It's not like a half-moon, it's more like a 3/4 moon. Brush overhead and all.

The other day when Kim and I took that float, we'd just passed a young couple in a canoe, just above this spot. I told Kim to beach her boat, I tied the 2 kayaks together and walked them down the bank. Just like walking a dog. We walked down in the shallow water, 50 feet or so?

Kim and I were getting ready to get back in our kayaks, when we heard the canoe crash. I could see the young man up there, fighting and pulling on the brush over his head, couldn't see the girl, she was back around the corner. Hell, you could look at that mess and they should have known, that the water was going to smash them into the roots.

They finally got squared up and came out, right beside of us. I told them: I didn't want to take that chance with my daughter. When you go under brush like that, you always come out covered in cobwebs with spiders crawling all over you.

Anyway, Kim is doing very good, she's getting pretty good at reading the current and picking her line.

So far, I've had her on the rivers 3 times, we've put in 15 miles and she's had 10 hours of seat time. We're planning on going out again tomorrow. We're going to put in where we took out last week, not sure how far down we'll go yet.

Well, my daughter and I were on the water again. Kim and I paddled 4.5 miles yesterday, and right at 2 hours.

That puts her at 19.5 miles, (we'll call it 20 miles) in her new kayak, and 12 hours.

Last week we were paddling into a pretty good headwind. That slowed us down.

Lots of folks on the water yesterday, beautiful day, the water is low, but nice.

Kim wants to go again this coming weekend, we've got another 5-mile run planned. Depending on the weather.

We need rain, more water in the creek. But I've got 3 or 4 places that she's never seen firsthand. That one section, I've never floated, looking forward to checking it out too.

She's pretty comfortable in her boat now. She's having fun. So, we'll go out every chance we get.

We've been seeing lots of waterfowl, ducks and geese. I think we're up to 4 snakes so far. One small mink, 3 or 4 eagles. A few golden trout. Carp and stuff.

I'll give you an update on the water sports. The other week, 4 of us were out, it was the first time that Moe had his kayak on the water. Moe's kayak is a Lifetime Tamarack.

It was just a short float, Moe and I didn't talk much while we were on the river, I was in the back of the pack. We talked about it on the way home, he likes his new boat. I'll tell what I told Moe. This spring and summer, I've looked at 100 different kayaks or more.

I've watched them on the water, people loading and unloading, honestly, I haven't noticed a single one that I like more than the one that I have. For what Kim and I have been doing, the water that we've floated, they work nice.

Talked to Tucker the other day (one of Wardney's grandsons), and showed him my kayak. Tucker has a Jackson brand kayak, it's top of the line and high dollar both. As well as I remember his kayak is 12'6" and weighs 120 pounds. Tuck drives a small, short-bed pickup, he has to use a trailer to haul his kayak. A trailer is no big deal, but yet it's still a pain in the butt.

I can haul our kayaks on my short-bed S10. At 10' and only 60 pounds, that's a big difference.

But a bunch of us are going to try to get together one day and go for a float, have someone with a trailer come and pick up all of us.

my daughter and I were on the water again yesterday. I'll tell you, when we pulled into the access, there were 2 pickups, that kind of had it blocked. We talked to them, they had 8 kayaks and 3 tubes, lined up at the river bank. They asked us for directions, as to where the next access was located. That's kind of a messed up deal, the river isn't marked, if you don't know where to take out. You'll blow right on past. No cell phone service down there either.

Above we were talking about kayaks, we met a young man from the next county, down North of here. He had a Pelican, fishing kayak. I'll tell you that was a nice looking kayak, it weighed more than my kayak. He was there waiting to get on the water, same as Kim and I. I helped him carry his boat down and keep it steady, while he climbed inside. Getting into and out of a kayak, is the tricky park. Once he was ready, I gave him a little shove and he was off.

First and only time I've ever met the man, so far.

Kim and I put our kayaks in at the same time, we floated 5 miles in 2 hours flat. Kim and I talked about it going down the creek, we were making good time. No game to speek of, a blue heron and, give or take, 20 Canadian geese.

Also showed Kim where I caught my first beaver, that's been a long time ago. That little point hasn't changed much. But there was ice on the river back then.

Anyway, we had a good run. Kim is up to 25 miles, in her new kayak. Kim is comfortable in her boat, and I've got some good runs lined up. She'll get wet, both of us!

The forum has been very very quiet. Guys, we could have a more interesting conversation, if we'd have more input.

Everyone likes to hear a good fishing story. If you take the kids out and catch a nice mess of bluegills, let's hear it. If the Ole' biggun snapped your line, let's hear it.

My daughter was busy last weekend, so we haven't had our kayaks out anymore. I'll tell you we're dry here, and it's been hot. I had 72* at 6 am the other morning, and 80* at 8 am.

The South Branch of the Potomac River is just about as low as she goes. The river level has dropped 15 inches or so, in the last 2 weeks. We've had little hit and miss thunder storms and all, but we are dry!

Anyway, I haven't talked about swimming. I've been out six times so far this spring/summer. The water is warm now. Honestly, I'm not finding much.

The first time that I was swimming, with my mask and all, I could on see about 3 feet. That's borderline for me. A lady that lives upstream, reported that she got 1.4 inches of rain in 20 minutes. Think that was 2 days before I went swimming, I just caught the tail end of the dark/muddy water.

The second and third times that I was swimming, visibility in the water was about 4 feet. The 4th and 5th trips, it was up to 6 to 7 feet. The other day, I could see 8 feet plus.

One thing that I want to tell you, the last time that I was out, I was just coasting, a little bit faster that the water speed. I noticed something square, it's just out of place, and that's what I look for. Anything that's out of place.

Just looking at it from the surface, it looked kind of like a little toolbox, like a 40 piece set of sockets or something? Anyway, I squared up on it and grabbed that cord flapping in the wind (water), the cord snapped off in my hand, it's a Marine battery. And a big one. I rolled it upright, it's got top posts and the wing-nuts both.

Later that evening, I told my guys Moe and Jim what I'd found. Jim said it the battery is good, that's a $100 bill. Moe told me to have it tested.

Not sure what they were thinking? I was there alone, the battery is 8 feet down, about 30 feet from the river bank, and 400 yards past the end of the road.

That battery will weigh 75 pounds or better. I guess they figured that I'd just tuck it under one arm and swim back to the truck lol

But I did find a nice Bass Pro rod/reel combo. I think the reel is trash, but the rod looks good.

If you can hold your breath long enough, you can walk it back! It will only feel like 75 pounds when you hit shore.

I had a buddy that found a sunken canoe. He had scuba tanks. So he went under the boat and stayed there as it filled with his bubbles. Then he walk it out. He said that people on the beach freaked out a little he dame out of the water.

Soon after, I borrowed that canoe as I didn't own one yet. That gives you an idea as to how old this story is. I had just started going out with my future wife and I took her to shoot some rapids. The canoe took in water in the air spaces so we had to abort. There must have been 50 pounds of water in there and it would only exit the air spaces one drip at a time. So I put the canoe, full of excess weight, on my car roof. The first bump on the dirt road resulted in the roof rack ripping off and a nice groove in my hood.

Good times!

Lifetime memories.

About the battery, without that strap/handle thing, it would be hard to walk it to the river bank. It's down 8 feet.

I have a plan. Think I'll take an onion sack, swim down with it and roll the battery into the bag. Probably should double bag it, it's a big deep cycle battery. .

I'm just free swimming, without an air tank and a weight belt, so I can only stay down for a minute or so? Before I go under, I'll take 3 deep breaths, kind of catch my breath, and then go for it.

I think I can flip the battery into the bag, on my first trip? Then I plan to drop a ropw with an S-hook through one of the drain holes in my kayak. The second trip down, I should be able to punch the S-hook into the bag, then I've got it. So I can ger it to shallow water where I can handle the battery and load it into the Kayak.

Here at work we sell Interstate batteries, so the core is worth $20. That'll pay for gas. It'll take me an hour or so, but I'll get it. Once I load it in the kayak, I'll make another pass up through that hole. Might find more junk?

Search: Rock Cliff Lake.

My daughter and I kayaked there yesterday, it's a beautiful pond. So, I'll give Kim credit for 1 mile. Visibility in the dam was over 15 feet. Nice day to be on the water.

Lots of people up on the beach area, I guessed 100, Kim guessed 150.

Just checked, Rock Cliff it a 12 acre flood control dam.

Not long ago I mentioned that I got a new rain gauge. I started keeping track of rainfall, July 1st, 2023.

For the month of July, I've had 1.80 inches of rain. We are dry!

Above I mentioned the battery that I found the other day, Wednesday I went down the creek to fetch the rascal. Things worked out about the way I figured.

I took 2 onion bags, they are rotten and brittle, so didn't mess with them at all. Visibility in the water was up, right at 10 feet. I could make out the battery from my kayak. Could just see the stainless wingnuts, the rest of the battery was covered with river dust.

So, I made a loop in a piece of heavy cord/light rope, about the size of the battery, swam down with it, flipped the battery up on end and snared it. Lifting with one hand and pulling with the other. Swam out to shallow water and put it in the kayak.

There were 5 kayaks coming down the river, while I was putting on my swim fins, we all said good morning, and let them get down the creek before I started. All together, it took me about an hour and a half. I mean till when I had the kayak and battery loaded, strapped down and all.

While I was there, I went upstream and made another pass through the upper end of the hole. Up in the swift water. I think that makes 3 times I've swam in that hole, there's nothing there but a set of fiberglass tent poles.

The water is starting to get cold, but if I get time to swim there again, I'll take that trash to the bank and bring it home, for the dumpster.

Guys the forum is very quiet.

Today is Friday, I was out swimming Wednesday, didn't find much. Tell you about that in a minute.

Above I mentioned the battery that I found, it's dead. I put a charger on it for 48 hours, checked it with the trolling motor, nothing. Put my other charger on it for 2 days, checked it again, it's dead.

Guess it's been 2 or 3 weeks ago, my daughter and I went swimming. I have access to a private river lot, not sure, it's 2 acres or so? Anyway, it's a good place to find good junk. Kim didn't put on her mask and fins, I made like 2 passes up and down the river, didn't find squat.

Then I took her to some deeper water, just down the river, 1/2 mile or so?

We are very very dry here, and the rivers are low. I started keeping track of our rainfall, the first of July, 2023. In July, I had 1.80 inches of rain, in August, I had 2.11 inches. That's not much.

The rivers are just so low, way to low to put in our kayaks. In a way, it's been a bad summer for floating.

Anyway, I was out swimming the other day, and I did find a nice smallmouth bass. It was up in the 18 or 20 inch range. Easily 3 pounds, but don't think it would go 4. And that's the best bass that I've found this summer.

Thinking about it now, I've swam with only 3 bass that would go over 16 inches. Did see a nice largemouth bass the same day, maybe 15 inches? And a carp, I'd guess it was about 15 pounds or a little better?

Really, I haven't found much good junk this summer. The other week I was out and found a man's driver's license, the day Kim and I were swimming. The man is a little bit older than me, born in 58, from Arlington, VA.

It looked like the license had been in the creek for a while, expiration date was 2028. Anyway, I found it on a Sunday, wrote him a little note and mailed it out Monday.

The man called me, we talked for a minute, he thanked me, and that was it. But really, that's the best thing that I've found this swim season.

Deleted.

I'll give you an update on the stream conditions. We are dry as a bone.

It was cool and wet, back in early spring. Our rivers and creeks were running good, at the normal water mark or above, and clear as a bell for the most part. Since then, it's just like someone turned off the rain faucet.

It's been a really bad summer for floating a kayak. My daughter and I haven't even had our boats in the water! The water is just so very low.

I have been out swimming 4 or 5 times, haven't found a lot of good junk, but some. Swam in the South Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River the other day. Visibility in the Fork would have been an honest 15 or 18 feet. That's very good for this time of year.

By saying the visibility was 15 to 18, I mean a person could hold up a Dollar bill, 18 feet from me, and I could tell you if I'm looking at the front of back of the bill. Fun to swim when it's that clear.

My brother and I were swimming the other evening and found some nice junk. Ended up with 5 rods & reels, small landing net, sweat shirt, and a first for me. A green, #6 pool ball. How a pool ball found it's way into the river, we'll never know.

Pool ball? From upstream. I trapped a small creek one time and found several golf balls. Finally figured out there was a golf course about a mile and a half above there. Those golf balls traveled downstream that far.

The # 6 ball has some pretty deep scratches. We'll never know where it came from.

Would make for a good story. Must have been one heck of a good break! To knock the 6-ball off of the table, through the window and into the river!

Our rivers get mean, almost evil when the water is up.

Here is a link to WV Metro news:

https://wvmetronews.com/2024/07/24/sport...rginia-streams/

I really don't know what's going on with our fish. But I'll tell you we don't have the smallmouth bass that we did years ago. So far this summer, I haven't found a smallmouth bass, that would go an honest 14 inches.

I've been seeing a fair number of bass in the 5" to 9 inch range. About average number of sunfish, most of them are smallish. I mean borderline big enough to keep.

I did see a nice crappie the other day, first and only crappie I've ever found in the South Branch of the Potomac River.

If you remember above, I mentioned the "shiner minnows" that are not native to our streams. The other day I stirred up a bunch of river grit, there were more than a 100 of those minnows just below me. Sized from 1/2 inch long on up to about 7 or 8 inches long. I really think they are predators, if they are eating our bass fry, that could be one reason for less bass.

Friday morning I went out swimming before work, went to a spot where I hadn't been this summer. Only found a fishing lure and a piece of line with 2 big split shot sinkers and a big hook.

I did find a pretty nice school of yellow suckers, and a decent smallmouth bass. As Big Donnie would say: He was a plump 15, pushing 16 inches. It'd be fun to catch on light tackle, that's the biggest bass I've found so far.

Also pinched a spotted sucker between 2 fingers, then it tore outta there.

It had rained the evening before, I had almost 1/2 inch, I could see in the water 8 feet.

My neighbor was planning on going down what what we call: The Trough yesterday. That's a 7 mile run of pretty much slow and lazy water. Taking their kayaks. They were still loading up at Noon, figure it'd be 1:00 before they got unloaded and on the water.

I warned them, our rivers are very low! Even showed them 2 recent pictures that I'd posted on facebook. I'd never consider trying to float the river now, we just don't have the water.

Big Donnie and I are to go fishing in a week or 2. Think I'll take him to the Slipping in Hole. Water should be 8, 10 or eleven feet deep, good spot for catfish and there might be a decent bass or 2 in the hole.

Should be able to drift down the creek about a mile, and motor right back to the truck.

My neighbor stopped by yesterday and gave me a float/fishing report. He said between the 3 of them, they did catch 1 decent bass. The way he showed me it would have been 15 or 16 inches. No catfish. They got off of the water at 8pm, so that's about 1 MPH.

Really, they didn't have much time to fish. There are some big pretty holes along that stretch of river, honestly, they are big enough to really fish them good, it'd take all day.

About the pool ball that I found, we had a really bad flood here in 1985. It was the highest water levels in recorded history. I forget, it was what they guessed a 1 in a 500 year or 1 in a 1,000 year event!

Here in the valley, folks had anywhere from 14 to 20 inches of rain in about 48 hours! That's a lot of water!

Anyway, I've asked a dozen or more of my friends of places that had pool tables. If the #6 poolball came frome someplace local, that was open to the public. We can think of 3 places, all pretty much beer joints. The P. I. (Potomac Inn, in Grant Co.) South Branch Tavern, or Colt's, both were here in town.

We'll never know where it came from for sure. But 2 of those buildings were washed away, right down to the foundation. Along with 100's of other buildings. There were 15 or 20 folks killed in the 85 flood, local folks.

Interesting to think about, but we'll never know for sure.

Interesting stuff. The odds of finding that pool ball were pretty low.

You never know what you'll find in the river.

I really wish it'd been the 8-ball. That'd be even more fun.

I'll keep on looking, every chance I get.

Here's a link to the 1985 floods: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Election_Day_floods

Damage was heaviest in Virginia and West Virginia. In the former state, the rainfall peaked at 19.77 in (502 mm) just northeast of Montebello. The rains increased levels along many rivers to record heights across Virginia, including the James River which crested at 42.15 ft (12.85 m) at a station called Holcomb Rock, the highest level in the state. In Roanoke, the Roanoke River rose 18.57 ft (5.66 m) in ten hours to a peak of 23.35 ft (7.12 m), considered a 1 in 200 year event. In the city, many residents had to be rescued after they were trapped, and three people drowned by driving into flooded waters. Considered the worst flood on record in the city, Roanoke sustained $225 million in damage, with 3,100 damaged homes and businesses. There was also flooding in Richmond after the James River crested at the second-highest level on record. Throughout Virginia, damage was estimated at $753 million, making it the state's costliest flood at the time, and there were 22 deaths.

We could ride out to the upper town park now, ans show you the South Branch of the Potomac River. Water is crystal clear, slow easy and gentle looking stream. With a good cast, we could hit the rocks on the west side. It's maybe 50 feet wide?

Back in November, 1985, the river was a mile wide at the same spot. And anything but gentle, slow and easy.

Forgot. I was out yesterday morning, mowing the yard at the hunting camp. First time part of it has been mowed this summer, the grass (hay) was blowing out like dust. We are that dry!

Not sure what the temperature was?, but I'll tell you it's too hot to be using a push mower! Stopped at the river on the way home, the river is chilly at first, but it feels nice. The South Fork, it's probably in the 60's now?

" it's too hot to be using a push mower!"

Good thing it wasn't snowing. It would have been too hot to shovel!

Zero percent chance of snow. Sad to say, not much better chance of rain, it the 10-day forecast. High temps of Hot, with lows down to 60*.

Talked to a farmer yesterday, he said he had to start feeding hay. On the first of August, that's not good. Our pasture fields are just burnt up.

In one of the other threads, I mentioned that I metal detect now and then. Detecting is similar to swimming and searching for junk. The mailman told me that a man found a $10 US gold coin, forget, it was like an 1825? Almost mint condition.

He said the high book price and that thing was 240K. He said it was found here in WV. Guys that found it weren't detecting, they were digging a foundation or something? And it just rolled out.

There is good stuff out there, it takes time, lots of time.

Here is a big fish story:

https://wvmetronews.com/2024/08/01/wayne-county-pond-yields-a-new-state-record-channel-catfish/

Neat story either way, but it's a shame he didn't hand off the rod to the kids. That would have been even better.

The rod might have been pulled out of the childs' hands or the child pulled in!

Oh, with a little bit of coaching, the kids could have caught that fish.

I just read the story again, 3 kids to play with. When one get's tired, switch off to the next one.

That might be a little bit tricky. You come around this side, and you sneak over this way.

Let all 3 kids take a turn. Put the state record in all of their names.

They are just kids and it's just a fish.

If one of the kids goes in the pond, catch them by the back leg and yank he or she out.

Years ago I set a trot line across the South Branch of the Potomac, caught a few pretty nice channel catfish. I didn't want them, nobody else wanted them, so I put them in the pond on the farm.

Those fish were all big enough for a "Trophy Fish Citation" from the DNR. They've been caught multiple times. I've seen pictures of them, but I've never seen them in person, since the day I put them in the pond.

They've broken fishing lines a few times. Ka-Ping

Yesterday, I had intentions of taking the dog for a run, and finish cutting the logs out of the mountain road. Checked the weather forcast, calling for a high of 95* F. Figured I'd just leave the dog home and go swimming.

We've been really really dry, we've been down in the 40's a couple of nights, but hot during the days.

Long story short, I spent over 2 hours in the creek. Honestly, that's about all it is now! I mean the South Branch of the Potomac River.

Didn't find anything, someone's ball cap. One man going down in his kayak, fishing, did see him catch a little sunfish or bass? A lady went past, taking her dogs to play in the water. Didn't know her, we waved, but looked like the dogs were having fun.

I did see 3 smallmouth bass that would have been right at 14 inches. I went to a different spot, 2 of the bass were together.

Anyway, it's the first of September (almost), probably my last swim for this year?

Wanted to say, visibility in the water yesterday, was a good 15 feet. Pretty day to swim.

Well, I finally had a chance to get out swimming Wednesday of this week. The South Branch was up, 2 or 3 feet, swift current. In full-sunshine, I could see, 5 or 6 feet. When it got overcast, cut that back to 3 or 4 feet.

Searching in one of my favorite spots, I found a rod and reel. It was down deep, the water was just too swift, I couldn't recover the rig. I made at least 5 passes, maybe 6? It is a spinning reel with a black rod, and it didn't show up very good.

The river is about 100 feet wide in that spot, buy the time I'd see the reel, I was down the creek in a heartbeat. It's hard to get your bearings in a spot like that, I'd surface, and look things over. I almost had it that one pass, within 6 inches of grabbing the rod. Down the creek I went!

I did see a good many small sunfish and a couple rock bass, found one little smallmouth bass that would have been pushing 10 inches. That's about it.

We've had some really hard rains, in spots. 5 miles upstream, folks had over 3 inches, in a short time period, here I had like 0.20 inches. Hit and miss.

But the water was pretty nice, warm, but I winded myself a couple times. It's hard to get back to normal and breathing regular, when breathing through a snorkle. I'll get it the next time.

Well, Friday of last week I had a chance to go swimming again. The air temperature here in town was 50*, I'd guess the water is in the 60's? I know it's getting late for swimming. mid September.

I fooled around till about 10am, waiting for the sun to roll around and get on the water. As a friend told me, the water is "brisk". It's been a really bad year/summer for snorkeling. A while back, we had hard hit & miss rains almost everyday, for 3 weeks straight. I remember one night, the wind and lightning woke me early in the morning. Most of the showers were just here and there. Just enough to keep the river muddy, or very dark.

As far as flooding, we've been lucky, other than a few culverts and driveways washed out, we haven't had much local damage.

But Friday, I could see a good 10 to 12 feet, in full sunshine, cut that in half for being in the shade. Everything looked the same beyond 5 feet or so.

The fishing rod that I mentioned above, it's gone. Where I was swimming, the river level has been up 10 feet or better since that day. Who knows? What's left of it, might be half-way to Washington, DC by now?

But I was in the water for an hour, noticed the goosebumps on my arms, my fingers were numb. Figured I'd best get out and warm up. I did find one nice mud turtle, 15 or 18 pounds, but it's hard to swim holding a turtle. And, I don't know of anyone local that would even want the thing. So, it's still in the creek.

Lucky turtle! Swimming pools are in the low 60's here. The weather is warm during the day but the nights are in single digits C..

The leaves aren't really changing colour, yet. They are drying up instead. No rain here and when it does it is a down pour. It has no chance to soak in the soil.


When you find a rod, is the reel still good or is it too silted up?

I read your comment early this morning, but was in a bind getting ready to go fishing. Big Donnie, my buddy Bill and his brother Mike and I ganged up at a fishing hole this morning, we didn't amount to much. We had a good time, that's the main thing.

Bill did catch a bass that would have been close to 2 pounds, but you can't keep bass in that flood control dam. We came home without a fish. It's just nice to get out, kind of a nasty, chilly morning, misting a little bit and in the low 60's.

About the fishing reels, it depends on the water, and how long it's been there soaking. Sometimes I'll find a reel, stuffed full of sand and grit, leave a trail of "dust" 30 feet down the creek. Open faced reels, usually aren't so bad. But the current, rocks and all, they will grind a rod into pieces. About like putting the rod on bench grinder, bump it here and there.

The water, current, grit and sand will cut up and ruin a good anchor rope too.

But I was playing with my new fly-rod today, a little bit. There is a lot more to the story, but I'll copy/paste a message I posted on my Facebook thing a while back. It's pretty neat, hope you enjoy it.

One of the most heartfelt and sincere gifts that I've ever received. Here at work the other morning, my buddy Kenneth stoped by, he said hold on, I've got something for you. If you notice, he gave me a new 5 weight fly-rod, and each of those little containers, has a dozen or so of Kenneth's hand tied wet/dry flies. The 3 up front are turkey tail flies. All of them are a work of art! But for the time being, until I get a break from work, I will keep them in my Ronnie desk. (there is a picture with my Fb post)

I'll try to put some of the pieces together for you. My "Ronnie desk", came from my hunting buddy Ronnie's home. It's an oak rolltop desk, pretty as all get out. I keep my turkey calls, clips, special papers and all in it.

But my "Ken/Ben" flyrod, it belonged to Kenneth, who loaned it to another friend, Bennie. Ben died a year or so ago. Ken and I were talking one day, I told him I'd love to have Ben's fly fishing gear. Then he told me the story. Next thing you know, Kenny gave me the rod, reel and flies.

But Kenneth and Bennie would fish a local trout stream, catch and release, fly fishing only. I'd love to bump into Kenny up there one day, I know it'd mean a lot to him too. But that rod is a very special gift to me. And so are his flies.