Rocky Fork Lake, Ohio, Kayak Bass Fishing Tournament - Muddy, Cold, Pre-Spawn, tough fishing!
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- Опубликовано: 21 окт 2024
- This weekend was the first Cincinnati Kayak Fishing bass tournament of the season, and it was also my first day launching the Lynx this year! It was a chilly pre-spawn day with air temp 38° with a solid cloud cover and 5mph north winds and water temp 47° at launch. My plan was to fish the north shore that would be protected from the cold wind, but due to a gps fail I got to Rocky Fork a little late (went to the wrong lake first), and ended up going to the South Boat Ramp instead because I had that pinned and was sure I could get there. I had gone into this one really hoping to be smarter and make better decisions… and that didn’t happen. 🤣
Despite this not so brilliant start to my season, I am really excited to see what I can make happen this year! I feel so lucky to have found kayak fishing and this awesome community of people, and fish or no fish, this sport brings me so much joy! Subscribe to GirlGoneFishing to follow along with my fishing adventures on the CKF, BKFT, and this year also the KANEO trails. Thanks for watching!
A huge thanks to Strictly Sail & Kayak for being such big supporters of our kayak angling community and for always having whatever I break or lose! They have a lot more stuff in stock at their shop, but they have a good selection online as well:
www.strictlysa...
Thank you to Cincinnati Kayak Fishing for running such a fun trail! CKF is a great club for both beginners and experienced anglers, with lower entry fees and an 8" minimum length, it is a great way to get started in kayak bass tournaments!
cincinnatikaya...
I'm an Amazon Associate, so if you get to Amazon from the link below, they will send me a couple of pennies for anything you buy without it costing you anything extra! I linked to the St. Croix Rods shop because everyone could use another St Croix, but once there through that link anywhere you navigate to on Amazon will count! All funds go to my "Buy A Truck & Trailer and Hit The National Kayak Bass Trail" Fund, which might be fully funded by the time I'm 80! 😎
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Nice bass, at least you got to smile! Keep your head up sweetie!
Thanks!
Nice to see ya back in the saddle again. ALWAYS enjoy your videos. Diggin the New Hat too.
Thanks! I've been wanting one of these hats for a while, finally decided I deserved it. 😎 www.bigbassdreams.com/collections/hats
Glad to see you back out. Ya cold day. Whacky rig or a real slooowwww bait day. Nice fish at the end. 😊
It was great to be back out! Visibility was maybe 2-3 inches at most, so wacky just felt too finesse a presentation to me. I still think I could have gotten lucky with the shakey head because of how I could let it sit next to a log and give it a little action while it sat in place tight to cover...I just never threw it to the right log!
Never give up!! Thats what i like about you.
Thanks! Hopefully it pays off in giant bass soon!
@@GirlGoneFishing i have faith in you! It will happen!
Really great looking Bass you caught in the end, Subscribed as you do a great job explaining what you are doing. Awesome Channel!
Thanks! Hope next time there are more fish during the tournament! :)
Love the honest approach. Not many share footage in the trees and your timing on that last / 1st bass is what fish tales are all about. If you had caught it at 2:55, ho-hum, caught 10 seconds after the tourney bell sounds, that’s a fish tale.
I never do things the usual way! 🤣
I'm here in north central Ohio and went out a few days ago all day long and I don't even think I had a bass within 5ft of my lure and got skunked but it really felt good getting the yak out and relax... I think we still a bit cold yet but it will turn on soon! Good luck out there and stay safe!!!
Thanks, you too!
Great video keep doing what you’re doing love your videos I live 30 minutes from Rocky Fork lake
Thank you!
It"s so funny watching you fish just for the fact you fish so similar to me. The only thing different is that i use a cheep sit in kayak and have to cast at waters level 😂. I enjoy your site, keep up the good work👋
I did that for my first 1 1/2 years on the trail, fishing out of my Old Town Loon sit-in paddle kayak... it was awful not to be able to stand up and stretch but I was so grateful to have anything to get me out there I kept at it! I did learn that skipping a bait is much easier when you are sitting at water level, so you do have that advantage!
Starting out going to the wrong Lake, That's a bummer ,But you got back on the right track! Smiling, fishing and having fun. Your amazing!! Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks, but I need to stop making those dumb mistakes and bad decisions!
Sou de Ubatuba SP Brasil.
Adoro seus vídeos. Beijos!
Obrigado!
I remember when East Fork Lake was created. Not too far from my home lake - Stonelick.
I had never been there before, there are just never enough days off work during fishing season to go exploring!
Nice video! It's just that time of year, extremely tough fishing our first Tourney here in the PNW came down to slow crawling a ned in 10 feet of water.
I bet you have to deal with cold and wet even more than we do here! Good luck in your season!
Luckily it's only cold and wet in the spring, good luck to you as well!
I've caught a lot of nice crappie at Rocky Fork. I'm over near Chillicothe
Oh cool, I've never hooked anything but a couple of bass there, but I'll figure it out!
I have the same yak and i'm glad to see someone else struggle. Love the Lynx. The water here in CA looks a lot like what your fishing in. Good to see your back with your videos.
I sure miss fishing those NorCal reservoirs! Hope it clears up and turns on soon for you!
Thanks so much for all the work you do in providing us with local fishing! Skiing? You mean water skiing - right?
Hahaha well frozen water kind of... 🤣
If you want shallow water try the east end of the lake around the islands. A lot of shallow water and great weeds in warm weather. Big ernies has the best berger in town
I love that end of the lake, but so does half of my club so it was crowded over there for our tournament! I tried to find boat-free water, which was probably a mistake. Next time!
Cold muddy water is the toughest conditions you can fish. Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’ll be back on ‘‘em in no time…assuming you’re on the correct lake. 😂
Hey now, GPSing is hard! 🤣
I’m temps under 50 I only find success with a lipless crainkbait or teeny tiny finesse jigs.
It can be challenging in cold water!
I guess now you can work varied retrieves into your chatterbait routine. 🤷🏼♂️ Sorry your fish came late!
At least I got the first bass of 2023 in the boat!
Kydex for the front and back it will slide nice on my unlimited it worked perfect on the boat ramp didn’t even hardly hurt the kydex when I pulled it out of the water to the car very impressed I did use that tape in between
I'll have to try something different next year, this tape is not the solution I hoped it would be!
@@GirlGoneFishing why wait is really easy
It took me about 5 hours to get last year’s tape off before putting this new tape on. I’m not willing to go through that again while the tape is still sufficient. Will look into Kydex when I do my next off-season maintenance.
Just a suggestion put it on top of tape that is if it becomes an issue for you all you need is a heat gun to form it to the hull two or three pieces of kydex and some 3m tape and a small tube of marine sealant would do it I believe lol! Thinner kydex is way easier to work with I bought the thicker stuff and it was more difficult to form compared to the thinner stuff. Mine was really solid though no worries about dragging it but my yak is heavier and your yak is light go with the thin!
I’ll look into it, thanks for the ideas!
That looked like really tough conditions. Sometimes they're just not gonna bite. Unlike modern humans who have to eat three meals a day with snacks in between, wild animals are tough and can go for long periods without eating (and fasting is actually a very healthy thing).
Funny how the one late bass -- nice one, btw! -- hit after the sun came out. I notice in trout fishing and surf fishing that any change in conditions, whether it's the sun coming out, clouds rolling in, wind picking up or dying down, can trigger the bite. You should have just kept fishing for fun, but I'd be tired after that hectic early morning and the cold conditions so maybe not...
I really wanted to get to the measure-in awards to be social and cheer on the winners, so I had to get loaded up, but otherwise I would have totally kept fishing! My fingers were finally thawing out so it was getting much more enjoyable! 🤣
@@GirlGoneFishing Absolutely! I'm an old curmudgeon who sometimes forgets that social interaction is a big part of enjoying life, particularly when it's with folks who have deeply shared interests.
I usually go and stand awkwardly in a corner or hide behind my camera taking photos. But I’m trying! :)
Every one makes mistakes, but you should have stuck to your plan even if you start late. The fish you caught hit when you paused the bait,so vary your retrieve from time to time. Always try a senko when fishing is tough. But a lot of fish are 10-15ft deep that time of year. Better luck next time.
Thanks!
It's a bummer you went to the wrong lake. Perhaps we're related?
A couple of things-for what they are worth:
In the early spring, the water will be cold. First priority: find the warmest water you can-even a few degrees can make a difference. Muddy or stained water will be warmer than clear water. Shallow protected flats and bays are good and even better if there is vegetation-even dead vegetation will "soak up" the sun and can have a positive effect. Or, if it's not too windy (boat and bait control issues), look for areas where the warm(est) water is being pushed toward shore. People say the north side of the lake is the best because of the angle of the sun. I think this is mostly nonsense. I believe it's because warm (floating) water is pushed to the north side of the lake by warm(er) spring winds (which come out of the south). (This won't have much of an effect if there haven't been many warm or sunny days). If a lake has tributaries or springs that feed into it, these areas will often be warmer. Power plant lakes will obviously be best where the warm water is discharged into the lake. All these things are more difficult to find with a (relatively) slow moving kayak so it pays to study a topographical map ahead of time and take note of the wind direction.
Secondly, and most relevant to this video, early spring and lower water temps almost always necessitate fishing slow moving jigs or soft plastics (which I've noticed you rarely use-especially soft plastics). This is (IMHO) a mistake. Learn to use and rely on them (especially plastic worms) more. They will cover much less water so you'll be forced to pick areas apart more but it's worth the time to do so. In this video I noticed you tried a lot of reaction baits. While they cover a lot more water than soft plastics, fish rarely chase if their metabolism is low and slow. The two major exceptions are lipless crankbaits and jerk baits but even these require that the "dinner bell" has been rang (when fish have put on the feedbag in the pre spawn). If it's too early, forget about it. Reaction baits are good where the fish are willing to bite but, for whatever reason, they are super critical of just about everything in front of them (i.e., they'll stare down a slow moving bait and then ignore it). Jerk baits are especially good then because between the jerks (which get the bass's attention), they then stop and give the (lazy) fish a chance to strike before the bait "gets away." So don't give up on reaction baits but wait until later in the season OR until after soft plastics fail to produce.
On some days, no matter WHAT we do, the fish don't cooperate.
Having said all this, I salute your positive attitude, efforts and your willingness to plug along and keep at it: attributes of a good fisherman. Have a good and safe ski season!
Great information, thanks!
I didn’t understand why you don’t launch of the shore in grass and dirt . That’s what I do . I never launch mine from concrete. Just saying not hating. Thanks for your time !!
I ended up finding a beach launch for take out because that tape just makes it impossible for me to move on the concrete ramp! I have to be careful for our tournaments because we are limited to official launching ramps and public access launch points.
The water temp I would fish slower. You caught that fish on a pause. Find crappie, and there will be bass in with them. So brush piles. I'm no expert by any means.
I do tend to fish fast, but I'm working on that!
I wanted to enter but I found out about this too late.
There is a BKFT tournament at Alum Creek Lake this Saturday, a CKF tournament next weekend at Brookville... lots more to fish!
@@GirlGoneFishing
I would love to meet up with you!
I have a lifetime angler kayak that I modified. I ran a minnkota 30 last year and this year I will be running a minnkota traxxis 45. The motor went straight to shop from the manufacturer, both motor shafts will be cut down to 28 inches. I ran led lights under the kayak as well as front runners. I running a garmin 7 cv plus off a control panel. They are being powered by lithium batteries. I get a kick out of that kayak.
@@GirlGoneFishing
Please explain more about it? I don’t see any women kayak fishing in these parts. It would be nice to see woman out there.
The water is too dirty, the fish isn’t going to bite.
Muddy water is a challenge, but they still have to eat!