Ham

I got to make a short trip with my son who is a town for a few days. Fished Rim Shoals from 10 am until 1 Pm. We caught about 40. They were running half the water projected at about 2000 CFS. A south wind of near 10 mph was annoying. And the water had some stain from recent rain. Fish bit well starting with the first cast. We made the run down to the mouth of Crooked Creek, but it was mocha latte. Nothing big. Largest rainbow was 16 inches. We lost a couple of Browns and a decent Cuttie. We lost a bunch of fish for some reason. Oh well. Nice day on the river. We saw a few other boats, but zero stress and zero conflict.

Top Notch boat. Why Not save your extras for the new boat? Not the Sea Dek of course.

As far as I know, this boat is still for sale. I was commenting on the quality of a Coosa hoping someone on here wil buy that boat. The only time I times I am ever in my canoe, the poor thing is overloaded with weight above the gunnels. No room to walk and a bad time to be trying it. Yesterday, the getting up and down went well, but the boat seemed a little loosey goosey as I was standing there. I can't imagine my exaggerated hooksets beinga good thing while standing in the Coosa.

Yo G, My wife bought me one from OMTC for my birthday. I would have held off longer, but so it goes. I appreciate the gift and I have already enjoyed it. There is no one perfect boat or fishing rod or automobile or firearm. I love how comfortable and dry the seat is on the Coosa and I like the extra elevation, but it most definitely is a slower boat than my Tarpon and does not track as well. The lack of tracking also means you can swing that nose around in a hurry when you REALLY need to do so. The higher seat also means less stabilty. I stood up in mine yeasterday and while I managed to do so without falling in, I'm not sure how practical that's going to be for fishing. My elderly inner ear is likely gonna call BS on that. Its going to take a while for me to work out how I want to store everything for easy access though.

No doubt it gets looks. Just way too frustrating for me to use. I really think the bait design is causing the fish to knock it away from them as they strike. We'd have to supper slow mo about a 1000 strikes and then drill down on the 700 strikes that did not result in a hook up to see if there was a common cause. NOW before the flaming arrows head my way, just kidding about the numbers. i have the feeling that the majority of the strikes are misses, but I may be dead wrong.

I ALWAYS use a loop knot on my crappie jigs and Zig JIgs. I would be miserable if I HAD to fish a jig tied direct, but I fish with guys that are better crappie fisherman (Lincoln Godfrey) and trout jig fishermen (Richard Cross) that tie direct to their jigs. I'm not gonna hate on rps for his obsession with Top Dollars with custom paint jobs and fancy hooks. IMO, that bait is too hard to throw, too hard to work, and has too many blowups that are not hookups, but it makes him happy to fish it. I hope you get your bait back rps.

I may end up over before too long if the creeks dont settle down.

I really like the Current River. Especially September thru May on non weekend days.

I saw one on the water yesterday. Not a small boat. I would definitely need help moving that thing around on dry land. Scupper pups as a minimum.

Second trip out in my Coosa yesterday. The seat is extra comfy. I don't feel like I am slumming it when I swap back into my Tarpon 120, but the dry ride and little extra height is not a bad thing. Coosa's are good boats.

That's great! Teach him well.

Yeah, I keep thinking about either Tenkara or the natural bait equivalent of it for all the micro species stuff. I'm just crazy enough to start spending a lot of my time doing that too.

That's great Bret. It really is.

Both.

Drew is the MAN. I hope to be more like him once I grow up.

Look up forum member plastic worms posts. He has a personal blog as well that he does and he does that kind of trip. From a weather perspective I would recommend waiting until October or November if you could. You would be more comfortable fishing if you can wait until it cools and the air gets a little less humid. With a little pre trip reading and planning, that can be a very successful DIY kayak trip. on Flyrod or conventional gear, I would expect to catch a number of fish a day and at the very least be in a very interesting eniviron, but you will definitely catch fish. That is a trip I very much want to make. I have a lot of these type trips I would like to make, but my windows of oppurtunity are very finite.

I'm a Rebel.

IF I was [posting trip reports on creeks and rivers, I think I would have snake in every trip report title and mention snakes as often as possible. I love snakes and really will never understand the unreasonable fear. I think it is more than likely I will eventually take a hit from a copperhead, but that's a cross I will bear when my time comes.

I'm relying on it aka the other stuff aka Nanofil for almost every spinning application. I have not swapped over the crappie rods. IF Bull shoals wasn't doing a Momma Cass impersonation, I likely would have switched over the crappie rods as well.

I bet I have a BUNCH of old Poe's I would sell. I still have some in original packaging. I know I have a Fire Tiger or two. Mainly 300's, but maybe a couple of 400's also.

Lol. That's a hoot.

Banded Sculpin. Very nice.

I know rightI I'll have another shot at some Skipjack Shad this fall. And I'll have the gizzard shad spawn deal in the back of my mind for next year. I have some more stuff to try on them. I'll be ready for them.

ahhhhh forget about it.

21.5 inch smallie. Very Nice. Lucky You. I managed to fish 4 days last week. I floated a little of 50 river miles. First with one good friend and then with another good friend. It was wonderful and I caught right at 200 fish over the four days. Life has been getting in the way of my fishing this year. Especially in May and it threatens to do so again for the next couple of months, but so it goes. Right now I'm stuck on 26 species and 1567 fish caught (if I am remembering my numbers correctly).