Pat Magee

I typically always have a fluke tied on because it can do a little bit of everything and always produce in creeks. I absolutely love when they get crushed when I am high sticking them around cover. I can even WTD with a fluke on the surface and they handle current quite well. When I say I typically have a fluke tied on it is often because I hate retying all the time and usually stick with my confidence bait. If I have multiple rods or am fishing from my kayak, a WTD (any will do) or buzzbait will always be tied on at least one rod. I have yet to have an ALL day fishing trip with only topwater tied on but promised myself I would try it soon. The people that stick it out always seem to do pretty well over the course of a day.

When I was getting back in the game after a long delay in fishing, I bought 4 Vendetta rods because of the price. I have now had all 4 for 7 years and they all have held up well. I fish braid on all of them at least a couple months out of the year and I am generally pretty hard on my gear. The only thing that has broken is one of the hook retainers on one of my casting rods but that was because of my own idiotic mistake. I like that they are light and feel pretty nice in your hand. I am not a big fan of the how loose the reel seat gets after a day of fishing. I feel like I always have to tighten it down a couple times throughout the day. I have since upgraded several of my rods to Shimano Compres and Crucials and like them slightly better for various reasons but never have a problem with using the Vendettas either. I went fishing with a guide who was sponsored by Abu Garcia last summer and he had some the of Abu Garcia Villian 2.0 rods with the V-Wrap......and man that rod was insanely nice.I think they are like $200 but I think that might be my next rod of choice.

TBH, would rather look at pics like this! Good lucking pup!

Man it would be great if actual fishing report threads were 6 plus pages.....Seems like the only time a thread is more than a few comments is when you fellas get on arguing about MDC,gigging, and meat fisherman. I mean how many lake/river threads haven't had a report on them in over a year? Too many IMO.

I sure hope so!

@Smalliebigsi have put more miles on that yak than I ever thought possible! That thing is a tank!

I keep promising myself that I will not let every thread of mine die with no final updates so I wanted to make sure to at least write something! I returned back from my trip on Sunday evening. I couldn't tell you a place I would rather be. I had a blast both on the water and with the family. Aside from some fast moving wind and a couple storms, the weather was just about perfect with highs barely reaching the mid 80's. I realized that I am limiting myself fishing from a kayak without any kind of electronic assistance so I may make some changes before my next trip up there next summer. Maybe a new kayak (that can handle open water a little better) or even adding a simple fish finder to the Coosa. The first trip out I met up with a fella I met on another site, (YakAngler) he lives about 2 hours from where I was headed and he agreed to make the drive to Sturgeon Bay for some early morning fishing. We launched shortly after sunrise and had a real difficult time getting bites. Fished drop offs, grass edges, and chunk rock with no luck for the first couple hours. After awhile I managed to land a 16.75" on a 3.5 Keitech Swing Impact FAT. It wasn't much different looking then the SM back in MO but it sure did fight a hell of a lot better! My friend Spencer didn't want to be left out and he set into a nice 17" on the Ned Rig. We caught a few more in different sections of the bay but relying on only my sight severely limited me to noticing some of the drop offs since they would often blend right in due to grass, algae covered rocks, and hydrilla. We managed to catch a few more but I left there wishing I had a little better idea of what was happening underwater but happy we didn't get skunked. I had grand plans of hitting Nicolet Bay, Rowley's Bay, Washington Island and Egg Harbor but sadly that didn't happen. Since it was a family vacation, I had to make sure and spend some time with the family too! Since I had gone out the first two days leaving my wife with no car to do anything else, I chose to fish Egg Harbor for the rest of the time I was there. It was close enough that I could sneak out for a quick hour and I knew where some fish were held up so I just concentrated on those areas. I always went out with 4 rods, (Dropshot, swimbait, HD Craw, and grub or tube). I caught fish on all of them at one point or another but nothing to really brag about. It did seem like the fish were transitioning to some deeper holes so I went for some of the deeper drop offs I could find, but again, relying on maps and sight made it a little tougher then it needed to be. I caught at least a few everyday I went out but always wish I could have done better. I had a PB on the hook for what felt like forever the last day I was there. I threw one of those ridiculously long casts that you kind of impress yourself with and was just swimming the tube back to the boat when it got hit. I had a great hookset and had constant pressure on the fish and was able to bring it all the way to the side of the kayak before all of a sudden.....there was nothing. I think I just played him a little too long at stretched out the hole in his lip enough for the hook to pop out. It truly broke my heart and my spirit Just catching a glimpse of it made it that much more heartbreaking. If I was a betting man I would have said 19-20" and 3.5#-4#. If you haven't been up to Door or are wondering if you should, do it. Despite the insane size of the fish up there (which I sadly didn't catch any of) the food and the scenery is absolutely amazing. Not to mention its about 20 degrees cooler than STL all summer long! Next year I will try again but plan on renting a boat for at least one day so I can fish some water that might give me a chance at some bigger fish. I have added a jumble of pictures of my trip below. You wouldn't believe the size of some of these craws up there!

We hiked and road bikes through that area and stopped at the beach there but it was a "family day" and not a fishing day. Sadly the days I go fishing are always the days that the weather blows!

You remember where you were in PSP? It wasn't Nicolet Bay was it? If so, its on my list!

Don't see many small aluminum boats out there. Anything out of the bays or harbors can get pretty dicey at times but I guess it could be done in the right conditions. That being said, I know a guy who goes and fishes some pretty hairy spots in a Hobie PA peddle kayak and it doesn't seem to bother him!

I am thrilled to be heading up the Upper Peninsula of Door County over the 4th of July. It is always a trip I look forward to every year, even more so now that I take my kayak and rods. I was curious if anyone has some suggestions on certain areas to target up there? @jpb2187 has been kind enough to share some of the spots he had success at but I would love to have a few other places to check out as time allows. We are staying in Egg Harbor and I currently plan to fish around the harbor there as well as the Peninsula State Park area. Last year I went out in Rowley's Bay where Lake MI feeds into the Mink River and had some good success but nothing nothing to brag about. I am hoping to change that this year! I have been studying my maps for good places to try but figured I would try here as well. Before anyone suggest hiring a guide, I did last year and it was pretty disappointing. We only fished about 4 hours and I only netted 3 fish (I had already caught more than that from the pier that morning!) My guide was one of the top guides in the area (Brett Alexander) but we just couldn't get anything going sadly. Any advice is welcome and appreciated. Feel free to PM me if you'd like

I am leaving for Door County, WI in a couple of weeks. Cannot wait to feel a good size Northern Smallmouth on the end of my line! Looks like a blast!

Good on you for getting out. That Coosa HD is a fantastic boat, good to know it can swallow some gear for a couple nights on the river, I never felt like my non-HD Coosa could.

Awesome! I think every time I am in BPS, Cablelas, or even Wal-Mart I pick up a bag of super flukes. At last count I had over 71 bags I try to switch colors but I always have this nagging thought in the back of my head that if I was throwing some other color, I would be getting more bites. I am amazed at how many people only throw them in white! I have tried other brands and I just really like the way the Zoom darts and flutters. I may need to re-visit some other brands since it has been awhile since I have done so.

When I get home I will try and snap a picture. I believe the color is actually "Watermelon Red Magic" but I swear the last couple packs just said "Red Magic" ....whatever it is, I really like the color. It has just enough flash with out being over the top like some of the other Zoom colors.

I was lucky enough to get the okay from my wife to go fishing on Friday morning, late Thursday evening. Usually I have to have my trips kind of planned out in advance, as is the nature of having a toddler running around. Without realizing it at the time, the lack of time to stress out about what to bring was actually a blessing. I quickly threw my go-to WTD lures, cranks, and plastics in a easy to carry tackle box and swapped out the spool on my stradic for some 6# CX Premium. I knew that the morning would be cold but I wanted to get as much time as I could on the water so I headed out early and was on the water by 5:30. Sun was coming up but still had some clouds to break through before it would hit me. Water temp was a ball-shriveling 61 but I jumped in and started wading downstream anyway. It only took me about 10 minutes to get a bite on the WTD lure but it shook me off after about 15 feet and a short fight. This is about the only thing I hate about wade fishing, not having the ability to quickly throw a follow up with another rod/reel/lure. I couldn't get another bite out of the next two stretches and usually I would give up on TW but I was determined to stick with it for a bit longer. Thankfully I did because I caught three decent smallmouth and one spot out of one small little stretch. Nothing worth bragging about but since I was darn near turning blue from being so darn cold, it at least warmed me up for a bit. The sun finally started to poke through the clouds and I switched over to my confidence bait (Super Fluke). I for some reason or another, always seems to do well on this particular stream when I am throwing a " Red Magic" fluke, sadly I can't seem to find this color anymore and I am down to the last bag. As usual, they didn't disappoint. I typically just dead drift them or work them like a jerk-bait and every single bite came on the descent that morning. They didn't seem to care for it when it was moving at all. I caught another 6 or so from various spots and I even tangled with a gar for a bit. I saw it about 15 feet away from me but I could only see that it was a fish. I couldn't see the profile really well because I was in some deeper water. Anyway, I bounced the Fluke right on top of his head and he gave a quick reaction bite and I got to fight it for a bit before he broke my line off. I was actually kind of relieved since I felt a little vulnerable with that toothy SOB running around me while I am nipple deep in stained water. The creek seemed healthy but wasn't giving me much size so I decided to split after catching 16 fish (11 smallmouth, 2 sunfish, and 3 spots). I am looking forward to getting the kayak out of the garage in the next couple of weeks to chase some bigger fish in bigger water. Gasconade, Current, Black, and Meramec are next on the list for some day floats. If anyone is interested it joining, shoot me a PM.

Regarding the foot controls, I would love to see how that works. I am assuming there is an additional hinged pedal on top of the normal foot rest that allows you to control how much you want the boat to turn? I am also curious why you decided to pick the trolling motor you did? I am considering adding one to mine and I am completely overwhelmed at all of the different options.

Beware of corrosion on those electrical connections. That seems to be the downfall of some of these DIY trolling motor / lighting projects. I am always amazed at how much condensation occurs on the inside of the kayak even though it is water tight. I guess the cooler water and the warmer air inside of the kayak makes it happen pretty quickly. I always have to dump about a 1/2 gallon of water out after a long trip. Looks great though! How did those foot controls work out for you?

If you head down this road, please make something that won't become brittle after a couple days in the sun! I think I have now bought one every season because they break so easily. My vote is for an aluminum one!!

Wow, just, wow. Good stuff Aaron!

That looks great so far. This has been on my list to do to my Coosa for awhile now. It is just tough to do with the shape of the coosa. I am following to see your progress! Since you have the battery already, you might as well install some LED lights. If you do decide to do that, shoot me a message, I am currently working on mine at the moment and have some great ideas.

You aren't kidding. I learned that pretty quickly after i sliced the crease of my finger up trying to pull out a snag, darn that was painful! I've never broken a rod tip fishing braid but I have had to replace the top guides because the braid would burn a groove in the guide after awhile. I inspect mine pretty regularly now because once it starts, there is no fixing it without completely replacing the guide.

I started fishing the yellow hi-vis (I am a line watcher so I like being able to see my line on the water) Power Pro Slick with a 6ft leader and I am a huge fan. I typically don't like to add another fail point between me and the fish but I have yet to have one break on me. I can cast a mile on my spinning reels with a 7ft medium action rod and have used it fishing everything from jerkbaits to soft plastics and I have no complaints so far.

I have a couple of them. Always thought they looked kind of goofy so that Star Wars bit makes sense. I may have to toss it in the water this year to see how it runs!