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Yaddy-Ho

Started by Onslow, August 20, 2023, 20:04:00 PM

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Onslow


After fulfilling my social/civic/family obligations for the weekend, a Sunday afternoon float was the next business matter. The local flow was clear.  I live less than a mile from the boat ramp, and since time was scant, this six mile float was a no brainer.

The fishing started off slow.  The river is rather flat with little rock structure for the first two miles. I was hoping for some strong Kentucky Spot action today, but that was not to be.  The spots and smallies exist in equal numbers, but some days it's 90/10, and others 10/90.  I did hook, fight, and loose a nearly 3 pound spot right at the net. This would have been my pb. I generally hit the 16" ceiling, but this one was a monster. I did manage to catch a couple smaller schoolers.  I was also getting hits from what appeared to be crappie on the oversized PE knockoff.  The 3 poundish spot took the clawdad.

Caleb caught one mid river in some push current on the top w/no structure.  Go figure.
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About half way into the trip, the river sweeps left below the first set of real rapids.  A nice rock wall is on the right. The smallies were there.

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Caught a few more smaller ones. 

The river slowed again and was back to fishing wood.  I managed to catch two in identical structure.  There was wood galore, but both of these were caught when a log about 10" diameter jutted out 90% from the bank. I would throw the PE to the end of the log, and it was on.

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The fish below was holding on a cleared bank with no structure.

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6 hours, and the float was over. Some mishaps...my anchor became jammed, and I had to cut it loose.  Caleb forgot to attach his keys inside of his pack...left them in his pocket.  When he flipped, the came out.  $170 of keys in the drink not to be found.   

 

Woolly Bugger

That sux about the keys... was that a car fob that got lost? $170  :o


but other than that and the lost anchor it looked to be a fine fishy day on the river.
ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

Onslow

Quote from: Woolly Bugger on August 22, 2023, 07:52:05 AMThat sux about the keys... was that a car fob that got lost? $170  :o


but other than that and the lost anchor it looked to be a fine fishy day on the river.

Two auto keys.

My promaster city (Fiat) fob and key are one unit.  It runs at least $150

Onslow

#3

Took an afternoon off to head over to Yaddy @ Old Yadkinville Rd.  The plan was to paddle up to the water intake dam.  This dam was built within the last 20 years, and dammed up a very rocky and swift portion of the Yadkin.  The dam is pool level is 6', and the backwater is only a mile.

I was hoping bass would be stacked up at the damn dam like firewood.  Jeff went up there years ago, and did poorly.  He complained of the challenge of getting there.

There is a rather swift rapid right above the bridge. Pulling a boat to the right of the rapid was not terribly difficult.  It took about an hour to crank to the dam against 1500 cfs.

Donnaha access is still closed, so no point to point yet.

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4 smallmouth and 1 spot were caught at the dam.  Nothing over 12".  Huge disappointment.

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Headed back down to fish the river.  Not much action either. Perhaps it was the time of day.  It was hot as hell Monday.

Consolation prize.

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Onslow

#4

Closer to home. The spot is 400 yd from my house. I have not fished this section and probably 7 years or more. Traffic on the river is unbelievable, but I don't think there's much fishing going on. If fishing is taking place, I seriously doubt much as being caught.

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My son crapped out on me so I did not have a shuttle. I was stuck paddling up the river. It wasn't all bad. Caught this near the boat ramp.

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Fishing this section of the river is challenging. The water is swift, and nearly all the spotted bass are jammed in piles of wood. I have found a solution for this dilemma with the fly rod.

I probably should have started at the crack of dawn. The smb were biting pretty good early on but they fizzled out. The spotted bass picked up later. I lost the monster but I got this guy.

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Various boaters and tubers were trickling down the river, but no anglers. Thankfully no rain came out of nowhere like it did yesterday. It also was not nearly as hot as forecasted.

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One of my neighbors was getting into mischief on his property, and I yelled at him. He seemed confused as to why I was paddling up the river and not down.  After cranking and fishing for two miles, I floated back. Lots of smaller fish were active feeding in the seams but I have no interest in fish under 14 in. It is good to see the river coming back. Hope I can fish several other sections before winter settles in. More dirty water is on the way so who knows.

Kerr Scott Lake I believe has a very negative impact on this river.  The lake is small, but the flood storage is significant.  The lake level can be raised 30' above pool.  The Army Corp. buffers the flow so must of the year it is too high to fish.   During the Summer, if the release is more than 450 cfs, the release is very turbid.  When the water is cooler, something changes, and the water tends to run a lot clearer. 

Onslow


I hadn't planned on fishing Saturday, but my son did not have class testing today. We left the house at 2, put in at 3.  I hadn't floated this section in a couple years, and when we did, it was more of a rec float, not a fishy float.  The first mile was uninspiring.  Banks were shallowish, and the shoals were cobble.  This section is better suited for carp/wading.  No carp but the usual koi were around.

After the first mile, the boom booms started....right were good habitat was encountered.  Fish were caught, the usual hard fighting 14 incher smb.  Spots were being stingy.  After this brief rocky stretch, more deep water with wood was encountered.  I did nail the fish of the day not far from the rocky stretch in the deep wood water.  It was a deep bodied 15.5   The storm line broke north and south at Elkin which is does a lot, and we were spared of lightening. It did rain a bit, but the some came out with a vengeance afterword.  The fishing stopped as well.

After laboring in two long stretches of flat water, i only managed to fight and loose one nice spot.  Lord only knows how many are in these stretches.  Either these are filled with flatheads, or they are chock full of reluctant spots.

After a bit, more good water was encountered. A second line of storms were coming in from behind.  At 7 PM, it was kinda dark with storm clouds.  Decisions, decisions.  If we had to hunker, we would be floating out at night.  I don't like floating at night.  Did this once on the Upper Meadow in WV one January...1.5 miles of class III in the pitch black.

We lingered and fished for 15 minutes at the top of this miracle mile.  Caleb lost a 16", I had two back to back strikes form a a 16", caught another, but then we headed on paddling as fast as we could.  Just as before, the storm split, it rained a little, but we were spared.  At some point, my rig was snagged.  I pulled on a rock to loosen it up, and my paddle tried to get away.  During my paddle chase, my phone somehow gave me the slip, and was consumed by the river gods.

Damn damn damn.

I haven't lost a phone to water since 2017. 

It was good to fish the local 4 days this week.  Many others were indulging as well, but since we started late, we saw no one else. None of the fish had sore mouth :Dance




Woolly Bugger

sux to lose a phone...

I've got a pair of semi functional iPhones if you want one... an iphone 6 that works fine with shorter than normal battery life and an SE 2nd gen which has speakerphone/Bluetooth issues...

ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

Onslow

Quote from: Woolly Bugger on August 27, 2023, 09:27:58 AMsux to lose a phone...

I've got a pair of semi functional iPhones if you want one... an iphone 6 that works fine with shorter than normal battery life and an SE 2nd gen which has speakerphone/Bluetooth issues...



Thanks

Yes, it does suck.  Canoe/kayak fishing elevates the risk of phone loss, but I will not be deterred.

itieuglyflies

Ah to be as adventuresome as Ken...good stuff for sure. Sorry about the mishaps.

Onslow

#9

Jeff was supposed to camp on the a river down east with his daughter, but obviously the weather wasn't having it.  We didn't have much time today, so we chose a very short section.  Water was much dingier than we hoped, and should've fish the New or a smaller river. 2'vis.

When we arrived at the put in after running shuttle, there were two fisherman ahead of us at the launch.  Fishing was slow.  We came across two more fisherman, and now it was officially a CF.

Jeff put a few Kentucky spots in cooler for consumption.  All of my smb were 11-14 thus not photo worthy.  Did snap a pic of this KS.

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The rest is Jeff's photos.

Me wrestlin a pune.

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Onslow

#10

9/29.  Rolled the dice.  Numbers didn't pan.  This was the section upstream of Bean shoals.  Paddled up 2 miles against current.  Managed to hit a speed of 3.6 mph.  After paddling an hour, I fished.  Water looked fishy, but no deal. This section has less deep water on the banks, and more mid stream rocks.  Mid stream rocks were not producing.  Did catch one 14" smb, but it escaped before a pic was snapped. Water was still lightly stained.

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Onslow

#11

This particular section is probably my favorite float.  It is not an everyday float since due to access challenges, but today was the day.  7' of water visibility, and very low flow, 1100 cfs.

Due to traffic issues, Jim was late. We ended up puting in at 9:30 which made this trip a bit rushed. Kentucky spots were already biting well.  Jim caught the first. You cannot view this attachment.

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I caught two citation spots, Jim caught one. My second was caught near the take-out.  It will be eaten.   They were just a tad over 16".
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Surprise catch....two largemouth.

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The smallmouth bite was non existent. The wind machine fired up, and the catching slowed down after lunch.

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Jim was frustrated.  He lost/missed a bunch of fish.  Later in the day, the smb slowly became active.  I lost 4, two of which were 17 before landing one.

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Another Jim fish.

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The take out was fun.  Getting out involves pulling the boats near vertical up a silty bank.  There is rip rap at the bottom.  One mishap, and one will have a sharp rock up one's arse.

It could have been better, but it wasn't all bad.

 

Onslow


Went for a few hours.  Paddled up, a mile or better.  Fishing on the way up was low on catching.  Caught 6 in 15 minutes between 5 30 and 6.  Lost a really good smallmouth.

Caught a couple this size

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16 inch spot.
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Onslow

#13

I had all kind of plans for this Fall on into Winter regarding float adventuring. Tailraces seems like a logical choice, but most involve driving a bit.  I wasn't in the mood to drive. 

Went to the local, and launched just before 10.  Water temps was probably around 50.  That is a wee bit brisk for bassin.  Fishing was slow.  I did catch about a dozen spots, but none of any size.

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The surprise of the day were the big bucks I disturbed, and this brute of a sucker.

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About 3 miles into the trip was a very steep bluff on the left. With my back turned away, I heard what sound like the earth shaking.  I whipped around, and there was a buck at least 220 pounds running.  He stopped behind some rhodo to watch me. I pretended not to see him, and paddled on.  this was at least a 11-13 pointer, and the largest buck I've ever seen.


Later on in the trip, I was fishing a bank where a homeowner had cleared all the way down to the water.  Tall grass had grown up along the immediate bank.  While fishing said bank, a very startled 11 pointer about 190 pounds emerged.

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Other than that, the day was fairly uneventful.  I did manage to allow a rod to get pulled from my hand. It ended up in 6' of frigid water.  After a moment of contemplation, I took my other rod/clouser, and managed to hook the submerged rod, and lift it from the riverbed.

Around 3 PM, my elbow started hurting.  I overused it a few weeks ago fishing, and it clearly has not recovered.  The likelihood I'll be floating again anytime soon is slim.  The style of fishing requires the left arm to be very active with the paddle while I drift and cast my junk.  Wading has been imperilled, and now this.

I did not fish the last two miles.  Some really good spot water is in that stretch.  I live a block up the hill from here.

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