Kayak Fishermen?

[Kramer]

Here are a couple...

Monster

Mystery Spot

 

[gil1]

Well, of course my first question is, "Where is that pretty place you're fishing?"

But I assume that anything labeled "Mystery Spot" isn't for spreading around on an internet forum. Frankly, I don't blame ya.

You are obviously a veteran fisherman. Kayak, fly gear, and fartsniffer fish labeled "Monster" held far away from the camera. Perfect.

 

[go_okfishin]

Nice photo. I've got that same kayak and recognize that mystery spot. I got into the river Sunday PM for an hour, got skunked. It needs to come down just a little more.

 

[Kramer]

Well, of course my first question is, "Where is that pretty place you're fishing?"
But I assume that anything labeled "Mystery Spot" isn't for spreading around on an internet forum. Frankly, I don't blame ya.
You are obviously a veteran fisherman. Kayak, fly gear, and fartsniffer fish labeled "Monster" held far away from the camera. Perfect.

Funny Gil,
It's no secret, and not much for serious fishing.
Yeah, there're fish around but usually the smaller ones. You can always bag bluegill if you're interested in that (quite fun on a fly rod). But it IS a beautiful float.
That's the Harpeth river at The Narrows (Narrows of the Harpeth SP). We launched at the intake side of that tunnel, then floated around to the output of that tunnel. Took about 6 hours but we fished pretty hard.
Quite right. Still up a bit too high.
That river looks insane. Every spot look like it's holding a record. But the fact is that it fluctuates too much to produce serious fish. Floods often. They're in there, but there are better places to catch them.
The Duck is next for me. I want some smallmouth!

 

[gil1]

I actually realized where it was after the fact, but it has been many years since I've visited that place. I keep hearing about phenomenal catches on the Harpeth, but these folks can't be trusted! I was flyfishing right under the Hwy. 100 bridge a couple years ago, and some dude in a canoe tells me he caught a 7 1/2 pound smallie the day before right where I was standing under the bridge. Yeah, right!!!!

Anyway, I have more luck on the Harpeth than the Duck, but I don't know what I'm doing on the Duck. It seems to be muddy every time I go, so it's difficult to read the water if you can't tell whether it's 1 foot or 10 feet deep. I caught a bunch of sauger the last time I went, and it was purely by accident. I threw them all back because I had no idea what the length minimum was.

 

[jakeway]

Here's a video of that trip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvOgAjBDu0U

 

[gil1]

Here's a video of that trip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvOgAjBDu0U

Very nice! Is the video camera mounted on a hat or something? I'm wondering how you paddle, fish, and video unless you have it mounted somewhere.

That smallie at .39 seconds is a beauty.

 

[basset]

I live on the Harpeth about a half-mile downstream of the Hwy 100 bridge, have taken some nice smallmouth but 7 1/2 lb. sounds a little optimistic.

also... you don't want to get too close to the little island right above the bridge during goose nesting season

here's another Harpeth video, done for the Harpeth River Watershed Assn. last fall:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37_VDcoks-c

and a link to the US Geological Survey river gauge at the Hwy 100 bridge, shows both height and flow:

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/tn/nwis/uv?03433500

 

[jakeway]

That video camera is mounted in my right hand...not a waterproof camera, either. I just had a wrist strap to keep it from falling in the water. I've got some rather strange footage of when I had to let go of the camera to grab the paddle and the camera kept filming while dangling. You can do some paddling one-handed, but it isn't easy. There's a gizmo you can buy that clamps on the paddle shaft, which provides a pivot point so you can paddle on both sides of the kayak with only one hand on the paddle, and keeping the rod in your other hand at all times. It looks OK for fishing, but I've resisted buying it becasue it would be a pain when just paddling spot-to-spot.

I'm gonna get a waterproof one like yours and rig a mounting bracket sometime.

 

[jakeway]

Oh, that quick flash of smallmouth was a kind of stab at Jody, the guy in the blue kayak. He's the one at the 3:16 mark of the video said "I want to catch something larger than my hand." The smallie in the video is one he caught up on Dale Hollow a couple years ago...I believe it was in the 6 to 7 pound class. I know it was in the length slot that had to be released.

I made it a very short appearance on the video becasue it wasn't caught on that trip. Just a gentle reminder.