Fly like an eagle

[Yak Fish]

Between a couple of hurricanes (Florence and Michael), storm cleanup, rainy weekends, and horse show duty for my wife, I haven't had much opportunity to fish lately. I was beginning to think my kayak might have forgot what water tasted like. I fixed that this past Sunday. My favorite fishing hole will be closing in a few weeks, so I knew I better get on it while i had the chance. Sunday broke with a light cloud cover, but the breeze picked up early and blew the clouds away. I was sort of surprised bu the volume and size of the logs and debris in the water left over from both hurricanes. The water clarity wasn't as bad as I expected and it only took 10 minutes of pulling crankbaits to catch the first crappie.








The first fish was maybe 10 inches and it swallowed the #5 Flicker Shad up to the bill. The front hooks were set in the crappie's lower jaw and the back hook was looped around it's gills. It was bleeding from the gills, but the hook was just looped behind the gills and not through them. The fish swam off slowly, but it was upright and looked like it would survive. I paddled back upwind in hopes of running the crankbait deeper and maybe catching some bigger fish from the same school. It worked, but the second crappie was only an inch longer and not one I'd keep. About that time, I saw a fish flipping at the surface ahead of the boat and realized that it was likely the first fish I caught, struggling. I decided to go catch it in the net and take it home to eat. About that time, a bald eagle swooped down and snatched it off the water about 20 yards in front of me. It was spectacular! I hate I didn't have a video camera running, because the colors of the eagle were intense and even the water droplets falling off the fish and bird were illuminated in the bright morning sunlight. I did not see that one coming at all! As bad as I felt about injuring a fish, I felt great about contributing to that eagle's breakfast. What a sight! It made my day.

I kept on pulling, even though a couple of bass fishermen were hogging one of my favorite points, there was plenty of water to fish. By now, the breeze has stiffened and paddling into it was a chore. Drifting downwind was a breeze (pun intended). I found fish schooled under open water baitfish, though the bite wasn't as aggressive as the last time I was on this lake. The bass were also following the schools of shad around and I caught more of them than I expected. Total catch for the day was 10 crappie, with the biggest just under 13 inches and 5 bass, with the biggest between 3 & 4 pounds. I hope for a calm day to try again before the lake closes for the season. I have caught good numbers and size crappie out there this year, though the bigger ones have evaded me. I had a great day and enjoyed my front row seat viewing nature.




Jim