Yesterday I took my son Jacob to my favorite smallmouth stream in Arkansas, Crooked Creek. There are several creeks names Crooked Creek in Arkansas but there is only one Crooked Creek for great smallmouth action. Like most places around the southeast right now, Arkansas has been been having a wet summer. Normally the creek fishes best in May but it was too high to float and fish every time we would plan to go. Well unfortunately it was about a foot higher than I would have liked to really get into the smallmouth. Also I made a critical mistake while packing the night before. I accidentally left out my tackle compartment that had all of my non-sunfish Jigheads. So no Jigheads larger than 1/32 oz! I brought my old standard creek rod, BPS 7’ light action fish slaying rod and the MajorCraft Triple Cross. I started off using the BPS rod but after using the JDM gear the last month, it felt clunky and heavy. So I switched the the TripleCross and a bison Trout Magnet on a 1.0g Daiwa Giga....... Jighead and it was on. I mainly caught small Smallmouth, Green Sunfish, and a few Longear. Really is was a pretty light catching day for Crooked Creek. Jacob caught a few small sunfish as well but no Smallmouth. We were enjoying the day so much that I forgot to take any pictures, other than this one. Jacob is 9 now and has been making quite a bit of noise about getting a his own kayak or canoe. So we spent most of the day reviewing how to read a river and what strokes are appropriate in what situation. Little does Jacob know that Daddy already picked him (and me of course) up a barely used Old Town Discovery 119 for Christmas.
The more I use these JDM rods, the more difficult it is for me to use something else. Just not the same. The Major Craft worked really well for a creek fishing rod. Plenty of sensitivity and had enough backbone for a strong 1 pound stream smallmouth. I’m sure that it would handle a bigger one. The Varivas Ester line worked great as well. I did break off a couple of time when I got hung up but no big deal. My real concern is not damaging a rod like this while floating. I would rather not break one of these rods if I can help it. I have been notorious rough on fishing gear while floating (loose while tumping, break while morning stuff around in canoe, etc...). Does anyone have any good ideas for protecting rods up to 7.5 feet long in a canoe, while still allowing quick access to fish good areas that come up. I really babied the rod and while doing so, missed some good fishing spots. I was thinking about something like a length of PVC pipe strapped across the top of the gunnels in the canoe but I wasn’t sure if that would damage the rods getting them in a and out. Any better ideas? Thanks.
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