Kayak Trip Report, Paint Rock River (Hwy 72)

I decided to do something a little different today. I fished the Paint Rock River putting in off Hwy 72. I ended up keeping 11 Crappie and a handful each of Goggle Eye and large Bluegill. Probably the biggest surprise was catching a couple dozen Smallmouth. Nothing larger than a couple pounds but a handful on an ultralight and 4-pound test line. I tried some single pole and jig and bobber, but with the clear water everything came off a 1/32oz spinner with a 1" slider body.

The water was 52 degrees and clear with visibility of about four feet.

It was a beautiful day and a fun trip. No photos of the fish, phone was dead when I got home.

Thanks for the report

Certainly a pretty stretch of water through there

Nice outing, thanks for the report!!

Yeah that is a little outside of the box. Great report.

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I knew I'd catch a few fish but didn't expect the Smallmouth or the Crappie in shallow, rocky water. Always fun to change up what you're doing. Hopefully the rain tomorrow doesn't muddy up the rivers. I may have to work some more of the Paint Rock this weekend.

The creek has tendency to swell up for sure. I always thought there would be nothing but red eye bass there. But them fish fight like a shell cracker for sure.

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Just up stream of Hwy 72 on Paint Rock a spring feeds into the river so a steady supply of cold water helps even in low water.

Just up from there my BIL owned a federal bought plot that joined the Paint Rock. Wasn't back into fishing then. Beautiful area with some nasty big deer and multiplying rattlesnakes.

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Ive been fishing the stretch from paintrock down to the put in you used the last 2 years and catching lots of bass but havent tried it for crappie....habitat looks good for them for a mile above 72...way to go catching and reporting

I have been wanting to try that stretch of water for a long time now. Just not enough time or it seems.