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More Hybrids and a Personal Best

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MidTennFisher

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2012
Messages
1,212
Location
Upstate South Carolina
I got out of work early surprisingly so there was only one thing to do, rush home, load up, and follow the Hybrid migration so I can do some grocery shopping. Last report was from the middle of the lake. This time they were much further North. Still not way up in the coves yet. I found all mine in 20 feet of water suspended 7-10 feet and so much shad that I kept snagging them with a single jighead and swimbait rig.

This one was almost 23 inches and I was taking with a guy out there who had a Boga so he let me weigh it. 8 pounds even! That's a personal best for me. I also kept a 21 incher that weighed 6 pounds. The fish are really fat, just how I like them. Water temp hovered around 60. I also caught an 18" Hybrid and I don't even remember how many white bass. I couldn't keep them off. It was a fantastic afternoon of fishing. Everything caught on a SUMKINA Bubble Belly swimbait.

Not sure how I want to cook these yet but I'm sure I'll come up with something good, I always do! Tight lines and God bless.
 

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Cut white parts of loins into 1 inch square strips, bring 7 Up to boil in a pot, drop them in until they float. Serve with drawn butter. Tennessee lobster baby! Get you some!
 
Big Pop":37u02ygd said:
Cut white parts of loins into 1 inch square strips, bring 7 Up to boil in a pot, drop them in until they float. Serve with drawn butter. Tennessee lobster baby! Get you some!
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Hmmm... Never heard of that. No batter I assume?

Nice fish man!! Do you always fish out of a kayak? How tippy are those things? Do you use it on lakes a lot? Are they ok when the water is choppy? Paddling in wind tough? Trolling motor? Haha sorry lots of questions. I'm getting two very nice fishing kayaks that were my little brothers and I've never fished off one, only floated a couple rivers and have always flipped at least once. Lol
 
Thanks everyone. The 3 to 4 weeks these fish run is the most fun part of my whole fishing season. I look forward to it every year. Scrappy fighters and great tasting fish if you clean them right. Get all that bloodline out!

Mudbone - I am always fishing from my kayak. You couldn't give me a bass boat for free, I love fishing from a kayak for so many reasons. Stability varies a lot from yak to yak. Mine is made to have the ability to stand in. I'm always standing when water warms up. It will not tip, but that doesn't mean I can't lose my balance and fall. It has not happened but that risk is why I stay seated in cooler water. No trolling motor, only paddling. Wind can make things tricky so when the wind is above 15 mph I don't go. Anything less is doable. If you have more questions feel free to ask. I've been kayak fishing for almost 3 years now and have landed everything from bluegill to redfish and rockfish. It's a blast!
 
MidTennFisher":263sy26y said:
Thanks everyone. The 3 to 4 weeks these fish run is the most fun part of my whole fishing season. I look forward to it every year. Scrappy fighters and great tasting fish if you clean them right. Get all that bloodline out!

Mudbone - I am always fishing from my kayak. You couldn't give me a bass boat for free, I love fishing from a kayak for so many reasons. Stability varies a lot from yak to yak. Mine is made to have the ability to stand in. I'm always standing when water warms up. It will not tip, but that doesn't mean I can't lose my balance and fall. It has not happened but that risk is why I stay seated in cooler water. No trolling motor, only paddling. Wind can make things tricky so when the wind is above 15 mph I don't go. Anything less is doable. If you have more questions feel free to ask. I've been kayak fishing for almost 3 years now and have landed everything from bluegill to redfish and rockfish. It's a blast!
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wow!! How come? Do you not like bass boats, or motor boats in general?

How do you transport your yak? My brother had a special rack for them on top of his vehicle. I was gonna pick them up today but one is 12ft long, and would have been hanging out of bed a long way, plus I need to build something in garage to hang them on. One is real nice! Like 1200$. . It has a special seat, a live well/cooler type thing, built in rod holders, a spot for a battery and lots of brackets to mount stuff. It is made to stand on also. I live right on OH lake and figured these things would be quicker and easier than hooking up to the boat and going to ramp. All my fishing gear stays in the boat and I can have boat in water in ten minutes or so. After fooling with them I'm now thinking a kayak trip is gonna take much more time and preparation, not to mention energy! Lol im having to sell my fishing boat so I'll have no choice but to get used to it.
Besides getting into more shallow water and exercise, what are the advantages of a canoe or kayak? So far it doesn't seem to be transportation, comfort, mobility, storage, .... Etc
I could definitely see it being a thrill to hook into a 30lb rockfish in a kayak though!
What about anchor and nav lights? Mine don't have them. Do you have to have them? I imagine that it would be dangerous without em. I'd be afraid to get run over at night.
Edit to add: low maintenance and no boat gas will definitely be a perk!!
 
Dbllunger":3i6l0hth said:
Very nice. You are doing great with them. What size jig head are you using if you don't mind me asking?
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Thanks. 1/4 ounce for now since they're still in deeper water. Soon they'll be in 5-10 feet of water in the coves and I'll use lighter jigheads. These fish feed up so you don't want to be under them. When they're shallower sometimes I won't even use a jighead. I fish the flukes or swimbaits weightless to keep them just under the surface of the water.
 
Mudbone":4bwm4vg5 said:
MidTennFisher":4bwm4vg5 said:
Thanks everyone. The 3 to 4 weeks these fish run is the most fun part of my whole fishing season. I look forward to it every year. Scrappy fighters and great tasting fish if you clean them right. Get all that bloodline out!

Mudbone - I am always fishing from my kayak. You couldn't give me a bass boat for free, I love fishing from a kayak for so many reasons. Stability varies a lot from yak to yak. Mine is made to have the ability to stand in. I'm always standing when water warms up. It will not tip, but that doesn't mean I can't lose my balance and fall. It has not happened but that risk is why I stay seated in cooler water. No trolling motor, only paddling. Wind can make things tricky so when the wind is above 15 mph I don't go. Anything less is doable. If you have more questions feel free to ask. I've been kayak fishing for almost 3 years now and have landed everything from bluegill to redfish and rockfish. It's a blast!
Click to expand...

wow!! How come? Do you not like bass boats, or motor boats in general?

How do you transport your yak? My brother had a special rack for them on top of his vehicle. I was gonna pick them up today but one is 12ft long, and would have been hanging out of bed a long way, plus I need to build something in garage to hang them on. One is real nice! Like 1200$. . It has a special seat, a live well/cooler type thing, built in rod holders, a spot for a battery and lots of brackets to mount stuff. It is made to stand on also. I live right on OH lake and figured these things would be quicker and easier than hooking up to the boat and going to ramp. All my fishing gear stays in the boat and I can have boat in water in ten minutes or so. After fooling with them I'm now thinking a kayak trip is gonna take much more time and preparation, not to mention energy! Lol im having to sell my fishing boat so I'll have no choice but to get used to it.
Besides getting into more shallow water and exercise, what are the advantages of a canoe or kayak? So far it doesn't seem to be transportation, comfort, mobility, storage, .... Etc
I could definitely see it being a thrill to hook into a 30lb rockfish in a kayak though!
What about anchor and nav lights? Mine don't have them. Do you have to have them? I imagine that it would be dangerous without em. I'd be afraid to get run over at night.
Edit to add: low maintenance and no boat gas will definitely be a perk!!
Click to expand...

I just don't care to deal with all the maintenance($$$), registration, gas, etc that comes with a boat. And honestly, I've realized that there is no need for a huge motor to go blasting all over the lake to find fish. I put quite a bit of fish in my kayak and don't put it past me to paddle well over a mile to a spot. It may take me a while but I get there and I catch fish.

Also, no pollution from a kayak. I'm no whackjob Al Gore type environmentalist or anything but hey, we're all fishermen and hunters here so we all want clean air for us and our pursued game to breathe and clean water to eat fish out of. That's a plus for me.

I've never caught a 30lb rockfish out of mine but I got one over the Summer that easily hit 20 and it was quite a thrill!!

As far as transportation, I think it's a lot easier to just put a kayak on top of my Jeep than it is to deal with a trailer (another expensive thing I don't need as a kayak angler).

Tackle storage - You'll realize you don't need 15 rods and 80 pounds of tackle to catch fish. I have a milkcrate behind the seat with rod holders and 2 rod holders behind my seat. I usually only bring 3 or 4 rods and in the crate is several bags of plastics and 3 or 4 Plano boxes of hardbaits and jigheads, hooks, etc. I keep it simple and to be honest, the bit of chaos that ensues when fighting and landing a fish out of a kayak is what makes it so much fun.

I do bring an anchor in some situations but I tend to just not fish on really windy days, I can find other things to do. I do like to night fish out of it, especially in the summer. 15 bucks worth of PVC pipe, an LED flashlight, zip ties, and a frosted light cover can make a pretty visible light and that's what I use.

Hope this helps. Get out there and catch your first decent sized bass or striped fish out of a kayak and you'll see what I mean. It's so much more fun!
 
If you only fish these 3 to 4 weeks in either march or april, you are missing the absolute best topwater bite of the whole year, it is in May. I have averaged well over 50 hybrids an outing, size will vary but generally consistent on any outing. The good ones are when they average over 10 lbs. and catch a few 12's, 13's, and even a 14 or 2.

There are some schools that are already wearing it out on top. all you really need is a cork and fluke.
 
Headhunter":1mx6lhj6 said:
If you only fish these 3 to 4 weeks in either march or april, you are missing the absolute best topwater bite of the whole year, it is in May. I have averaged well over 50 hybrids an outing, size will vary but generally consistent on any outing. The good ones are when they average over 10 lbs. and catch a few 12's, 13's, and even a 14 or 2.

There are some schools that are already wearing it out on top. all you really need is a cork and fluke.
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I've gotta agree with that. Our best day ever on top water was late last summer. Holler hunter and I got into em fierce for an hour or two. All big ones!
 
Headhunter":37vdx05y said:
If you only fish these 3 to 4 weeks in either march or april, you are missing the absolute best topwater bite of the whole year, it is in May. I have averaged well over 50 hybrids an outing, size will vary but generally consistent on any outing. The good ones are when they average over 10 lbs. and catch a few 12's, 13's, and even a 14 or 2.

There are some schools that are already wearing it out on top. all you really need is a cork and fluke.
Click to expand...

Yea you've mentioned that before and I believe you said it was a night time thing after they're done trying to spawn. I always wanted to take advantage of that but never got a good chance. This year I should be able to since there are a few 1 week durations of night shift in my future in April and May. Whenever I have to roll into night shifts in warmer weather I just fish sunset to sunrise. It's fun!
 
I think kayaks should have to have lights from sundown to sunup. Last year I saw several in the middle of lake with no lights of any kind and either never turned a light on or would wait til the last second. If that continues it is only a matter of time until someone gets hurt or worse.
 

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