Thursday, July 16, 2015

Crazy Stuff! Kayak Storm Chasing, Big Smallmouth, and White Perch Blitz

What a day! Yesterday was just crazy. About as soon as I got the kayak on the lake the weather turned. A small storm cell popped up and began throwing electricity at the ground. I quickly made for shelter, as it isn't wise to be holding a graphite stick in a thunderstorm. But I got some great shots first!




Eventually the weather improved and I got back on the water, immediately I was into smallmouth and perch. It would take a little while before they got any size to them.



Eventually I began dock hopping, and that produced some good fish, especially the first! It was a gorgeous BIG smallmouth that jumped and scared the crap out of me when he did! It took the Bead Head Shrimp Muddler just under the surface, and I saw the fly get eaten. But the discolored water disguised the size. It was on the jump that this fish's impressive dimensions became obvious. This has been a good year for smallmouth!


The dock hopping continued, and I caught another good smallmouth. This




Then things got very interesting, not that they weren't already.... I spotted a surface disturbance over a big sand bar that runs parallel to the shoreline near a feeder stream. On closer examination, it was schools of white perch behaving much like their bigger family members, striped bass. They were busting on schools of bait, thrashing and chopping and making  mess. They even missed some bits, and pieces of fish and stunned minnows floated on the surface. I tied on a white woolly bugger and began to catch hundreds of perch. Literally every cast got a hit. The line got tangles around the rod tip and all I could do was flip the fly out and drag back the fish. What a crazy day. Here's a video of the blitz. 
                                  
                                      

7 comments:

  1. The thunderstorms yesterday were wild! I got caught driving in a torrential downpour and the road quickly turned into a river. I bet you're glad you braved the storms after landing those two! They must've put up quite a fight! The larger one has some pretty distinct markings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The first big one was a fighter. The second one may have been, but the first move he made was to jump into the kayak.

      Delete
  2. Yep, a fisherman doesn't need a thunderstorm while carrying a lightning rod. That was a very large smallmouth and I'm sure the catch was exciting. The feeding frenzy was a good chance for you to hook up as you did. Nice trip, thanks.
    Tie, fish, write and photo on...

    ReplyDelete
  3. If fish had conversations regarding fishermen, I'd bet it would go something like this..."Have you challenged that tall one with the long stick he waves back and forth in the air? That really looked like a bug he was waving around, but I always end up with a mouth full of feathers and fuzz...no food. At least non of us have disappeared after a run at him."
    Great pictures, but I'm glad you're careful about being on the water when a storm comes along.

    ReplyDelete