There are few things that make me happier than transporting a 5 gallon bucket of herring, on my kayak, to my numbers on the cold river with minimal causalities.
On second thought, I guess having a savage river hound blow up on a hapless herring when it hits the water may top even that!!
It has been hot outside but the river hound bite surpasses the thermometer. I have gone thru 2 dozen herring in less than half an hour at some of my usual haunts. The majestics (aka blue herons) have learned them as well and have even tried to snag my herring like the relentless owls!!
While herring are my preference, artificial swimbaits have produced some decent stripers but only at a fraction of the amount that decimate live bait. The fish have limited forage but are growing wiser with so many fakes thrown at them.
I’ve had the pleasure of taking several friends out on the kayaks and experience the mayhem with me. More importantly, I finally got my dad out there with me. While he didn’t catch hawg johnson, he was content with catching 40 fish between 16 and 24 inches.
He is the one responsible for giving me the fishing fever so while I can never take him on enough trips to pay him back, I’ve realized a few things. I am very lucky to have the privilege of being able to use all the knowledge he imparted on me as well as all the other mentors I’ve met along the way. He expects me to pass it on as he did for me and there is much more to be learned by paying it forward than personal ambition alone.
I just ordered a new bait well that laughs at my 5 gallon bucket set up I currently use. It gets here in about 3 days and I’m itching to test it out. Will follow up with some pics and a review on it. Until then, catch ya later.
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