shovelmania

With the long weekend promising to be beautiful and for once the river not completely blown out I did the sensible thing and took Monday off too. The first day was my granddaughters birthday. I consider it papaws job to get her muddy as much as possible and today succeeded in grand style. We rented a big rubber raft from Morgans and loaded in the whole family and took her on her first float trip, a big adventure for an 8 year old.

Then the next day I took the kayak for a camping/float trip down river. Highlights were a fawn feeding at dawn on the opposite bank, a green heron on a limb overhead, a night completely filled with lightning bugs, spotlights of morning sun shining thru the trees and some exceptional fishing. Especially the shovelhead fishing, I caught one on live bait, one on a nightcrawler and three on lures, one of which squeeked in right at the fish ohio qualifying length. All of them were nice fish.
I didn't catch any big channels but they made up for quality with quantity. The first evening, wanting a fish dinner, I grabbed the container of worms and headed for the channelcat Hilton. The current divides going over a riffle then comes back together. In between these divided currents is a spot maybe ten feet across where the current stops. Here you can see a blanket of foam just setting still as current whizzes by all around it. I tied on a hook and nothing else. I'd hook on a nightcrawler and lob it into the spot. It would slowly revolve then I'd feel a tap tap as a channel munches down. But they were mostly too small though I must have caught 15 of them before finally catching two big enough to eat. I also caught a big carp that took a three inch grub halfway down his throat. I've had that happen a few times over the years even catching one years ago on a crappie minnow. I guess bigger carp will supplement the greens and bugs with some sushi once in a while. Kinda like those chimps that eat fruit all year then one will grab a baby antelope I guess.
The smallmouth fish was slower than the catfishing though when I did manage to catch one it would be good sized. I think I caught some on a jerkbait, one on a crankbait, a few on a spinnerbait and some on both a grub and a curly shad swimbait. So in other words I couldn't find a pattern.

The only downer to the whole trip happened the last evening. I'd made camp and was quite a ways down river but could still see camp. I saw a man and a woman walk down and begin casting on the rock bar I'd made camp on. But it was a man and a woman, I mean who causes trouble with their girlfriend/wife along? So I kept fishing, when I returned I found camp untouched except for my back-up rod. I'd leaned it against a willow five feet from the kayak and tarp. Well it was gone. I couldn't hardly believe it, I wonder if it was her or him that stole it. Funny thing was they were the only two other people I saw fishing the whole trip. Oh well live and learn.