New Water

For me, a big part of the thrill of river fishing is researching, finding, and exploring new water. After scrubbing satellite images and talking with friends about a river location for months, or even years, anticipation builds. Finally seeing the river, it's actual features and topography, is very exciting. With hundreds of rivers in my state, I could do this for the rest of my life and likely never see them all.

And as far as the fishing goes, it's always a surprise; sometimes good, sometimes not. Regardless of how many fish are caught, I'm always soothed by the gurgles of riffles, and the shreeks and chitter of wildlife.

The particular place I explored on Saturday is on a river I've fished many times, just not this particular section. I've been eyeballing it on the internet for years. Sitting in the recliner at night, pouring over satellite and roadside images from Google and Bing, studying the potential entrance points, looking for worn trails that lead to my next adventure.
　
My son woke us up around 3 am, startled by a nightmare. My wife checked on him and returned shortly thereafter. I was lying awake, thinking about the lures I'd packed in my car and whether I was taking the right rods and reels. Around 4 am, I rolled out of bed, downed a donut with milk and hit the road.
　
I arrived at the river around 5:45 am, just after first light, and could hear the rushing water of riffles beneath the bridge as I unloaded the canoe and gear. I launched into a huge rock garden, and started making my way downstream.

It took me almost 8 hours to cover 2.5 miles (5 roundtrip). This section had it all - very steep rock gardens, riffles, rock shoals, sand/pebble shoals, deep holes, wood laydowns, rock cliffs, sand bars. There were a few very nice pools where the depth approached 8-10 ft with adjacent wood. There were islands with large sandbars, perfect for camping.








　


The bass cooperated and about 25 were landed. I also landed about 20 sunfish (bluegill, green sunfish, and redbreast). My biggest bass was just over 16" and my best 3 totaled 46" in length. Nothing stellar, but overall a fun day. Most bass were caught on a weightless fluke or weightless lizard, both rigged with an Owner 5/0 twistlock hook. I work those weightless plastics fairly quick, twitching them on the surface. Almost all strikes are seen, which is exciting itself. I usually see the fish or see motion adjacent to the lure when they see it and make a move. This type of fishing is action packed and fairly fasted pace, which is the kind I like!
　



I've got a long list of new water (well, at least new to me) that I intend to fish. This trip checked one off. Another should come next weekend and I can't wait.