Fall Feedbag- A 12th
Trophy Captured
Every
angler knows as blistering Summer days transition into frosty Fall mornings
fishermen nationwide can look forward to more invigorated fishing.
Water beings to cool rapidly, lakes begin “turning over” and all fish species
use that as a trigger to begin their heavy feeding patterns in an effort to
pack on extra weight for the cold Winter months that are only weeks away. We took advantage of the cooling weather
patterns over the past week for a few, very different fishing trips that all
had one thing in common… they produced great fish.
We started
last Saturday by fishing in the Jackson Kayak River Bassin’ Tournament stop
hosted by Appomattox River Company- Ashland, Va. The day was cool and windy,
the first real touch of Fall that either of us had on the water up until that point.
The fishing was on fire, we began culling fish early and often. Grant picked up
the majority of his fish by banging a white spinnerbait off of stumps, landing
him a second place finish with 45.50 inches. I found almost all of my fish in
current breaks with wood, all on a wacky rigged Watermelonseed Senko worm. That
combination earned me first place with 51.00 inches, Big Bass honors and it
also helped Grant and I place first in the team division.
The
following Thursday, Grant ventured up to the mountains in hopes of finding some
native Brook Trout that have been reinvigorated with the recent flows from
heavy rains. The Brookies are gearing up for the spawn, that paired with the
better flows had the fish feeding very well. Many of the Brookies captured
broke the double digit mark, respectable for a Native Trout almost everywhere.
Lastly, I
set out this past Saturday in hopes of crossing off another new trophy species
from my “hitlist”…. The White Perch. The day started out with me dishing out a
little good “mojo” by stopping to help a turtle cross the road. After
witnessing the influx of traffic on that particular stretch I certainly helped
the little fella from becoming reptile roadkill.
After paddling around for a while I
started passing over what I assumed were small schools of Perch. I baited up my
three way rig with a large shiner and dropped it straight down. Confirmation
was immediate with by far the largest White Perch I have ever hooked up with.
Maybe it was luck, maybe it was the good mojo, or maybe it was the universe
balancing itself out from all of the failed Perch attempts this Spring, but I was
rewarded with my 12th species citation on my first drop of the day!
The jumbo White Perch went 13.25” and 1lb 6oz. Virginia trophy requirements for
the White Perch are 13 inches and/or 1lb 4 oz, meaning I bested the standards
by both length and weight! I spent the rest of the day picking off average size
fish but never managed to raise one as big as my first fish of the day.
Sometimes that’s just how it goes, it is fishing after all… you never know what’s
going to happen!
That’s another species down, many
more to go. Damn this stuff is fun! Until next time…
Fish Hard or Stay Home,
Josh D.
