Having a beautiful dunny day, pleasant temps and little wind I had to expand my horizons today.
Fished a small lake I had never been to.
A couple of kayakers leaving as I arrived and then it was just me and one other kayaker on the water.
It was so good to be on a lake where there is lots of structure to see above the water.
Lots of places where there was barely a ripple on the water. I did not even have to mess with an anchor.
Broke out the fly rod fishing a clouser along the reeds and managed one small black bass and a perch.
Seeing the sunset on a glassy surface was a great treat to end the outing.
As I packed up the temp dropped pretty quick as it got dark. Giving me a prelude to what it will be like soon.
Hopefully there are a few more days like this before it gets really cold out.
I just really love being on the water on days like this.

I'm with you, the days like these are coming to a close. Get on the water as much as you can.

Here in Wis, the nights are already in the low 30s, I've been out 8 times in October so far and I have many of the lakes to myself. I need a couple more days on the water before I give it up for the year or the water gets hard.

Go out and Fish!

Man Clay in the low 30s!? I thought it was getting cold down here in Texas being in the 50s at night.

Nothing like a glassy day on the yak for sure!

The 50s are our highs right now, hard water is right around the corner. Still need to paddle this week

You should come to Texas. 83 for the high today with little wind and the water is not even cold yet.
Did not even get cold tonight after the sun went down.
Another day of fly fishing in near perfect weather conditions on a small lake with almost no one on it.
Only thing that could have made it any better would have been landing a few fish.
Still a great day.

Another day with minimal wind and although not as warm as last week, much better than what is forecast for the week ahead.
Back to fly fishing the reeds on a small lake again.
Got 3 lite bites on a crawdad pattern today, did not hook any.
Had a float out a ways behind the kayak with 1 hook using fresh perch and the other using shrimp.
Nothing interested in either.

A nice warm day with a little bit of wind and I could not resist going fly fishing out of my kayak on a small lake.
Caught one LMB on a black mudder minnow fishing reeds.
Best part was being out on the water on such a beautiful day.

If I did not have enough to be thankful for, I got to go fly fishing from my kayak on a small lake all day today.
Yet another beautiful day and with my new waders/boots did not even have wet or cold feet.
Only saw 1 boat which left early afternoon on the lake and one kayak leaving when I arrived.
Only had to use the anchor a few times.
Tried for bass along the reed lines using different colored/sizes of clousers and wooly buggers.
Had a couple of spinning rods I used for various soft plastics and senko in pockets back in the reeds.
No bites but just enjoying the chance to get out and be on the water with the lake all to myself.
Lots of ducks and I was blessed to see what I am guessing might have been a large river otter swimming not far from me while throwing a top water along the reeds and over vegetation at dusk.
Hope you all can take advantage of some of the good weather coming through right after Thanksgiving.

Tomorrow is suppose to be a nice day locally. We are suppose to hit 47F for a high and I just want to get out another time this year. Even if I don't catch anything at all, another day paddling on a lake with NO ONE else in sight will be a blessing for the soul - so to say.

This past weekend was opening day of deer hunting locally and while on the stand chasing deer, my mind would wander to thoughts of the kayak and paddling. Being in the woods with snow on the ground is a refreshing experience and one that "recharges my batteries" for the normal everyday grind of life. No deer in deer camp, but a wonderful event never the less.

Glad that someone else is still out there keeping the faith this time of year. There are still fish to be had, go get some.

Saturday was a beautiful day with temps getting up into the low 70's. I however did not make it out on the water until today.
I have been looking at a new fish finder and planning on taking advantage of the Black Friday Sales.
I purchased a Lowrance Hook2 5 tripleshot unit and while waiting for the nocqua battery and yak attack hook 2 holder and switchblade transducer arm saw that bass pro had the Elite 7 TI totalscan with navionics + on sale.
I went to look at it on Friday and decided against it as it had side scan and sonar but not down scan. Really wanted the 7 inch display and navionics but wanted all 3 modes even more.
Friday night studied up on it and discovered it did have down scan and how to enable it.
Went to Bass Pro Saturday morning early to check it out and got an awesome sales assistant, George.
Answered every question I could think of and gave me about a 2 1/2 hour tutorial on the unit, even going through and configuring all the settings for me.
When I got home, all my other pieces had arrived and I spent the rest of the day getting everything ready, then using the simulation mode to get familiar with the unit.
I had to order a new yak attack holder for this display but figured I could take it for a test paddle today setting it on my fishing bag while I started getting used to it.
Today was cooler than yesterday but still a nice day and when I got to the lake the wind had gone down. No need for anchor and I could fly fish when saw a promising area.
Paddled around the small lake recording the sonar, side and down scan so I can try to make sense of what I was seeing.
Amazing the difference between this and what I had which was basically a castable depth finder that would show fish icons. It went out during my first trip to this small lake so I had not idea about anything under the water.
I could see all the vegetation, humps, logs, everything, just could not recognize any fish. I also started realizing the depths for various parts of the lake.
Also very glad went with the larger unit as spliting the 5 inch screen up into multiple panes would have been too difficult for my eyes to make out anything.
Finished off the evening with lake all to my self and managed to catch 2 crappie over 14 inches while slowly trolling an area I though looked good.
These are the biggest crappie I caught all year.
Amazing how fast the temp drops once the sun goes down. Still a lot warmer than Wisconsin, but I am learning how much clothing I need with my waders as the temperature gets cooler while making sure I do not have too much on.
Have some base layers ordered which should round out what clothing I need to continue fishing hopefully through most of the winter.

Went out on my small lake again today. Wind started out at 10 then dropped to still before dusk. Temp went from ~50 when I got there down to about 42 about 6:30.
Mainly worked on capturing sonar logs of part of the lake so I can get a complete map of the lake on genesis maps and also replay the sonar logs to look for good fishing locations.
Did do a little bit of fishing in an area where I thought there were several good locations clumped together.
Caught one nice crappie on minnows.
Tried a near dear on the fly rod in the area but nothing.
A little after sunset while slowly drifting back to the ramp got a good sighting of the large river otter again.
I have been out once at night and 2x in weather like today not getting too cold or too hot. Believe I have the clothing dialed in for this temp range.
Wore flip mitts with the mits open today and no latex gloves underneath. Wanted to use a handwarmer I would put in a ziplock bag if/when fingers get cold. Hands got a little cold and my hand warmers did not work, but closing the flip mit helped a lot.
Great to be able to get out in my kayak and a blessing to have the lake all to myself with the ducks and other birds.
Hopefully we get multiple days not much colder than today with reasonable winds on the weekends this winter so I can continue these outings.

Went to a small lake after church today expecting sunny day, warm andnot much wind.
Instead overcast and more wind than expected.
I got my anchor stuck yesterday and finally had to cut it off.
Had a 3lb dive weight for my kayak anchor today which was not enough to hold me still.
Think I have most of the lake mapped now and a good feel for what is where.
Now have to make sense of my sonar so I can distinguish fish from all the vegetation in the lake.
Tried a square bill crank bait while paddling around capturing sonar logs no hits.
Did some crappie fishing got 2 bites and caught one 14' crappie on minnows just before dusk.
Just me and one other boat on the lake today.
Lots of ducks and birds out today.
Came in off the water about 1/2 hour after dark.
Pretty cool to hear the coyotes howling while I am getting everything put away and the kayak tied on top of the suburban.
Taking advantage of all the warmer days that are not too windy or raining.
Just love being out in my kayak.

How long did you own that anchor? How long did you try to get it unstuck? Did you pull hard enough to scare yourself? Just busting your chops. Been there done that... many times. I never grow attached to my anchors and like the old guy used to tell me... Never use an anchor from a kayak.

I probably got that anchor in August and have used it at least 3 times a week since.
I tried pulling as hard as I could from several directions but unless pulling straight up, the kayak is moving so not getting much force. Also tried paddling with line starting out loose till line tightened.
Finally went on shore, sat down and pulled with arms and legs.
I have the anchor on quick release and the wind on day I lost it was not that strong so not safety issue.
Threw line on shore and went off fishing for a while.
Came back about dusk, gave it a couple tries and finally just cut the line.
Figured I had a good run with that anchor, was just annoyed that did not have it when needed the next day when the wind was stronger than expected but nowhere near too strong to be on the lake.
Saw some fish on the finder and threw out a marker a little after went over them.
Then wanted to come from down wind side of marker, anchor and gradually let line out till could relocate the fish and try to catch a few.
The fish are still there, I will just have to get them next time.

Well your first anchor lasted a lot longer than mine did.