In the middle of a 15 – 20 degree cold front, with a north wind blowing at 10 miles per hour, the weather was what many would consider far from ideal for fishing. But as eased into my kayak , I really didn’t care that it was only 43 degrees. Working six days a week doesn’t leave me much time for fishing these days so I have to take advantage of the opportunity when it arises, and it was just one of those opportunities.
My expectations for catching fish were pretty low but I figured I might know just enough about what goes on in the world of bluegills to put a few in my bucket. With my hands already chilly from the crisp Autumn air, I paddled my way to a spot which has produced nice bluegills throughout Fall over the past several years. A 1/64 ounce jig and a soft plastic minnow were my bait of choice, hoping to entice a bite from some of the nice sized panfish that are usually abundant in that area this time of year. I paddled to the north end of the bay I planned to fish and dropped a lure into the water over each side of my kayak, then allowed the wind to push me slowly along.
In the first ten minutes or so it went much as I had figured. I had a few bites but they seemed to be from small fish, or larger fish just nibbling at the end of my baits. Just as I had noticed that the water was stained quite brown from recent rains, the wind paused momentarily and my bait was hit hard. Just like that I had a fish on and reeled in a real nice 8 inch bluegill. I had no sooner put that fish in my bucket when the end of my other pole started to dance up and down. With a quick lift of my rod I had my second fish on and things were starting to look promising.
As the morning progressed I came to the conclusion that with the water being unusually dirty, the fish needed the bait to be moving much slower than my last couple outings, because it seemed that almost every time the wind calmed I would get a fish. So with that being the case I began to use my paddle to keep my kayak as motionless as possible against the wind, while presenting my lures to key areas around the bays that I was fishing. I started catching good bluegills and almost all of them were in the seven and a half to nine inch range, which are generally considered keepers in this area. Then things got even better.
With the afternoon came mostly clear skies and almost no wind. I was able to sit directly over a 15 foot hole and reel in bucket worthy bluegills one after another.
When I first took a seat in my kayak that cool fall morning, I thought to myself, what kind of fool would get in his kayak and go bluegill fishing in the middle of a 15 degree cold front, with a 10 mile per hour north wind, and water stained brown from rain.
A fool who’s taking home a bucket full of bluegills, I guess.
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