Stocker Trout Fishing News

Fished Lake Lavon this past weekend. Saturday at Brockdale; Sunday at Highland. This is the follow-up video showing the action Sunday. Windy and lots of waves to deal with, luckily the twelve foot jon boat and 2.5 Suzuki Outboard made for an easy run to the Water Treatment Plant for some fun with White Bass. Later, made it back to the Point, found some Shad in the brushy areas with the cast net, and then fished a modified Sabiki Rig… replace the Slab with a weight and the Crappie Jigs with hooks. Caught several keeper size Catfish – largest went 19 inches, and White Bass as well. Also, released several undersized Catfish and White Bass as well as Yellow Bass. Overall, it was a fun trip. Did see the drainage area is flooded by the Water Treatment Plant… but most important learned the Lazy Man Fishing Method! PS: The 2.5 Suzuki Outboard works well as a pillow! Slab and Jig Fishing

Cooking Yellow Bass #cooking #kayakfishing Here is a brief video on how we cooked the Yellow Bass we caught kayak fishing the other day. Easy method when dealing with small fish… Step 1. Scale the fish Step 2. Butterfly the fish by splitting from the backbone Step 3. Clean and rinse the fish, removing guts and gills Step 4. Soak in a Vinegar, Water, Garlic, Pepper, and Salt brine overnight Step 5. Deep fry for about 5 minutes on high heat That’s all! PS: Worried about the bones, no worries… other than the large spine, little bones can be eaten as is!

Normally we troll Slab and Jig Rigs when kayak fishing. Works well for fish holding in the upper water column. But, when fish are holding deep, near bottom… what to do, what to do. We try the Back Paddling Technique! This round in keeping with our motto, “Learn to Fish by our Trial and Errors”…. Watch how we use a technique that we discovered by accident. And, do stay till end for the Bonus! Back Paddling allows the bounce and twitch of the slab and jig rig we are using It’s fished near bottom where the fish are holding… will cast and try jigging once it hits bottom. Then… back paddle, keeping sight of the rod. When done right… rod twitches. When snagged or bit… rod bends hard. If snagged, paddle toward it and will come loose. If bit, reel the fish in! Do see the full length video of Sunday’s Trip! Lot’s of “learn to fish by our trials and errors” action to watch. Plus, watch how we change our fishing tactics as conditions change!

First kayak fishing trip this year. Fished the local lake (Lake Lavon) on a windy day. Trolled slab and jig rigs and managed to catch a White Bass and a Yellow Bass. Kept them for a catch and cook video to show how to cook them – split them butterfly style from the back, leave the skin and scales, and marinade for a couple of hours, then pan fry till crispy. Also, did a quick demo of why we like the Zebco Rod/Reel combo we use as a backup rod when kayak fishing… it floats! Zebco Rod and Reel – Slingshot mentioned in the video. “Cool colors. Hot spinning performance. All at a great price. These custom-matched Combos are great for all ages with long-casting Slingshot spinning reels and durable 2-piece Z-Glass rods.” See latest price at Walmart.

Had lots of fun fishing Saturday putting in the kayak at Avalon Park (Lake Lavon). Decided to give it another go but this time putting in at Clear Lake Park (Lake Lavon). Brought two kayaks and a fishing buddy. I started out focusing on Crappie, and began locating submerged trees and brush with the fish finder. Found a couple of trees, and had several strikes but could not connect. Our fishing buddy caught several nice White Bass while trolling a point. Opting to work the point, began casting and drifting the point instead of trolling. In short order, had caught eleven while I continued to strike out on Crappie. Not wanting to miss out on the action, finally changed from Crappie to White Bass and began connecting as well. We used Slab and Jig Rigs cast and then bounced/jigged on the bottom. Lost count of how many were caught and released after twenty-one. Bite was steady with a good mix of Keepers. Kept one White Bass that went 11″ in length. Remainder we kept were much bigger! Do...

Put in at Brockdale Park Saturday afternoon and went kayak fishing. Was a late start but almost immediately after launching noticed lots of fish activity on the surface. Used Sabiki Rigged Tube Fishing Flies and a Slab initially; had no takers, so removed the Slab and switched to Tube Fishing Flies and Crappie Jigs. Soon after, hooked up with a fish! As it was a hot day, decided to take a water break. While doing so, set the rod down and let the lures bob up and down in the water as we drifted. Have done this often in the past. And, on occasion will get a fish to bite. Turned out, one did this time. So, just in case, tried it again and got another strike. Did this several more times with similar results – basically we were vertically jigging! Switched back to trolling and caught more undersized fish. Also, did some sight casting to boils that were happening frequently as well as more vertical jigging. Lost count of the number of fish caught and released. Did have one breakoff that felt...

Found the break in the week that we were looking for and made a run to Lake Lavon’s Brockdale Park. Gate remains closed but walk-in access is still available. Was able to use the kayak cart and make an easier portage from the parking area to the boat ramp. While on the way, noticed a Park Ranger was examining the boat ramp and taking notes. Talked briefly with the Park Ranger; he noted the boat ramp is looking good but the pavement area may need fixing. As for when the boat ramp will be opened, still remains uncertain. Good thing we made the kayak cart! After making a few tweaks here and there in how best to secure it to the kayak, the cart worked as designed! In short order, was able to put in at the boat ramp, paddle out a few yards, and then casted a line and started trolling. Caught a number of White Bass and Largemouth Bass (all small) and a few Yellow Bass! Most went for a Chartreuse/White Crappie Jig; several went for a Red/White Tube Fishing Fly! Will need to make another trip ...