New boat...

...well it's kind of a boat.  My new 2013 Native watercraft Slayer 14.5 arrived early last week.  I had to wait until Friday to pick it up in Niagara Falls, New York since they don't ship to Canada.  The wonderful folks at Austin Canoe and Kayak were more than helpful.  I must have emailed them a dozen times with a multitude of questions before I finally placed an order.  Their responses were always quick and to the point.  They really made me comfortable purchasing from them, even though they are in Texas and I wouldn't have an easy time if anything went wrong.  I wouldn't hesitate to recommend ACK to anyone looking for a kayak or kayak gear and accessories.

 The Slayer doesn't come with any rod holders installed so I ordered two flush mount holders.  A few hours after I had completed the order online I received a call from one of the service techs asking if I would like them installed.  First question out of my mouth was what would it cost.  I can say I was very surprised when he replied "no charge".  I was really taken back, could this get any better?

Well the kayak shipped out on February 28th on the back of a semi.  I got notification on March 5th that if had been delivered to my US holding address.  Texas to Niagara Falls, NY in just five days.  Faster than many of the packages I've had shipped with UPS or FedEx.  Having to wait until Friday was rough.  Having to wait two more months until I can put it in the water will be hell.

I had the weekend to myself with my wife and daughters at a wedding up in Northern Ontario.  So I got to rigging it up for fishing.  I mounted my Humminbird 597CI HD DI Combo, installed one of the two anchor trolleys and one of my two camera mounts.  Enough talk time for the pics.

And there she is, taunting me.  Hopefully spring comes early again and I can be on the water by late April, early May.

Hurry up spring!!! @&$#!

March is here and it is still damn cold out.  Spring needs to hurry up and come so I can get back out fishing.  I ordered a new kayak this winter.  It should be delivered this coming week.  I wanted some thing I could stand and fish from.  It took me a while to decide but I ended up picking the new Native Watercraft Slayer 14.5  The Native boats have the most comfortable seat of any kayak I have paddled.  Stay tuned as I rig it up for fishing here in Niagara and the flats down in Florida.  Can't wait!

Bass, bass and more bass

My friend Mark and I got out for a while yesterday on the lower Niagara River.  We launched out of Queenston at around 8:30am in search of some rainbow trout and king salmon.  We never did get into any but we limited out on bass and had a few perch as a kicker.  All in all we boated around 20 bass all between three and five pounds.  Mark lost a pig at the side of the boat that would have tipped the scales over six pounds.

The weather turned in the afternoon and a front moved in shutting the fish down.  Another great day on the water.

Busy times

So since I've been home from vacation I've had almost no time to do anything, let alone fish.  Well the kids are back to school now, the days are getting shorter and the fishing is starting to heat up.  I was out last evening in Chippawa Creek chucking some terrestrials around.  The bass are aggressive and hungry as they prepare for the impending winter.  Just before dusk seems to be the key time and making sure your fly has a good "PLOP" when it hits the water is the key.  The bass seem to be hitting anything that makes a noise.  Grasshopper and beetle imitations have been working best the past few nights.

Here are a few of my favorite ones.

Back home

Back from my trip to Florida.  I had a great time, caught a few fish and had a number of firsts.  I caught my first saltwater fish on a fly, a sheephead.  I caught my first shark, a small bonnethead.  I also caught several speckled sea trout, random bait fish and annoying catfish.

Rain, rain go away...

...I want to go fishing!  The rain seems to just keep coming here in Florida.  The past two days have been really wet.  Not that I am opposed to fishing in the rain, but I would prefer to stay dry.  Hopefully things will clear up today so I can get out for a couple hours.  Sigh.

Saltwater first

I got out for an hour today before dinner today slinging a small tan pass crab under the docks and boats in the canal behind where I am staying.  There were four fat sheephead eating barnacles off the bottom of one of the boats.  I fired my crab as close as I could without spooking these already skittish fish.  After a few failed casts I finally landed one in a decent spot.

I thought I had snagged the bottom at first then it started to run.  The biggest of the bunch had taken my fly.  After a short but fun fight I landed a beautiful fish.  The first saltwater fish I've caught on the fly.  It took a small tan pass crab.

I caught it on my Colton Fly 7wt rod.  What a fantastic rod for fighting hard running fish.  It really did a great job turning the fish on those runs.  Not to mention it is so easy to cast.  I don't have the room to back cast so I am limited to roll casting.

Hopefully this is just the start.  It has been pretty slow inshore this week with the memories of Debby still fresh in the fishes minds.  Most of the fish have been hard to find and even harder to get to bite.  I have managed a few trout and catfish here and there.  The trout only seem to feed after dark.  All on the small side but anything is better than the skunk.