Andy is OptiMystic's Blog (11)

So I was all set to go kayaking with a couple of buddies in a little under 2 weeks, combining it with seeing my son in Savannah on the Saturday night. Complications arose and first one buddy and then the other had conflicts arise and can't go. I am not paddling in the remote area we were looking at alone. After a little poking around, a plan B arose...

The Savannah National Wildlife Refuge is just over the bridge from Savannah. It is really big, but it turns out one of the main access…

A quick entry mostly to journal it so I will remember some things better next time. It was not as low as I expected. The release was only 200 cfs, but we have had rain every few days and the creeks in the 15 or so river miles from the dam to my put in were flowing pretty good. I was remembering what it was like from years past that low but I was right below the dam and it was during the drought. In the small rapids it was a little tight but between them there was plenty of water. I should…

Only my second outing of the year; the first was a total bust in wind and waves at a big lake. It was a really nice day for January, but I had a lot to do around the house. But I could manage an hour just down the street.

This…

I started a discussion a fishing trip I may do tomorrow (as I write this). Then I thought maybe I shouldn't after seeing this thread on another forum that shows a very muddy river in that stretch, presumably right after a rain.

Turns out I may be spooking myself…

High hopes for a good start to 2015 didn't pan out today. I went to my home lake with a couple of friends paddling kayaks. We ended up cutting the day short because of the wind.

It was my first time out with my new fish finder and it didn't work. Can't detect transducer. One of my buddies also has a portable Hummingbird and we were able to determine that my transducer is fine. The head doesn't work. So I…

I posted a bunch today, laying down what I plan to do this year, with what and where I will commonly go. So, with all that groundwork laid, it's time to do some actual fishing! Or it will be in a couple of days. 

I will be fishing my home lake in my kayak. This will be my first trip with my new fish finder. I have used plenty of others and owned others in the past so I won't spend much time tinkering…

Seems a little odd to separate this out, but the nearby large lake I hardly ever fish. It's well known and does produce good fish, but I don't really care for it as a kayaking lake because it is so big and popular with waterskiiers in the summer time. In a lot of respects it is similar to (and actually quite near) my home lake, but I gravitate to the other one. This lake does have stripers (haven't done well; big…

This one is about the river I have fished most in the recent past and will likely fish a lot this year. I have done very well in raw numbers and I am convinced that there are bigger ones. I won't say exactly where and for the most part it doesn't matter. There are a couple of other nearby flows I also fish, alternating because of proximity to other things or seasonal fish (I only have to go a little east to get into some sea run shad and stripers in the spring) but the character is much the…

I am avoiding names in the description even though it will be really easy to figure out. This blog is about my panfishing quest and I don't want to get sidetracked or hijacked into a long discussion about it here. Be happy to elsewhere and often do.

It's a medium sized lake - about 4000 acres - in the NC Piedmont. Max depth is about 40' or so and it is shaped like a fat check mark with the main channel in the long side. Lots of rocky bottom, some drowned timber, some shallow side…

I will take 3 rods - a UL, a light rod and an emergency backup (yes, there is such a thing as a fishing emergency). So I will only have 2 rods out for fishing at any given time.

The UL will almost always be my primary rod, but I will usually rig both. The light rod is light but short and has some backbone and 10# Nanofil (or similar if I replace it; small diameter but strong). If I don't have a specific plan for the light rod, it will probably have a medium sized lipless crankbait or…

New year and trying to step up my game a little in the fishing department. I have been fishing for about 50 years and caught all sorts of fish, but panfish have always been one of my favorite. I think a lot of it is that I enjoy actively catching fish more than I do stalking elusive ones. Bream have a reputation of being easy to catch and that is often the case, but not always. It certainly isn't true with the larger trophy sized panfish.

I am setting a goal of getting a NC "Master…