Skunk on the upper Neuse

[Andy is OptiMystic]

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 have taken my fish finder and anchor. I planned to drift and fish but the wind was just too much. So Milburnie to Anderson Point at 200 cfs is not a low level, bring FF and anchor next time.

[Andy is OptiMystic]

Also, only last night did I find out about the "well mount". You make a ring of duct putty or silicone or whatever somewhere inside the hull of the kayak that's out of the way and put a little water in it. then you can set the transducer in it and it will get reasonably good soundings (depth usually correct, may miss single fish and own't get temp). That would protect it from slightly submerged objects that you commonly hit when kayaking rivers.

[Andy is OptiMystic]

Well, since I did not take my FF, I cannot say how deep the deepest part is with absolute certainty but for most of the trip you can touch the bottom with a kayak paddle, so under 6'. But there were a couple of stretches where you could not. Even in those stretches a 1/32 oz jig hit bottom pretty quickly. But my guess is that in some of those stretches there may have been schooled fish at the inner channel or something. My thinking is there were probably a few holes I should have stopped at and jigged just off the bottom for a while and I probably unknowingly drifted right over them.

[Slip Sinker]

Good idea on the depth sounder... even if your just recording water temps... there was one trip in early spring a few years ago i had my P'max and noted a cold front caused the water temperature to drop a few degrees and i knew that was going to have a negative impact on the fish. i snuck into this bay where the water temps were a few degrees higher and the level of fish activity was also.

how deep does that stretch of river get?