[PECo]

Fishface (aka Tim) and I paddled Bantam River, in hopes of staying out of the 11 mph wind that had been forecast for today. Little did we know that our biggest problem wouldn't be the wind, but the water. We launched from the canoe launch on Whites Wood Road. The river was a full three feet higher than we had seen it at any point in time earlier this year. Bantam is a stream no more. The day started fairly cool, with a brisk wind that seemed to come from different directions at different times. We struggled with the current from the moment we got on the water. We both threw wacky Senkos and spinnerbaits. Tim had a third setup with a crankbait, I think.

After we launched, we paddled into the normally shallow area that's across and downriver from the launch, and usually occupied only by beavers. I hooked into a small fish that fought like a smallie, but lost it about three feet from my sink (i.e., sit inside kayak). By the way, I've decided to name it "The Kitchen", get it? Anyway, we worked our way downriver. . . fast. As if we had a choice in the matter. Whenever we would stop paddling, we'd drift 20 feet downriver in only a few seconds. Snags were treacherous. Clearing a snag while fighting to hold your position against the current in a kayak is really tough. Unfortunately, here's the whole fishing report in one sentence:

We got skunked.

In fact, we hardly saw any fish at all. From the beaver dam (and beyond ) to halfway up to Little Pond from the launch, we had almost no action at all. The fish I lost off my spinnerbait at the beginning of our outing was the closest we got to landing one all day.

From a paddling perspective, it ended up being a fairly nice day. It was cool, but sunny. And the wind died down quite a bit after noon. But I had a little mishap at the beaver dam near the mouth of the river. Tim and I decided that we wouldn't go over it. However, I wanted to get some photos to show DirtyDawg10 (aka Derek). When Derek and I were on Bantam Lake last Sunday for the Pike Party, we fished the mouth of the river below the dam. And it was below the dam, by a couple of feet. Today, it was less than a foot. I had Tim take a couple of photos with his camera, but had the great idea to paddle to the edge of the dam and take a photo along its edge. When I stopped paddling to take the photo with my cellphone camera, I was swept over the dam. . . backwards! I could hear Tim thinking, "How the heck am I going to get home when Phil drowns himself?" Yes, I got a little wet. But that was nothing compared to how wet I got when I tried to paddle back over the dam. . . four times! I ended up getting myself over the dam by pulling on a shrub that's growing on the west side of the dam while using my paddle to push at the same time. Here's a photo from the top of the dam:



And here's a photo from the bottom:



And here's Tim after I got back over the dam, happy that he still had a ride home:



I'll leave it to Tim to tell you about why he came home with only two setups, instead of three. But all in all, it was a great day. But there's still some time left. I wonder whether the walleye are biting at Batterson now. Hmmm. . . .
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Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!

[DirtyDawg10]

Sorry to hear it didn't turn out well for you guys. I can't believe how high the water level rose since last weekend. We did get a crapload of rain though. The fish must have been hanging on for dear life somewhere.

[PECo]

Hey, Dawg! Water was flowing into and out of the main channel of the river everywhere. All of those little beaver channels that are cut into the bank are now at least partially navigable. Tim was pushed into overhanging trees by the current at least a couple of times. But I had a blast. It was a little bit of a struggle at times, but still beautiful out there.
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Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!

[SkeeterJim]

Sounds like a fun adventure they had.

Jim
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Eat, Sleep, Fish......I Love my SKEETER ZX225!!!
If I didn't have to work for a living....I'd be fishing.
If I'm not in my Skeeter then I'm in my Hobie!

[Fishface]

Ok heres my report, the water was crazy high and fast. I got caught up in a couple of trees. I lost a new pole with one of my favorite reels on it. Still had a good time. As I have gotten older it has gotten somewhat easier to laugh at myself, not all the time. I have a couple of pictures of Phil either making a King Salmon run up river or a Olympic Kayak Team Trial, I'll go with the first.


The last picture is what it looked like before his adventure.


It's all in good fun.
Tim

[DirtyDawg10]

Wow! I still can't believe the water levels there. Seems like it may have been a better weekend to be on a lake or pond somewhere. At least you guys made the best of it.