A former member of the club, before he moved away, Crawford P. invited us up to fish during the week, so I passed the word out to those folks I thought could go.  He could handle at max 5 people, so I tried to target anglers that had kayaks, and could fish mid-week.

John E. and I had made this trip January 2nd and 3rd, and caught a few fish in the generation canal.  The target species for this groups was supposed to be white bass.

We started arriving at 1500 hours, with Ken K. being the first, followed by myself, then Robert B.

The first order of business was to talk about meal plans.  Sunday night Robert supplied venison sausage, cooked on the grill by Crawford, with trimmings .  Monday night, Ken had brought stew, with trimmings.  Tuesday, Crawford grilled the chick I brought, and we tried to attack the leftovers from the previous nights.  None of us went hungry, but we should swap recipes.

Monday fishing:  We started the day by trying to to fish the generation canal.  Both generators were wide open and the flow was measured at 14,000 CFS, not the 230 CFS that we like so well.  So after fighting the current for about an hour, we loaded the kayaks back up and went a couple of miles north to “Cold-Water,”  the spillway side of the river.  Here the flow was much more manageable, and easy to maneuver.  The water temperature was 46°, but the water at pool 1 was super clean and clear.  A variety of fish came to hand, wipers, black bass, Kentucky bass, white bass,  yellow sunfish, and even freshwater drum.  The fishing wasn’t “hot and heavy” but we caught enough to keep us entertained, even in the light drizzle that showed up in the afternoon.  Small clousers were the ticket.

Tuesday fishing was even slower.  A couple of Kentucky bass, as sunfish, and freshwater drum is all that we could convince to bite.  So we decided to explore the upstream side of the rapids.  The hike wasn’t difficult, but you did have to watch your footing.  The yellow clay was slick, and it hid along the rocks, ready to trap a foot and make traction disappear.  If we thought the water was cold and clear at pool 1, here it looked like a trout stream.  Since people couldn’t drive to this water, there were no tracks, and no sign that people fished it.  The water temperature was still 46°.

The current plan is to make the trip again, once the weather warms up.  If you want me to add you to the TB contact list, send me a note.

Here are the key points:

• Middle of the week.
• Kayak or canoe.
• Willing to cook and participate in a pot luck.