Canepole Adventures

A good fishing friend of mind, Hal Lambert of Hal’s Custom Rods, recently made the trip to Georgia from his home in South Carolina to fish for shoal bass.

Although a South Carolina native, Hal has fished for shoalies on a few different occasions and has been hooked since.

His first shoalie came to hand a few years ago during the now defunk Riverbassin’ Tournament Trail. Hal was looking for a partner to fish the tournament with and I graciously allowed him to tag along. Lucky for Hal, because he put a Carolina butt whoopin’ on me and the rest of the tournament field with a stringer of 20 inch plus shoalies. It was at the first ever tournament stop in Atlanta, Georgia and it also happens to still be the largest three fish stringer ever caught at a Riverbassin’ tournament.

That was two years ago and Hal has talked about coming back to Georgia during the spring to try and stick an even larger shoalie. Hopefully, a six pound plus shoal bass, which many people consider to be a shoal bass of a lifetime. I told him he was welcome back any time and to just give me a call and I’d have the couch and kayaks ready for action.

I got that phone call a few weeks ago. Hal had two days off between work and honey-do’s and wanted to make it happen. I told him the water levels were good, the fish were fat and I had a couch he could crash on. That’s all it took and the Carolina boy was in the truck headed for Dawg Country.

So was this trip going to be a repeat? Will Hal score a 6 pound plus shoalie?
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Kayak river fishing doesn’t always involve paddling downstream with the current. Although, it’s a lot easier to paddle with the current, I prefer to paddle up. I paddle up because I am able to see the water better. It takes a little longer to paddle up so I have more time to study the river. I can see the pools, the current seams and other river features much better than when I am just floating with the current.

I also tend to fish slower and work the river over more when I am paddling up, too. I might not be covering as much water when paddling up, but I make sure to hit every nook and cranny before moving on.

Can you still catch big fish? Of course you can! In fact, I tend to catch bigger fish when I do a paddle up versus a full float.

So how far can you go? As far as your body will take you. I’ve been known to make 4 and 5 mile (and even longer) paddle ups and float back down stream. If anything it’s great exercise when the fish aren’t necessarily cooperating. Yes, I’ve been known to strike out and come back dog tired, but it’s worth it when it pays off.

Recently, I made a 3 mile paddle up to a large section of shoals and then some. The river was up slightly and the current was stronger than usual, but I managed by paddling smart. I used current breaks when available, tried to stick closer to the banks where the current was slower and used the inner and outer bends of the river to my advantage. By paddling smart I was able to still make the paddle up even though the river was up slightly.

Unfortunately, this paddle up didn’t produce. I struck out. Yes, I caught some fish, but nothing that I was hoping for. This time of year is the time to catch those monster 5 and 6 lb plus shoal bass. I was hoping to lip one of those shoaliemonsters, but it wasn’t to be on this trip. I did manage to hook into a 4 lb plus spotted bass, but it wasn’t what I was after. After seeing it wasn’t a shoal bass I nonchalantly fought the fish until it finally shook it’s way free. The same thing happened to a 3 or 4 lb shoalie later in the day. It just wasn’t the 5 or 6 I was looking for.

I did take a picture of one shoal bass that was brought in the boat. I figure it’s proof that I do catch fish. Not a monster, but I’m not claiming it was either.

All in all it was a good day to be on the water and I’ll be back again soon. Maybe next time is when the 5 or 6 lb shoalie will appear…..

Yesterday we had a group of 6 on a local shoal bass river in hopes of catching some big spring time mamas. It was a slow day, but many of us still made it into double digits. No size was brought to hand, though. We had a few opportunities at some 5 lb plus shoalies, but as luck would have it, we didn’t land any of them.

Late in the day I had a 5 lber take a 5 inch Tru-Tungsten swimbait, but I didn’t realize how big it was at first. I felt the take and reared back to set the hook while making a few turns of the reel before the fat shoalie took to the air. It took me completely by surprise and I watched as it shook my lure free and returned back into the river.

My fishing partners knew I lost a big one as they saw me jump up and down in my kayak with water splashing and shooting up through the scupper holes. “Big fish,” they yelled across the river. “Yeah, a five,” I responded. And that was it.

I picked up my rod and made some more casts into the same hole. Thump, thump, thump, I felt a few more times as I reeled in a couple 12 inch shoalies. Not what I was looking for, but it’s not often that you get to tangle with a 5 lb plus shoalie. I wasn’t expecting the 5 lber to bite again, but I still had to try.

I didn’t land the big one, but that 5 lber will still bring me back to the river again and again as I search for it. Sometimes it’s the ones you don’t catch that bring you back. I know this one will definitely do that.