Winter Bucketmouth Mission

As with most winter fishing in Virginia, I knew it was going to be hit or miss.  So I recruited a couple of my favorite kayak bass experts to aid in my newly acquired mission.  The growing inbox of bass print requests had been in the crosshairs for way too long and it was time to pull the trigger.

This post is brought to you by the YakAttack Boomstick camera mount.  If you like taking video with GoPro style cameras, you're gonna love it.  Full articulation, quick release, floating... it's brilliant.

Complete review with details coming soon.

I met up with fellow Werner Paddles and Kokatat team member, Drew Camp, his dad Chip, and the legendary Forrest Short.  As I was taking photos and video for the upcoming review of the Boomstick, Forrest and Drew quickly got into some fish early on.  A 17" bass and two good size pickerel were caught before I even left the ramp.  And of course, by the time I got out, they didn't want to bite anymore.  A few hours later, Chip broke the monotony with a 13" slab of a crappie on a jerk bait.

We all hoped the action would turn on as the water temps crept up but it stayed slow.  A while later my jig finally enticed a good sized bass.  

Just shy of 21" and a little over 5 1/2 lbs in 8' of water right next to a cypress tree.  I thought about keeping it for prints, but couldn't.  My respect for larger/older fish couldn't be shaken and it was released... fingers crossed... hoping I would run into one I didn't mind killing.

Not too long after that, Drew picked up a 16.5" bass on a square bill crank bait   

After a thorough inspection of the super healthy short round, it went on the stringer.  

Mission accomplished.

I was hoping for an upgrade to about an 18"-19" but that never happened.  Forrest took off to try another lake and scored a huge 25" pickerel and a healthy 18.5" bass.  I went on to score one more fish; an 11" crappie on a small husky jerk, which accompanied the bass for an ink session.  Drew went on to catch another nice pickerel.

All in all, a very satisfying and successful trip.

Hopefully the upcoming weather doesn't keep us off the water too long.

Those of you who have been waiting patiently for a bass print,
soon my friends...