veloxseeker

Happy New Year!

2024 was a wild ride and if I’m being honest, I’m glad it’s over. We could only squeeze in one vacation last year so we didn’t get to take any major fishing excursions. However, we did hit our goal of 50 outings apiece for the year.

With our youngest son being a Sophomore in college, funds were tied up in education which was way more important than fishing gear.

I was tempted to do a “Most Used Gear of 2024” post but not much has really changed. Besides, we fished for everything from Carp to Stripers so the gear list would be rather long anyway.

I did manage to purchase 3 rods last year. There were only 3 that popped up on my radar and I eventually got them. They were the Palms Egeria Native Performance EFNS-61L, the TenRyu Rayz Alter RZA-612S-LT and the MajorCraft Finetail Works Tune FGW-4102UL.

Palms Egeria Native Performance EFNS-61L

MajorCraft Finetail Works Tune Area FGW-4102UL

As for reels, I only purchased two new ones. The Shimano Twin Power C2000S and the Daiwa Airity ST SF 1000. Both are mid-tier and incredibly smooth reels. I’ve been very impressed with both.

Other than new Veles lures we bought throughout 2024, we continued to rely on the proven EuroTackle B-vibes in 2 inch and 3 inch varieties for most of our fishing. They are tried and tested and reliably catch fish when nothing else will. We are trying to find Tungsten jigheads in suitable weights to get away from lead heads.

We are currently kicking around several ideas for excursions in 2025. Possibly hopping on a plane to the Tampa Bay area to do some inshore wade fishing for Redfish, Snook and Speckled Trout. We will definitely hit some of our favorite rivers to be sure. As usual, we are pouring over maps and seeking out those “thin blue lines” that hold possibility.

Here’s to a successful 2025 to all! Thank you to everyone who read this blog last year, even though content has been hit-or-miss , we really appreciate it. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a hearty shout out to Darell over at Classic Fly Tying for being a faithful reader. We really appreciate your support and wish you all the best!

You Don’t Know If You Don’t Go…

I’m ready to see what 2025 brings. With the passing of my wifes mother, we have been dealing with lawyers, probate court, realtors etc etc. Plus, I have moved departments at work and now work second shift, so outings together haven’t been easy to arrange.

No worries though, as we have still been fishing. 2024 was a good year and we have high hopes for 2025.

November 1st is the official start of Trout Season in Oklahoma, but our local pond doesn’t open until December 1st since it’s a smaller body of water. True to form, we arrived at zero dark thirty only to find an empty parking lot which was very odd. After an hour of casting and only catching Crappie we gave up and headed home. Obviously we didn’t get the memo and started searching online to see what was going on.

Not a single jump, splash or ripple was spotted.

Neither one of us have FaceBook or anything like that, so we had no idea what the issue was. We should have looked at the Official website before leaving and we would have found this…

I completely understand the conditions that are required for trout. The drought ended in November when we received 10 inches of rain. In fact, the trout pond was actually 3-4 feet higher than we had ever seen it. After further digging we found that the price for trout had increased to $7.00 per pound and the State budget is $600,000 statewide. A few years ago we had a $25.00 fee for a trout stamp but they decided to eliminate that. Maybe one day Oklahoma will figure it out and realize that people don’t solely focus on Largemouth Bass.

Irregardless, we will keep going out and hoping for the best. Maybe they will extend the season or adjust the time. Instead of December 1st through February 28th, they will go from January 1st to March 31st. It is not outside the realm of normalcy to see 60F-70F in December, but you can count on January to be cold. But that’s just my two cents…

We hope everyone has a great Christmas and lots of tackle under the tree!

THIS JUST IN>>>>>

ROD: Smith Troutin Spin Multiyouse TRMK-423UL REEL: Abu Garcia Revo Beast running 4.6lb P.E. line.

A good friend of ours from Virginia just sent us a picture of his son with his PB Smallmouth Bass. This young man is a Two State, Two Time State Powerlifting Champion and has a bright future ahead of him. To say his papa is proud is a massive understatement! Well done young man and here’s to many more PB’s in the future.

Outing: 15 October 2024

Finally! The weather cooperated and we hit the river again. Saturday was 93F and promised to be the last hot day of summer. This morning we woke up to 41F and a chilly start, but it’s a welcome relief.

We have really missed fishing the river, but it’s been too hot and not enough rain to put it in prime shape. As I’ve stated several times, we don’t like to add undue stress to our beloved native smallmouth, so we leave them alone for the hottest parts of the summer. We also lost the Mother-in-Law at the end of September so we have had to deal with all that as well.

Anyway…we arrived at 0801 with 43F temperature and were geared up and on the river bank by 0815.

My first fish was a Crappie…not quite what I was expecting

It took us a bit to figure out where they were since they weren’t in their usual haunts.

We found them hugging the bottom so it required a longer drop of the lure than normal. This is why we carry a selection of jigheads from 2.0 grams up to 4.5 grams.

My rig for the day…Tenryu Rayz 632L and a Shimano Twin Power C2000S

My wife brought two rods this time. One for jigheads and one for hard minnow lures. Certain stretches of the river require hard lures due to the fact that they just won’t bite a jighead and soft plastic. Don’t ask us why…we are just as baffled as everyone else.

Once the sun was up and had burned off the mist, the bass started cooperating. Plus, it was nice to ditch the coats.

As usual, she caught the biggest fish of the trip. We had a great time and caught quite a few fish and hopefully can squeeze another river trip or two in before the weather turns cold. Even then, trout season will start soon so we have that to look forward too.

Catch you on the next one…and we will try not to make it so long between posts.

Return to the River…Outing 11AUG24.

Due to the heat and low water level we have left this river alone for a few months. When the forecast called for a high of 75F and light rain, we made plans to go.

We encountered intermittent rain on the drive and figured we might have the river to ourselves, which turned out to be correct. As long as there wasn’t any lightning we would be OK to fish.

Zip kept alerting to a portion of the river around the bend. We saw about 6 wild pigs crossing the river and more on the opposite bank. I started making noise and throwing rocks into the brush until they decided to cross back over while she put the leash on Zip. After a few minutes they crossed back over and joined the main group and ran off over an embankment. We were not in a good position since we were stuck on a small island and wild pigs were on either side of us.

She caught the biggest smallmouth of the outing…as usual

We ended up catching and releasing 60 fish between us in the 6 hours we were on the river. We covered 4 miles of new river for a total round trip distance of 11.56 miles. We were both sore and tired by the time we returned to the car.

Zip has turned into a REALLY good companion

Outing…12 June 2024

The other evening, I decided to pull up Google Earth and search an area that we fished near. I had seen people over there but wasn’t sure how to get into the area. GE and other maps gave us a rough idea so we made a plan and went for it.

This morning we arrived around 0730 and sorted our gear. I wanted to just explore but she talked me into taking a rod along. I’m glad she did! We located the trailhead, there are several, and commenced our hike. By using the “measure” feature on Google Earth, we had an approximate distance of 1.8 miles to reach our objective. We had no idea what lay in store for us but that’s how we like it. Keeps a sense of adventure about the outing.

It ended up being an old portion of a campground that the State couldn’t afford to maintain anymore and was completely overgrown. The “road” was more of a 4-wheeler track and had several mudholes as well as steep hills. Several sections of the trail were almost completely overgrown, but we kept going.

Finally we popped out on a sand point just above the lake and we noticed a concrete structure down further along the shoreline. It turned out to be an old boat ramp that had seen much better times. On a whim, we both started casting out to where we could see Shad jumping and something chasing them.

BAM!!! I hooked into something with shoulders! It peeled drag and bent my rod and the fight was on. It turned out to be a schoolie striper! I have never caught a striper from the shore, always from a boat, and was excited to say the least.

The action was pretty steady and a lot of fun. My rod was a more powerful rod than hers so we would switch off. She caught 9 plus a largemouth and together we caught 23 stripers and 3 large sand bass. We were both quite surprised that we were catching stripers but there was structure and baitfish so it made sense. Had we gotten there earlier in the morning we probably would’ve caught a lot more, but when the sun started beating down full force, the bite stopped.

I’m pretty sure Zip was still worn out from yesterday as he crawled into some brush in the shade and took a nap.

Once the bite quit, we decided to explore the area as well as the shoreline. We marked a few campsites on our map for future reference. As I’ve said many times, I enjoy exploring and seeing what’s over the next hill or around the next bend. I hope to continue doing it for as long as I can.

2024 has been a weird year for us. We haven’t been able to make any substantial plans like returning to the Cossatot River or even spending a full week anywhere. It has been very frustrating being tied to home. But we are managing to squeeze some outings in even if they’re only for 6-8 hours. We will continue to do our best. Catch you on the next one!

An Outing To The River, 10 June 2024…

As mentioned before, we love this river and although we don’t own it, we and others like us, did not appreciate the Oklahoma Wildlife Department putting this access point on TV as well as holding clinics here. We’ve come across some odd characters who were up to no good and in fact, 4 people were recently cited by Game Wardens for using nets and spearguns on the river. No, I didn’t call them or tip them off, I wish I did though.

Anyway, the river level was at 6.12 feet and crossings were really easy this time. The temps were in the 80’s and full sun so we got there around 0815. I wanted an earlier start but the misses vetoed that idea.

We opted to fish upstream this time since a flood had completely changed the river and removed a huge log jam that made going upstream last year a grim endeavour.

We were into fish within our first few casts and the day looked promising. We weren’t catching anything of size, mostly ones between 8-10 inches, but they were FAT. Some sections we would throw our standard 2 inch EuroTackle B-vibes and wouldn’t get a bite. Fish that same section throwing a minnow lure and the action was fast and furious. Other sections was the exact opposite and that is why we carry two rods, one is a baitcaster rigged with a lure and the other is a spinning rod rigged with a plastic.

I am so glad that I regularly walk 3-5 miles a day. It really helps, especially when wading upstream or even going out to retrieve stuck lures in fast current.

And as the day progressed and the sun climbed higher in the sky, it got hot! Zip spent an unusual amount of time swimming and basically staying in the water. Smart dog!

It seemed that the further up we waded, the bigger the fish were getting. About 2.5-3 miles upstream we started to catch some in the 12-14 inch range.

We really wanted to keep exploring further upstream but time constraints prevented it so we started back to the car. It’s funny how when you’re fishing you really don’t notice the heat but the minute you are just walking, you really feel it. And it hasn’t got hot here yet, but it will soon.

Thank you for reading…more to come

I Caught A Bluegill…

A friend of mine invited us to fish his pond, and only a fool would say no.

He told us that his pond has a lot of crappie and bluegill, and since we’ve been on a “crappie and bluegill kick” we took appropriate tackle.

In short order we were into bluegill and having a great time. I opted to move down the bank closer to the creek mouth. First cast and I hooked a scrapper of a bluegill. It took me left and reversed course to the right. It dove deep and I managed to get it to the surface only for the water to explode! Next thing you know, I’m trying to keep my rod from breaking and trying to maintain some semblance of control with my reel as the drag was screaming. I scream for her to grab the net and help me. Getting a fish out of weeds with a net is a classic Abbott and Costello skit let me tell you. Anyway, she got the job done and we drug the net, and the fish and a pile of weeds up onto the bank.

That’s my bluegill with the 2.5gram jig still in place. The bass was never hooked.

Have no fear! Both were safely released back into the pond alive and well. We caught several more bass before we had to go, but this was a memorable moment for me and I will never forget it.

And I can still hear Steve laughing from his porch as we brought that fish in. Well played Steve!

We Haven’t Been Slacking…

We have still been hard at it and have taken advantage of every opportunity to get out and fish.

This outing which was from 02 JUNE 2024 was us going back to a spot we haven’t fished in almost 10 years. The lake level was up, close 6 feet high, so wade fishing from the shoreline was almost impossible.

I wish I could say it was a good trip for me but the truth is, I hooked a largemouth but after a short fight it spit the hook and disappeared. She on the otherhand had a nice fish and a good fight. I think her smile says it all!

Any fish like that is always a bonus and I was so proud of her. It was an honor to net it for her.

Lost Footage of a 2017 Trip to the Boundary Waters…

The wife and I were doing some serious spring cleaning this past week and we stumbled upon an old Sony Cyber-Shot camera and on the SD card were pics from a trip I had taken with a good friend and mentor…Dennis.

The premise of this trip and all subsequent planning was based around the idea of two good friends who have led and guided multiple groups to the Boundary Waters and Quetico deciding to take a trip to relax with only two people. No itinerary, just take it easy. The caveat though was that we would shuttle in rather than paddle the 17 miles to our chosen campsite area. As you can see in the opening photo, this is what a shuttle looks like. A boat with canoes on top and gear stacked in the bow, would shuttle people to wherever their put-in locations were. By utilizing this method, it would allow us to take steaks and cold adult beverages with us! Keep in mind that he and I have been trying to put a trip like this together for over 20 years.

The week was a mix of weather. We made the shuttle ride wearing insulated jackets due to colder than normal temperatures. A hurricane down south had disrupted the weather patterns this far north. Fires in Canada blanketed the entire area with smoke. We had two days with temps in the 90’s followed by one heck of thunder storm which dumped inches of rain on us in short order. Needless to say, every fish we caught was earned due to the fishing being quite tough.

I’m what some refer to as a lazy camper. Other than fresh steaks for dinner the first night, I like things to be quick and easy so we opted for freeze dried meals so cooking times would be fast and clean up quick. I take minimal clothes and sleeping gear as well so that my pack is lighter than most. For me…less is more.

So without further words from me, I will put all of the lost pics in a Gallery format. Enjoy!

A motorized trolley to carry the boat up and over a portage

We Returned to the River…

We finally had good weather on a weekend so we made plans to fish the river for the first time in 2024.

We got up early and headed out as soon as our eyes would focus and we had a bit of coffee in us. Even Zip was excited to get out and eagerly jumped in the car.

Side note: Every year we set a goal of 50 outings and we try our hardest to at least hit that mark, but also try to go beyond that number. We have had a huge amount of rain and wind this year but to date we have managed to get out on 39 outings. Most of them were us chasing trout, crappie, perch etc. and we didn’t blog about most of those outings.

We drove through thick fog most of the way and it got worse the closer we got to the river. The temperature on our arrival @ 0617 was 59-60F.

The water was up and made wading a little difficult. Normally, Zip can wade across on his own but this time the current was too much for him and I ended up having to surge downstream a few times to retrieve him. Usually when I was trying to retrieve a stuck lure, I’d wade out and hear splashing behind me and turn to see Zip struggling in the current. He’s loyal, I’ll give him that!

Most of the fish caught were of this size

Today was a toss up on whether we should’ve worn our waders or not. Temps were cool but would warm up quite a bit throughout the day. The water was a bit cool due to all of the recent rain, but we opted to skip the waders. After an hour or so of fishing and struggling through some of the crossings, I noticed my wife had a slight shiver to her. We marked a fallen tree up ahead and headed for it. I pulled out the coffee kit that I always carry with me and brewed up a large cup of hot coffee. We snacked on some beef jerky and tied on new lures and by the time the coffee was finished, she was warm, the sun had burned off the fog and the temps were climbing.

We managed to catch a total of 42 fish for this outing with 3 being of decent size. There were however an abundance of small healthy fish in the river and every single one of those had fat bellies full of food. It was just good to get out and stretch our legs and enjoy nature and each others company. Plus, the temperature was climbing fast towards 90F and the sun was out in full force so we decided to fish our way back to the car.

Thank you for reading and hopefully we will catch you on the next one…

“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the World’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.” -Norman Maclean

Update 27 April 2024…

There isn’t much new to report other than we have been chasing Crappie every chance we get. The weather has not cooperated with us too well because we have had wild temperature fluctuations and winds over 15mph with gusts over 40mph pretty consistently for the past month. Either that or its pouring rain.

We have explored some new areas and are excited for their possibilities in the near future. I did pick up a 2022 Shimano Sahara FJ C2000S spinning reel (black handle). This is the first time Shimano has put their cold forged Hagane gear in a reel at this price. Throw in a felt drag washer and this reel is actually quite good. It’s heavy for sure, but for Crappie and Bluegill it can’t be beat. Digitaka has them for around $60.00 with free shipping. I’m not a fan of the High Gear or Extra High Gear models since they tend to have more line issues than I want, but that’s just me.

Now back to Crappie. I’ve never really chased them all that much, but lately I’ve been bitten by the Crappie bug. We have scaled down some of our jigheads and plastic baits and pulled some older USDM rods off the rack to try our hand at catching them. And since we bank fish most of the time, these rods are more durable and a bit heavier and seem to work OK. They are not near as sensitive as our JDM rods, but it’s an acceptable tradeoff. RANT: don’t believe the YouTube marketing hype about “this being the latest, greatest rod” because that whole thing has been beaten to death. I see far too many channels receive a free rod from a manufacturer and they gush all over it and act like they have a sponsor they have to appease. Beware the marketing juggernaut! I have found that by digging into the forums where the old-school fisherman can still be found, you’ll see a different story with real testimonials. I’m referring specifically to a certain “ugly green rod.” But your mileage may vary.

As many of you know, we have a thing for hand crafted lures and we prefer to support craftsmanship like that. Again, over on Etsy, we ran across a Crappie jig maker by the name of Welch Jig Co. And Chris Welch ties some really nice jigs and ships fast. Prices are reasonable and the quality is there to support it.

It’s supposed to storm all weekend and has for the past two days, so we probably won’t be fishing much. I’m sure I can fiddle around in the fishing room and better organize our gear just to occupy my time. It won’t be much longer and we’ll be wading the rivers and we are excited about that. Hope everybody out there is healthy and able to fish. Until then, we’ll catch you on the next one.

Transition Time…

Locally, trout fishing season is over. Most ponds were stocked on Feb 28th for the last time so it’s been slim pickings. And as the title alludes to, we’ve shifted our focus to other species. As we transition from Winter into Spring, a new set of challenges are presented. We didn’t have much of a winter here in Oklahoma, or anything resembling a pattern of stability, sure we had some snow and some cold temperatures, but the weather fluctuated wildly so we had to pick favorable conditions that gave us the advantage.

I think we did pretty well during the Trout season by catching quite a few and we got to test out some new rods and reels as well as tackle. I’m not going to lie, it’s been a rough start to the year from the fact that I’ve managed to break four rods so far. Two were my fault but the other two still baffle me..maybe there were defects, I’m not sure.

As Spring gains momentum, we are grateful to leave the cold behind and the suffering which that entailed. Now we will have to contend with wind and rain. Oklahoma can really test ones patience! As usual we have set our goal for 50 outings and currently I am setting at 25 so I’m not too worried about meeting that goal.

We’ve been hitting various local ponds and lakes to see what was biting and have been pleasantly surprised. Neither one of us are what you’d consider “Crappie specialists” but we’ve done well in locating and catching them consistently. The Largemouth bass are starting to become more active and the various Perch species are beginning to move up into shallower waters. Right or wrong, I refuse to keep spawning fish, especially ones out of highly pressured waters.

We’ve had a lot fun so far in 2024 despite a few setbacks. Flowers are blooming, trees are beginning to leaf out and temperatures are climbing into the 70’s and 80’s here. But looking out the window, I can tell the wind is blowing with gusts into the 30mph range. We have to pick our moments and ride the ride.

See you on the next one…