Author Archives: veloxseeker

We saw a post on Instagram and decided it was worth driving over and taking a look at. It’s a curious thing how one picture can get your mind turning, maps pulled out and plans laid.

With this being a fishing blog, and a stream fishing blog in particular, we wanted to see if the creek was viable for us to fish over a week long camping trip. So that also entails checking out the camping opportunities, which we did. There are approximately 16 campsites at this Recreation Area and a few more scattered out on the drive in. There is no water other than the creek and a single vault toilet, so the accomodations are pretty Spartan.

Once camp was set up and we were satisfied, we donned our wading gear and headed to the creek.

We fished for about an hour with nothing to show for it. The water temperature was 51F according to my thermometer, and we were glad we decided to bring the waders. It’s probably still just a bit early.

Later in the afternoon after lunch, we decided to explore further upstream. The trail we followed was sparse at best so we opted to bushwhack down hill and just follow the creek. If I was a betting man, I’d say this was prime Copperhead territory so our eyes were peeled and we left Zip back at camp. Boulder hopping quickly became the norm as we made progress along the creek bank.

We ended up only catching 3 fingerling Ouachita-strain Smallmouth Bass so we didn’t get skunked. I do wonder about the viability of this stream in the summer months. I don’t know enough about it yet to determine if it’s spring fed or relies on a rainwater runoff or a combination of the two. We had A LOT of fun and the scenery was spectacular. The 500 mile drive was worth it!

Jeeps of all sorts seemed wildly popular and we received some strange looks in our Subaru, but there were some similar vehicles to ours and we didn’t encounter anything that required 4WD. Not knocking Jeeps so calm down lol. The Subi is capable, within limits of course, but it has a 400-425 mile range which is what we like the most and it hauls everything we need.

Richland Creek is definitely going in the fishing journal. Hopefully we can make it back that way come summer. It certainly has potential.

Thanks for reading and we’ll see you again soon!

After working overtime this past week and not even seeing the sun for 3 days…I had to go fishing. Friday the temperature reached 82F and the winds were blowing 35mph plus. Saturdays forecast was calling for cooler temperatures and only 5-10mph winds. It seemed like the perfect day to go fish one of the rivers.

As you can tell from the pictures above…we were bundled up more than usual as the temperature was 45F and the winds were around 18-20mph. We stepped into the river at around 0730 and we were both shivering. Once the sun was fully up, it wasn’t too bad as long as you kept moving. Even Zip would start shivering if her and I stopped to talk and make a game plan.

We stopped at 2 places along the river. The first was quite a bit further upstream and we wanted to see if the smallmouth were active or even if some sand bass were that far up during their spring spawn. We didn’t see any fish nor did we catch anything but a chill.

Second stop was much the same except a lot windier. We fished upstream about a half mile and about a mile and a half downstream without so much as a bite. Water temperature was holding at 52F so we were a bit early this year. With time being limited and opportunities being rare…we took the chance.

We ended up taking the scenic way home since we quit fishing at about 1030. My pedometer showed we covered about 4.86 miles so at least we managed to get some exercise. I will add this entry into the fishing journal for future reference so eventually perhaps, a pattern will develop.

Sorry there are no fish pictures in this post but it was out of my control. We did manage to test a new rod and 2 new reels so that’s always a plus. It’s fun to keep trying to get our setups dialed in and both of us are pretty satisfied with where we are at.

Thanks for reading and we hope to have some fish pictures in the near future!.

It has been awhile since anything has been posted to the blog and I apologize. Life has gotten in the way. I’ve been working 16 hour shifts which leaves little room for anything else.

We did manage to get out to a local lake to fish this morning even though the odds were stacked against us. We came off of two days of solid rain and wild temperature fluctuations. And of course, around here, when the sun comes out and the temperature starts to climb, the end result is always WIND.

I ended up buying a 2023 Daiwa Airity 2000S-P spinning reel after all. This was the only contender that I’ve seen in the latest 2023 releases. And in my opinion, this is one classy looking reel.

The Airity is every bit as good as the top-of-the-line Daiwa Exist at a substantial savings. Keep in mind that this is a Bass reel and NOT a Trout reel, so if youre looking for minimal start-up inertia, you need to look elsewhere. The Airity has MagSeal so it does possess some start-up inertia. However, it is VERY smooth when turning the handle. I am not a Trout connoiseur so certain key features don’t mean much to me. I am a river fisherman who chases smallmouth, and this reel weighs 147 grams and has 5kg of drag which is more than enough to handle what we’re chasing. The magnesium frame with the bigger gear is a feature that I prefer and this reel is built to be solid. All in all, I really like it and will put it through its paces soon I hope.

I did spend quite a bit of time throwing minnow baits with my baitcast setup. I can honestly say that I’m getting the hang of it and actually enjoy casting it.

I have become a huge fan of the Veles Handcrafted Lures and have been throwing them almost exclusively. I can’t wait for Spring to get here so we can get back to fishing more. We have sorely missed fishing the rivers.

Until next time…take care and be safe. Hope everyone is able to get out and fish. If not, I’m sure it won’t be much longer.