stream fishing – Velox Seeker

It Has Been Awhile…

All is well here and we have been fishing every chance we get. Trout season started late due to weather related events but we still managed to get to the trout pond multiple times and did quite well.

Most of the trout we caught were in this size range.

The weather has been all over the place this year. A typical week consists of winds 25-40mph, wildfires, temperatures ranging from 38F to 93F and intermittent rains. We squeeze in what we can, when we can. I will admit that since I have been working nights, it’s easier for me to get out before work and fish.

Several times a week, before work, I have hit the local lakes in search of Crappie and perch. One of our local lakes has an issue with the overflow pipe so it is still flooded and the parking lot is submerged. I’ve managed to catch a few bass but haven’t been able to locate the Crappie. Rather, I know where they are but just can’t get to them due to high water.

The other local lake has been a big producer and we have caught and released a pile of Crappie and perch.

We have only purchased a couple of rods this year and the only one of note (for me anyway) has been the Shimano Soare XR S510L-S and it has been a joy to fish.

I prefer a Light action rod due to fishing in current or heavy cover. The added “horsepower” helps set the hook or pull fish out of weedbeds or cover. This rod has been outstanding! Sensitivity is a 10 out of 10, hooksetting has been a 10 out of 10 and backbone has been a 10 out of 10 as well. It has quickly become one of my favorite rods.

My only real complaint for this year has been with shipments of goods. USPS, UPS and FedEx have been terrible so far. Missed delivery dates, re-routing packages to out of the way places that are non-sensical and other issues. Couple that with the inability to speak to a live person and frustrations mount. I wish they would stop putting “Expected Delivery” dates and times and just deliver the package. Most have arrived DAYS later and I have to wonder…what am I paying for??? USPS has been the absolute worst and I have received a litany of lame excuses. One example was the driver had bald tires. He delivered to our mailbox but wouldn’t leave a small box. Makes no sense.

Anyway…I don’t want to end on a negative note. Congratulations are in order for Mr. Nelson over at Classic Fly Tying for winning another award at the Fly Tying Contest held at Mountain Home Arkansas each year.

I’d also like to give a shout out to Bob over in Virginia who is always pushing the envelope on light tackle and coming up with creative ideas and solutions for panfish. He’s a wizard when it comes to these things and pushes me to learn and be a better angler. Cheers brother!

All in all, 2025 has had a good start and we have a few things in the pipeline in regards to fishing. Stay tuned for more. And if you are on Instagram, we post there quite frequently since it’s easier and faster for us.

#the_veloxseekers

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.

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…

Reality Check…

Last Sunday my wife and I went to one of our little local lakes and fished for a few hours. We did pretty well considering the wild weather swings we’ve had.

Our main goal was to see if the Crappie had moved up into a pre-spawn pattern. Long story short, they had not, but rather were still scattered about the lake.

I managed to catch my Personal Best Black Crappie during the process which ws pretty cool. I will post two pictures, one of a perch and the other of the Crappie so you can get an idea of the scale of the fish in the net.

Needless to say it was a great outing and we had the lake all to ourselves for the entire time we were fishing.

I went to work the next day, Monday, and was showing my co-workers a few pictures and catching up on recent events when I was informed that one of my co-workers had passed away on Sunday. It hit like a sledgehammer because nobody had thought it would happen to that guy. He was super nice, friendly and just an all-around great guy. He passed from a heart attack at home at the age of 53. Entirely too young!

It tends to hit home, especially since I’m about to turn 53 and it certainly makes you wonder and question things. There are very few guarantees in life and we must use our time wisely. Perhaps I need to change things in my life and reset my priorities? I definitely need to schedule a medical checkup since I’m notorious for not going to the doctor until it’s absolutely necessary. It was a wake-up call for all of us.

I want to keep fishing for many more years and enjoy what time I have left, and I’m sure everyone has plans until they leave this Earth.

My thoughts are scattered all over the place and we are still processing his death. I don’t want to ramble on incoherently so I will finish this post and wish Travis a fond farewell and may he rest in peace. Godspeed my Friend.

Rethinking Ajing Rods…

I have a preference for composite grips and really light rods. The downside is fragility and that’s an issue for the way I fish. Granted, Ajing rods are usually used off of a dock or sea wall with few if any obstructions and the target species isn’t a large fish.

For reference: some of my Ajing rods have a 0.6mm solid graphite tip section sporting 1mm-1.2mm guides…that’s tiny! Sensitivity is outstanding and they are phenomenal to fish for ultralight game with.

APIA Grandage Lite 61 top and TenRyu RZI-50L-4 below

However, I have recently broken two rods while at the trout pond. In both cases the tip sections snapped off midway to the top guide. I can’t say for sure why this happened but it did. I don’t think I was high sticking and in fact in one instance the rod was laying on the ground while I was tying on a swivel/snap. When I went to cast I noticed something didn’t look right and the tip section was dangling.

I can’t be too upset since I was clearly using these rods for a purpose they were never designed for and for a target species that was quite a lot larger than their intended quarry. It just rams home the point that I need a more durable rod for the type of fishing we do. I’m just not the type of angler who wants to coddle and hyper-protect my gear. Specialization can definitely have it’s pitfalls and these are highly specialized rods. Fortunately the Ajing rods were not expensive so it wasn’t painful or heart wrenching. But it was a good learning experience. And I’d rather it happen at a local trout pond instead of 4 miles down a smallmouth stream!

For me, I’m leaning back towards the TenRyu rods even though they have cork handles. I’ll gladly give up a bit of sensitivity for durability and as of yet, all of our TenRyu rods have performed flawlessly. Sometimes following a theory/concept doesn’t pan out and that’s OK and I don’t consider things like that a failure if I have learned something valuable in the process. The best lessons are often learned the hard way!

Trying To Make Up For Lost Time…

I think I’m doing OK and healing up; albeit slowly. Last night was the first night I didn’t take any pain medication and although I only managed an hour and a half of good sleep, I feel pretty good. The dull pain and burning sensation is still there but it’s manageable.

On the pain medication topic: Pain pills are hard to get these days in part due to the “opioid crisis” so I tend to use them sparingly. As long as I could take the edge off then I could manage the pain and slowly increase my threshold. With this latest episode, I only took the pain medication at bedtime as opposed to every 6 hours and to me, that’s a good thing.

Anyway, back to fishing! In January/February I managed to get a few rods that a good friend of mine was selling. The prices were phenomenal so I picked up a Palms Quattro 4-piece travel rod that I had been wanting as well as a Majorcraft fiberglass travel rod that was on my radar. I’ve been very happy with both so far. I also picked up two Yamaga Blanks Blue Current TZ Nano rods in 6ft 2in and a 6ft 10in versions. BOTH are outstanding rods that I had been interested in for quite some time. Lightly used and at a great price was a no-brainer. I’ve recently fished all 4 of them and can say it was money well spent and it helped out a friend.

The Yamaga Blanks Blue Current 62 TZ Nano. Great rod!

The Palms Quattro is a saltwater ultralight but works well for my intended purpose. that’s a 1000 size reel for scale.

For the record: I only had one rod and one reel on the purchase list for 2024. The rod arrived this past Monday and is the TenRyu Rayz Spectra RZS-61LL. I bought one as a gift for my wife quite awhile ago and she was gracious enough to let me have a go with it for a round of testing. I liked it so much I decided to order myself one except they were sold out. After searching on and off for over a year, I finally managed to find one and it is now in my quiver of rods. I will say for certain that it was worth the wait! Oustanding rod for our type of fishing.

TenRyu Rayz Spectra RZS-61LL with a Stella C2000SHG reel.

So far the rod has been great…in fact all of them have caught fish so I have no complaints. We have been trying to gauge if the bass and crappie are staging for the spawn and it has been hit and miss due to the highly variable weather conditions. One day it was 84F and the next it dropped to 31F. Not enough stability yet for the fish to fully become active or to establish a reliable pattern.

We’ve caught plenty of rainbow trout so far in 2024.

We even took our medium rods out to see if the sand bass were about to move up and spawn but we didn’t get any takers. It’s still a bit early I suppose.

I’m probably pushing things a bit but it’s hard for me to be inactive for any length of time. I’m definitely much more careful and am moving slower than normal but I am making progress so I’m happy. Maybe I’ll hit the trout pond this morning at first light and get one last session in before the season ends on April 1st…time will tell. Take care and see ya soon.