Weather: 60, sunny, post frontal, with sever winds
Water: Stained and 56
Lures and Techniques: Hand tied jigs in green pumpkin/black with a brown trailer
http://kayakanglersoutheast.blogspot.com/2012/03/flipping-my-hand-tied-jigs.html
Either I have blasphemed the weather gods, jilted a jealous voodoo witch, or have run across a streak of pure bad luck. Every fishing trip this year has been themed something to the tune of "Fighting the Wind," "Battling the Wind," "Bluebird Bummer," or "Post Frontal Something or another." Post frontal fishing is typically difficult; smaller strike zones, sluggish fish with picky appetites. Furthermore, stiff wind, Post Frontal's evil twin, is the bane of kayak fishermen. Imagine putting your trolling motor on the highest continuous output and fishing that way all day. Power fishing in a powerless boat. Fishing anything but fast moving baits becomes almost impossible. I could not establish a crankbait pattern today, so I opted to practice flipping jigs into cover. The flipping jig used to be an integral part of my bassing repertoire, but I had lost my touch, my feel for the jig bite. Time to get back to the basics. Flipping jigs into cover, skipping jigs under boat docks are big fish presentations that can pay huge dividends come tournament time. My first kayak tournament is scheduled for April 21 on Lake Oconee; practice is needed. Channeling my inner KVD, the ultimate power fisherman, I angled my kayak toward the bank and furiously worked shoreline cover in a frenetic drift. My boat was pushing water at no less than three miles an hour..Seriously. There was no time for finesse or strategy. Skip it as far back as you can, then lift and let it fall on a tight line until you blew past. The key to jig fishing is to let the jig fall on a tight line, keeping a constant connection between your nerve endings and the powder coated lead. As a subtle tap, hard chomp, change of direction, or loss of contact, the take comes almost always on the fall. A difficult task in the wind. To counter the wind, I use a drag and drop method, keeping the rod tip moving into the wind and the line tight against the weight of the jig. The lure in discussion is a one half ounce terminator jig head with my hand tied silicone skirt in green pumpkin and black. Both takes came as an "unnatural" sensation on the fall. Swing for the fences if you have a doubt; hookset are free. I only picked up a couple of keeper fish today, but I did gain more confidence in my jigs. My mindset now is to practice using tournament lures since the swimbait bite is still far from reliable. Cleaner water and stable temperatures will have the big females out looking for that last big meal before they spawn.
