Henry Hagg Lake - Saturday 06/04

Nice find, thanks Brian!

Shhh.. here's a link to the Hagg article in NWSportsman
http://openpub.realread.com/rrserver/browser?title=/MIP/NS5-09-1024

Pg 48.

awesome

Sooooo,,,,What happened?

Did you guys serve them their lunch (or did they catch yours)?
And how come nobody mentioned the 5" jointed rapala in rainbow?

I made it out on the water by 8am.  Aux Coast Gaurd wanted to verify I was all safe before I went out, so "Ms. Slow Q's" grilled me for nearly a half hour while I was trying to get things in order to hop in the kayak.   Got my fancy triangle sticker.  Whoohoo! 

I paddled over to the Tanner arm and tried for Crappie, and Bass but the wind kept pushing me off target.  Hind Sight says I should have brought the anchor.     Next time!

With no luck at Tanner arm other than a few nibbles, I paddled up Scoggins arm.  No bites there either.  Thought I would shoot for the damn and see what's going on over there.  By the time I paddled through the head wind and was at ramp C again, I decided I'm not having fun anymore, and that I should just pack it in for the day.  It was noon by this time. 

As I left the dam, I think I say P_S_R out there along the north wall. 

Ended up taking the wife and kids to the mall and spent some cash at Dicks's. Picked up an 8/20lb 6' 6" Ugly stick for the wife to target rockfish with.   It was listed at $29, and then there was an additional $5 off for fishing rod sale.   
Not too shabby for a rod that has a 7 year warranty and nearly unbreakable.  Also picked through their Gulp Alive critters for Surf Perch. 

Was looking for jig heads larger than 1 oz as well as larger Gulp Alive swimbaits.  Nothing really jumped out at me.  They have prepackaged 3oz-8oz combo's, but nothing in the Gulp works. 

On a side note: The clerk said now that Joe's is gone, they are going to ramp up their saltwater fishing gear selection.   

I arrived at boat ramp C at 5:15, one other vehicle in the parking lot, a bank fisherman.  I took my time rigging up and fidgeting with the FF.   Filled the little cell foam tray up with water, kept repositioning the battery, trying to decide where I wanted the seeminly huge motorcycle battery, inside my cockpit which seems to be shrinking at an incredible rate in my SIK. Finally got rigged settled in and headed out, still only one other person on the bank in sight.

I was alone on the lake, the wind picked up and it was really peaceful with the sunrise, right until I got this weird feeling –right between my legs.  Apparently my goop seal around the foam tray had failed, and the water leaked out...Awesome.  Looked at the sonar screen, it wasn't reading the bottom any longer.  At that point i decided I'd just dangle the transducer over the side crossing the cord through some of my bungee cables, it kept banging against the side which was annoying so i just tossed it inside my cockpit and kept trolling (ford fender with a snubber then a 3" jointed brown trout rapala).  At this point surfinor met up with me on the lake.  I glanced at my ff display and somehow it was giving me a reading, just lying on the bottom of my hull, so I held it over the side level noted the reading, then stuck it right under my seat, aww ya!  It wasn't that wet under my seat at that point, my jeans had absorbed a lot of the water that had been in the tray, was enough to make the transducer wet but this thing baffles me.  Anyways I was able to use the fish finder all day, I was more into chatting, watching the structure of the lake and spotting fish than I was about fishing.  Needles to say I got skunked, but I'm getting familiar with my ff and it was a blast to see all those fish, next time I need to try actually fishing at the depths where they are, and slow down my troll speed. Had a good time talking with surfanor, we paddled around something like 8 miles before I had to leave at 12:20 or so, as I was paddling back to the boat ramp I heard him holler and hold up a fish  at least we both didn't get skunked Wink  The water was 69.9 on the surface when I got there
 
Went home took a nap, loaded up the Suburu and headed out to detroit lake, decided I wasn't going to target the trophies just as much as I wanted to catch fish before the day was over, caught a couple trout decided that was good enough for dinner and headed in.  The next morning I decided I wanted to catch some kokanee, sonar battery was dead, decided I'd just experiment letting out different length of line to fish different depths.  I was told the kokanee were probably 40', so that's what I was shooting for.  No such luck, so i switched bag to fishing closer to the top between 10-20 ' and just slaughtered the trout.  Let almost all go, was having all kinds of bites and action, was a lot of fun but no kokanee, or land locked chinook, I did try a little for those as well.  So ya I need to try out the 8 AA battery setup both as a backup and just to save space inside my cockpit.  Was a good weekend of paddling though, and I was amazed at how many big fish I saw at hagg.
dsc
Quote from: INSAYN on Today at 08:40:52 PM
I made it out on the water by 8am...

As I left the dam, I think I say P_S_R out there along the north wall.  combo's, but nothing in the Gulp work

Dude i didn't see any other yaks beside surfinor, crazy!  I definitely need to get a VHF!

I never made it to the dam via kayak.  I was focusing on bass and crappie at the other end of the lake.  Failed at both.   

I made it out on the water by 8am.  Aux Coast Gaurd wanted to verify I was all safe before I went out, so "Ms. Slow Q's" grilled me for nearly a half hour while I was trying to get things in order to hop in the kayak.   Got my fancy triangle sticker.  Whoohoo!  

For the kayak? That's interesting. What did she have to check other than your PFD and whistle?  And where are you supposed to put your windshield sticker?

Hagg can be pretty breezy and an anchor would work in the skinny water. But to slow you almost to a stop in the wind, a drift chute works great. It also does not weigh much or take up much space either.

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,1238.msg9325.html#msg9325

I then stuck it right under my seat, aww ya!  It wasn't that wet under my seat at that point, my jeans had absorbed a lot of the water that had been in the tray, was enough to make the transducer wet but this thing baffles me.  Anyways I was able to use the fish finder all day,,,,,,

 I knew it should work just held against the hull! Glad it worked out for you PSR! That battery however, should have given you a week of FF use so something is fishy there. Maybe the connection?

And that jointed rapala/ford fender thing only works for Spot when nobodies there.  

Dude i didn't see any other yaks beside surfinor, crazy!  I definitely need to get a VHF!

VHF is nice to have. This one worked (works) great till I gave it to my nephew. (forgot it in his stinkpot)

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,2049.0.html

I replaced it with this one for $10 more and its a bit nicer as it comes with the LiPo battery, charger, and a tray for AA's. Both radio's have been submersed and talked and listened just fine subsequently.

http://www.jaxkayakfishing.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=17829&highlight=vhf

I never made it to the dam via kayak. ,,, Failed at both.  

That's not failure. That's fishing!  
Just think, you could have been at work or cleaning the yard.
Which reminds me,,,

I thought it would work just held against the hull! Glad it worked out for you PSR. That battery however, should have given you a week of FF use so something is fishy there. Maybe the connection?

Ya, I'm not sure if the transducer being a little wet was the ticket, or maybe it still had mud on the bottom (it was WAY dirty first go around), or if it banging against the side was the trick.  It seemed to ping a lot louder after it was abused a little,    As far as the battery, it was given to me, guess it didn't have a full charge, I'll probably pick up a trickle charger from harbor freight on my way home today. 

And that jointed rapala/ford fender thing only works for Spot when nobodies there. 

  Should have known... heh

Thanks for the VHF recommendations FFTW

I hung around till about 4:00 ended up catching 3 Largemouths 10-14" on a shad colored rattlin rapala.  Not a bad day at all 9 hours of fishing and 3 fish lol.

And that jointed rapala/ford fender thing only works for Spot when nobodies there.  

That's right Wali.  You don't really think I'm going to use my special techniques when other AOTY fishermen are around do you?

I made it out on the water by 8am.  Aux Coast Gaurd wanted to verify I was all safe before I went out, so "Ms. Slow Q's" grilled me for nearly a half hour while I was trying to get things in order to hop in the kayak.   Got my fancy triangle sticker.  Whoohoo!  

For the kayak? That's interesting. What did she have to check other than your PFD and whistle?  And where are you supposed to put your windshield sticker?

She was in training, so I got the complete go around.  And the kayak wasn't even off loaded from the truck yet.  
She asked me all about the personal safety gear, bilge ailing equipment, hand signals, accident reporting time frames, if my kids have PFD's that actually fit, etc...   Then when she gave me my sticker, I asked her where it is supposed to go?  She said on the port side of the stern area.  

Hagg can be pretty breezy and an anchor would work in the skinny water. But to slow you almost to a stop in the wind, a drift chute works great. It also does not weigh much or take up much space either.

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,1238.msg9325.html#msg9325

Another item yet to purchase or make myself.

I never made it to the dam via kayak. ,,, Failed at both.  

That's not failure. That's fishing!  
Just think, you could have been at work or cleaning the yard.
Which reminds me,,,

Yup pretty much.  I'm still very new to both fishing and kayaking, and slowly learning.  

I made it out on the water by 8am.  Aux Coast Guard wanted to verify I was all safe before I went out, so "Ms. Slow Q's" grilled me for nearly a half hour while I was trying to get things in order to hop in the kayak.   Got my fancy triangle sticker.  Whoohoo! 

Not to sound like an anti-government extremist (especially when I suckle off of the teat of the taxpayer as a government employee myself), but what statutory authority does the coast guard auxiliary have?  Is Henry Hagg lake considered a navigable waterway in interstate commerce?  Do they have the authority to stop and detain?  I work with the regular CG alot, and the CG Aux are a friendly bunch (from my experience) but I never really thought about til now.  All I know is they get free gas. 

PS: I am not in any way disrespecting them, I am just curious.

Free gas??? sign me up!!

Thinking of heading to Hagg tomorrow.  Don't have anything else to do, so figure I'd make use of the annual pass on the car...