Most beautiful place I've ever fished.

[Fisherboy0301 0]

Today we went down to crystal lake in our john boat. Trolling motor didn't work so we had to paddle, that sucked. Bad. On top of that the lake yielded not a single bite. The pond is actually a dammed up spot on a creek. The dam it the end of the pond forms a small waterfall as the creek channel keeps water flowing, which forms a small brook that flows over rocks and forms rapids and pools. This is the only thing I've ever seen like this. I'm sure most of you regularly fish much more inspiring places, but for an ole Florida boy this was awesome. The brook was full of shiners and minnows, mussels, snails, and darters , there were even a few bass and bluegill too. I managed to catch one leetle bass on a curly tail grub, and tossed into a small pool about two foot deep, a larger bass about 3lbs darted out and grabbed the grub, only to jump throw it and shoot wayyyy down the brook.

 

 

 

 

[Spanky29ca 0]

That is a beautiful place , I'd be happy spending all day there even if I didn't catch a fish

[Bryon Anderson 0]

Very pretty spot. I love little creeks that tumble and chatter.

[Fisherboy0301 0]

I also learned that wet shale and granite, is SLIPPERY! My legs are beat up from wading. Needless to say I started hopping from rock to rock that was sticking up and dry. We flipped over lots of rocks looking for nymphs, hellgrammites, and even crawfish, but found none. Although there was a crawfish shell where something ate it on a rock.

[mikechell 0]

Amazingly, crayfish can be so fast to respond to the lifting of a rock, they are gone in the turbulence and you miss them. Or they are in deeper water. Inconsequential ... Just wondering out loud.

 

That is, indeed, a beautiful spot in the woods. Someplace to go for some solitude, looks to me. I'll admit to being terrible with a fly rod in such tight quarters ... preferring a spinning rod and a 1 inch floating minnow or a small jighead.

 

As for being with out a trolling motor. Sit on the front of the boat, like I do in my videos. With a regular canoe paddle, wrap your arm around the paddle to hold it securely with one arm. Using a side to side motion, scull the boat where ever you want it to go. It's a little hard to get the mechanics perfect ... but after a few minutes, you'll be moving the boat around better than you can with a motor.

I've never had a trolling motor, and I think there have been times when I've caught fish others can't, because I am not making that electric motor sound. The only time I've even thought about one, is when the wind gets a little too strong.

[ScottK 0]

I assumed you were using a trolling motor in your videos Mike.....couldn't see it but it looked like motor wake when you were positioning the boat. You're pretty good with the paddle!

 

Edit: Cool pics fisherboy, looks like my kind of place too.

[mikechell 0]

Thanks ... I've been sculling my boats for 30 years. But it's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. I can move my 14 foot boat so quietly, I've had people in the back that didn't know I was doing it ... and wondered why the boat was moving.

If you look closely, in one or two places in the videos, you'll see the yellow plastic paddle flash in and out of view.

[oldtrout58 0]

That is a beautiful place.

 

The most beautiful place in the USA that I've fished is the Nature Conservancy section of the McCloud River in California.

 

However, this river in Canada is quite spectacular (excuse my ugly mug).

[mikechell 0]

Fisherboy ... you began this thread with a complaint about using a paddle for your jon boat. Well, just as an experiment, I did a video showing how I use a paddle to scull the boat.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xYfj8s7xzE

[Fisherboy0301 0]

Nice video both on the sculling and fly line to leader attachment. Thank you.

[mikechell 0]

You're welcome.

[vicrider 0]

So that's how you end up with one arm like Popeye and one arm like Olive Oyl. I once went out with a small paddle and skulled a canoe for hours on a lake. Took two days for the pin in my arm to let up. I'll stick with my trolling motor and as long you keep the motor going at a slow and steady pace I've cruised over fish and caught them an arm's length from the boat. It's kicking it on and off that seems to spook them in a hurry.

[artimus001 0]

just looking at the first picture makes me feel at peace.

 

[mikechell 0]

So that's how you end up with one arm like Popeye and one arm like Olive Oyl. I once went out with a small paddle and skulled a canoe for hours on a lake. Took two days for the pin in my arm to let up. I'll stick with my trolling motor and as long you keep the motor going at a slow and steady pace I've cruised over fish and caught them an arm's length from the boat. It's kicking it on and off that seems to spook them in a hurry.

Fortunately, I've learned to scull with both arms, so I switch back and forth as the burn sets in. From the front of the boat, it's actually not very hard. I've done it on a friends pontoon boat, his trolling motor battery died early, and THAT left me with an ache for a day or two. But with my 14 foot jon boat, only when the wind blows against me, do I really feel a problem.

[NHMatt 0]

Beautiful spot. Sometimes I think I pick streams to fish based on the views.