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Post by ksrsdad on Apr 11, 2015 21:16:35 GMT -5
Hey Guys, I'm Jeb. I'm new to the sport. After a lot of research I decided to buy a kayak. I bought a Wilderness Systems Ride 135 Max. I've taken it out a handful of times and I'm absolutely hooked now. My first time out really fishing in it I caught my new personal best Smallmouth, a 22" 6lb monster. I'm From Giles County and I mainly fish the New in the area. I'm looking for a good place to do an actual float trip in my yak. Any suggestions on a good fishing/easy paddling trip would be greatly appreciated.
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Post by philipgoldwing on Apr 12, 2015 7:07:01 GMT -5
Welcome to the site Jeb. That is one nice smallie. Congrats. There are so many good floats on the river I don't know where to begin. My personal favorite is Eggleston to Pembroke but it is an all day float if you're fishing. I would suggest you hook up with other members and let them take you on floats they are familiar with until you get to know the river more. What days are you available? We have a couple of members who can go during the week but most only on weekends. I'm sure you saw that we are having a "Spring Kickoff" the first weekend in May. It would be a great opportunity to meet some of our members and make connections from there. As soon as the water warms up a bit,I usually go every weekend (prefer Saturdays) And am always up for taking a newbie out. The spring bite should be kicking in real soon. Put a post up if you want to do a float and I'm sure someone will get back to you to hook up.
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Post by ksrsdad on Apr 12, 2015 9:42:26 GMT -5
Thanks Phil, I was very happy with that fish. I had a very limited window to fish and I wasn't expecting to really catch anything. I work M-F so I'm available on weekends. Provided something doesn't come up I would like to come by one day for the Spring Kickoff and meet everyone. I've heard that the Eggleston float is a good one for both Smallies and Muskies(never fished for them). I've thought about doing the float from Bluff City to Narrows because there isn't and rapids to deal with and I can hit up warm water discharge out of Celanese. I don't have anyone to do a float with yet so I've limited my self to just paddling easier areas to where I can just paddle back to the boat landing. Thanks for warm welcome.
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Post by bronzbackhunter on Apr 12, 2015 9:45:55 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum. The Ride 135 is a grate boat.
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Post by uncross on Apr 12, 2015 9:52:03 GMT -5
welcome to the site and congrats on that pig smallie. There are a lot of us on here that mainly fish the new. We have some group floats coming up soon. One float we talked about doing soon was Narrows to Glen Lyn. We did it a few times last fall and there big fish caught every trip. I fish a lot by myself, and paddle upstream and fish my way back down.
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Post by ksrsdad on Apr 12, 2015 10:13:09 GMT -5
I love my 135, I got it instead of the 115 so my daughter can ride in it with me. Uncross, thanks that's the biggest smallie I've ever caught. On that float where did y'all put in? above or below the falls? I've fished that area a lot but only from the bank.
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Post by madriverheath on Apr 12, 2015 18:49:22 GMT -5
Me and uncross floated down to narrows back in November. I paddle up from the ramp in narrows and fish a couple times a week in the summer so anytime you want to go give me a shout. Nice fish and welcome.
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Post by wvfisherman on Apr 12, 2015 19:28:01 GMT -5
Welcome aboard
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Post by ksrsdad on Apr 12, 2015 22:14:35 GMT -5
Thanks Guys, I did the float from Bluff City to Narrows today. I caught an 18" and a 15". I don't have an anchor so I couldn't stay at warm water discharge as long as I would have liked. As I floated by I saw a guy catch a possible trophy smallmouth there. It was a nice easy float although it did get a little sketchy once I hit the small rapids after Celanese. I didn't expect the water to be as shallow as it was there. Next time I want to do a float I would like to have someone along to teach me more about how to better navigate the river. As long as the weather is nice next weekend I plan on being on the water. If anyone is doing a float in the area I would love to tag along if anyone would have me.
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