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Tag Archives: Jackson Kayak

Yak-a-Bass

March 30, 2015
Freshwater, Kayak Fishing, Tournaments, Warmwater
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BCKFC held their first ever freshwater tourney, Yak-a-Bass, a couple weekends ago.  It was held out of Chicot State Park on beautiful Lake Chicot, near Ville Platte, Louisiana.  This was also BCKFC’s first ever CPR tourney as well, which wasn’t all that different from an IFA event.  Instead of a redfish and a trout combined, an angler’s three biggest bass would be scored as their cumulative digital stringer.  Thirty-eight yak anglers came out to compete in what promised to be tough conditions – rain was forecast at 100% after 10:00am.  Sixteen anglers caught bass and if I’m not mistaken only two filled their three bass stringer.  It was a tough day to say the least, so naturally, I skunked.

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Although the field failed to catch a lot of fish, there were at least a couple of stud fish caught.  Alton Stanford came through with big bass with a fish that was upwards of 21″ and 7 lbs.  Kelly Chacheres had another bass that was near 21″.  Alton’s fish was enough to give him third place, even more impressive I believe it was the first fish he has caught out of his kayak!  The rest of the winners are below:

1. Jason Dixon – 40″

2. Kevin May – 36.75″

3. Alton Stanford – 21″

4. Kelly Chacheres – 20.375″

5. Norman Walker – 15.25″

I hate that I skunked, but it was nice to get out.  I would avenge that skunking this past week on some bass up in North Louisiana, report to follow.

Cloudland Canyon

February 25, 2015
Exploring, Hiking, Waterfall
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Had some work to finish up in Georgia the week before Mardi Gras, which took me on a driving tour from Columbus to Macon, up through the East side of metro Atlanta and finally toward Chattanooga.  When I finished I found myself in the NW part of the state near a park I had always wanted to check out in person – Cloudland Canyon, which is on the western part of Lookout Mountain.  It was late in the day and I had about two hours left of daylight, but the folks at the front office assured me I had plenty of time to see the sights.  They were spot on too because in no time I was treated to this view.

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Cloudland Canyon was full of scenic vistas like this one at the top of the canyon.  Being a sucker for waterfalls I hiked the waterfall trail which was basically a there-and-back trip down to the bottom of the canyon.  It was a breeze going down, but I had to take my time coming back up – lots of stairs.  It was a really cool trail though with a lot of exposed rock.

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Daniel Creek lies at the bottom of the canyon and looks like it would be fun place to sling some flies.  I’ll bet it has it’s share of redeye bass.  It also boats a couple impressive waterfalls that I’m told become trickles in the summer – so I got to see them when they had decent flow.  I’m sure they rage after a storm.  Daniel and Bear Creek meet a short ways downstream at that point of my first picture as they flow through Sitton’s Gulch, views extend over both canyons via an overlook trail.

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Cloudland Canyon made for a nice end to my sojourn through Georgia, definitely worth a visit if you ever find yourself up that way – it is not too far off of I-59 near Trenton, GA.  After I left the park I made my way down to Attalla, AL to have a beer with my buddy Josh before I made the drive home the next morning.  He told me that those crazy Jacksons run Bear Creek when it has enough water.  Wasn’t too hard to find some film of this:

Tough, but worth the trip

January 23, 2015
Fly Fishing, Kayak Fishing, Saltwater
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Got out in the kayak this past weekend with Blake.  In the days leading up to the trip the forecast just kept getting better and better, which led to a somewhat inflated level of confidence for someone who hasn’t been out in the kayak since before Thanksgiving.  The weather was spectacular, but the fishing was pretty tough.  We weren’t fishing the Minimalist Challenge, but I’ve heard similar things from the competitors.  I have to attribute that to the cold front that moved through just a couple days prior because those fish were not on the flats in the morning like they should have been.  Even when we saw fish early on they were extremely spooky.  Eventually things warmed up and I was able to land a few fish on the fly, including a nearly 20″, 5 lb sheepshead and  a 32″ junior bull red.  Tough day, but a good trip nonetheless.

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