To set this trip report up, I will go back to last October when we starting receiving our new line of demo kayaks at Whitewater Warehouse.  I had been anticipating the arrival of the new Wilderness Systems Commander 120 for a while, so once it arrived in our demo fleet I wanted to take it out immediately!  The only thing that was in the way of taking it out on the water was an Ohio boat license, and the fact that we do not purchase any licenses for our demo fleet until April 2010.  The anticipation of taking this boat out on the water without a boat license almost got the best of me, but better judgment prevailed.  So now back to the present, and a Commander with freshly adhered boat license.  A friend of mine (who will remain nameless) got his first taste of kayaking late last year and had been excited to get out this year and try fishing from a kayak. Not only did our schedules not cooperate, but Ohio weather in March/April wasn't on our side.  We decided to hit the Little Miami River on 4/22 for a short 3-4 mile trip from the Narrows on Indian Ripple Road down to the Mill Bridge Launch off of Washington Mill Road.  It was a pretty warm day for April in the mid 70’s, but the water was clear and still pretty chilly so I wasn’t sure how the fishing would turn out. 

After launching and a quick tutorial to my buddy on how to best control his kayak while fishing we headed down stream.  My friend doesn’t fish often and fishes rivers even less so I wasn’t quite sure how he would do or if he had the right tackle for the type of fishing we would do.  Since I knew this area fairly well I knew that fishing was always slow near our launch point due to fishing pressure so we didn’t focus on fishing for the first mile or so.  I soon realized my fears when my buddy spent the first mile floating in his kayak down the river while trying to untangle a big knot in his open face reel.  Once we got into an area that I knew held some large smallmouth we beached the kayaks and started to wade fish a small little pool.  My buddy’s first cast sent his jig out about 15 yards and rapidly back towards him another 5 yards from some whiplash action.  He instantly started shaking his head and said that he was at the end of the line on his rod.  After a good laugh I told him that it is a good thing the river for the most part is only 20 yards across!  After not catching a single thing in the first little pool we stopped, I started thinking that the day was really going to be a fishless trip. 

We started floating downstream and I ended up catching a small 10” smallmouth on a stickbait from the boat in some pretty deep water.  With minimal fishing success for the next mile I realized that I completely forget the main thing I wanted to try out on the new Commander…the ‘Captain’s Seat’.  The Commander has dual seating, one that is a typical kayak seat that has the ability to slide back under another seat that sits up higher; similar to a canoe seat.  After sliding back the main seat I started paddling/fishing from the ‘Captain’s Seat’.  The first thing I noticed was a much better view to fish holding areas.  I was now able to see submerged logs and rocks that were not visible from the lower seat.  One of those logs was holding the pictured smallmouth that was approx. 16”.  Up to this point my friend had not caught a single fish and was still upbeat and heard mumbling that ‘this is the life’.  His declaration told me he wouldn’t mind taking my camera and snapping a few pictures of the respectable 16” smallie I had just caught.  Right after taking a couple of pictures we realized we were already at the take out.

After getting out of our kayaks I heard my buddy scream a couple of expletives that I thought were the result of him not landing any fish, but soon realized I only wish this true.  He let me know that he left his keys in my truck at the put in!  I just shook my head and was thankful that I brought my waterproof box with cell phone inside.  I am still going to keep my buddy’s name confidential so that he doesn’t get embarrassed about this whole fishing trip because that is the kind of guy I am.  I do however want to give a shout out to his dad, Jim Jung, for picking me up at the take out and driving me up to my truck.  After all was said and done my friend (which I want to point out I still did not name) without any broken spirits said that he wants to do this again, and SOON! 

I also want to make it clear that I didn't want to post any pictures of my buddy so that his identity would remain anonymous (it also didn't help that he caught zero fish).

-Neil

Go to other Kayak Fishing Trip Reports....