Dink Fest 2012

Wednesday morning I set out with my girlfriend, Lilly, and her parents.  The four of us loaded up the truck with kayaks and a canoe and set out for the New River; we were off to float from Eggleston down to Pembroke.  The area is known for its precipices lining the length of the float, and made this float particularly picture worthy.  I struggled through the first half with no luck with cranks, topwater, or spinnerbaits.  Lilly was having luck on her Rebel Pop-R for smallies.

After She Switched to a White Grub

After we finished lunch Lilly's parents were off to the races.  They started floating and never turned back for the rest of the trip, but me and Lilly decided to take our time beating the banks and pushwater/eddies.  I finally got dialed in to a solid pattern that I would use for the rest of the trip.

First Decent One of The Day

I noticed that anything chartreuse they were going nuts over chasing.  I tied a 1/8oz jig head with a 3in Zoom curly tail white grub onto my 4'6"ft mini ultra-light; I dipped the tip of the tail in chartreuse spike-it.

I threw my grub everywhere from the banks to deepwater ledges and everything in between, and had lots of luck.  My first fish were dinks ranging from 8-12in, but I did manage to land two 15+in smallmouth bass before reaching the takeout.

Those Cliffs are Home to Lots of Hawks

Overall it was a great day on the water.  I saw a big ~45in musky, and a handful of "C" class smallmouth cruising the shallows with little interest in anything I threw at them.  I cannot wait to float this stretch again and hook into some true New River "footballs".

Another Average