Lake Aeroflex

June 3rd, 2012
blue skies, 80 degrees
Water Temperature 72 degrees
used medium sized flatheads (these were much bigger than I expected)

This was my first fishing trip in New Jersey and my first fishing trip with my new kayak, a 13 foot wilderness sit-on fishing kayak.  I was super excited to try Lake Aeroflex with having just set up my new Eagle 360c Fish Finder and a side mount for my transducer. 

My first objective was to find the saddle running across the middle of the Lake Aeroflex and fish it.  For those of you not familiar with the lake, the lake has a gradual drop to about 40 feet when leaving the boat ramp.  The lake then slops back up to about 3 to 5 feet of water (for about 10 yards) before dropping off to 90 feet of water.  For those without a depth finder, it is apparent where the saddle is because you can visibly see the bottom at times and there is quite a bit of weed growth coming up from the bottom.  I first fished the weed line in about 10 feet of water and then when into the weeds.  I fished in the direction of the Northeast shore first.  I didn't catch anything nor did I see much activity on my Eagle 360c.

My second objective was to fish the 'old house' on the Northeast shore.  There are some old concrete steps coming down from the 'old house' as well as a concrete platform.  There is an immediate drop off from shore, possibly 30 to 40 feet straight down.  Heading north and immediately after the concrete steps (on shore) the bottom rose up to about 25 feet and there was a big school of fish towards to the bottom.  I tried fishing off the bottom but never caught anything.

My third objective was to paddle the full length of the saddle and then fish the southwest shoreline.  I hardly saw any arches on my Eagle 360c covering the saddle, much to my surprise.  The biggest influence in deciding to fish the Northwest shoreline was wind, which is a big force in a kayak.  The southwest shoreline still has a dramatic drop but not as dramatic as the Northeast shoreline.  I was in about 20 to 25 feet of water casting to the shoreline.  I had my only strike under an overhanging tree and it was a good one.  My first reaction upon setting the hook was, "I might have too much fish for my boat".  Whatever it was, it gave me a good, strong, deep first run.  I eventually got him towards the surface and it most definitely was a good size largemouth bass.  He made another deep run and this time the drag started letting out line.  Another much larger boat began to creep in behind me and my first thought was "They probably think I have too much fish for my boat."  After the largemouth tired a bit more, I got a better glimpse of the fish as he rested near the surface and looked me in the eye.  I guess the fish must have been about 16 or 18 inches.  He made one final run and wouldn't you know it, the hook came out of his mouth.  I really could have used a net this day, so I will have to figure out where I am going to store a net on my kayak.

I continue to fish the southwest shoreline, heading in the eastern direction (away from the saddle and boat ramp) but I had no more bites.