A Game of Thirds.....

You know how there is a common saying that things happen in "3's"? Well today was that in full effect.  What do I mean?  Let's review......

There was the Three Stooges segment:

1. Driving away from my house with a full mug of ice and water for the day, only it was still atop my vehicle when I left the house and promptly fell and popped open losing all of its contents as I left the neighborhood.
2. Launching and getting halfway to my spot before I realized I had left the water I had purchased in the car to replace the lost water and ice spilled earlier.
3. A lack of concentration later in the morning that resulted in a massive tangle of line, treble hooks and crawling all the way to the back of the kayak to unravel the mess.

Later, there was the Get Smart (Missed it By That Much) trifecta:

1. The first fish of the day was a largemouth bass and sure to be a miss simply because I had paired the wrong bait with the wrong rod - the action was too fast for a hookset that required more power (topwater frog should not be placed on a traditional topwater rod (Moderate) = wrong action = bad hookset = lost fish)
2. The second fish of the day was another largemouth bass and sadly a partial hookset, but at least it was with the right rod this time.  The fish just spit the bait as fast as it had swallowed it.
3. The third fish of the day was an over 30" snakehead that waked like a torpedo chasing the Ribbit only to barely swipe at it and spit it again before I could set the hook.

Then there was the Murphy's Law episode:

1. The winds picked up and started blowing 15+
2. I launched at the peak of outgoing current (my primary spots were not fishable)
3. The carp and gar were in a full frenzy clouding up the water with their shallow water antics 

But, it wasn't all bad.  There was the trilogy of positive things that happened on the day:

1. When I saw the fish were not hitting the Ribbit with full vigor, I changed up my frog presentation to the Evolve Hollow Body frog (has a rattle inside) and paid instant dividends
2. I caught a 18" fat largemouth bass on the Evolve frog
3. I caught and landed my first ever VA snakehead at 23.5" on the same Evolve Frog  

All in all a successful day even if Mother Nature decided to kick it up a notch on the wind scale by the time I was headed in - winds were gusting to 20+.

As with all of my blog posts moving forward, I will divulge what I was using in the hopes that some may find it helpful.

Technique: Targeting backside of spatterdock pockets that protruded away from the shoreline in current. I also targeted weed lines and any clear water. For the spatterdock part, I also apply the same technique for traditional lily pads, rocks, water shield, lay downs, grass, etc..  Basically, I was looking for likely ambush points where a predator fish could get out of current but still have access to any nearby forage.

Today's shout out to my sponsors:

Kayak: 2019 Hobie Outback

Stakeout Power-Pole Micro Shallow Water Anchor

Electronics: Lowrance Elite 7 TI2

Accessories: YakAttack Omega Rod Holders, Panfish, Panfish Portrait and Lowrance FF Mount

Rods: Bull Bay Rods Tactical Assault and Flipping custom, Orvis Clearwater 8wt fly rod

Sunglasses: Hobie Polarized Mantas

Non-sponsored equipment that I was using:

Lures: Stanley Ribbit, Rebel Pop-R and Evolve Frog

Line: Sunline FX2 Frog & Flipping Braid (60lb) and PLINE Fluouroclear 20lb Fluourocarbon

Other Items: EGO Slider Landing Net and EGO fish grips

Tight lines, stay safe and hope to see you on the water soon!