JaSkynyrd, Big South Fork kayak trip, Smallmouth, 4/7-4/9, Chris

[JaSkynyrd]

Chris and I did our kayak thing this year up on the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River. We put our kayaks in close to Oneida, Tn and ended up at Blue Heron, KY, 28 river miles away. We went through the Big South Fork National River Recreation area and talk about way out there! The closest we came to people that weekend were a couple of jetliners we saw fly over at about 30,000 ft. It is out there. Anyway, I started off with the first fish within 100 ft of the put in point on my 5th cast, catching a .5 pound smallmouth.

That was it.

We kayaked another 147,740 ft. without as much at a nibble. The flow was pretty high; a good float/fishing trip is accomplished at about 750 CFS, it was running between 4-5000 CFS while we were there (down from 30,000 CFS a mere three days prior). That really messed the fish up, and the water was kinda cold too. The scenery was great and we had some nice meals out there but the fishing was just the DUMPS. Here's all the pictures, all scenery, no fish. Sorry!

 

[shsimons]

Amazing shots Rich.

 

[tnfatguy]

Great report and pics!

 

[8 Ball]

that is probably the most photogenic post I've seen on CFF. Awesome pics and thanks for sharing.

 

[charlie]

Thanks for the memories! I caught a big walleye just above Leatherwood Ford about 50 years ago. Never caught a lot of fish on BSF or Clear Fork but beautiful water and great sport. Charlie

 

[Carl Guffey]

<font face="georgia,palatino" size="2">Great post and a nice shot of yellow face. I have been up on that particular ridge several times guiding horse trips.</font>

 

[shrtfysh]

<font color="#0000cc" size="3" face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Great pictures. emoThumbsup I take my Girl Scouts backpacking in Big South Fork all the time. It's a beautiful areaand we hardly ever see anyone.</font>

 

[birdman]

Awesome

 

[Nauticman]

Beautiful pics, thanks for sharing!

 

[greenhead]

my daughter is 3. I don't want to speed up time with her, but trips like that are what I dream about. Taking her camping and fishing. I just hope she wants to be outdoors when she gets older. So far so good.

 

[greenhead]

Where did you put in and take out?

 

[Big Ridge Brewer]

Great pics. I know weight is the enemy in a kayak, but you should look at getting a cast iron skillet.

 

[Bprice]

Just plain awesome man. My grandmother is from Huntsville, TN just near Big South Fork. A special place to me. Amanda and I hiked up there for two days... a truly remarkable place.

 

[SpurHunter]

A perfect example of making a report even when the "catching" sucked. What an amazing post of photos Rich, I am soooooo jealous!

 

[bulldoglizard]

Those are some very pictures.

 

[JaSkynyrd]

greenhead - 4/17/2011 9:06 PM

Where did you put in and take out?

Put in at the Leatherwood Ford ramp and took out at Blue Heron, there is a take out/put in ramp there as well right below Devil's Jump rapids.



Also, I've got a cast iron skillet but didn't want to risk losing it if I flipped, the skillet I brought was 79 cents at americas thrift store so anything could happen to it and I wouldn't care.

 

[kbsfisherman]

Great photos! I'd like to go there sometime. I have a kayak too. Give me a shout if you ever need someone to go with

 

[jenko157]

Man those photos bring back some fond memories. We used to spend the first 5 days of gun season in November on the BSF. We canoed in and out. Thanks for taking the time to post these pics.

 

[Big Ridge Brewer]

For .79 I would have used it too.

 

[Longhorn]

awesome picks of my homeland, I am from oneida headed up that way for the holiday weekend. It is really hard to get on that fish with the water going that fast. I bet angel falls was a trip. I have caught one of my biggest smallmouths around angel falls. Try walleye in march can be excellent, smallmouthand, redeye in the the summer and this place is a sleeper musky hideout. I have seen some biguns out of there. I will be there saturday turkey hunting.