I finished off what needed doing at work on the Tuesday, including sorting out the demo trailer after the Exmouth weekend, and headed home for a quick dinner and chance to say goodbye to my family before jumping in the van for the three hour drive down to Gatwick. I was booked into a swanky hotel that I sadly didn’t have enough time to enjoy before taking the shuttle down to the airport in the morning. Checked in and through passport control (minus shoes for some bizarre reason) I filled up on a very good breakfast and boarded my flight with Delta Airlines.
We were routed over England, Wales (couldn’t see any yaks), Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, Canada and down North America to Georgia. That thing about going in a curve being the shortest route between two points on earth being remembered. There’s one huuuuuge lake between Canada and America that took far longer to cross than the English Channel and this really brought home the size difference between home and America. I was really fortunate that the window seat proved a good choice as I was able to see the land/sea for the whole flight and it still never fails to intrigue me. I’ve got to say that the flight out was the best I’ve had (and I’ve had a few) with the cabin crew really looking after us – plenty of fluids regularly offered and a good choice of films/programmes to watch too.
Landing at Atlanta I felt the warmth immediately. It was in the eighties, sunny and not overly humid and even the air-conditioning didn’t drop things too much as I made my way through immigration – sweating slightly as apart from having been deported last time (a technical deportation due to a job loss) I had a passport containing stamps from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt…clearly though the demeanour of such a consummate professional businessman impressed the guy at the desk and I was let through. It took a while though, as did transiting the airport and picking up the hire car. And here came the first time I’d ever sat on the wrong side of a car with the gear stick on the wrong side, first time in an automatic without individual gears and only two pedals…I stalled and hopped my way out of the Avis park and onto Interstate 85 South, heading the three hours south to Eufaula, Alabama – home of Humminbird.
The great thing about the Interstate is that every exit has signs telling you which fast foods are available there…first stop was Wendy’s for a half-pounder with cheese, a coke and fries. Delicious!
I arrived in Eufaula shortly before six, later than planned, and everyone had gone home from the factory so I checked in and decided to have a nose about the town. The north side has the historic buildings (marginally older than my home and younger than my parents’) while the main area consisted mostly of fast food restaurants, some fuel stations and a handful of large stores. £20 for Levi’s 501’s proved irresistible and so did one of the food chains!
Next morning I headed down to the Humminbird headquarters and met up with Mark, Joby and another chap whose name I’ve forgotten. I had a look at a few bits and then had a lesson on the various finders in the range before we headed out onto the water. Saw a lovely lizard, grey with an orangey-red head while waiting for Mark to come out to the boathouse where the Ranger bass-boat was waiting:
Off we went, an 1197 rigged up by Mark’s console. A big, bright screen with tremendous clarity he showed me just what it was capable of and I was impressed. Not really kayak-sized (could double as a sail though) but the stuff you can pick out was amazing. Areas of grass, rocks, stumps, pilings even fish beds where some of the fish lie to spawn – and of course fish themselves.
These were barges, half sunken and visible above water:
The bridge pilings showed up beautifully too:
Fascinating stuff but unfortunately the wind started to pick up and rain looked imminent so after half an hour or so we headed in at a gentle 40mph+…!
By now it was 11:30 and it was time to meet Randall, the man from production and repair. Duly met, the two of us and Joby headed off for lunch. Fried chicken with Stinger sauce, fries, fried bread and a bucket of coke set me up for the afternoon and we headed for the factory floor where Randall showed me how the Humminbird units progress through the various stages of construction and testing (multiple tests at many stages) from bare circuit boards through to the finished units that are then run continuously overnight to iron out any bugs. Transducers are all tested as well – nothing leaves the factory untested. Again, very interesting to see how that plastic box of black magic on my kayak is manufactured, at times I was in fact incredulous.
That done I spent an hour or two with the lady (whose name I also forget even though we got on really well) who handles the international repairs.
Basically, if we can’t fix units that come in under warranty we replace them and they come back to Eufaula for repair and reconditioning. Watching her putting miniscule parts into dead units was an education in itself and I repaid her by answering questions such as had I seen any princes, were guardsmen really not allowed to move, how much was gas (almost everyone I held a conversation with mentioned the struggle now that petrol was getting close to $4 a gallon. Being around $10-12 here left most of them shocked!).
Following this it was back to the hotel, then Walmart and another round of eating. Really, the American fast-food is fantastic. I never once felt the need to seek out a ‘proper’ restaurant as this was a real education in food culture – and besides I knew that helping with the unloading containers of kayaks once back home would help work it off! That night was Taco Bell which I had long wanted to try. Sad to say that in this instance it was not up to the expectations although still quite pleasant.
Next morning began with another hour or two on the water, this time with Joby and the other chap. We took some rods in the hope of my getting a photograph of the unit with a fish in the photograph too (I thought it was a good enough excuse!).
Things began well with a hook-up on a bass within minutes on a spinner bait but unfortunately it dropped off. Other than that we had a few follows and plucks between us (I had a good sized Longnose Gar follow my worm in) but nothing took hold.
All the time we played with the 1197 so that I could get an idea of its capabilities.
We then rode out to the swimming pool that features in the brochures and advertisements and the clarity was superb – I could easily count the steps down into the deep end. There was a fish in the pool too.
We circled it, crossed it and generally got as many ways of looking at it as possible.
Then the engines opened up and we headed back.
Aikidojon would eat his heart out – we hit 60.9 mph, double the speed I’ve ever been on the water.
Dinner again, this time Mexican with Randall and then it was off to see Rhonda and her team, and I spent the afternoon with Deborah listening in to her giving technical support over the telephone to all the callers. What struck me (apart from the encyclopaedic knowledge of Deborah and the others) was how different the calls were to the ones I’ve been handling. I found that people were incredibly polite in their speech and also had a very comprehensive technical understanding of their units – most had installed them properly into bass boats and had checked things out with voltmeters etc. It was a real education as was the rest of the visit but my two-day visit was over now and I just had time to go and say goodbye to everyone who’d helped give me an insight into the products I’m now working with. Their hospitality and generosity really was something special.
Well then, it’s 4:30pm in Eufaula, what should I do? Obvious really – head over to Georgia and get a one day fishing licence for the next day. So off I went to the next town. Nearly an hour later a guy with a gun sold me my licence and as tempted as I was to buy a bucket of crickets I headed back to the hotel without them. A quick dinner of deep-fried crumbed prawns from Captain D’s and it was off to bed for a 2:30am wake-up as I was meeting Shoalbandit from the Georgia Kayak Fishing Forum around 5-ish for a day's fishing on a River. Originally I’d thought I’d be on Lake Lanier as many of the forum had very kindly expressed a willingness to look after me but as it would be a 5-6 hour drive from Eufaula to a point that I would probably be unable to find and which was 3 hours drive from the hotel I was booked into on Saturday night I very reluctantly had to back out. I also hoped to try for the Sunday but what with it being Memorial Day on Monday and the start of summer that weekend Lanier would be crowded with gin palaces and a flight without shower covered in fish slime would not go down well with my neighbour. Next time guys, I promise, and my apologies it wasn’t this time.
Here’s where I get around to writing about the fishing!
Jason very kindly came down south to meet me en-route and I followed him for a while before getting to the launch point just as it was starting to get light. He'd brought a spare yak for my use; I was happy because the previous time I'd used a Drifter I'd caught in minutes and I like the boat. He was in a Caper that although a year old was absolutely hammered to bits. He's a guy who uses it every weekend as a fishing platform and it shows – thanks to rocks it's even scruffier than mine!
Jason took the lead and I followed with me trolling a plug in the hope of an early fish. I saw muskrats swimming and heard a few fish jumping and then a slap – I thought it was a big fish but apparently not – it's something beavers do when you annoy them. Don't have a lot of them where I usually fish!
We pulled the yaks up onto some rocks and started chucking poppers out – within a couple of casts Jason was in...A small Shoal Bass had taken a plug not a great deal larger than its own body! Greedy things it seemed, and they were feeding – the day bode well. No more fish came so we set off again, Jason paddling in a style I hadn't seen or tried before. I left it a while before I tried...He didn't just paddle this way but fished like it as well. I don't think I'd try it from a Prowler with its more streamlined hull but the Caper and Drifter suited this style well.
He was in again...A few jumps and strong pulls and then it came in. I paddled over for a photograph and then got in closer to admire a beautifully conditioned 4lb Shoalie.
We paddled some more, me wearing sunglasses for once due to the strong sun – it's rare that I bother to wear them over here as even on bright days the intensity is not as pronounced.
The polarising lenses proved useful too for spotting fish.
There were many pools and shallows amongst the rocks and between resting against them and hopping out I was starting to get a feel for the river although I still hadn't had a hook-up although I'd had a couple of knocks. I changed over on Jason's advice to a Texas-rigged 6-inch brown worm and he showed me how to fish with it. Cast out on light tackle and work it slowly, very slowly, tapping it here and there then letting it sink before another lift. Quite different to how I normally fish but I was there to learn and I had a good teacher...
a take!
my first Georgian fish and first in America from a kayak..of course I had to record this for posterity!
and so did Jason. For once I wasn't the only one snapping away.
It wasn't a biggie but it was my first bass – a Spotted Bass.
We paddled around a bit more and I eventually struck into another fish – a Largemouth Bass probably, of around 4-5lb but broke the line and left me cursing my luck. In the meantime Jason was catching fish left, right and centre. It was around this time that I found a mascot for my yak back home:
By mid-morning we had worked our way downriver to a point where we could drag the yaks up and look for fish. We found a pool holding good Common Carp and Longnose Gar and returned to set up rods with more suitable tackle. Seeing a load of small fish I decided on some species hunting and dropped in some freelined bread, taking a Bluegill
a pretty fish
and then a beautifully marked Redbreast Sunfish
even Jason got in on the act, getting a Redbreast Sunfish as well
Then down to the pool and an attempt to get some of the Carp. Bread wasn't working so we tried some tinned sweetcorn, loose feeding sparingly and then sticking single kernels on the hook, freelined, and trying to tempt them. It worked.
Up she came
beautifully conditioned and with strongly bronzed flanks I led her in after a five minute battle on 8lb line and a spinning rod, the drag set light so it could run against the current and not straighten the hook.
Once it was ready I got close to the water and grabbed the trace before handing Jason the rod
I was then able to carefully lift her out of the water to unhook her. Beauty! An 8-10lb Common in perfect condition caught from the wild, unlike those boilie-stuffed freaks we see on the commercial waters in England.
Putting her back I watched as Jason fished for one as well. I had a look about and found a beaver sitting in a hollow in the bank. Never seen one before that close!
Wandering back to where Jason was I noticed something underneath the rocks he was standing on:
Bingo! He was in...and it was a good fish by the look of things – it took a lot of line before getting itself the other side of rocks and debris, necessitating a bit of rock-hopping to get in a position to land it once it was tired enough...what a beauty! A decent double-figure fish, I reckon on it being at least 15lb
Back it went and we headed off back to the yaks to try for some more Bass.
I had a play again for some of the Panfish and had some more Redbreast Sunfish before heading upstream to try and do the same as Jason – ie catch some Bass! It didn't take long before I had another one, a Spotted Bass
A bit more time passed before the worm took another fish and as I struck into it it hit the surface
and then took off, taking line with it
I soon had it beaten and it calmed down...again, nothing large but a respectable fight nonetheless
Another Shoalie! Sleek and firm, and strong from battling the faster water.
It took a while before the worm did its magic again but I soon got another, this being a better Shoalie of around a couple of pounds.
More time passed and then I was in again…I was starting to get the hang of these jelly worms!
A Spotted Bass this time.
The next one to hit the worm jumped clear of the water and was a biggie – around 5lb I'd estimate but it threw the hook on that jump. Not long after I struck into another fish – my biggest landed one of the day; my last Shoal Bass and the last fish of the day.
It was time to head in. I'd had a cracking day on the river fishing amongst beautiful scenery in a place with conditions I'm not used to. A lovely stretch and a fascinating variety of bird and fish species to look at! So in I went the Shoalbandit way, just as the fishing was due to get better as dusk was coming – but I had a hotel to get to and had been up too long for someone stuck, mentally, between timezones. What a brilliant days' fishing! I'd had 4 Shoal Bass, 3 Spotted Bass, a Common Carp, a Bluegill and 5 Redbreast Sunfish. All new personal bests and new species apart from the Carp.
It was dark when I checked into my hotel at around 11:30pm and I was asleep within minutes of closing my eyes – there was no way I’d be able to fish the next day as I’d not be able to force myself out of bed early enough. I did the next best thing though and headed north of Atlanta to a Bass Pro shop after a late breakfast.
I was hoping to stock up on some Rapala Magnums but unfortunately they didn’t have any – but I did get some great waterproof canvas boat bags and a few other items. It was certainly an experience to poke around in such a store, especially seeing everything from a packet of hooks to fully-kitted Bass boats on display, not to mention the Humminbird and Minn Kota displays which I need to think about now I’m back at work. By midday I’d left and was on my way back to Atlanta Airport to catch a flight back to the torrential rain and gales sweeping southern England, worn out and happy – I’d had a great time amongst great people and my only regret was that I couldn’t stay longer and meet more people, eat more burgers and catch more fish!
