A New Kind of Battle
The end of October. The beautiful fall colors have dropped from the limbs, now rotting on the forest floor and my gutters. The water temperatures are below 50, the air temperature in the 30's at night. I hit one of our favorite lakes with a buddy, hoping to get into some of the 5-6 lb. bass of recent weeks. I was currently holding onto 2nd place with 60.75" for the KBF Regional Challenge (MN, WI, MI). My fellow FeelFree Kayak Fishing Team member Mike McKinstry was 1.5" ahead of me in first place. I needed 2 21" tankers or a 22" monster to move ahead (note 3 fish bags over 60" are extremely tough in this region - we had both been blessed with an epic month). The conditions seemed right. The skies overcast, rain in the forecast, and a light breeze. But they weren't. The water temperatures low, bass were not as active. We found ourselves catching Northern Pike and dink bass. I had landed a nice 24" Northern Pike with a good amount of m