Kayaking Lake Vesuvius in April

Since winter is firmly here in the north eastern region of Kentucky, I'm not able to do much fishing. However, I did go quite a bit back during the summer and I have plenty of pics and tales to tell. This particular trip was in mid April of this past year. About two years ago, a good friend and I invested in some cheap kayaks. We were tired of fishing off the banks all the time and having to walk 3 miles around a lake just to get to a good spot. Being too poor to buy a both, we each decided to get a kayak.

Flash forward to April 2014. We've been out many times the previous summer and this is our first fishing venture of the year. By this time my truck has kicked the bucket and I end up borrowing my step-dad's truck so that I don't have to strap the kayak to the top of my new(er) car. The idea freaked me out; terrified I'd scratch my car or shatter the sun roof, or bend the fenders with ratchet straps. Any number of these popped in my head, so I borrowed the S10 instead.

Map of Lake Vesuvius courtesy of  GoFishOhio.com.

If you enlarge the map, you can see some of the next things I'll talk about.

When we first arrived, we did what we always do. First I wait for about 30 minutes for my buddy to show up. For one of my best friends, he takes for ever in the mornings. Keep in mind that we'd planned to meet at 10am. He arrives at about 11-11:15, but with extra bait and water, soda, and snacks. I couldn't be too upset at that point. We laid our kayaks out on the parking lot next to each other. He grabbed the front of both and I grabbed the tail end of both and up the dam we walked to begin out launch. 

After heading out on the water, we fished here or there throughout the lake up until the beach without much luck. Next we decided to press further and see if the fishing got any better. We rounded the U shaped bend and started catching a few. 

I spent a major part of the time reclined like this.

We decided to keep pushing further until we eventually made it to the creek that runs into the river. On the map, this begins after the narrow point comes down and it opens back up. As we paddled further in we entered a valley of types with the creek flowing through it. To the right was a muddy bank and to the left, a huge stone wall that was about 20ft tall and went down below the water. By this point we've reached the hot part of the day and know that this is probably one of our best spots for catching fish.

Rock wall to the right. 

Here the fishing was spot on. Nothing huge by any means, but they were definitely biting. We started out with fake lures with a good bit of luck. 

First catch by the rocks.

Over all it was a fine day. Nothing worth keeping, but as I'd said before, I'm more of a catch and release kind of guy. Just a piece of advise- this spot is a long way out on Vesuvius when you're paddling the whole way. The way back is worse. You're constantly rowing into the wind and waves. However, you'll never get a full sized boat into this location due to how shallow and narrow it is, as well as the fallen trees overhead. A jon boat perhaps, but it's still iffy. I wouldn't advise it.