Kayaking French Creek

Yesterday, a buddy and I fished and kayaked French creek. Since I started fishing with regularity, this creek was one I was always hesitant to fish in my area. Although filled with fish, and the rarely seen hellbender, I’ve shied away from it for fear of being squashed by another boulder. Long story short, the first time (and only till now) I fished the creek, a boulder almost pinned me in about 3 feet of water. I came out unscathed, minus a pair of new ray bans, but lets get back to the kayaking.

                In total, we kayaked nearly 4 hours down French Creek, and some of the Allegheny River. As for the scenery, it was beautiful. There are many parts of the creek where the rapids get moving pretty fast which makes the trip a little more exciting. In a few parts of the creek, where it splits off for a bit, it is very dark and tranquil. The water was a little high, and murky, so there was no opportunity to find a hellbender (which I’ve never seen).

French Creek

                Now to the fishing, which was the main reason we were on these kayaks. Within the first 35-40 minutes of the trip we had fish on! Two small mouth, that ranged from 15 to 17 inches and were both just a bit over two pounds. This would be the first time I’d caught a fish on a kayak, and it is a lot of fun! You’ve got to worry about the fish, not losing anything in your kayak, and having an idea of where your headed.

French Creek Small Mouth

Small mouth Bass

                After about 40 minutes, we’d come across a small eddy with a felled tree mostly submerged. I told my buddy we should stop and that it was “Pike City”. Within 5 casts, we had another 3 fish. One bass over 2 pounds, and two little guys. We’d fished about 15 minutes more, missing two a piece, before my friend landed the hog of the hole. A 25 inch Northern Pike, that from what he said didn’t fight what-so-ever. (All the bass had a lot of fight in them today)

                The rest of the trip went slowly, and we only caught one more fish the rest of the way. After about 3 hours, I’d snagged my rapala in some rapids and snapped it. Hot, thirsty, and angry, I gave up fishing, and focused on getting back home. This was when we passed a beautiful bald eagle flying along the creek (I wasn’t able to get a picture). All in all, I caught 4 bass and my friend caught 4 and a pike so it wasn’t a bad day on the water (minus the rapala)!