Kayak Fishing Fun and neeeeeed advice

[Hammsolo]

I am a novice kayak fisherman. With all my knee surgeries I took it up to ease the semi-permanent loss of mountain biking. It has been amazing. I hated fishing with my Dad growing up. I was VERY hyper and the only fishing my Dad would do, or knew to do, was to stand on the shore in a single place and throw out the lure over and over. I drove him crazy with wanting to run around.

I love my kayak because it has become more like hunting. I zip in here and there, and am loving it. I have a lake spot that I am blessed to have access too. I went out last night, and started cruising the edges of the lake. The water was clean and clear, finally settled from run off. Remember, I am NOT a real fisherman. I tell everyone I am a lure tosser. I quickly noticed some large fish surfacing along the reeds. I tossed a green and orange bellied Rapala near the reeds using my little pack spin rod. 1 cast, 2 cast, boom… It was the biggest fish I‘ve hooked into with this set up. She ran out, I reeled her in, she jumped and splashed, I got her close, and I reached for my net… She saw me and gave a big rip and was off….

I spent the next hour or so hunting the edges. I tried all sorts of lures, but nothing else would bite. I gently patrolled and repeatedly saw big bass. They were even hiding in the reeds and pushing them around, but they wouldn’t bite. I’d do everything I can to run the lures past them, but not a whiff.

I spotted no less than 10 mature bass, and 1 old lunker with a gnarly tale and curled lip. Remember that water is crystal clear and in the area it was anywhere from 3 to 5 feet deep I bet with a rocky bottom. I also spotted loads of carp, but I don’t have the equipment to take them on.

What’s my next step? WWMD? What would Michael do? Remember, I am a clueless fool!

 

[AckleyHunter]

You don't need anything special for carp. I use to target them with my ultralight crappie rods for an extra challange. I would chum some up with bread while trying to catch bluegill for catfish/striper bait.

 

[Sytes]

LOVE kayak fishing!

Now, with the foot pedals ability to free temp from hand paddles, and platforms to stand where the seat rises to lean against, the world opens further for viewing the fish-scape... Prior, I had a plastic hand crate with a four pole sleeve behind my seat. kept my primary tackle box in front between my legs though had switch gear, food, fluids, etc in the crate. I'd route with several rods fashioned for most all settings. Example: wire leader pike - 1 hard and 1 soft tackle, and same with bass, etc - braided bright color line with a 5' mono 10# test leader.
For anchor: never off the side. Especially in choppy water (haha!). A rope runs from the front right of my seat to the back, through a stainless, good sized carabiner [acts as a pulley] rope attached to the anchor, loosen the tie to my right, rope runs through the carabiner and drop or rise anchor, tie it off...

I find, kayak fishing, if the largemouth sees you as well as you see - hard play to catch. Smallies, a different story. If they're not hitting the hard tackle / top water, swap to 4"+ wacky style Yamamoto worms or a Kalins with a small bullet weight. Be sure to take time to run the hook properly to have a clean swim fashion.

Then, if your kayak has the pole slots, troll away for pike, etc... feel your 'yak pull a bit to one side, good time to view the pole on that side.

Then... try fly fishing for bass! top water small plugs, streamers for pike and bass, etc. In a kayak, wicked fun! a firmer rod though as the typical trout rod quickly turns into a wet noodle! Haha!

I'll have to pull some pics.

Reading your opening post has me thriving to p/u a new kayak! Prices for foot pedal (not motorized) have dropped significantly! I passed my pelican 12x fishing model to a friend when I went off to temp reside elsewhere for work. Yep... time to get the kayak thrill rolling again! Thanks! If you receive a PM from me... it's likely my wife and she may not share kind words about my new purchase(s). Haha!

 

[westbranch]

What else were you throwing at the bass? Good to have a couple topwater, wacky rigs or spinnerbaits to throw at them. Takes a lot of trial and error to figure out different rigs and figure out what they are hitting on. A heavier baitcaster setup is nice for pulling them out of the weeds.

My goal this year was a big pike from the kayak but due to injury probably won't be able to go out again until late summer.

 

[Irrelevant]

my go to is a popper, I swear when fished correctly it works better for me than anything else. I rig it on a short to medium length heavy spin rod with some stout line. I sorta hate baitcasters, but it's probably because I no longer spend enough time with them to be proficient at my accuracy.

 

[Hammsolo]

You don't need anything special for carp. I use to target them with my ultralight crappie rods for an extra challange. I would chum some up with bread while trying to catch bluegill for catfish/striper bait.

The carp cruise, the bottom, do you jig them? Or try and drag a worm and some corn in front of them?

 

[Hammsolo]

LOVE kayak fishing!

Now, with the foot pedals ability to free temp from hand paddles, and platforms to stand where the seat rises to lean against, the world opens further for viewing the fish-scape... Prior, I had a plastic hand crate with a four pole sleeve behind my seat. kept my primary tackle box in front between my legs though had switch gear, food, fluids, etc in the crate. I'd route with several rods fashioned for most all settings. Example: wire leader pike - 1 hard and 1 soft tackle, and same with bass, etc - braided bright color line with a 5' mono 10# test leader.
For anchor: never off the side. Especially in choppy water (haha!). A rope runs from the front right of my seat to the back, through a stainless, good sized carabiner [acts as a pulley] rope attached to the anchor, loosen the tie to my right, rope runs through the carabiner and drop or rise anchor, tie it off...

I find, kayak fishing, if the largemouth sees you as well as you see - hard play to catch. Smallies, a different story. If they're not hitting the hard tackle / top water, swap to 4"+ wacky style Yamamoto worms or a Kalins with a small bullet weight. Be sure to take time to run the hook properly to have a clean swim fashion.

Then, if your kayak has the pole slots, troll away for pike, etc... feel your 'yak pull a bit to one side, good time to view the pole on that side.

Then... try fly fishing for bass! top water small plugs, streamers for pike and bass, etc. In a kayak, wicked fun! a firmer rod though as the typical trout rod quickly turns into a wet noodle! Haha!

I'll have to pull some pics.

Reading your opening post has me thriving to p/u a new kayak! Prices for foot pedal (not motorized) have dropped significantly! I passed my pelican 12x fishing model to a friend when I went off to temp reside elsewhere for work. Yep... time to get the kayak thrill rolling again! Thanks! If you receive a PM from me... it's likely my wife and she may not share kind words about my new purchase(s). Haha!

I’m a very inexperienced fisherman, but love to learn. I will work on tackling some of this. They are smallmouth. I’d love to see pics I need to look up how to run the hook properly.

 

[Hammsolo]

What else were you throwing at the bass? Good to have a couple topwater, wacky rigs or spinnerbaits to throw at them. Takes a lot of trial and error to figure out different rigs and figure out what they are hitting on. A heavier baitcaster setup is nice for pulling them out of the weeds.

My goal this year was a big pike from the kayak but due to injury probably won't be able to go out again until late summer.

That sucks man. I hope you heal up soon! I know that feeling for sure. It seems my goal is a big bass from the reeds. I definitely think I’m gonna have to look at a bait caster set up. I threw some top water and a wacky rig got them. I’m willing to throw anything at them.

 

[Hammsolo]

my go to is a popper, I swear when fished correctly it works better for me than anything else. I rig it on a short to medium length heavy spin rod with some stout line. I sorta hate baitcasters, but it's probably because I no longer spend enough time with them to be proficient at my accuracy.

I’ve never even fished with a bait caster. I’m pretty accurate with a spin rod, but definitely seems. I’ve got to get a more rigid pole for when I’m not backpacking. I’m gonna need to hit Sportsmans or Cabela’s for sure.

 

[Hammsolo]

Thank you guys for all the tips. Hopefully I can figure this out a little bit next week. I’m headed to Montana for Fourth of July and vacation. When I get back I’m definitely hitting it. when they’re done spawning, will they still hang around in these marshes and reeds? I saw one deep in the marsh leap up and take a dragonfly out of the air. It was damn impressive, couldn’t really tell how big it was.

 

[Irrelevant]

I’ve never even fished with a bait caster. I’m pretty accurate with a spin rod, but definitely seems. I’ve got to get a more rigid pole for when I’m not backpacking. I’m gonna need to hit Sportsmans or Cabela’s for sure.

craigslist/yard sale. There are old fishermen dying every day.

 

[TheJason]

The carp cruise, the bottom, do you jig them? Or try and drag a worm and some corn in front of them?

Small wooly bugger

 

[TheJason]

For bass along the shoreline I like a senko, wacky rig

 

[CowboyLeroy]

Zoom fluke, Arkansas shiner, weedless rig - no weight. Keep your rod tip straight up, and jiggle it as you reel. I've had 40+ bass days put of a kayak in shallow reeds with that setup

 

[Hammsolo]

They kept taking stuff off the surface in the reeds, but I couldn’t figure out what. It was so cool to watch the big ones push the reeds around.

 

[Hammsolo]

Maybe it’s time for these that I just found on Craigslist!!!???

 

[Sytes]

View attachment 281711
Maybe it’s time for these that I just found on Craigslist!!!???

Haha! That's awesome! Zebco canes!

 

[westbranch]

I bought 7 or so rod and reel combos from the classifieds on here last fall. It was nice to get them all at once. I would check out garage sales and FB marketplace but I hate shopping so much I was ready to buy several new.

I am still way less inconsistent on catching fish than I would like. Smallmouth will likely be heading deeper soon. A jig and curly tailed grub in deeper water is usually pretty good when that happens. I have been considering getting a kayak fish/depth finder to more consistently find structure while fishing deeper water.

 

[Sytes]

Did you take the plunge @Hammsolo ?
I did, with wife's blessing - we p/u two Hobie kayaks. Mine is specifically set for Kayak fishing Pro Angler 12 360. I've not fished with it, yet... still trying to configure the setting and how much more $$$ I want to dump into fish crap.
It has a transducer mount location for a fish finder so,naturally, I must spend $700+ on:

Humminbird Helix 7 Chirp Mega SI GPS G4 Fish Finder + Scotty mount to designed platofrm.

Still playing with the live view fish finder idea though the forward live view is 2.5x's the $$$ and beyond even my desire to present this to my wife, no matter how coy I may be. Usually the more coy I am the more her BS deector rises. She's a smart one.

So, my question to you Hammy, did you pull the trigger and jump into it? If so, what is your setup? ANYONE!!!??? If you have input on what you like versus what you found a waste of $ spent, etc... please post up. The Hobie Pro Angler was a snot ton already. I don't want a mini cooper version of a bass boat. I do, however, want to have some perks to assist with the catching vs merely the fishing.

Post up!

 

[Hammsolo]

Did you take the plunge @Hammsolo ?
I did, with wife's blessing - we p/u two Hobie kayaks. Mine is specifically set for Kayak fishing Pro Angler 12 360. I've not fished with it, yet... still trying to configure the setting and how much more $$$ I want to dump into fish crap.
It has a transducer mount location for a fish finder so,naturally, I must spend $700+ on:

Humminbird Helix 7 Chirp Mega SI GPS G4 Fish Finder + Scotty mount to designed platofrm.

Still playing with the live view fish finder idea though the forward live view is 2.5x's the $$$ and beyond even my desire to present this to my wife, no matter how coy I may be. Usually the more coy I am the more her BS deector rises. She's a smart one.

So, my question to you Hammy, did you pull the trigger and jump into it? If so, what is your setup? ANYONE!!!??? If you have input on what you like versus what you found a waste of $ spent, etc... please post up. The Hobie Pro Angler was a snot ton already. I don't want a mini cooper version of a bass boat. I do, however, want to have some perks to assist with the catching vs merely the fishing.

Post up!

You’ve gone beyond me. I have an Old Town Angler that I love. It works for both river and lake.

I have set it up with holders for two poles and a net. I have upgraded my tackle box and filled it full of stuff. The idea of a fish finder intrigues me.

I have become a pretty effective bass fisherman.

I haven’t chased the carp, but really need to. That reminds me!!! I lost a pole… I found a fix I hope I don’t have to use. Savur The reviews seem great.

I love it because it feels more like hunting. I paddle here. Then there. Trying to hunt the lake.