When individuals ask me why kayak fishing is such a profitable method, the very first thing that involves thoughts is stealth. Kayaks are concerning the quietest vessel on the water and that often interprets to catching extra fish.
Over the previous couple of years, I’ve turn out to be a giant fan of side-scanning sonar. One necessary lesson it has taught me is that fish may be spooked even when actively feeding. They get turned off shortly by boats and commotion, and the side-scanning sonar exhibits how shortly they disappear when disturbed.
One in all my favourite rips within the Boston space may be very well-liked with boaters. On some nights, the spot is filled with boats and, often, the extra boats there are, the slower the striper motion. I shortly realized that the stripers have been nonetheless there, however that they had modified their location within the rip. As a substitute of hanging in the course of it with the boats, they drift additional again within the rip or transfer to the perimeters. Boats trolling up and down the rip invariably moved the fish to its edges, so my resolution was to float the sides and fish construction that the boats couldn’t attain.
One of many benefits of side-scanning sonar is that I can see my influence on a faculty of stripers as I glide via them. Most of the time, I see the fish shifting away from the kayak; nonetheless, when the fish are sensitive, even the kayak will get them shifting off their spots, particularly if I repeatedly troll via them. I’ve usually seen that there are lots of nights once I catch nothing on the troll, even when surrounded by fish. Stopping and casting is typically the one option to get the fish to eat. On calm nights, if I can see the fish pushing water or odor them, I get simply shut sufficient to drop a lure into the varsity. There are nights when solely stealthy approaches work—when stripers get shy, there’s no approaching them. Educated boaters shut off their engines and drift within the areas the place bass are education, however in kayaks, we are able to slowly shadow the fish by quietly pedaling together with them.
Striped bass aren’t the one fish which might be boat-shy – carp are a notoriously spooky fish. They usually stage in an space, then exit if disturbed, so a kayak permits me to method them, particularly in deeper water. I’ve a pair spots the place I drift baits for them in 10 toes of water, they usually do are likely to spook after I catch just a few.
Even largemouth bass may be boat-shy. In heavy cowl, they’re very assured fish, and it generally takes fairly a bit to scare them away, however within the fall, when that cowl dies, they turn out to be way more cellular. One in all my favourite fall methods is to fish flats and lifeless weedbeds utilizing a gradual wind drift. There’s one flat that I repeatedly fish each fall, and if I troll over it, I often catch one fish, but when I do a gradual drift, I can stick with the fish for hours. Trolling over the flats often spooks the colleges of bait the bass are shadowing, but when I watch the bait on my facet scan, I can keep off of the bait and the bass received’t transfer away.
The opposite a part of the stealth expertise in a kayak is that fish will comply with your lures as much as the boat with out turning off. When fishing largemouths, I all the time swim my favourite plug all the way in which to my rod tip. In recent water, kayaks can get into locations that may’t be accessed by energy boats or waders as a result of the shallow draft of a kayak can put us in spots seldom fished. Crappies in cowl are in all probability the best fish to entry. As a substitute of spooking, they transfer deeper into the duvet. I’ve hitched my kayak to fallen bushes and had lights-out crappie fishing throughout the boat.
A drifting kayak makes little or no commotion and is an effective option to discover stripers and albies chasing bait. Now we have all watched boaters rush into colleges of breaking fish with engines blasting, and in the event that they’re fortunate, they could get just a few casts off earlier than the fish disappear. Extra skilled boaters stay a solid away and permit the fish to maintain feeding on prime. Skilled kayakers watch the place the bait balls are and drift via them – ultimately the predators come via and tear up the bait. There’s nothing fairly like sitting in the course of breaking fish in a kayak. I’ve even had baitfish coming via the scupper holes and drive nicely to get away!
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