Kayak Trips and Fishing Reports 2012

[Monty]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Hi Dark, great report. 5 bass sounds great.

[chas527]

fished the hook yesterday morning.windy day got 8 skates 1 big cow nose ray.and a small black fish

[DarkSkies]

^^ I copied Chas's post to here give folks a further illustration of colder water slowing a fish's metabolism down.

In addition, I previously wrote:

Overall (General) Analysis:

1. Cold water - definitely puts a damper on fishing for bass with artificials from the yak.
2. You could get discouraged this way.
3. If you cover lots of ground you will see guys from the shore have been doing very well with bait. I know guys right now who are absolutely crushing bass from the yaks. However, they are using bait, and generally anchoring up in deeper water that is adjacent to the flats.
4. I feel it's worth it, as in the next month some areas that are only spotty for the artificial bite, will be red hot after the spawn. Now is the time to work the water and do the scouting by fishing with the yak. The fish are an added bonus.
5.. I think I've mentioned this previously...in General, if the fish are chasing bait or the forage is thick, AND the water temps are 50 and above, you will be more likely to get greater numbers from the yak on artificials.

Colder water, 50 and below, impedes that action. Although the fish may be there, they tend to be more sluggish.

6. Once the water temps trend upward to around 55 degrees, the catching from yaks on artificials is much more consistent.
7. Again, this analysis doesn't take the spawning areas into effect. If you are fishing in one of those areas, the fish will be much more aggressive and hit plugs with ferocity, even with water temps 47-49.

If even skates are pecking at the bait and not that aggressive, you know the water is cold.
With the ocean temps now at 48 degrees, cooled down by the days of N/NW winds, anglers need to be aware of that when fishing.

[UrbanFishingMan]

I'm in the western sound
been getting bass for 3 weeks.
At first it was all schoolies, then last saturday
in chocolate milk water & 30 plus mph winds
i connected with a 15#. my largest so far
I've been using white Al gag's whip it eels & pearl storm shads.
I use a 7mm wetsuit & hobie revolution yak with the largest turbo fins & sailing rudder.
I been following bunker pods.
Yesterday I tried surfcasting in two western bays & got SKUNKED!
South shore was much colder H2O than north shore!
The reason i got off the yak was Simms repaired my waders for free & i wanted to try em out.

[cowherder]

Dark and Urban, love those pics. Urban I particularly love that bass eye, staring right at you. Great work guys!

[Monty]

Dark and Urban, love those pics. Urban I particularly love that bass eye, staring right at you. Great work guys!

What he said, that eye pic is special, great shot.

[plugginpete]

Great going guys. I check into this thread every day and think you will hit even bigger ones soon. Keep up the good work.

[CharlieTuna]

Nice work guys. Save some of the bigger ones for us. Believe it or not we are catching schoolies already. Crazy year.

[DarkSkies]

4-15-12 Sun predawn

I got out on the yak this AM before dawn and had a slow pick. 2 bass to 34", 15#. Both released.

I covered an insane amount of ground and once the sun came up a lot of people seemed to be fishing and not catching.....starting to see the fish are really concentrated around certain areas, with a lot of dead water in between.

What worked for me was trolling plugs. I passed by a few yakkers who were not catching. Noticed them jigging or casting plugs in deep water. With the water temps as cold as they are, you need to be deeper in that water column.

Lots of boats out there as well, not much catching after the sun came up.

When I launched it was like glass, later on the winds got to be 20+ mph and I got off the water.
During my travels I went through an area of bunker that was about 1 mile in diameter, lots of feeding bunker in those windy conditions. The thing is..every time a boat came near they would sound and not feed until the boat noises went away....
Therefore the boats never had an idea they were there.

The conditions this week are prime for good fishing as the water has heated up a few degrees and the bass and bigger blues are making more of a presence.

Will try to D/L pics when I get a chance, one of the computers we use is getting an upgrade....

[ledhead36]

DS I think I remember you saying once the blues come in the bass will head for deeper water. I think you are on the money with that. The bass are still hitting but in certain areas the blues have taken over. I think you will nail the bass big time a little further out in the kayaks now. Good luck guys and keep the reports coming.

[plugcrazy]

I covered an insane amount of ground and once the sun came up a lot of people seemed to be fishing and not catching.....starting to see the fish are really concentrated around certain areas, with a lot of dead water in between.

.

All the more reason to get a kayak or boat. I spent 4 hours on the beach this morning and nothing but one runt bass to show for it and skates and dogfish. I could see some kind of bird action but it was like a mile out. You guys in kayaks can def reach them bass, good luck this year.

[DarkSkies]

DannyV was at it again this morning....
His report and pics, courtesy of MSGDan.....


"Here are a couple pictures from this morning. Landed 3 bass, 5 monster blues, all live bunker."

[Monty]

That Gator in the pic above looks BIG to me. Great pics!!!!

[jigfreak]

Good job, Dan.

[Shorelady]

Tucked away today to avoid the wind. (I'm such a fair weather kayak fisher) It was another bluefish fest today..... They are so much fun out of a yak. Downright scarey at times as they do their gymnastic moves right at the boat and want to get in your lap! Fighting them at eye level is a treat! There was no counting them again today. Mixed sizes and it was a topwater day!!!!!! I hate to admit it but, teasing them over and over and watching the smack the plug again and again is sometimes more fun than catching those yellow eyed demons. Back at it in the am, if I can move my upper body.

[DarkSkies]

Awesome report, Judy.

It seems that out in deeper water is the place where a lot of them are holding.

This morning I discovered one of the reasons why....there were quite a few birds diving on grass shrimp on the bay flats.
When those grass shrimp gather en masse. the blues come in and will hold for awhile. Not many were catching this morning from shore as the water is a bit cold and dirty in the shallow areas. As I said, a day or so of extreme sun and it will turn around to where everyone is catching them...glad ya had a blast!

[Shorelady]

Had a repeat today of yesterday, but not much on the top water action. Set a kayak fishing record today. There were 5 of us to start the day and the women out numbered the men! I haven't heard that much laughing, screaming, hooping and hollering in a long time! The blues continued to put on the show. One of the guys decided it was time to test his new yak and his balance skills and fished most of the day standing in it. (not an outback).
Lesson learned today: If you don't want company in your yak, when you do not have a fish on, reel the plug in at the front of the yak, not the side. Never know what lurks below.

[storminsteve]

Lesson learned today: If you don't want company in your yak, when you do not have a fish on, reel the plug in at the front of the yak, not the side. Never know what lurks below.

Did you get hit by a blue when you least expected it? Awesome story btw. Were you trolling or throwing metal?

[Shorelady]

Did you get hit by a blue when you least expected it? Awesome story btw. Were you trolling or throwing metal?

Another inch and it would not have been pretty. The fish came up out of the water after the plug as I was pulling it out of the water. Most of the fish caught today were casting with a very fast retrieve. Thunder sticks and crystal minnows. (modified for blues) They didn't seem interested in the metal at all today. Poppers yesterday.... Fly guys did pretty good as well.

[seamonkey]

Poppers yesterday.... Fly guys did pretty good as well.

So the guys were fly fishing from a kayak or the shore? I always wondered how they would fly fish from a akayak, and that is why I am asking. Great report, glad to hear the blues are hitting plugs and poppers..