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I spend a lot of my kayak fishing time trolling. Pulling lures through the water can be very effective and allows me to cover a lot of ground to find where the fish are. I choose lures that have a realistic swimming motion and generally look something like a baitfish. This strategy works only as long as the lure remains clean and swims in a realistic way.
This morning I trolled for 3 hours and was reminded of a small thing that can render any lure non-productive -- getting some type of debris on the lure. Today I encountered small patches of bright green seaweed. I saw some of these patches, but even at other times the lures got fouled. Here is the tip: if you realize that you have trolled through a zone with plant debris (grasses, seaweed, leaves) it pays to wind in each line and check to see if it is clean. Even if you do not see any debris in the water, but find that you have not had any bites in a while (say 15 mins), wind in your lines and check your lures.
This diligence paid off today for me. I had not had any bites in a while and was approaching an area that often produces fish in the spring. I had just finished checking all 4 lines (and all of them had some seaweed on them) and returned the clean lures to the water when one line went down hard with a fat striper. If I had not done that checking and cleaning, I probably would have missed the bite.
There are plenty of other reasons why you may not be getting bites -- but this is one you can control with some diligence.
This morning I trolled for 3 hours and was reminded of a small thing that can render any lure non-productive -- getting some type of debris on the lure. Today I encountered small patches of bright green seaweed. I saw some of these patches, but even at other times the lures got fouled. Here is the tip: if you realize that you have trolled through a zone with plant debris (grasses, seaweed, leaves) it pays to wind in each line and check to see if it is clean. Even if you do not see any debris in the water, but find that you have not had any bites in a while (say 15 mins), wind in your lines and check your lures.
This diligence paid off today for me. I had not had any bites in a while and was approaching an area that often produces fish in the spring. I had just finished checking all 4 lines (and all of them had some seaweed on them) and returned the clean lures to the water when one line went down hard with a fat striper. If I had not done that checking and cleaning, I probably would have missed the bite.
There are plenty of other reasons why you may not be getting bites -- but this is one you can control with some diligence.
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