Tips...

[ronaultmtd]

One thing I have noticed...everything comes in cycles in fishing...what worked yesterday, does not work today, but what worked two weeks ago is the bomb! Same with trolling, casting, and bait fishing...if you are a “one trick” pony, you will have boom days, but a lot more skunks than successful days...as many have said variety is the spice of life. I have about four different lures I start my day on the water...usually trolling about 2.4-2.8 mph with 1/4 oz Jighead swimshad in pearl/chart color...a XR-10 or XR-12 in blue/silver or olive (Bunker)...after a half hour of pulling these without results, I start swapping out rods rigged with different baits...lately the “hot” rod has been the dressed 3/8 oz. white bucktail dressed with Zoom white curlytail plastic...last trip it caught at least a dozen fat football Stripers...the biggest fish was still caught on the Sea Assassin 4 inch pearl/chart swim Shad on a 1/4 oz Redfish Magic Jighead...the XRaps were not very effective but always get tried...they will be...trying different colors, different swim shads (zman baits seem to have a different vibration than Bass Assassins) but being a hard head and not realize the conditions are different and require different techniques guarantees you a skunk...old dogs have to learn new tricks...new baits, new electronics...and be observant...I saw a ripple out a hundred yards on the surface of the water...turn the kayak towards the ripple..the reward? The screen of my fishfinder lights up with a big baitball...but no fish take the lures...I reel in the lines and cast a 1/2 oz. gold Kastmaster into the baitball, let it sink for a few seconds and begin a jig, reel, jig sequence...hooked up and drag running! Nice frisky 18.5 Striper...be flexible...be open to trying a bunch of different baits, colors and techniques...stop trolling, try casting, stop casting try trolling...keep searching until you find the fish...then hammer down!

[belairfishing]

Ron,

Good comments and advice as always. Your comments played out for me this season from last. Last year I focused primarily on casting - topwater, jigs, hard baits, etc. I don't have electronics, so like Mark I generally fish where I know, or am confident the fish will be. When I first started kayak fishing, I thought I would not enjoy trolling because for me the tug is the drug. But since I can troll with one rod in my hand, I still get that feeling that I enjoy so much - that thump. Of course, you can always cast to areas of know structure where fish "should" be holding, which is always fun.

I did experiment a little more with colors this year, and on one trip to Goodhands Creek, I had a lot of success with a pearl/glitter fluke with the tail tipped in chartreuse SpikeIt. It definitely caught more fish than the all pearl, or all chartreuse paddle tails I was trolling at the same time. Then, the bite switched to hitting the all pearl...which I fished for the next hour or so....then the bite switched to the all chartreuse.

[Mark]

Excellent post Ron.

If we ever figure out why lures/flies work one day and not the next we'll be angling geniuses. That's why it's good to carry several rods each rigged with a different lure/fly making it easy to switch.

We can guess as to why different approaches work:

The variance in light refraction caused by depth, turbidity, and the angle of the sun may make some colors more attractive to fish on any given day.

Fish acutely feel barometric pressure changes. Sudden changes in pressure can affect not only the fish we pursue but the forage species they pursue. The result is that the bite may turn on or turn off as the barometer moves.

The overall mood of the fish. Bite intensity changes throughout the day. Perhaps that's due to air pressure but it must be due to other factors as well because the bite will change during stable weather -- even in freshwater where there is no tide to influence feeding. To me, that is the greatest mystery. What activates their feeding frenzies.

And probably the most important variable -- the presence of the fish. They move around a lot, even in a small pond. Don't pound a spot into oblivion. Move on quickly if you don't get bites.

And speaking of ponds, we are coming to a fun time of year for freshwater kayakers. So here's a few tips for pond anglers who brave the cooler temperatures as our hemisphere tilts away from the sun:

Forget those early morning launches. You don't need to be on the water at the crack of dawn to entice a bite. Plus, you'll be more comfortable if you let the day warm up a bit.

Look for deeper water. Shorelines may still hold fish but less likely as we proceed into fall and winter. Yet, I've seen pond anglers hugging shorelines throughout the winter fishing the same routes they took in warmer weather.

Remember where those lily pads and spatterdock were. They'll be completely gone from the surface shortly, but their root structure is still on the bottom. And guess what? Fish like to hang out on those roots.

Fish your lures and flies slowly. I like suspending baits as the water cools. I prefer suspending crankbaits, unweighted plastics, unweighted streamer flies. They'll stay stationary for a moment as you pause the retrieve and that pause is sometimes too much for a fish to ignore.

On the other hand, if a deliberate approach is not working, don't be afraid to speed up the retrieve just a bit. And here's another hint, if you happen to see water turtles active in winter, try a faster retrieve. I've seen pond turtles swimming about on sunny January days with air temperatures in the 50s. If the water is warm enough to wake up the turtles, the fish are likely less lethargic too. Test them with a quicker retrieve than you might think is warranted.

Those are just a few freshwater tips.

[mchottie]

If we ever figure out why lures/flies work one day and not the next we'll be angling geniuses.

Thats when you buy a lotto ticket! Or three!