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Yesterday marked the beginning of a new era for me. I made my maiden voyage in my new kayak! Mytmouse and I loaded up the kayaks and headed across the bridge to launch at the little beach near Hemmingways.
The plan was to bottom fish for spot, then live line around the bridge pylons. Weather conditions were ideal, so I was comfortable with this plan.
We got everything loaded and rigged, and away we went. This was my first time paddling my kayak, so I spent the first few minutes getting comfortable and getting adjusted to its characteristics. It's tippy in the first few degrees, but the sceondary stability is pretty good. I tried my best to keep everything within arms reach to minimize body movement.
We paddled out in search of spot. Mytmouse had the fish finder. We tried a couple of locations with no luck.
We paddled out further and further, then we finally found a location where spot were in pretty thick. I actually found the spot....go figure...mytmouse has a fish finder and can't find the fish. Good thing I was there...else we would still be out there looking for bait.
We set up a drift, and I was getting two per drift. Most of the spot were in the 5" range...some a little bit bigger. The fish bite bloodworm worked well. After about 20 minutes or so, we had enough spot in our livewells to switch to live lining.
We used 6/0 circle hooks for the spot, and sent them down to the bottom. This was our first time live lining...it was a blast! I felt the spot begin to shake...which was followed by a series of hits. I reeled it up only to find a small chunk of fish left on the hook. The blues were out in FULL FORCE!
^This was after about 20 seconds in the water^
In attempt to get my spot down past the blues for the stripers to attack, I added a small weight to the line. No luck with that. The blues continually got the best of the spot. Mytmouse pulled up a couple of decent sized blues, which were released. If we wanted to, we could've rigged for blues using cut bait and easily limited out. I was kinda amazed at how the blues knew to bit up until they got to the hook....then they wouldn't touch the remnants. I experimented with hooking a small spot thru the tail....they wouldn't touch it.
It was a fun trip, and a great learning experience out there yesterday. I learned quite a few lessons...some cheaper than others (that's all I'm gonna say about that). While I was able to reach my tackle in the stern storage area with ease, I now know what items I should keep up front with me in the cockpit. I already had items such as my knife, hook remover, fishbites, etc up there with me. But I had a breakoff and had to re-tie a new rig, so I had to reach back to grab things such as sinkers, bottom rigs, hooks, etc. It was easy to do, but perhaps I should keep some of those things in a more handy position.
I got two new coolers for the kayak. I got a small soft sided cooler for drinks and a collapsible cooler intended to use for my catch. I put my drink cooler in the bow storage area, but I didn't feel comfortable or stable when I tried to reach it for a drink. Next time I'll just consolidate the use of the collapsible cooler behind my seat. It's big enough to hold fish and drinks. I'll just separate things using plastic bags...or maybe I'll make a divider of some sort.
I can't wait to get out there again. We paddled over a mile from our launch. Combine that with the paddling while fishing...and the return trip...my shoulders were feeling the burn. The kayak performed really well. It paddeled with ease (except for when dragging the live well...ugh) and was moved me along at a decent speed. It tracked pretty well, but I definitely plan on adding a rudder for next year. Having paddled kayaks with rudders...I have to have one!
My fishing life has just changed.
The plan was to bottom fish for spot, then live line around the bridge pylons. Weather conditions were ideal, so I was comfortable with this plan.
We got everything loaded and rigged, and away we went. This was my first time paddling my kayak, so I spent the first few minutes getting comfortable and getting adjusted to its characteristics. It's tippy in the first few degrees, but the sceondary stability is pretty good. I tried my best to keep everything within arms reach to minimize body movement.
We paddled out in search of spot. Mytmouse had the fish finder. We tried a couple of locations with no luck.
We paddled out further and further, then we finally found a location where spot were in pretty thick. I actually found the spot....go figure...mytmouse has a fish finder and can't find the fish. Good thing I was there...else we would still be out there looking for bait.
We set up a drift, and I was getting two per drift. Most of the spot were in the 5" range...some a little bit bigger. The fish bite bloodworm worked well. After about 20 minutes or so, we had enough spot in our livewells to switch to live lining.
We used 6/0 circle hooks for the spot, and sent them down to the bottom. This was our first time live lining...it was a blast! I felt the spot begin to shake...which was followed by a series of hits. I reeled it up only to find a small chunk of fish left on the hook. The blues were out in FULL FORCE!
^This was after about 20 seconds in the water^
In attempt to get my spot down past the blues for the stripers to attack, I added a small weight to the line. No luck with that. The blues continually got the best of the spot. Mytmouse pulled up a couple of decent sized blues, which were released. If we wanted to, we could've rigged for blues using cut bait and easily limited out. I was kinda amazed at how the blues knew to bit up until they got to the hook....then they wouldn't touch the remnants. I experimented with hooking a small spot thru the tail....they wouldn't touch it.
It was a fun trip, and a great learning experience out there yesterday. I learned quite a few lessons...some cheaper than others (that's all I'm gonna say about that). While I was able to reach my tackle in the stern storage area with ease, I now know what items I should keep up front with me in the cockpit. I already had items such as my knife, hook remover, fishbites, etc up there with me. But I had a breakoff and had to re-tie a new rig, so I had to reach back to grab things such as sinkers, bottom rigs, hooks, etc. It was easy to do, but perhaps I should keep some of those things in a more handy position.
I got two new coolers for the kayak. I got a small soft sided cooler for drinks and a collapsible cooler intended to use for my catch. I put my drink cooler in the bow storage area, but I didn't feel comfortable or stable when I tried to reach it for a drink. Next time I'll just consolidate the use of the collapsible cooler behind my seat. It's big enough to hold fish and drinks. I'll just separate things using plastic bags...or maybe I'll make a divider of some sort.
I can't wait to get out there again. We paddled over a mile from our launch. Combine that with the paddling while fishing...and the return trip...my shoulders were feeling the burn. The kayak performed really well. It paddeled with ease (except for when dragging the live well...ugh) and was moved me along at a decent speed. It tracked pretty well, but I definitely plan on adding a rudder for next year. Having paddled kayaks with rudders...I have to have one!
My fishing life has just changed.
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