Gear Review 2010

[Redfish12]

Things are winding down for the 2010 season and it's time to take a look back. What gear worked well for you? What do you wish you had? Time for some reviews.

[ictalurus]

This was a really weird year for me.

On the plus side, I probably caught the most stripers I ever have. I caught most of them on topwater lures starting in June. Usually, I can't buy a striper until September. None of the stripers were bigger than 24", but I think I always caught at least 2 keepers each time I really tried for them. I also caught the most and the biggest croaker, including my personal best 17.25" (which won the big croaker contest in June at the Tackle Box--probably the only fishing contest I'll ever win), since I moved to Maryland. The biggest ones were caught jigging a 6" BKD. Lastly, I don't think I've gotten skunked yet this year, but I have a pretty liberal definition of not getting skunked. I was saved by a needlefish one time and an undersized flounder on another time. That needlefish was a new species for me, too.

On the down side, I didn't catch a single spot big enough to eat, nor did I catch very many decent perch. Spot and perch make up a good chunk of my diet in the summer. I barely caught any flounder, and none were legal size. The past two years, I at least got a few legal ones to the boat (only one into the boat, though). I caught zero redfish, which really bummed me out. Based on the water conditions this year, I thought it was going to be a banner year and my year to get a keeper in Maryland. I also didn't catch many bluefish, and very few were in the 18-24" range. However, I didn't try for bluefish much because I was targeting stripers on topwater. I think I only caught one yellow perch this year, too (Grady Black schooled me on that day). I was out on a research cruise during prime yellow perch time, and the run was pretty much over when I got back.

So numbers were up this year, but diversity was way down. Given that I didn't fish as much this year, my catch per unit effort (fisheries science term) is probably really good compared to years past.

As far as gear goes, nothing unexpected happened. I dumped my PVC wheels for my Hobie cart in favor of the polyurethane wheels, which are far superior. I caught fish on new lures this year--I hadn't caught much on crankbaits before this year. Those stripers I caught at the November M&G were the first fish I ever caught on deep diving crankbaits. I finally caught fish on BKDs, too. The other notable thing gear-wise was that I sent an old Shimano Sahara that I bought cheap on eBay and used for two years back to Shimano to get cleaned and have some bearings checked. For $10 on top of the cleaning cost, they sent me a brand new Sahara. That was pretty awesome. I got a GPS for my birthday, too, which is really cool.

Anyway, I'm hoping to get back to my 2-3 trips per week in 2011. We'll see.

[eastonkayaker]

Too much gear didn't work well for me. I tried the milk crate with extra rod holders carrying everything but the kitchen sink. What I found was the simpler the better, a couple rods, assortment of tackle, be organized.

I spent more prep time when it came to tackle, figuring out what I was going to fish with, having hooks pre-tied, weights, lures etc handy made it much easier to change out. Spent $8 on a tackle binder from bass pro shop, kept everything well organized, dry and easy to secure in the kayak.

Caught the most fish on a blue/silver Kastmaster, 1/2. 3/4 oz. Used the kastmaster trolling, jigging, and spin casting. Caught fish all three ways.

[chimo]

My first year fishing the Bay and fishing out of a kayak and it was a pretty good one as far as I am concerned! Only got skunked once but there were a few days where I was only a white perch or 2 away Learned alot at the M&G's and watching the discussions on here!

As for gear review....
Ascend FS 10: 10 ft sit-in kayak rigged for fishing with 2 rod holders behind the seat and one mounted forward, Tank well molded for a 5 gallon bucket or a milk crate and I used it as a livewell when I went live lining, lots of bungees.... This was a great yak to start out with. Stable, fast, comes ready to fish and the seat is pretty comfortable. Only short coming is when it gets rough. Gets kinda wet when it gets choppy. For $500 it's a pretty good deal.

Shakespeare Tiger light rod. I got the 6.5 ft medium action for livelining. Handled everything I threw at it. Tough as nails.

I'll have to post my review of the OK prowler trident I picked up and some of the other gear I used this year later.

Good fishin

[DOGFISH]

AMF to 2010

For me it was slower this year than in the past two years. Last year was a great year. I caught an average of 12 to 15 stripers per trip last year, with my best day being 23 fish, all keeper size. I was really spoiled by last year. That is why I adopted the run and gun trolling style that I held onto this year. Last year it was just a matter of finding the active fish and catching. Striper fishing was less than average for me this year. Trolling in the river got off to a slower start than in previous years, probably due to the heat. It also got colder earlier this year, which I believe shut the trolling down early. When the trolling bite was on, the usual equipment worked. As far as my yearly tussle with tackle. I finally started to use plano water proof plastic boxed directly into the crate. That works great. I just turn around a grab the box I need. I keep all of my crankbaits in a bag on the front deck.

Croaker fishing was great. I was always catching good sized croakers, large enough to keep for the grill. I got some in the 15 to 16" range. Most however were 12 to 14". There were also some jumbo white perch mixed in with the croaker. The croaker are a good eating fish. They cook great on the grill.

It was a good year for crabbing. Of course I found that I caught as many crabs from the piers at the marina as I did by taking traps out in the kayak. I now have a yard wagon set up as my crabbing wagon. It holds my cooler, 20 traps, my chair and even has a rod holder for perch fishing in between checking the traps. It is real laid back crabbing. I load all of the gear into the back of my P/U and take it to the marina. I then roll the wagon out onto the piers. I use bungee cords to hook the traps to the pilings. I have used springs in the bottom of the traps to hold the chicken necks down. I have taken all the work out of this process. It also makes it easy to freshen up the bait, by just lifting the spring and sliding in a chicken neck. It was nothing catching 3 dozen jumbos in a few hours. The longer I stayed I would cull out the smaller crabs as I caught larger crabs. Three dozen is my general limit. I don't need more that that. All in all it was a good Chesapeake type life style for me this summer. It brought out the inner child.

Next year, I am debating on a second kayak, possibly a pro-angler or maybe a 20 foot jon boat. If I get the jon boat, I can use it to take my kayak around areas such as Eastern Bay. I can also use it to cover more area than the kayak. I also want to get up to the Upper Potomac more next year with the kayak. I love to fish for smallmouth bass. I just got all caught up in the crabbing and croaker fishing. Of course, I will give jigging more of a chance next year.

Hell, what am I talking about! THIS YEAR IS NOT OVER YET! It is only December 9th. There is another week of fishing left. We are real kayak fishers, right?????

[Redfish12]

It was my first full year in the yak in the bay and I loved it! I was used to fishing from a one man old town canoe on the New River, compared to that this thing is a freaking Cadillac! As you guys know... I like gear so I'll try to only hit the things that stood out to me without boring your faces off.

Kayaks-

Heritage Redfish 12 - nice stable kayak, got my feet wet and once I decided kayak fishing the bay was for me I realized I might want a better fishing platform and one that could carry more weight. After much deliberation I purchased a Trident 13 and I couldn't be happpier!

Trident 13 - Great fishing layout, very stable, rod pod is awesome to have! Mod pod is even better! Stock seat sucks, added some pad and it's ok for now, need to upgrade next year for sure. Scupper transducer mount is great, sometimes I have to lean to the right, but it works!

Ride 135 - received this as a gift when my parents thought I was moving to Charleston, very stable, not very quick, I'm not very talented at paddling with the rudder but it works well for changing my drift. I can stand and throw a cast net in this, will make a nice fly fishing platform and will be great on flats!

Reels -

Pflueger Trion GX something or another - smooth reel with great drag but definitely not meant for the salt. I brought this reel back from the dead numerous times but finally a bullfish tore the anti-reverse a new one and it is in a spare parts drawer. Probably would have been a great freshwater only reel

Penn Sargus - love this reel, it's a little tank. I have the 2000 size and it caught 20'' blues and rock up to 28" with out skipping a beat. I even used it from the surf to catch spot and blues and got a couple of skates and small flounder too. It held up well, but took a beating this year.

Cabelas Salt Striker Baitfeeder - 4/0 size caught fish up to 18 lbs this fall with out a problem. I switched from a 3/0 Okuma because I could feel the frame torquing when reeling fish over 30" in and couldn't make much headway on them (was using too weak of a rod too). The handle on this thing is great, really comfortable.

Shimano Cardiff 400a & 401a- super smooth drag, clicker without much resistance (more control given to the spool tension knob), lots of stopping power. I used this for live-lining and it performed great! Even after taking a few dips on the kayak I had zero problems with these reels, now if I could just work on my strategy for when an over 30 fish takes off between the pilings I'd have some better pictures! Oh and I need a better game clip . I got my biggest kayak rock this summer on this reel - ~34''.

Abu Garcia Revo Premier - Super light and great casting reel. I felt the drag was somewhat weak and I was afraid to take it on my kayak because it was so nice... dumb me didn't realize kayak fishing was going to consume my whole season! I bought it originally for throwing cranks to reds and specs from a boat in Charleston... C-Hawk has it now!

Rods

Bass Pro Graphite Rods - I have a bunch of these rods because they are cheap and dependable. Even cheaper if you get them on sale like I try to do. I beat them up, cast way more weight than they are rated for, and a lot of other abuse and they are still working great. I was casting 2oz on the rod rated to 5/8 without a problem, but figured I'd step it up for some more backbone and got a tica 7ft 1/2-2 oz for throwing the bigger stuff. I'm confident at least one of these rods will always be on my boat at all times though.

Bass Pro Extreme - 7ft MH rod rocks. Super sensitive and light. Surprising amount of backbone for such a thin rod, and the low profile guides let me cast further than my graphite series I think. I didn't cast much from the kayak with it, but brought it with me when I planned on shore fishing.

Ugly Stik Lite or Intercostal - 7ft M, worked great for live-lining! I'm a big fan of lighter tackle and the flexibility of the ugly stick makes even an 18 inch fish feel fun, but the backbone is there for the heavy lifting to stop a bigger fish. I'm looking forward to catching an over 40'' fish on this rod this spring!

Line

HiSeas Quattro - 12lb test, this stuff is amazing, doesn't break and has great abrasion resistance. It's a little stiff and can shoot off the spool when you first spool it on, but once you get used to that it's great stuff!

Powerpro- I had some mystery breakoffs where I'd drop my rig and it would slice off with out me even feeling resistance. I also had a few hang ups at the bay bridge that I thought were going to kill me. I still have marks from braid slices on my index finger joints! I think the mystery breaks were from hooks hitting the line in transport, I'm going to keep an eye on that for next season. Other than that the stuff casts a mile and is way more sensitive than mono. I got the least amount of wind knots with this brand. Other brands - Cabelas (worst), suffix, pelagic, spiderwire, and probably another one. The clear loser was the cabelas brand braid.

Overall it was probably the best fishing year I've ever had and it was all over the place. Took a few skunks, took me a long time to catch my first keeper rock from the kayak, but once I figured the pattern out I didn't want to do anything else! I was disappointed with my normal spots and had to seek new water, but I had a lot of great days at the bridge and the surrounding areas this summer and fall and I can only hope for another year like this one next year. I'm already looking forward to Jamaica Bay, the Susky Flats, and the spring trophy season! I'm hoping to get a kipto, hot ditch run in, or at least a powerplant around here, but we'll see. Next year I know I need to try some new things and limit myself to a couple of approaches. Too many times I brought tackle out there for what-if scenarios, I need to cut back on that. I only picked up the fly rod on a few occasions all year and I need to break it out more next year. I am definitely bringing it or at least an ultralight out when the blues show up again, they were a lot of fun this past year, as long as they weren't devouring my spot...

My winter to do lists so far includes- create better crate fit for rear tankwell and install fasteners, build a better live-well, install an anchor trolly, build a camera/light pole to replace the one I have now, rig my ride 135 better, reinforce rod ram ball, install clam cleat, and a host of other things! I'm going to post a fall re-cap in another thread since I haven't been keeping up with fishing reports...

[Redfish12]

One more notable - Precision Surf Pack Ocean Shield II - got it off Amazon for a very good price and first time using it the top tore opening it. I sent an email and they're sending me a new one no problem along with a return label. Pretty quick and responsive service group, can't beat that!

[ictalurus]

Redfish and Chimo--You guys are killing me. This is your first year and you guys caught stripers well over 30"!?! That's some nice work in short order.

[Redfish12]

Redfish and Chimo--You guys are killing me. This is your first year and you guys caught stripers well over 30"!?! That's some nice work in short order.

Haha first full year on the yak! I have caught a ton of rock in years past mostly in the 12-28... but all from a boat. It's way more fun on a yak! I just need to be better about taking pictures this coming year.

[Capt C-Hawk]

No long reply from me. I'm happy with my barge - Cobra Fish n Dive, bought it fully rigged. I use the same rods as on the boat, but for the kayak I have a tackle bag that holds several Plano boxes. I have a shelf full of boxes containing different fresh and salt water gear. Simply grab the right boxes for the quarry and stuff them in the bag.
I think I have everything I need with 2 exceptions.
First and foremost is the nerve to tackle the bigger water like the rest of you. Potomac around 301 bridge is biggest water I've fished so far.
Second I need to finally decide what to get for fishing cool and cold water. I'd like a dry suit, but haven't seen any that sound like they'd fit comfortably. Do the waders and dry top really keep you dry? Have any of you been in the drink wearing them, or are you just hoping you won't need them.

Hopefully next season I'll be able to have the second Saturday of the month available so I can make a meet. Sounds like they were a real hoot. Looking forward to meeting more of you guys next season.

[MetroMan]

First year of kayak fishing for me...not even a full year, as I got my kayak toward the end of the summer. Was able to pick up the MRC Synergy 14 for under $400, and I've had a blast with it. I drank from a firehose, with my first trip being a live lining expedition out of Hemmingways at the Bay Bridge pylons. I've outfitted it with the Smart Track rudder kit, Humminbird fish finder, and bow storager spray shield. Fun times.

My tackle was nothing too spectacular to talk about...just average rods & reels.

Fishing was so so for me. A lot of empty handed trips when targeting stripers. Being kinda new, I'm still learning. My breathable waders have been extremely valuable, extending my season well into the cold months. I am looking forward to a full fishing season in 2011..

[ictalurus]

Now you're just rubbing it in, Redfish. "I caught plenty of rock from a boat, but I got the big ones from my kayak."

Capt--There's a video on youtube of Jim Sammons jumping into a pool wearing just waders and pfd. He's kind of burly, and he didn't get that wet, if I recall correctly. How wet you get is probably going to depend on how well everything fits. I figure I'm done for the day if I go overboard in the winter anyway.

[DOGFISH]

Wow, how could I forget. This was the year I found Snaggedline.com. I have really enjoyed this forum. Very good group of kayak fishers and great job by the administrator and/or administrators. I am always on here, it has become indespensable to me. Thanks

[Redfish12]

Haha sorry Bill! I did get skunked on flounder up here as my only keepers came down in topsail from the yak. A 14'' flounder doesn't seem like a keeper to me... oh well. I also didn't catch a single red all year, stuck with the stripers.

C-Hawk- I've been really please with my drytop. I won it at J-Bay and initially found the latex neck gasket to be very uncomfortable. It's stretched out some now and is more comfortable. I waded all fall in guide pant waders and the dry top and was in water up to my nips on several occasions with out getting wet. The neoprene and dual layers on the dry top did a great job.

[jffoley]

First full year of kayaking for me, too. Great group here and I even an old dog like me has learned a lot. Looking forward to more M&G's! Unfortunately, my look back will be a bit long winded! And it won't cover everything!!

As for equipment, I started with a Cobra Explorer and an Ocean Kayak Drifter. A barge! But extremely stable. I can see why it's a favorite of KayakKevin and the crew to the south where ocean waves are in play. A bit of a wet ride too, but I could stand up in it. Easy to sit sideways with both feet over one side and not feel at all unstable. The Cobra is smaller and is great in the upper Potomac and Shenandoah. For the bay the Drifter is a great boat but...

Long before the "official" M&G's came into being I met Bill and Sam for the first time at Buzz's. It was June or July. They had peddle kayaks. Huh? I knew about Hobie's but the cost kept me from even looking at them. The Drifter was an entry level kayak to determine if kayak fishing was for me. It was determined quickly that it is! So on that June/July day I see Sam and Bill tooling along effortlessly, fishing with both hands and once I spotted Bill a couple miles offshore I knew I needed to increase my range. Soooo, I started looking at Hobies and determined the Revolution model was the one. Less wide than the Drifter and light enough I could still toss it up on to the car roof. Found a demo unit at Easton Kayak and with Bryan's help (eastonkayaker) secured it in time for the September M&G at Tilghman Island. I will be rigging it with a new Humminbird FF and other amenities over the winter. My only complaint is the rear flush mount rod holders. Too far back! I didn't like them on the Drifter either. Plus, they are not angled outboard for trolling. I have some ideas on how to fix this. More to come on that... Of course, this is before I met Dogfish and his Bassyak! My legs are still working well so that's a few years off yet!

I won a Crate Pak from Precision Pak and added a dressed milk crate to the rear well. It works great but I really don't like reaching behind me. I fish artificials mostly and will change often if action is slow. I found an inside the hull trolley system on KFS that I plan to implement. http://www.kayakfishingstuff.com/com...tackle+trolley That might make a dressed up crate appear in the Tackle Shop section of the forum at some point. Stay tuned...

After seeing NY's John Skinner fluking method (aka flounder in these parts) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oKzzpM0-qw&feature=fvw ) I picked up a Quantum Accurist PT, some Gulp minnows and SPRO bucktails. Got to try it in my old stomping grounds off Sandy Hook, NJ back in July. My wife's sister and brother-in-law have a nice boat and they invited us out for a day. They love fluke... er, flounder fishing and use the traditional killie & squid sandwich. And they picked a couple short fluke. But I outfished my hosts. A lot. Once I figured out the right weight bucktail and action to put on it I nailed several good sized keepers to 20". I earned the nickname, "bucktail John" for the rest of the visit.

My first year of kayak fishing I did OK. I did better in the boat and wade fishing the Potomac and other places. Although kayak trips to the Shenandoah and upper Potomac for smallmouth were good to excellent. On the bay, I stubbornly fished artificials while many live lined with good success. I don't take many fish to eat so I was concerned about gut hooking. Mostly all C&R for me. But after seeing the good results I may rethink that. I've seen some salmon trolling rigs used in Europe that I might be able make use of with a live or dead spot. We shall see...

The M&G's have been a great success and it's been really great meeting everyone and fishing different areas that I would otherwise not know about. On the M&G's I would like to make 2 suggestions... 1) do a couple evening or night trips. With the exception of live lining the BB the summer M&G's catch results were a bit disappointing. Maybe an evening trip would produce better. Suggestion #2. Have targeted species M&G's. A spring trophy striper tourny, a night time croaker outing, a WP tournament, a BB live lining trip, who can find the biggest spot? A trip south for flounder? Freshwater? There's some big catfish off Ft Washington on the Potomac in the fall, LM & SM bass, pickeral, etc, etc.

All in all a great season and looking forward to 2011. My best wishes to everyone for the Holidays and a happy and healthy New Year.

John