Hanover_Yakker

A great way to rig a Paca Craw for this technique is using the Neko Rig or a 1/0 or 2/0 EWG Gammy and an egg weight. You basically insert a 1/4 oz egg weight into the tail section and shove it all the way in, insert your fizz tab, than rig the hook so that the hook point is skinned at the tail and the eye of the hook comes through the opening of the craw at the top. This works great when sight casting, flipping into pockets or vertical dropping alongside standing timber. This will give the craw a pinchers up and flared look. Like this..... https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SaZAyDfpxok/TiikPnMgULI/AAAAAAAAArg/Za8hehu29oY/s640/KBF+Tips+011.jpg

True but I guess I was taking the approach of trying to maintain some of the weedless characteristics of the traditional rigging of a soft bodied fluke.

Might work, but why not just tie on a length of flouro leader to the shank of the hook at the bend and add a single 1/0 or 2/0 circle or j hook? That way you thread it through the plastic and have a second hook closer to the taper. Possibly a little lighter than a treble and you could still rig it close to weedless as well.

Went to Green Top to exchange a rod and picked up a Shimano Clarus Crankbait rod, a couple River 2 Sea frogs, some Sunline Reaction FC, a couple tandem shad rigs and some shad darts. We have a charity shad kayak event in a few weeks I need to get ready for.

Another option if you are keeping one tied on to the rod and stowing it in your boat is to take a 20oz plastic water/soda bottle. Cut the bottom off, make a cut running the length of the bottle and through the neck. You can use a lighter to smooth the edges if you need to. Now just thread the line throught the opening and pull the A-ring semi-taught through the bottle.

Pay attention to topography and the geography of the area around you. There is a video by our own Glenn that outlines how to do this. Use your google prowess and find some contour maps. Many of your state DNRs have them for each public lake. Once you have a high level feel for what might be there, tie on three different lures on reels with braided or flouro lines- a 1oz jig, a deep diving crank and a lipless crank. Mark the line in 1' - 3' increments with a black sharpie and then drop the heavy jig down for vertical drops to identify where the ledge transition occurs. Cast the deep diving crank out and countdown to where the depth is and just run it back to you paying closs attention to any changes in the line direction or lure behavior. This can help you identify depth changes like holes or the variations in a ledge transition. The lipless crank is one you can use for a variety of things, but it is very useful in finding submerged grass. You can "feel" the rattle stop and when you rip it, it comes free. If you are going to do this though, make sure you have a strudy plug knocker or use soft treble hooks that you can bend and avoid losing a bait or two. Take a printout of the are you are working and a fine point sharpie or paper mate marker to make notes on the print out. Go back to your computer or ask some locals to confirm or refute your findings.

No problem at all - wouldn't want to give you any inflated sense of hope when using them If you really want to have some fun, tie on the 1/32oz heads to the Riverbottom or Raven tube and toss it onto a Bluegill bed. They love them as well. Fun for the kids on u/l tackle. The hook he uses is real small and easy to unhook. Jeff uses really soft plastic, so don't fret when you see a tentacle rip or tear. When the bite is on, you'll go through a whole mess of them in a hurry and will be ordering more. Before you know it, you'll have an entire tackle tray with various Draggin Heads, Little Tubes in three colors, Regular Floating Birds and Large Floating Birds in every color pattern he offers......dang just ratted on myself.

smart @$$ LOL..... In all seriousness, you can rig them using their regular tube jigheads (allows the tube to sit vertically) or you can use the 1/8oz. micro Draggin Heads. Either way works fine. The hooks are super sticky and don't require a hookset at all. Jeff's boys constantly hook 18-21" smallies by themselves without any help from dad.

pssst.....they are sneaky good on bedding bass (not just smallies *hint* *hint*). They are also killer during the hot slow days in the middle of summer.....

Confidence Baits 1/8oz Draggin' Head jig and a PTL 3.5" Craw D'oeuvre or Texas Rig Jig in Kitchen Sink or Deep Melon Pepper. If they are super finicky then I switch over to the 1/8oz micro Draggin' Head and a Confidence Baits Little Tube in either River Bottom or Raven (Black w/ Purple Fleck).

No problem Jay - I am not sponsored by Jeff nor am I on their Pro Staff. The reason I prefer the 1/8oz micros compared to other options listed so far is the keel weighted hook design. The flat keel provides three major benefits - one, it allows you to throw your bait into tighter cover without fear of snagging and two, it slows the vertical drop of your tube as the water displaces around the flat keel and three, it prevents your tube from spiraling and lands always upright in a perfect tail up presentation. Another benefit of the Draggin' Head that I have found is that ultra soft plastics like GYCBs actually last longer than one or two fish, because the hook requires almost no real hookset. It is a thin wire super sticky hook and penetrates the mouth of a bass very easily. If you have to replace the bait after a strike, it is most likely from the fish thrashing about not from the hookset. Simply twist the lure a 1/4" turn and rehook it. I'll warn you though, once you start using them, you'll find that they excel for all of your small plastics I have several of the 1/8 oz micro and regular lengths, use the 1/4 oz for all of my 5-7" finesse, senkos and PTL Craw D'oeuvres, and the 3/8oz version for larger creatures and big power worms. I also have a whole tackle tray full of Little Tubes in 3 colors, as well as the alternate rigging method using his micro jig heads that insert inside of the tube, and a variety of his Floating Birds. Jeff is a smallmouth guru and considered one of the best river anglers in the country. I have several hundreds of dollars invested in his terminal tackle over the last 3 years and trust him so much that I don't use the traditional shakey head jigs anymore. I find that they hang up too often, and the spiral lock/keeper pin is not sized for smaller plastics. I'll also say that another tackle designed has a similar jig called the Flutter Head, and that is made by Allen Winco of Winco Custom Baits. Allen and Jeff are good friends and often test/prototype each other's lures. That's another option consider as well.

Try Confidence Baits 1/8oz micro Draggin Heads. Jeff designed them for small soft plastics and I use them on my 3" stick baits and 4" finesse worms. http://www.confidencebaits.net

I think the Crucial is considered by many on here the best all around rod Shimano offers with the Compre only slightly below it. For me, I prefer to spend my money on high quality reels and mid-priced rods. I find very little difference in sensitivity or rod power in that price range when you pair the combos up with braided and flouro lines. You have to remember that your specific needs as an angler dictate which rod/reel/line combinations will work best for you. I fish out of a kayak and do not need nor require the extra heavy rod powers that many boat-based anglers do. I am able to go to the fish if it gets hung up where many boats are unable to go, so they need heavier lines and rod powers to power the fish out of heavy cover. If it were me, I'd opt for the Compre at the price point they have right now, and then upgrade some other items like your line choice to some Sunline or possibly Seguar Kansen braid. You'll find you have some funds left over to even add a few nice lures as well

The 360 degree trebles are called BasStar SpinTech rotating treble hooks. Recently, VMC released a dropshot/finesse version of the single hook called the SpinShot. The treble variety have been our for some time now with mixed reviews.

It is a great tool, but also keep in mind that even your PRIVATE mappings are still public to some extent. I personally would recommend not doing this for your hot spots or fishing reports. There are hoardes of people that do nothing more than troll the web looking for fishing reports in order to make their lives easier on the water. Most of the reports I put out there are very general and don't actually show the hot spot or any specific geographic/topographic hints. Just a suggestion. FWIW, one of my kayak friends even witnessed this in person at BPS. He was looking over some reels at the reel counter when he overheard one of the clerks tell a customer to go to a particular kayak site and read their posts to find some hidden locations. It happens. In reality, there are few unknown or secret honey holes on public waters, but anything you can do to try and minimize burning of your spots helps.

I actually put together the same list already on my blog, but I think after this past weekend's tournament, I may need to adjust it slightly. I still want to be more competitive in the tournaments I am entered in this year, but I need to improve on two specific techniques - crankbaits and spinnerbaits around timber.

St. Croix AVID or Shimano Crucial if you are willing to spend $150 or more. The Shimano Compre Worm & Jig 6'8" rod is a steal right now at $100 at BPS, but the Clarus version for $79 would do nicely if you are cost conscious. I have the Clarus in both spinning and casting and can feel every little tick, pebble, twig, etc.

Yep, that's the one. Great book, too. I have one signed by the author, and it's not just for kayak anglers, but for all bass fishermen.

First off, glad you are able to share your experience. Second, this incident brings to the forefront an important safety message. If you kayak or canoe in colder waters, you need to know how to perform a self rescue. Another safety point is the need for proper cold weather attire. This means layering with a base layer, a fleece layer and a waterproof layer at a minimum for the body. Your head, hands and feet are another area that need prroper coverage as well. Lastly, the other item every cold water kayaker should have is a dry bag with a change of clothes, some kindling, a method to start a fire, a solar blanket, some form of safety kit, some food and extra water.

Sorry thought you said FS10. In that case, based upon the zoomed in photo I just looked at of the DS10T definitely go with Malibu if those are your final choices. Reason being is that the footwell design of the Ascend does not appear to lend itself to proper drainage of any significant water volume that enters the kayak. I see only 2 sets of scuppers on the entire kayak, one set in the tankwell and one in the cockpit/footwell close to the seat. If you take any water over the bow or sides, the location of those scuppers would concern me. I prefer at least two sets in the cokpit/footwell area - one set by my feet and one set at or under the seat. I have a couple friends who fished with me in some nasty waters last summer during an angler club challenge. One was fishing out of a Malibu Stealth and the others were fishing out of Wilderness Tarpton 140s and an Ocean Kayak Trident 13. All of which had no less than 4 total scupper holes in the footwell area. They were barraged with waves and rain for 6 hours straight and were wahsed over many times. At one point, all of them had to bail on the rosks to empty out the water in the footwells, because the waves and water were coming in faster than the scuppers could self bail them. Imagine what would happen if you only had two individual scuppers? This same scenario can happen on a pond, river or lake. I was washed over in my old Ride 135 on Sandy River Reservoir by someone running only a 9.9hp motor on the their jon boat. It can happen even on a river. Don't think it can't. Not trying to scare you, just trying to share a personal experience of how quickly an improperly designed kayak can get you in trouble real quick.

Paddle size can be easily determined by standing with your feet flat on the ground and raising your hand directly above your head. Take the paddle and try to cup the end of your fingers around the end of the blade as it stands next to you. If you can just barely cup your fingers over the edge, then that length will work for you. Anything 10cm longer or shorter may not be as efficient for you on the water. When selecting a paddle, your physical stature is not the only variable to consider. You need to take the proper length paddle and then sit in the kayak itself. If you have a kayak that rides higher out of the water than others or has a higher gunwale (as in the case of the Ascend D10T), then you may have to increase your paddle length by 10cm (ie: a 230cm over a 220cm). Remember, the Ascend D10T is a SINK (Sit INside Kayak) versus the Malibu Mini-X which is a SOT (Sit On Top) - two entriely different kayaks from a seated position perspective. Another variable in your kayak decision process is seat time - I have yet to see any response from you stating how much seat time you have had in either kayak. They both are suitable as first kayaks, but if either or both are uncomfortable after 15 minutes on the water, what will you do then? Get some seat time in both and make sure you are wearing the exact PFD you plan on wearing while you are trying them out. That is the only way you will be albe to test out how comfortable you are. Hope this helps.

The other factor besides your college and monetary situation is also what cover you are fishing. If you are fishing an area with few laydowns or cover variables to get hung up on, then you could go with 10-15lb. In fact, you could go with straight flouro if the water was clear. But if you have any rocks, brush piles or lay downs, then 20-30 is your best option. I have a good friend who is a well known kayak angler that uses 30lb. PP and a 20lb. flouro leader when he uses his spiining gear for throwing lightweight frogs in the lily pads.

The SNIP from Boomerang Tool or just go buy a pair of Fiskars Kid Scissors. Either one slices through 65lb. braid with no issues. http://www.boomerangtool.com/

In a kayak, you have to take into consideration that for the most part you are closer to your target casting area, so distance casts are not necessary. Hence the reason I typically use a roll cast or sidearm cast. Once you get proficient at it, you'll be able to backhand cast as well as flip and pitch from a seated position. Dock shooting and skip casts are a breeze as well. I use spinning, baitcasting, conventional and fly rods all from the seated position. All of my rods range from 6'3" to 7'2" plus the fly rod is a 10' 7wt. It can be done, you just need to practice. If you are predominantly right handed and cast overhead or 3/4, you can always place your crate/rod holder setup turned so that the rods are all aligned on the left and pointed toward the rear of your tankwell. That will help decrease the likelihood of any rod mishaps.

Thanks Mike - I tossed a few of the Siebert Outdoors bed bugs but got no love from them, but I'll be trying them again here hopefully later this week at Briery Creek!