Kayak Koz

I can't even imagine the mindset of cheaters and liars and their need for constant attention. You do have to admire the author of the story and video, Kellen Ellis, for his tenacity. He not only did his research in putting together the article, but he spent untold hours stalking and filming Long to get proof of his snagging bass.

I was thinking the same thing. But I've never fished from a kayak let alone what looks to be a smaller kayak. Maybe the goal was to let the fish tire itself out so it was easier to handle when landing it.

You're welcome

If you haven't tried it yet, put a Havoc Pit Boss trailer on it. I use a bluegill colored Chatterbait Elite paired with a Pit Boss in the Perfection color and it's a top producer for me. Oddly enough, though, I've tried using a Powerbait as a trailer and never got a single strike in teh same waters.

I've never caught anything on an all black bait. Some black on the bait, yes. All black, no. And while I've caught some bass on a lipped crankbait, over the years I have lost more lipped crankbaits to snags than I have caught fish. That probably has something to do with fishing from the bank. But even the other day I tossed 3 different crankbaits and didn't get one bite. But at least I didn't lose one.

I bank fish and because of the alligators I don't have the stones to fish at night. Thankfully, where I am moving there are no alligators. The drawback to that is that where I am moving does not have stormwater lagoons like the thousands we have here. It does have lakes, but on the maps I don't see many areas to bank fish. I've thought about buying a kayak, but that probably means I have to sell my (paid off) GenCoupe and buy a new vehicle.

Holy cow it's hot out down here. High of 94 degrees, 50% humidity, and a heat index of 103. The heat index jumps to 107 tomorrow. Even after 5 pm until just before sundown the heat index is over 100. Thankfully, in a few weeks I'm moving a little bit north of here where the temps are only in the mid 80's and heat indices in the low 90's. I can live with that. I tried fishing for about 45 minutes after work yesterday but it was brutal. I know a shady spot to fish so I might try that tonight if I get the itch.

Now that's a phrase you don't hear very often!

Well, more common than from the bank. Especially for all of the tournament guys here on Bass Resource.

BTW, I know that for boat guys my haul last night was no big deal. But for us bank beaters days like that are a ton of fun. Unfortunately, the heat index today is going to top out at 104 and it will still be over 100 when I finish work. I don't think I'll be heading out this evening.

My nearest BPS is an hour drive but the few times I have gone there they did have sizeable inventory on just about everything. We do have a local DSG, but it's 1/2 to 1/3 the size of the traditional DSG. There were a few times when I went looking for a bait that they did not have in stock and they immediately paced orders for them and I had them within the week. Occasionally I order from TW and will probably do that again when I add to my rods and reels. Since I bank fish and backpack it I stay pretty lean with the amount of baits that I have and don't have boxes or racks of baits sitting in the garage and other than soft plastics I don't double or triple up on baits. It works for me.

With the muddy water I'd bring along a chatterbait and use some of those soft plastics as trailers. My go to chatterbait trailer is a Pit Boss.

Exactly what the other guys said above. You need the right tools for the job.

My best guess is that the gator is a females and right now is somewhere off in the woods guarding her nest of eggs.

All spring long, there's one lagoon that I try to bank fish and more often than not I get in between 2 and 20 casts before a big, 10 foot gator comes right up to the bank and gets aggressive with my baits when I try to fish. But earlier in the week I went out there and there was no gator in site. I managed to land a few 3 pounders and a 4 pounder. I went out again the next night and got about 20 bites - unfortunately they were fire ants. This area is a fairly steeped banked point that rounds to a cove with a little bit of vegetation on the left side, open water in the center, and along the right hand side are trees and shrubs that overhang the water. It's got a little bit of everything for our area. When I fish I normally prefer my baitcasters and braided line, but tonight I also brought along some spinning gear armed with some 10 or 12 pound flouro and a weighted, Texas rigged Senko. Within the first dozen casts I landed 2 dinks (under 2 pounds) and figuring it was a dink day decided not to waste my Senkos and put on a Yum Dinger. Within a few casts it got hammered big time. For the first time in a while I had hooked a bass that put up a really big fight. At one point it made a run towards me and towards the shore and I caught a glimpse. It was big. In that brief second I saw it I don't know if it was 5, 6, or 7 pounds but considering my PB is just under seven pounds I was exited. And then the fished turned back out to deep water and the line went slack. Either I had tied a bad knot or the line broke, I'm not sure. The end of the line wasn't curled, so the knot may knot have slipped. But whether it was the knot or my not adjusting the drag it was my fault. Needless to say I was bummed. But not for long. I noticed their were schools of small baitfish all over the lagoon. You could see the v-shaped or circular wakes moving at various points in the water, and if you cast in the wake it would break up, then re-form a few seconds later. I picked up my trusty baitcaster and tied on a big Pop-R and the big fun began.The bass just crushed the Pop-R. I caught two 5 pounders, one 4 pounders, 2 three pounders, and 2 more under two pounds. Then the Pop-R bite stopped and I tied on my trusty buzzbait and another four pounder hammered it just as it reached shore. It surprised me and it was loud enough that when it hit it inches from the bank and turned I thought it might have been the gator. The bite stopped for a bit and I had no luck on a jig or a Whopper Plopper, so I went back to the Pop-R. I caught a few more under 2 pounds and as I was getting ready to leave another 5 pounder crushed it. That all happened in just two hours fishing the same spot on the bank.I've never had a session like that fishing just one spot, especially in such a short period of time. It was a really, really fun evening even after missing out on a big one early on.

The things I remember most about my PB are that it was another day I was blessed to be fishing with my son and that it was brutally hot outside with a heat index above 100. Most of the lagoons we fish have little or no vegetation, but this small 1.5 acre lagoon did have some along one of the banks. I cast parallel to the bank with a Texas rigged Senko and that did the trick. The fight wasn't any more or less than a 4 pounder and it weighed in at 6.8 pounds. The PB I remember most was my son's first bass that was over 5 pounds (it's my avatar photo). We had fished in that spot a few days before and he was cranky because I had been catching 4 and 5 pounders and he was catching 2 and 3 pounders. He REALLY wanted a big bass. So when we got to the spot I told him to throw his white spinnerbait in a certain location, and being in a cranky mood he refused and just sat on the bank. So I threw a white spinnerbait in that spot and on the first cast landed one just under 5 pounds. He was not happy ? So we head to that same spot a few days later and he's elbowing me out of the way to get to that particular spot. His rod wasn't rigged and mine was so I kidded him that I was going to get the first cast. He didn't think that was funny at all. Anyway, he finally gears up and on his second or third cast lands one that weighed in at 5.5 pounds. I don't think I've ever seen a bigger smile on his face, even after a great pitching performance or great day of hitting. He went on to top that later in the summer with one just under 6 pounds, but that first 5 pounder of his is the one I'll remember most.

This is where knowing your lake and what species are in the water are a big help. For example, I'm confident in that where I fish that most of the time I can discern between a bass, catfish, shad, bluegill, and grass carp surfacing. It's probably easier for me, though since we don't have pickerel, perch, musky, walleye, or pike in the lagoons I fish. That being said, when I determine it's a shad or bass surfacing I toss a buzzbait in that area and if I'm correct on the type of fish I thought I saw I usually get a strike from a bass. My suggestion is to start of with a Senko or trick warm, spinnerbait, and a top water like a buzzbait. You could go with a frog, but you waon't hook up as frequently as the buzzbait. With the Senko I'd make sure to fish it wacky rigged, weightless Texas rig, and weighted Texas rig. Personally, I'm not a fan of crankbaits, but that's because I fish from the bank. It's a different game with crankbaits fished from a watercraft.

You never forget your first frog catch.

Last week when I was bass fishing I caught a small bluegill. What I found interesting is that I caught it on a big Pop-R. I figure that since bluegills are notorious fin nippers he was ticked off that something was in his territory.

It seems to me that more than likely the issue is employees that are just too lazy to target the invasive species and instead just spray everything. An employee on the boat sees all of that vegetation and can't be bothered to take his time and pick out targets. Ultimately, the FWC is responsible but they should probably also launch an internal investigation.

Strike King Sexy Shad buzzbait has been killer and I'm on my second one of the season. The first got hit and bent up so much the slot holding the prop broke off. Senkos have been pretty good as well. Earlier in the year the chatterbait was king. I will say that this year I have done a better job at adapting to conditions and choosing the right bait.

Have you ever had something really weird or strange happen when you were out fishing? If you have, share your story in this thread. I'll start it off with something that happened today. We had perfect weather here today. Maybe not perfect for fishing, but perfect for humans. It was only 81 degrees out, low humidity, bluebird skies, and enough wind to keep the ripples moving on the lagoons. I was bank fishing a long stretch of shoreline, slowly making my way to the far end. I hadn't caught anything at this point, but I could see the bass were moving. It should be noted we had a ton of rain this week and the lagoons were about a foot above their normal levels. Anyway, all of a sudden about 20 feet to my left I see a bass breach the surface right along the bank and he lands nose down in the high grass. I see the grass move a bit and then nothing, so I go to check it out. Sure enough, a bass about 1.5 pounds had wedged himself in the deep grass on the bank, leaving his tail sticking up. I picked him up, put him back in the water, and called it my first catch of the day. I am the Fish Whisperer.

When in doubt, fish by the dam.

After about a week straight of thunderstorms today was the first day in a while where it was safe to fish. I was more than a little excited to get back out there and do some fishing after work. We've had about 5 inches of rain over the previous two days and the lagoons were a foot or so above normal, but I was jonesing to fish. I was in a really good mood as I headed out to to some of my favorite lagoons. I parked my car near one of my favorite spots and said, "Hello" to a woman sitting with her dog in a nearby golf cart. She watched as I tied on a slashbait and as I made my first cast of the evening. I hit my mark exactly, worked the bait, and boom - landed a bass about 2 pounds on that first cast. She clapped and was amazed (first cast and all) as I unhooked the fish and tossed him back. Then, seizing on a confluence of events which I will describe in a moment combined with my good mood I clipped my bait to my rod, headed back towards my car and said loudly, "My work here is done! Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen, and good night!" She cracked up and asked why I was quitting. That's where the confluence of events comes in that made this a perfect opportunity for me to be goofy and have some fun. Landing a fish on a first cast is always a thrill, but in this case it was actually a high percentage cast. The narrow end of the lagoon I was fishing has a large, concrete stormwater outlet and with the heavy rains of the past few days a current had formed as water flowed freely into the outlet. That means smaller bait fish will be inevitably be pulled into that area. At the same time, between the far side of the outlet and the bank the water was calm - the perfect area for a bass to ambush from and that's where my first cast hit the bullseye. This area I was fishing was only about 50 feet wide and 100 feet long before it opened into the larger port of the 20 acre lagoon and this narrow passage added to the current. Now when I made that first cast, out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of Big Gator (9-10 feet long) hanging out in the water just past this inlet over in the main body of the lagoon. Big Gator is a pain in my butt because he's not afraid of humans at all. If you're fishing he'll come within 20 or 30 feet of you and hang out waiting for a free meal. He's relentless and will not leave you alone. If you happen to hook a fish he gets really aggressive and will try and ****** your catch away. It's better not to tempt fate with him around. So seeing Big Gator out there when I let that first cast go I knew he wasn't going to leave me alone. As soon as I hooked something he was guaranteed to close in and ruin the rest of my time fishing. So it was the perfect opportunity to make a one and done grand exit with an audience. Being in a goofy mood I couldn't resist. Hence my "Good night" spiel. But when I approached my car to load my gear I let the woman know the real story of why I was packing up and that I couldn't resist having a bit of fun. Later I hit a few more lagoons and caught a couple of more fish, but nothing over two pounds. Still, it was good to get out there after all of those storms and have a little bit of fun. Sometimes I just crack myself up.

We got almost 5 inches of rain in the past few days, but today the rain has finally stopped! It's still cloudy for the umpteenth day in a row, but the sun returns in a few days. Best of all, temperatures will only be in the mid 80's. It's kind of amazing how much I miss fishing when it's been too stormy to head out there. It won't bother me if I don't catch anything tonight - I'll just be glad to get out there.