Kayak Koz

Even in summer with the 100 degree plus heat index I wear a long sleeve, moisture wicking fishing hoodie and long fishing pants along with a UPF50 boonie hat. Amazingly, I don’t get hot or overheat. The moisture wicking gear does a great job. A few years ago when we were out fishing, @flatcreek warned me about the dangers of skin cancer and I took it to heart.

I'm jealous. It's too dang hot to get out on the lake in my kayak and fish down here right now. The heat index has been running between 106 and 112 lately. I may bank fish one of the ponds at work for 15 minutes at lunch or on my way home, but that's about it. I just couldn't find the will to get out on my kayak this weekend.

And that would make it illegal for tournament fishing. All of the major circuits have one motor rules. This is why the new Garmin motor is so appealing.

There are lots of good responses here, but it really comes down to one thing - consistently finding the fish. That's it. If you can find the fish, more often than not you'll get them to bite. And then it's a completely different level if you're tournament fishing and need to find quality fish. A lot of people say that "time on the water" will give you that experience, but that's misleading. Really good anglers combine ALL of the data like seasonality, small temperature changes, wind speed and direction, time of day, water temperature at different depths, water clarity, structure, cover, lake levels, barometric pressure, creek flow rates, and a host of other data. Their brain processes it and they know that at 6:20 am the fish are more likely to be on this point and not on that point. Many also put time on the water graphing with side scan and marking locations. Some keep journals. They also study maps and Google Earth long before they hit the water. Not many people are good at that. I'm not. I do some of that, but once I get on the water there's a good chance my plan will go to heck as I get distracted.

I’ve been back and forth about buying a boat. But there ongoing and compounding costs with a boat. I also enjoy the kayak tournament scene. Competitors are actually friendly.

It does have heading lock. I have not. I talked to a few early adopters and they seemed satisfied. I’m going to sit back and relax and let everyone else experiment with kayak combinations for this motor. That’s too big of an investment for me to gamble on the right combination. I’ll let the outfitters and the factory anglers figure that out.

You wouldn’t even need to steer. You could plot your track on your Garmin unit and just have it follow that track. I’m seriously considering selling my AP120 and buying an XTR 130 as well as this motor. But I am most definitely not an impulse buyer. I’ll think about it for 4-6 months first.

Don't limit skipping to docks and overhangs. Skip a bait close to shore, especially parallel to the shore. Skipping baits in open water can work as well.

Garmin just upped the game with their Garmin Force Current kayak motor. Here are the highlights: It's both an outboard and a trolling motor that mounts on the back of your kayak. With a 12V battery it has 30 lbs of thrust. With a 24V battery it has 50 lbs of thrust. It has anchor lock (spot lock) It can stow and deploy Here's the big one - hands free wireless steering and throttle Wireless integration with Garmin chartplotters Wireless man overboard tag Handheld remote with the ability to turn via motion sensor But let's talk about the big one - the wireless foot pedals. These are rocker pedals that allow you to steer, move forward, and move backward. In combination, you can make a tight turn or even pivot the kayak. They even have programmable buttons (actually a toe plate on the side) that you can program to do things like engage / disengage spot lock and lock course. The price tag - a cool $3,600. That's a pretty big investment. Along with the wireless foot pedals, I'm intrigued by the increased thrust with the 24V battery. Paired with a kayak with good hull design andsome weight considerations I'm wondering what kind of speed you can get with this motor. I have to say, I'm intrigued. Is anyone interested in buying a used Old Town Sportsman AP 120? 😀

Yes. They were supposed to arrive today but UPS let me down. I can’t wait to get them installed. There should be less friction and their size and compound should provide a smoother ride. I have traveled up to 900 miles at a time to go to tournaments and frequently travel 70+ mph and worry those smaller tires rated for 65 mph may give out. It will nice to travel with peace of mind.

Nope. I’ve fished massive hydrilla at Toho and thick and thick Kissimmee grass throughout Florida. I’ve also fished the eelgrass and hydrilla at Guntersville. I’ve also fished giant lily pad fields in numerous lakes. The eelgrass had just been cut and was floating in mats and that was a bit difficult. But other than that, this thing handles it like a champ.

Speaking of tires, I just ordered some 10" tires for my Malone Ecolight trailer to replace the stock 8" tires. Those 8" tires are only rated for 65mph and the new 10" tires are rated for up to 87mph. I'll have to move or lose the fenders, but that's not a big deal. I'm wondering how it will impact the ride of my trailer or fuel mileage.

Pssst.... Your bait and tackle aren't expensive enough. Sincerely, The Bait Monkey

What I have noticed here in GA is that even in the heat of the day I can get bit in shallow water. The difference is that instead of the bass cruising the shallows, they sit in deeper water and make a run perpendicular to the bank. They crash the bank, quick feed, and head right back out to deeper water. So what I do is look for baitfish gathering en masse along the shore and I keep targeting those areas until a bass comes by. Often I find these areas because I see the bass blowing up there, so I cast and keep patiently waiting for them to make a run at that same spot. My other summer go to is ripping a bladed jig through offshore weed beds.

I've got equipment to mount my GoPro to the back of my kayak and a knock off camera that I occasionally use as a chest camera. I have editing software and thought about posting videos. But trying to narrate out on the water is distracting for me. If you run the video constantly there's a lot of dead time and you can fill your video card quickly unless you set it to loop every 15 minutes. But even that was a pain. So I'd turn on the power to my camera and let it idle, and sure enough just about every time I got bit I'd forget to say, "GoPro start recording." I find it to be a hassle and I'd rather just fish. But I do turn it on when I fish Bassmaster events because if you submit your video you can win and extra 3 grand or so from GoPro.

I caught a 27 lb flathead catfish on my old pedal kayak. It pulled my around quite a bit. But I never brought it on the deck for fear it would thrash and tear up my electronics. I grabbed it with my fish grippers and unbuttoned it and weighed it alongside my kayak.

I felt the same. But one day I brought just one rod to work with a frog tied on to it and forced myself to throw it. There was no second guessing and changing out to another lure. I'm glad I did that because now I have confidence in throwing it again. I also think that frogs don't get enough respect as a summertime bait. One thing I picked up on at the crystal clear waters at the fairgrounds is that the bass are not cruising the shadows and feeding. They sit in deeper water and come flying straight in to the shallows for a hit and run feeding. They did that with my frog and I watched them do it feeding on minnows. I was surprised at how fast they are moving from deeper water to just inches of water. It was an awesome sight.

I night have a prop bait somewhere in my arsenal. BTW, we need to get together and fish sometime. It's been a while.

I'm thankful that I have a number of PFA's (Public Fishing Areas) within 2 hours of where I live. These PFA's are managed by DNR, and if there are boats out there they are limited to idle speed. There are plenty of people fishing accessible bank areas, but there's plenty of woods surrounding these lakes where it's nice and quiet for me out on my kayak. I did fish Lake Tobesofkee on Sunday and it was quiet most of the morning. But once 11 am rolls around the pleasure boaters come out and I pack it up for the day.

This from the woman that goes out and catches 30-60 bass almost every time she hits the water! You slay them out there.

Who doesn't love throwing a frog? For me, the problem is that I rarely throw it. I just about always choose something else like a buzzbait. Some of you know I'm opening two new Marriott hotels at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and I have a temporary office in the Admin office of the fairgrounds. The property also has a few ponds on it. I bank fished a few of them earlier this year and caught a few spotted bass in the 2-3 pound range as well as a handful of dinks. But last week I decided to bring one rod to work and tied on a hollow bodied frog. I didn't bring any other baits so I was forced to use just that one frog. I'm glad that I did. I head out there in the blazing heat around lunchtime and toss that frog and I have not been disappointed. I fish it parallel to the shore and it's largemouth that come crashing up from deeper waters and smack the crud out of it. I'm catching 2-4 pounders every day, but they are skinny fish. There are tons of small minnows in these ponds, but if they had some bigger forage I'd bet these bass would be 7-8 pounds. This weekend I brought my frog game to Lake Tobesofkee. I was out on my kayak fishing some narrow creeks and creek channels, tossing my frog deep into the weeds. I only caught two, but had a decent number of blowups. I forgot how much fun it was fishing a frog. I caught another 2+ pounder at the fairgrounds today. But tomorrow I'm going to tie on a buzzbait and see if I can get them to hit in in some of the deeper water.

NOS sugar free or Red Bull sugar free drink on the way to the ramp. My cooler has low sugar Chocolate Peanut Caramel Pure Protein bars and 6 bottles of water. I usually drink only one or two bottles out on the lake, then chug 2 or 3 on the way home. Occasionally I'll bring a sandwich, but I usually want something quick and filling to eat so I can get back to fishing.

You're doing it wrong 😁

If anyone in my area wants to kayak fish with me sometime, go ahead an DM me. I fished with @Hook2Jaw last year, but he's been busy with life this year. I'd like to stick within 90 minutes of where I live in Warner Robins. Some of the places I frequent now are: Lake Tobesofkee Lake Oconee Lake Sinclair Ocmulgee PFA Flat Creek PFA Dodge County PFA Big Lazer PFA Marben PFA I want to fish Blackshear sometime, but I'll wait until the fall when the summer boat traffic is over with. Juliette is also not that far away. I like the PFA's because any boats out there are limited to idle speed or trolling motor only. But I'll fish anywhere, and I don't mind the summer heat.

I went rudder up a few times on Tobesofkee today and felt that I didn't get blown around as much. That's anecdotal as it was just one time under breezy but not windy conditions. I'm going to keep experimenting.