Hey guys,

Over the past almost two years now I have been kayak fishing. I have had lots of good memories and success, but I want to ask for your advice for my next fishing trip. I am planning on taking my kayak out on Ni River reservoir, which is shallow and has lots of pads up the river. The other cover is mainly trees along some of the shore and a few lay downs. This is a shallow fishery, which is why I generally take my kayak here opposed to the deeper reservoirs which I find harder to catch fish at. I am going to leave a link to the depth map, but what would be your game plan for going out from sunrise until 12? Where would you start, what techniques would you use? I normally launch my kayak directly across from the highlighted area and can catch a few there. To launch near the dam I have to pay.

Thank you for reading,

Bryce

https://www.gpsnauticalcharts.com/main/nautical-chart/us_aa_va_ni_river_reservoir_va-ni-river-reservoir-nautical-chart.html

This time of year, bluegill are spawning and shallow. The bass are eating them. Ideally, I would be starting the morning where there are bluegill beds and in fact on Friday I will be doing something similar. That +/- 2 hour run around sunrise is when bass are pushed up shallow next to the bluegill beds. For me, that’s buzzbait territory, though if they aren’t willing to eat on top then a vibrating jig is maybe even a better choice. The morning summer bite is a thing so that’s where I’d focus my time. If the bottom around the timber is shallow and solid (or ideally sand/gravel) then that’s where I’d start unless I knew for certain there were bedding bluegills somewhere else.