Kayak Kapers Part II

Appears courtesy of South East and West Fishing magazine.

Written by John Cahill.

In the last edition we looked at setting up our kayak for fishing and purchasing the right gear – this month its time to look at how to target your first fish. We know that fishing from a kayak offers enormous versatility and ability to target some serious fish. Whilst I regularly paddle out to the 16m line in Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay, paddled the tidal channels in Western Port and tentatively ventured off shore, I hold the view that kayaks are predominantly an inshore option in good to reasonable weather and this is largely where they belong. Kayaks offer versatility and are incredibly well suited to some popular fishing methods. This is by no means a comprehensive guide; more the styles that I have found that kayaks fit the bill for, particularly on Port Phillip Bay however the same can apply on any inshore waters in Victoria give or take a change in some target species depending upon location.

Salmon are great to target from a kayak and are susceptible to many methods of capture.

The cast and retrieve

One of the beautiful features of kayaks is a clear and uncluttered work area although its small and clearly you are mostly in a seated position. For this reason they are extremely well suited to cast and retrieve lure fishing. The revolution of the last five years, soft plastics are well suited to the stealth of a yak. Softys can be slow trolled, fished on a paternoster or dropshot rig and all are best of all actively worked by cast and retrieve. The simple and best way to work a plastic from a yak is to position yourself up current or up wind (whichever is most prevalent) of where you want to fish and casting ahead of the drift. Once the jig head is on or near the bottom, erratically retrieve the jig back up using a variety of retrieves and pauses. It pays to really watch closely as the jig sinks after the cast as many takes occur on the initial drop – it is defiantly not the time to not pay attention! Other lures such as vibes can be worked in a similar method to softies in relation to cast and retrieve on the drift; however a steady retrieve is more the technique to use with smaller variances in speed or pausing for a second or two to entice a strike. It’s great to see vibes and hardbody lures make a comeback after the craze of soft plastics as they still catch plenty of fish in the right circumstances. These methods are best used when working over a known productive area such as a reef or if you have sounded up some fish. This method pays great dividends on snapper, flathead and salmon however all you need to do is change the lures to squid jigs to give the celephods a serious touch up as well. My little tip – it pays to have a lucanis or octo sniper jig on a rod set a foot off the bottom and in a rod holder whilst actively working your ‘main’ rod, you may be surprised what hits it from below your drift.

Trolling

With kayaks being slow moving craft, any time spent moving is an opportunity to catch a fish and it always pays to have an option in the water when on the move. Some days I go out with the express intent of pulling around lures all morning and other occasions it is just a matter of doing so until I get where I intend to fish then swapping options. Trolling can be an extremely productive method on a good day and just good exercise on slow days. It pays to fish no more then two rods and a wise approach is a mixture of deep diving hard bodies such as a Rapala X-Rap with a bean sinker ahead of the trace to get the lure down to the strike zone in the bottom 1/3 of the water you are traversing. A second rod may cover higher up in the water column and options may include a larger soft plastic in a shad style or a vibrating blade. When trolling it is great to have the rod tips in view to monitor strikes or detect if you have picked up some weed. It also pays to make sure your rod holders are up to it as some hits can rip them right out as they are usually only riveted into the plastic of the kayak – don’t forget the lanyards! Prime targets with this method include snapper, pike, salmon, kingfish and thresher sharks. Rods angled slightly towards the rear of the craft looking at the lure have a much better hook up rate then rods facing forward. Generally it pays to troll in waters les then 12 or so meters of water as its hard even with extra weight added to get lures down deep when on the move at any speed.

Squid and kayaks work perfectly together and are ideal target for cast and retrieve.

Bait fishing

Either on the drift or at anchor kayaks are very suited to bait fishing however you need to be quite well organised to get the best out of the method. Bait needs to be stored where you can access it easily and a cutting board from the kitchen will be required unless you have prepared your baits earlier which is a great idea for convenience and lack of mess sake. When bait fishing at anchor an anchor trolley is vital to ensure that you sit the right way in the wind and tide. I find no more then two rods can be fished at a time when bait fishing and I prefer to have one set in a rod holder while I hold the second rod. Prime bait fishing targets include snapper, flathead, garfish and king george whiting and the holy grail – mulloway which are well suited to the stealth of a yak.

Make no mistake kayaks are serious fishing vessels and quality fish are caught from them, anglers just need to school up, be on the ball and try new methods to reap the rewards!