So, I mentioned that I had caught 7 bass before my Jackson leak (and the sudden weight shift in the bilge area) caused me to "turtle" over the weekend. My camera finally dried out and I have posted one of the LMBs from back up in the cove near where I live on Lake Athens north and west of the 2495 bridge. It looked like about a solid 4 pounder to me. No scales.
So, the
stealth thing . . . is one of our huge advantages from a kayak. As I got into the creek channel, likely 6 or so feet deep and deepening as I headed in the direction of the bridge, all I was doing was making a stroke or two with my paddle and gliding over to the edge of where the pads were and either making very short pitches or casts to one of three places:
1) either little openings between the pads;
2) at the outer edges of the pads; or,
3) back into the creek channel, an avenue for cruising fish.
An angler could likely just sit in the pads and target all 3 areas for 10 minutes or longer making a few dozen casts. Even on days with wind and waves, the pads "arrest" the wave action, lock down a kayak pretty effectively. I didn't have much of either this day.
All 3 of these targets yielded fish early morning, 7:45 AM for the next hour. I think I'd have caught more than 7 if I had just stayed back up in that area of the lake as there are lots of bass up there. They say to never leave a spot if you are catching fish. But, you know how it is in a kayak! I did catch fish all the way through the day but this early spot was super productive for me.
I started out making a few casts with a top-water frog, got light hits twice (like maybe bluegills???) but nothing aggressive, so I quickly grabbed my second rod set up with a wacky rigged worm, no weed guard, no weight, just a worm on a #1 hook.
I used the short 6 footer I have been talking about, testing: MH power, fast tip, 12 lbs. fluorocarbon line to allow the worm to sink without hindering its drop. These shorts rods are super magical as regards accuracy from a kayak. And, the shortness of the lever lets me over-power the bass. And, that is needed to get them out of those pads fast.
I could see the bass take the wacky rigs every time by just watching the line stretch. The bites almost always occurred on the initial drop but a few came on the "lift and second drop." I missed 2, so my hook-up ratio was 7 out of 9. I'll take that most any day.
A medium heavy rod wouldn't normally be the one recommended for finesse apps like wacky rigs . . . but watching the line works so very well, then just trying to remember there is no real hook set here and not yank the fish off. I just started reeling, so the MH rating doesn't negatively affect the results and, boy, does a short MH really control the fish well, gets them out of vegetation fast!
Brad
