When you got your kayak did you catch more fish bass

Sure!

I actually love to bank fish, do so now and again; but, if I get in my kayak I can hit spots that just aren't available to me from the shoreline. And, other areas I go aren't accessible by larger boats so I have those to myself, too.

Lots of lakes get so covered around their perimeters with vegetation that it takes some sort of vessel to get out beyond it to fish.

Finally, on most lakes, there are places to pull over, hop out and fish from a shoreline inaccessible to foot traffic or from an island, places like that.

I'd say one should expect to catch 2X or 3X as many fish from a kayak as off the bank on any given day. And, especially so during times when the fish leave the shallows and head deeper. You have to go out with them.

Brad

Brad

There is a learning curve that should be expected--difference in casting, setting the hook, fighting a fish, getting positioned to make a good cast.

Maybe not more fish, but bigger fish.



Fishing from the bank, you have the obvious limitation of fishing relatively shallow (with exceptions like steeply banked bridges, etc).
Fishing shallow can be great during the spring, at night, and when fish are aggressively feeding shallow.
But, at other times, being able to target deeper fish is a huge advantage.

When you are fishing shallow, you are fishing for the most pressured fish.
Smaller fish tend to stay close to bank vegetation and ambush small critters.

Larger fish tend find deeper/less pressured places with more stable temperatures and larger bait.

Starting out you might be disappointed in your results. The wind will not be your friend. Much of your time could be spent trying to keep bow pointed in the general direction you want to fish, figuring out how to get kayak off of stump, trying to paddle and reel in line to stuck lure, learning about having rods not being used getting caught in bushes and trees... lots of stuff that takes away from actual fishing time. Highly recommend you take just one rod and not use three prong baits the first few times out. You'll figure things out quick but I wouldn't recommend carrying all your equipment with you.

True to that! I hate the dang wind the most when kayak fishing and Texas has a lot of wind. Your kayak gets turn around whenever a dang gnat or mosquito sneeze. And yes, if you are kayak fishing near vegetation, there will be a lot of bugs you have to deal with. One of the worst is called "eye gnats" -- they will find and crawl into every orifice you have. Lets see how much fishing you do while they feast on you.

Far more fish. I can't imagine being without my kayak. You get to fish places that rarely get fished. Plus, the view is worth it alone. There are many beautiful spots on the Frio and Guadalupe.

Depends on when and what I was fishing for. When I had my small bass boat too I did really well catching sandbass because I could cover lots more water. Same was true fishing the channel cat spawn, again I could cover more water fishing rocks on a dam. I still do really well out of the yak, just can't fish the entire thing. As far as bass, blues and crappie no comparison I have done much better in my kayak. I can get where boats can't plus I fish more thoroughly. I never caught a trophy blue (for me one over say 15lbs) until I got my PA 12. Now I catch 2-4 a year plus way more eaters, bass and crappie