LIP GRIPPER


TACTICS In the Weeds


WEEDBEDS ARE YOUR GO-TO SPOT FOR PIKE BY TIM ALLARD


In the underwater world, weedbeds are aquatic forests filled with creatures and pike are the wolves hunting in it. Weedbeds are your go-to spot for pike and chasing them in a kayak is a sure- fire adrenaline fix.


EXPLORE THE SHORE In early spring look for pike near their spawning sites. Emerging weeds in sandy bays and along reed-strewn shorelines near streams and creeks are prime areas. Use the shallow-water advantage of your kayak to explore these zones.


SIGHT-FISH Wear polarized glasses and paddle slowly, looking for fish sunning themselves in the shallows. When you spot a fish cast beyond it and then work jerkbaits, inline spinners, spinnerbaits or topwaters into its strike zone. If conditions don’t allow sight-fishing, fan cast the area and cover water.


GO WEEDLESS As summer arrives, dense vegetation de- mands weedless baits. Use topwater frogs and surface spoons to fish floating weeds.


STICK TO THE EDGE Also, concentrate on weedbed’s outside edge, inside pockets and cuts. Pike cruise these routes or wait in ambush in the shade inside these edges. Position your kayak on the deep-water side and cast parallel to these edges, working the entire water col- umn with jigs, spinnerbaits and jerkbaits.


GEAR TIP


BATTLE READY


Use long, heavy- power rods for fish-fighting leverage to keep jumping and thrashing pike at a safe distance. Wire or heavy fluorocarbon (60-pound plus) is a must to prevent bite-offs. Catch-and- release tools should also be at the ready, including long-nosed pliers, hook removers, and jaw spreaders. Whenever possible, use single-hook baits to speed up release times and reduce boat-side mishaps.


GO DEEP TO GO BIG Don’t neglect deep weedbeds, such as those found on points, around islands or on reefs. This is big-pike country. Here, work baits above the weed tops. Rip-jigging bucktails or large plastic jigs, slow-rolling a spinnerbait, retrieving a crankbait or plastic swimbait all produce pike.


STICK TO THE VEG Come autumn, as shallow weedbeds die off, focus your efforts on the remaining, healthy ones. As baitfish and species like wall- eye migrate to bays and tributaries the nearby weedbeds become prime pike spots.


TIM ALLARD (timallard.ca) is a field editor for Ontario Out of Doors, Canada’s largest circulation outdoor sports- men’s magazine.


24 … KAYAK ANGLER spring 2009


Tubing for Spring Smallies


DRIFTING AND DRAGGING TUBES FOR PRE-SPAWN RIVER SMALLMOUTH


BY JEFF LITTLE


In years past if I couldn’t catch small- mouth with a tube, I declared that they just weren’t biting. I’ve since become a much more versatile angler. But this technique still serves me well when river smallmouth won’t respond to reac- tion-style lures such as spinnerbaits or crankbaits during the pre-spawn period.


HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT River smallmouth anglers have long de- bated what a tube might represent to a smallmouth. Crawfish tops the list. A craw- fish’s job in life is to forage in a manner that it is not noticed by predators. Most an- glers present a tube with a series of hops and pops that call out to the fish, “I’m over here! Eat me now!” Smaller, inexperienced bass pounce all over this presentation. The true brutes know better. Instead, let it sit. A tube resting on the bottom with no ac- tion imparted by the angler trembles like a crawfish hiding in plain sight.


THE RIG


WEEDLESS TUBES


Rigging options vary as widely as the brands of tubes. Years ago, all of my tubes were rigged on a jighead. Now I stuff an egg sinker and a glass rattle into a HawgHead Baits tube and rig it onto a 5/0 EWG hook. This weedless setup provides solid hook-sets.


STOP, WAIT AND CONCENTRATE Stop the kayak, let the lure sit still, and maintain a tight line. Most of the four-pound-plus river smallmouth that I’ve caught in early spring hit after a pause greater than 90 seconds. Hit is actually too strong a word unless we’re talking about small fish. The big ones gently suck it in, taste it, and usually huff it back out without the angler having a clue. Hook-sets are free, but paying attention to your taught line is golden.


YOUR SPEED IS THE TUBE’S SPEED Controlling the speed of the kayak backsliding in current trans- lates to how slowly the tube covers river-bottom real estate. Keep- ing the lure pegged on the bottom of a foam eddy requires that you line up your kayak with the current. Periodic one-hand pad- dling helps you keep the nose of the kayak into the current. Grasp the paddle shaft in the middle with your non-rod holding hand, and make use of your elbows for each stroke without putting the rod down. When you do decide to tumble the tube over a few rocks, allow the kayak to backslide in current slightly.


JEFF LITTLE is the author of In Pursuit of Trophy Smallmouth Bass: My Life in a Kayak (blueridgekayakfishing.com).


PHOTO: JEFF LITTLE


PHOTO: TIM ALLARD


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