SIERRA HIGH: Rob Witherill with
a gorgeous Lahontan cutthroat . PHOTO: ROB WITHERILL
8
Largemouth Bass
LIFE ISN’T FAIR. Just ask bass fisherman Chad Hoover, the man behind the new website
KayakBassFishing.com, host of a series of online fishing challenges. Can you really expect a competition-loving bass man to put his money behind just one bait, just one rig? “My preferred lure is a topwater frog, but if I
had to go with just one lure it would be a Texas- rigged soft-plastic worm,” says Hoover, who literally wrote the book. Kayak Bass Fishing! is due out in fall 2009. Of course Hoover fudged a bit. That’s no single
IN ROB WITHERILL’S piece of Eastern Sierra high country, the lakes are bejeweled with brilliant rainbows, cutthroats, browns and brookies. And when the owner of Mammoth Kayaks finds time to play, the fish are usually willing. Witherill is sure his bait of choice has something to do with it. “There’s a reason they pay scientists big money to make this stuff. Its fish attractants are proven,” he says of Berkley Gulp! Trout Dough. Witherill doesn’t fish trout dough baits like most. For one, he’s not a believer in a long soak. If he isn’t bit within a couple of minutes, he’s changing spots, although he’s likely to stick close to an inlet or outlet— places the water is moving, more highly oxygenated, where a trout is more likely to find something tasty.
7 Trout
The system is all about going small: downsized gear, gossamer-thin line, and tiny trebles—not stainless—with the barbs pinched down. All it takes is a pea-sized chunk of bait. As Witherill points out, he’d rather tackle a regular meatball than one the size of a bowling ball.
THE RIG
ROD: 6-foot inexpensive fiberglass trout rod
REEL: Shimano IX spinning reel or similar
LINE: 2-pound-test monofilament, replaced frequently
TERMINAL TACKLE: A 1/8-ounce egg sinker above a swivel, then 2-foot of 2-pound mono leader and a tiny #16 or 18 treble hook
BAIT: Berkley Gulp! Trout Dough in Orange Pulp, Chunky Cheese or Sherbet Burst colors
CatchMoreFish IS BRAIDED BETTER?
Whether the targets are striped bass in the salty Atlantic, yellowtail in the deep blue Pacific, walleye in the northern latitudes or redfish and specks in the south, one kayak fishing trend that’s impossible to miss is the preference for braided lines over monofilament. The advantages are legion. Zero stretch keeps the angler
in touch with the bait. The low diameter cuts the through the wind and sinks quickly into the deeps. Then there’s the durability factor. This stuff can potentially last for years. There is a flip side. Herky-jerky fights can dislodge a hook
if the rod isn’t soft enough to absorb the shocks. Wind knots are a risk, and the occasional backlash can be a game ender. And compared to mono, braided lines go for a king’s ransom. But it’s good to be king.
26 … KAYAK ANGLER summer/fall 2009
worm he’s swinging. It’s a multitude ranging from as small as 3 inches on up to a foot, matched with True Tungsten worm weights from 1/32-ounce all the way up to a 1.5. “If you can’t get the lure to the fish you can’t catch them. The size is based on the cover. A big fish will hit a bigger worm, but you might need a smaller bait to get it through,” Hoover says, adding that the tungsten weights can make a big difference in punching the bait through.
THE RIG
ROD: 7-foot 1-inch G Loomis Mossyback jig and worm casting rod, extra- fast action, medium
REEL: Shimano Curado E5 casting reel
LINE: 20-pound PowerPro braid with a 3- to 6-foot Yozuri Hyrbrid copolymer leader
BAIT: 3- to 12-inch plastic worm, Texas rigged, 1/32- to 1.5-ounce worm Tru Tungsten worm weight, and a premium worm hook such as a 1/0 Gamakatsu Standard or an Owner 11/0—just fit the hook to the worm
PHOTO: CHAD HOOVER
PHOTO: CHAD HOOVER
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