YEAR-ROUND
WALLEYE: One of the Detroit
River’s finest. PHOTO: JEFFREY GOUDREAU
11 Salmon
JEFFREY GOUDREAU reckons the Detroit River between Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie is the walleye capital of the world. “They’re so plentiful. The season is year round,” he says. Okay, maybe not for kayaks, admits the proprietor of
CanadianKayakAnglers.com.
9 Walleye
That’s best saved for warmer months such as the hot fall bite on the upper river. But bring your A game. “Walleye are not an easy fish. They’re difficult from the kayak, very finicky. The slightest weather situation can shut them down,” Goudreau says. Because walleye are so temperamental, Goudreau likes to stick with the basics, confidence-boosting baits he knows will deliver. That means slow trolling a 2-ounce Northland Rock-Runner Bottom Bouncer Sinker mated to a two-hook Lindy Floating Worm Harness. “I use Berkley Gulp! Nightcrawlers in 15 to 25 feet of water, trolling cross-current. That puts the lure downstream. Paddle back and forth. The trick is to keep the bait properly presented,” Goudreau says.
10 Tarpon
MIKE KOGAN’S Jacksonville Kayak Fishing Classic attracts anglers from across the country to fish for redfish, trout and flounder. But for the man behind the largest kayak fishing tournament in the world, big thrills come from one enormous, primitive-looking fish—the tarpon. “It’s not for the novice kayak fisherman and you wouldn’t want to put one in your lap. They can skyrocket and unintentionally hit your boat, and you usually have to sort through a bunch of 3- to 4-foot sharks to find one,” Kogan says by way of discouragement, but with a smile in his voice. In Florida, tarpon congregate just beyond the breakers to feed on thick schools of menhaden. The bait is so thick, Kogan says most anglers catch them at will, then slip one onto a large 13/0 Daiichi Bleeding Bait Circle Hook. One trick to make that hooked bait stand out from the masses is to offer it on a big, Styrofoam bobber. When you hook up, hang on! Kogan says it’s best to pour on the pressure. They shouldn’t be taking drag. That’s the kayak’s job. “There are guys that let themselves be towed for two and a half hours. That’s not something to brag about. If you pull hard, you can get them in 30 minutes.”
HOOK UP AND HANG ON: Kogan
lifts a hulk. PHOTO: MIKE KOGAN
THE RIG
ROD: 7-foot medium or heavy baitcast rod
REEL: Shimano Curado E5
LINE: 17-pound Spiderwire Stealth, over 17- to 20-pound monofilament backing
TERMINAL TACKLE: 2-ounce Northland Rock-Runner Bottom Bouncer Sinker and to a two-hook Lindy Floating Worm Harness
BAIT: Berkley Gulp! Nightcrawlers
THOSE WHO KAYAK FISH for oceanic salmon are a hardy bunch. They have to be. Most of the tried and true techniques are a literal drag. If nothing else, salmon trolling is a great workout. “I used to use an 8-inch mini flasher and a hoochi. I changed. It was too much. That’s the biggest problem—the drag really pulls you to the side,” Hobie staffer Bryce Molenkamp says. These days the Puget Sound regular uses a Scotty Depth Master downrigger with a relatively massive 6-pound ball to get down to the fish that hold at 80 to 120 feet. It’s still a lot of work, even after switching the cable for 60-pound braided line. “It works well
THE RIG
ROD: 9-foot G.Loomis Classics Salmon rod, moderate action, heavy
REEL: Shimano Charter Special conventional reel
with the Hobie Adventure. They’re made for trolling, especially once you add the turbo fins and sailing rudder,” Molenkamp says.
LINE: 20-pound Performance Suffix braid to 25-foot of 20-pound Suffix Fluorocarbon leader
BAIT: KoneZone Daisy Chain flasher set with a Gold Star Sonic Edge Spoon (“any colour as long as it’s green”)
12 Smallmouth Bass
THE RIG
ROD: 7-foot St Croix Avid Series Inshore casting rod, heavy REEL: Shimano Calcutta 400 casting reel
LINE: 40- to 50-pound braided line, doubled at the terminal end using a spider hitch and joined to a length of 40-pound fluorocarbon, which is used to step up to 2-feet of 80-pound fluorocarbon leader
TERMINAL TACKLE: 12/0 or 13/0 Daiichi Bleeding Bait Circle Hook
BAIT: Live menhaden freshly caught
MARTY MOOD’S kayak fishing journey started in Texas, where the likes of Dean Thomas showed him the ropes. Now a Hobie pro staffer, Mood pedals his Revolution and Pro Angler up north on New England’s smallmouth streams. “Fishing rivers, I’m looking for the big, Volkswagen-sized boulders that create current breaks, especially those with deep holes behind them,” Mood says. His go-to offering is a watermelon or green pumpkin tube jig, cast into the current line where it can bounce along the bottom.
THE RIG
ROD: 7-foot 6-inch Kistler medium-light saltwater popper spinning rod
REEL: Shimano Spheros 3000 spinning reel
LINE: Stren Superbraid with a 3-foot, 12-pound Yozuri Hybrid copolymer leader
BAIT: 4-inch watermelon or green pumpkin tube jig on a 1/4- to 3/4- ounce rattling jighead
“I let the fish tell me what to do. Some days they want a fast retrieve bumping down through the current. Other times its slack water, and you have to let it sit for as much as a minute, then bump it and let it sit again. I’m not patient so I start out fairly fast.”
kayakanglermag.com… 27
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