Tips for this weekend
02-28-2011, 05:42 PM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Huntsville, AL
Posts: 360
Tips for this weekend
I am going to try and put my kayak in this weekend in a county lake nearby. (m.t. hands knows it). I am looking to only carry 2 rods with me. I have a small abu garcia rod/reel combo and a st. croix mojo bass rod. I will be targeting bass/crappie/bream. Mainly bass and crappie. What do you guys think is the best set up for both (line, lure, etc)? Obviously the smaller will be best for crappie, it fun to troll while kayaking around! I attached a couple of pics to help with the analysis. It is mainly clear water and will probably still be pretty cold. I am primarily a jig fisherman. Caught everything in salt and freshwater jigging. However, would like to diversify a bit. I am leaving the fly rod at home on this one.
03-01-2011, 07:36 AM
#5
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 25,116
Crappie and bass are kind of different types of fishing...
since you have 2 rods you can set up 2 different rods one for bass...one for crappie..
First..find a breexe..turn your vessel sideways and drift both rods at the same time..
On your crappie rod..tie on a small crappie jig.{ red and white are great colors} ..if the bottom is nasty..use a bobber to get the jig off the bottom about 2 feet..
For the bass..drift a dark colored 6-7 inch worm Texas rig.use the .lightest bullet sinker you own. If you don't have a light one ..use a BB sized round split shot....
Best colors..black ,,,purple.or .red shad...or dark green
since you have 2 rods you can set up 2 different rods one for bass...one for crappie..
First..find a breexe..turn your vessel sideways and drift both rods at the same time..
On your crappie rod..tie on a small crappie jig.{ red and white are great colors} ..if the bottom is nasty..use a bobber to get the jig off the bottom about 2 feet..
For the bass..drift a dark colored 6-7 inch worm Texas rig.use the .lightest bullet sinker you own. If you don't have a light one ..use a BB sized round split shot....
Best colors..black ,,,purple.or .red shad...or dark green
Last edited by Chuck7; 03-01-2011 at 07:40 AM.
03-01-2011, 07:36 AM
#6
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Huntsville, AL
Posts: 360
It is madison county lake in north alabama (almost at the TN line). I really don't know anything about the lake as I have just moved here 5 months ago. This will be my maiden voyage out on the lake by kayak.
03-01-2011, 08:28 AM
#7
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Texas
Posts: 1,525
if you dont know the makeup of the bottom, or the depth, I would hit the banks hard and hit all three levels: top water, mid, and bottom. Try a buzzbait, popper, or a wake bait for the top water. Try a few spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, or squarebills(considering you dont know what structure is and you dont want to be snagging all the time) for mid depth. I would throw a jig or worm for bottom contact to try and learn the different types of structure or vegetation you might have.
The other thing to note when fishing with limited equipment, because of your choice of water transportation, is the type of rod you have. Is it a medium, medium heavy, light, etc.? When only fishing with one rod for bass, knowing the characteristics of that rod will help you decide what tackle to take. Since you will probably only have one rod specific to bass, look at the weather conditions before you go, more specifically the wind conditions. By knowing the wind conditions, and your rod type, you will be able to eliminate a large section of your tackle box right off the bat. For instance, if you have a medium rod, and the forcast is guessing strong wind, you can eliminate a large portion of bottom contact fishing because your rod wouldnt handle the heavy weights required to get to the bottom and successfuly feel/fish the lure. In that case, you would want to typically stick to mid and top water lures. Again, when your equipment is limited because of using a Kayak or some other means of water transportation, it's really a matter of maximizing your equipment to conditions. Once you do that, you will have a much better idea of what presentations are available to you, and you can then go about trying to decide what lures would best match the presentations you are trying to accomplish.
The other thing to note when fishing with limited equipment, because of your choice of water transportation, is the type of rod you have. Is it a medium, medium heavy, light, etc.? When only fishing with one rod for bass, knowing the characteristics of that rod will help you decide what tackle to take. Since you will probably only have one rod specific to bass, look at the weather conditions before you go, more specifically the wind conditions. By knowing the wind conditions, and your rod type, you will be able to eliminate a large section of your tackle box right off the bat. For instance, if you have a medium rod, and the forcast is guessing strong wind, you can eliminate a large portion of bottom contact fishing because your rod wouldnt handle the heavy weights required to get to the bottom and successfuly feel/fish the lure. In that case, you would want to typically stick to mid and top water lures. Again, when your equipment is limited because of using a Kayak or some other means of water transportation, it's really a matter of maximizing your equipment to conditions. Once you do that, you will have a much better idea of what presentations are available to you, and you can then go about trying to decide what lures would best match the presentations you are trying to accomplish.
03-01-2011, 09:02 AM
#8
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Huntsville, AL
Posts: 360
Great advice everyone. The rod is a medium. I am stepping out of my comfort zone a bit by shying away from jig fishing. It has been my mainstay, but for bass I have never had much luck. I will try and take some pics of my lure selection later tonight for help there. Forecast isn't looking so hot this weekend anyways. SSE Winds 16 mph, 65 degree high, and 40% chance of rain w/ scattered t-storms. I am not giving up yet, we know how accurate the weather man is.....right!?
03-01-2011, 10:59 AM
#9
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 25,116
Sounds too windy for a Kayack...however..most of the time the wind is gentle in the morning and then gets worse as the sun heats up...
I'm taking Matt thurs. evening as the.. NEW moon is Sat. so this week shoukld increasingly get better...Our wind will be coming from the east.so we will try flipping Lake Parker from the east side for a couple of hours. Saddle Creek is still dead..it should liven up during the week of the Full Moon..
Tenoroc is hot..{ a management area 5 miles away} but is only opened on the weekend..A friend of my sons went last Sat. and boated 2 sixes and one eight...it's a shallow lakes..Shallow lakes are turned on right now.
Jigs...I know you must know that a crappie jig looks nothing like a bass jig ..small jigs are great for crappie..up north we called them shad darts...a tiny lead head painted red and white with white buck hair tied ot it..the jig was about 3/4 of an inch long..
If you wind is strong..find an area at the lake where the wind would be more gentle..I use the wind alot to help me catch fish...Also, fish will hang around the shore waiting for the wind to blow in food..I've caught many nice fish in the wind..
Be careful in your kyack
I'm taking Matt thurs. evening as the.. NEW moon is Sat. so this week shoukld increasingly get better...Our wind will be coming from the east.so we will try flipping Lake Parker from the east side for a couple of hours. Saddle Creek is still dead..it should liven up during the week of the Full Moon..
Tenoroc is hot..{ a management area 5 miles away} but is only opened on the weekend..A friend of my sons went last Sat. and boated 2 sixes and one eight...it's a shallow lakes..Shallow lakes are turned on right now.
Jigs...I know you must know that a crappie jig looks nothing like a bass jig ..small jigs are great for crappie..up north we called them shad darts...a tiny lead head painted red and white with white buck hair tied ot it..the jig was about 3/4 of an inch long..
If you wind is strong..find an area at the lake where the wind would be more gentle..I use the wind alot to help me catch fish...Also, fish will hang around the shore waiting for the wind to blow in food..I've caught many nice fish in the wind..
Be careful in your kyack
03-01-2011, 11:20 AM
#10
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Huntsville, AL
Posts: 360
so, i know the old saying, "wind from the east, fish bite the least. Wind from the west, fish bite the best." What is the relation to fishing and moons? In other words, when is the best time to fish and with what moon? Thanks!