Where to start?

[klahmers]

The snow will melt and I want to be ready to fish.  I grew up largemouth fishing and have been out West flyfishing for trout the last 15 years.  I plan on trying to smallmouth fish with a fly and can tie my own wooly buggers and such.  However, I also want to gear fish.  I am going with a spinning outfit because I have become accustomed to the left hand retrieve.  Should I look for a long rod or short?  Length might help with distance and control, but does a long butt have a problem in a kayak?  (As and aside, I currently have a canoe but no kayak, so if anyone wants to show me the clear superiority of the yak, I'd love to participate.)  Now for the real question.  What should I invest in for terminal gear?  Crankbaits? Spinners? Soft bait?  I most fished plastic worms for largemouth as a kid.  I know everyone has their own preference and different conditions call for different things, but I want to start with some fan favorites.  Thanks for reading. Kevin

[rebelyaker]

Well Kevin I've never fished from a canoe, I love my yak. I think any rod over 7 feet in a yak is to long for me. On my heavy rig for Musky I do like the longer butt it helps to be able to lay it under my elbow, the heavy tackle can wear you out.. As far as the baits I've caught smallies on all of the above, caught a few Musky while fishing a spinner bait for SM but my favorite on the river is soft plastics. There's a certain time of the year when you can't throw a crank bait with out pulling in a pile of grass... When we have our Spring Kickoff you can try out a kayak, I'm sure there will be plenty of them there and someone will let you give it a try, I'll let you give mine a float as long as you know its not for sale... Ill see ya on the river

[madriverheath]

6'6" to 7' medium power, fast action spinning rod will do everything you need for smallies. For lures, 90% of the time I throw soft plastics. Senkos,finese worms and small swimming fluke style baits. Small cranks, spinner baits and jigs are all good too.

[philipgoldwing]

Kevin, my favorite is a senco unweighted. My next is tubes with just enough weight to get it down. I hook into an occasional muskey with tubes but have never landed one. Plus the tubes tend to snag more than the sencos. Spinnerbaits and buzzbaits also will produce well. They say a longer rod is best so it will clear the tip of your yak but I just lean forward when a fish runs across my bow. I also prefer an ultralite but that is just me. More fight on smaller fish. I rig my ultralite with 6lb and my two med lites with 8lb. Lots if guys use crankbaits but I get tired of unhooking weeds. I have never had any success with flukes but know some of the guys swear by them Hope some of this helps. Hope to wee ya at the kickoff. After I got my kayak I sold my canoe as it just sat there. You will love the yak. Some of us have two so if you come to the kickoff we can let you try some of them out.

[hokiefisherman]

Mar 6, 2015 17:38:53 GMT -5 philipgoldwing said:

I have never had any success with flukes but know some of the guys swear by them Hope some of this helps.

You just got to learn to fish it right! I love fishing weightless watermelon flukes, caught my first citation smallmouth on one.


I'll say that for smallmouth my most luck has been on senkos and flukes, but I do throw spinnerbaits (white/pearl), crankbaits(crawdad, bream, and shad), and some zara spooks (baby bass and shad).


Rods, I love a 6'10" Medium XF spinning rod for soft plastics, a 7' Medium Fast for my topwaters, and a 7'6 Medium Heavy for spinnerbaits, cranks, jigs, and such. Those three rods will have you covered for just about any situation you encounter in my opinion. I throw 20lb - 30lb braid on all my rods, but during the summertime I tie a flurocarbon leader on to mitigate what the fish see.

[lazydrifter]

I can't help you much with the conventional gear, but I have put in my time with a fly rod chasing smallmouth. I used to be a trout bum but over the years I have become a smallmouth addict. Wooly buggers are a great all around fly and can be great producers some days, but I would get a good mix of streamers ready for the spring. My favorite baitfish to imitate would be a sculpin and this river is full of them plus the big fish love them. A few patterns I like to use to imitate a sculpin are the sculpzilla, matuka sculpin, and slumpbusters. If those don't work I will start trying a bunch of different patterns zonkers, double bunnies, clousers, and my second favorite crayfish. Swinging streamers in the current and right below the ledges is my favorite tactic and if possible I will wade the river and try to cover every good holding lie. I prefer an 8'6" 8 weight to cast some of the big articulated streamers I fish and to battle the wind in the spring.

Once summer hits the topwater bite is on and can be some intense fishing. It is different compared to trout because they love to sip dry flies but smallies slam poppers almost every single time. Some of my favorites are shenandoah poppers, frogs, pole dancers, cicadas, hopper poppers, and dahlberg divers. Change the color and size up to see what the big fish want because they can really key on different things everyday. Also vary the retrieve some days they want you to pop pop pop other days I will barely pop it and just try to get a natural drift I will use a 6 weight or 8 weight depending on the size of the fly and the wind conditions.

If you do buy a kayak and plan on fly fishing I would look for one that is stable enough to stand in. That has been a major upgrade from sitting all the time and trying not to smack my kayak with a heavy streamer. Also look for a cockpit that is smooth and without a lot things to snag your fly line on. I have an extra kayak if you ever see us planning a trip and want to join just let me know and I will bring one for you.

[uncross]

as far as rods and reels, I use spinning gear for most applications. I like a baitcaster for spinnerbaits and crankbaits. As far as lures, most of my fish come from senko's, tubes and spinnerbaits. I like a jig and crankbaits also.

[klahmers]

You guys are GOLD. Between the time I posted and now, I took some time out to pass my first kidney stone. Suboptimal. But once I was back focused on something else, it was awesome to read all your replies. Sounds like I have to try these sencos. They weren't much of a thing back 20 years ago, so do you guys rig them conventionally or do you do this thing where you hook them in the middle. Sounds like I'm looking for a medium weight rod, but it's good to hear that my lightweight trout spinning stuff may work too. I hadn't thought about the smooth bottom for for ffishing from a yak. My canoe may suffice for a while when I try that. Thanks for the pattern suggestions. I may tie up a few while I'm on the mend. Once again, thanks a ton for your suggestions/opinions/advice/offers to let me try out your yaks. I can't wait to get out on the water.

[bigd7400]

With Senkos you can rig em either texas style or wacky (hook through the middle) You really cant rig em wrong but you CAN over work em, they are a do nothing bait in my experience. Just toss em out let em sink and sit for a bit then raise your rod tip and start the sink and sit process over again. Good luck!

[codenamecoosa]

Man hate to hear your down with stones, but since you have some recoup time. I'll try and help with some rigging tips for the senko. Bassdozer has some great info for rigging and fishing this type bait.
I'll try to post a link at the bottom. big7400 is right the original yamamotos have the action built in and I have found that in my case they out fish other brands of the same type bait. Plastic compositon is different for each company and that's what dictates fall rate and how they hold up over multiple fish. I seem to catch more but they are not very durable. But you have to experiment that for yourself.
hope this helps and Bass wishies.

www.bassdozer.com/articles/senko-fishing.shtml
www.bassdozer.com/articles.shtml