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Trolling from a Kayak


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Yes you can troll form a kayak and stripers are caught this way. Cruising speed should be determined by the conditions and the lure you are trolling and you can troll deepdiving lures from the yak. Look at the kayak as a little boat and take it from there. no you can't speed troll marlin but you can take bluefish, stripers and the like from the yak. Swimming plugs are about the number one lure to troll with from yaks probably followed by soft plastics and spoons

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Hi Sergio.,Most all of us troll lures from the kayak.It does take some experimenting to get the right action and depth for any given lure.I found when I first started kayak fishing I did not do well with trolling.After experimenting with different weights and paddle speeds with my favorite lures, I started catching fish more often while trolling.This could be to a number of reasons.

#1)The amount of territory that you present your lure to is of course increased compared to casting.

#2)I know you do not striper fish much.But I am sure you have noticed how many times that a fish has followed your lure in only to turn away at the last second.In my opinion many of these fish would be triggered into hitting a lure if they had more time to follow it.I think a few other kayak fishermen feel the same way.

 

A good way to find out how fast you should paddle is to just put the lure over the side and observe the action.As far as depth is concerned I will paddle with jigs at a slow pace until I start to bump bottom.This gives you the starting point at what speed to paddle

 

To answer your question you can troll any lure that you cast including deep divers.It just takes some experimenting.

Now I ask you how the hell can I catch one of those roosterfish from a kayak?? Oh yea,maybe some tarpon and snook also......one day

 

Doug M

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Speed is limited on a kayak, so you can't pull just ANY lure. But some have proven to work well. Rebel "broken-back" lures are pulled at just the right speed to work well. My most productive one is really designed for Salmon trolling. It's Chartreuse, with Green diamonds on the side. Pikie works well. I don't know if a deep diver would reach it's MAXIMUM depth or not, but it certainly would run deeper than say ....a Scandanavian swimmer. You could always add a drail to the leader.

 

It was a post by Barrell that showed me just how important trolling can be. He said something to the effect that he would "never paddle from point 'A' to point 'B' without pulling something behind him." I realized at once that he was 100% correct. I pulled something behind me the very next time I went out, and was in less than halfway to my destination. I owe that fish, and many others since then, to him. (Thanks again Barrell).

 

FYI: The MOST productive lure in my local waters is the Storm "Big Mac" Chrome color with a Blue back. It dives to about 20' and takes Bass and Bluefish. In fact, it's downright irresistable to Blues!

 

Trolling was never my favorite way to fish, and still isn't, but sometimes it's downright enjoyable to forget about fishing and just paddle. When the reel sings it's song, the distraction is a pleasant one!

 

Flounder

><))))))))))@>
*AMMODYTE*

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Sergio,

 

Ditto on everything the rest of the guys have said. I have trolled everything from small spoons to 7" Bombers, all with varying degrees of success. Depending on the time of year also determines my choice of bait. In the spring it is usually Sassy Shads and other rubber lures of similar make. Very effective on the Susquehanna Flats for C&R stripers. Late summer to mid fall my first choice is usually a Rattle Trap or similar. Deadly when peanuts are making their way out into the bays. Bucktails pulled slowly along the bottom in summer are great for flounder. I like tipping them with a pork rind rather than squid. seems to cut down on the amount of skates that I catch.

 

 

 

 

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Sergio, we all troll as you can see. Almost anything can be trolled depending upon the bottom structure. We have a lot of sand here and snagging isn't a problem in many places. Also what's great about a kayak is if you happen to snag you can usually paddle to an angle where you can get the lure out.

 

My 2 favorite trolling lures are some type of minnow like lure like a Mambo Minnow and plastics. These 2 lure types have accounted for most of my kayak trolled fish. Plastics trolled on a lead head are deadly. Storm just came out with some new plastics called the "Wildeye Swim Baits" which are like the ones you sent me where the plastic completely encloses the jig lead. They've got irridesence inside and terrific eyes. They'll be available from 3" to 6". They're going to be terrific kayak trolling lure. They've got a flat bottom and will fall slowly. The 5 and 6" will only be 1/2 oz.

 

One advantage a kayak has is the casting distance of a lure isn't important so many lures that don't cast well can be used. Also even at a high rate of paddling a kayak is slow. It is often said with stripers that you can't reel to slowly. With a kayak you cover lots of water relatively slowly so all time spent on the water is spent fishing.

 

Flounder, I've got some of those Big Macs. I never thought of trolling one off of the kayak. I'll have to take them along and give them a shot.

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Hey PMJasper,

What are you talking about.

I go to Florida frequently and I always speed troll for marlin and sailfish in the yak.wink.gif

Granted, I have to pick up the paddle stroke ratio a bit but after a few pushups, I'm rarin' to go!!!

You should see the looks on their faces icon25.gif when I come barrelling through doing 10 knots with a huge blue marlin in hot persuit of my offering!!!

It's a sight I tell ya!!!

DASBOOTbiggrin.gif

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I've never fished from a Yak....BUT...trolling a fly from one must be LETHAL. Ever see the way a fly pulses and undulates when ya just twitch the end of your fly rod?? Hmm...Imagine how nice it would look to a fish....a snake fly slithering past them, twitching with every motion of the paddle.. left.. forward.. right.. forward... GULP. icon25.gif

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Dasboot...you must be in one hell of a shape because trolling at very fast speeds for a long time can really be tiring. I will admit however it is sometimes easier on the mind. Let me explain...I went from trolling bluefish , where I basically just threw my bomber plug behind the yak and trolled aggressively to trolling for brown and rainbow trout, where I had to slow down considerably. It's a lot easier, on the mind, to paddle faster and cover more water than to paddle methodically over structure or even structureless areas in the water column. Next it's trolling for lakers with wire line. God I love my kayak. Talk to you guys soon.

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Got my first striper on a fly a couple weeks ago trolling, little rat. A guy I met before I got the yak on the water mentioned that he lets the fly line lay alongside as he paddles so that he pulls at it a little with the paddle on each stroke which gives the fly a little more action. He claimed it makes all the difference sometimes.

Notes from the peanut gallery.

Jim

"I have ... put a lump of ice into an equal quantity of water ...  if a little sea salt be added to the water we shall produce a fluid sensibly colder than the ice was in the beginning, which has appeared a curious and puzzling thing to those unacquainted with the general fact."- Joseph Black

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  • 12 years later...

Hey fellas just started striper fishing from a kayak and went out for my first time this week. I got two huge bites when trolling with soft plastic storm swim bait but actually got scared of tipping so i released tension and they came off. It was the current wind chop and the weight if the fish that made me think twice about landing my first big fish. The big question i have is say you want to keep/eat the fish whats the best way to get it back if you have a long distance to go? Will leashing it off the side pull the kayak in a strange way while paddling? Do you guys have a suggestion for a low cost good quality spinning combo, I dropped mine in the water and it sank.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by telinehan View Post

Hey fellas just started striper fishing from a kayak and went out for my first time this week. I got two huge bites when trolling with soft plastic storm swim bait but actually got scared of tipping so i released tension and they came off. It was the current wind chop and the weight if the fish that made me think twice about landing my first big fish. The big question i have is say you want to keep/eat the fish whats the best way to get it back if you have a long distance to go? Will leashing it off the side pull the kayak in a strange way while paddling? Do you guys have a suggestion for a low cost good quality spinning combo, I dropped mine in the water and it sank.



leash/string up and clip everything to the yak using pad eyes, handles, bungees on your yak. Even your hook remover, fish grip, knife. Anything that doesn't float! Everything on my yak that doesn't float is leashed. After cutting one gill on the fish to bleed out the fish I toss it in the back hatch. During striper season I don't use a crate so i can throw fish in the back hatch. I use a crate when i go for fluke, sea bass, tog, weakfish. Never for stripers.


I also use a fish gripper to pull the fish onto the yak so I don't lose it. Also makes it much safer for hook removal. You don't want that hook going in your thumb. 


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