Walking The Dog While Sitting Down In A 'yak Or Canoe

[airborne_angler]

I'm really interested in learning the Walk the Dog retrieve with Frogs and Spooks, and was wondering how to employ this retrieve while sitting down. Is it possible?

Or is a person in a yak or canoe limited to just twitching a frog in a straight retrieve?

[Felix77]

I tried this from a canoe with marginal success getting it to actually walk.  From a seated position I twitch the rod tip up in front of me.  It get's the walking action but as it gets closer the lure rises up causing the walking to decrease.

[J Francho]

You can do it with a gentle up stroke or side stroke.  Takes some practice.

[Hanover_Yakker]

Like jfrancho said - the key I have found is line management (ie: a little slack line) paired with the proper rod action.  In otherwords, a slight "s" in your line as it lays on the water, so that a side or upward twitch only moves the bait some.  Too taught of a line will give you improper action on some baits.

 

Find some wind protected water where you can practice this.  It does take practice!

[flyfisher]

Just get a kayak you can stand in, problem solved

 

All kidding aside, it can be done just takes a little practice and i have also found a shorter rod helps too.

[J Francho]

I actually learned this sort of by accident/necessity.  I was getting tired of my line getting caught in lily pads while walking a mouse/frog type bait, and started getting it to walk with the rod tip up, keeping the line from getting tangled in the pads.  Later, a light bulb went off in my head, and I used the same technique for spooks while sitting in the kayak.

[A-Jay]

Remember to work the bait with a bit of slack in the line and since you're sitting, a shorter rod might help.

 

A-Jay

[J Francho]

I gues a shorter rod might make it easier, but I originally did it with a 7' 6" flipping stick.  I think I probably used a 6' 8" rod when I was sitting in my kayak.

[Paul Roberts]

Hmmmmm... I do it in my float tube perfectly well. I've never read anything on "proper" technique but I can walk Spooks, Sammy's, and others easily from my tube. I hold the rod tip high and pop pop pop with, as Hanover-Yakker and A-Jay say, proper slack.

[Gavin]

I use a shorter rod for fishing walking baits while seated in a canoe. I experimented with 4 rods in the 5'-6' 6" range for the purpose, and chose the 5'6" baitcaster with a 4" straight grip. You can walk with the tip up or to the side with a longer rod but the short ones will walk tip down, and they seem to be better suited to the  short accurate casts that are required on the river. Easy to keep your rod tips in the boat too.