Jig Fishing From A Kayak

[Felixone]

I have a question for all of you more experienced anglers.  I really want to get into pitching and flipping jigs.  Unfortunately, right now I am fishing out of a sit in kayak.  I hope to upgrade in the spring to a sit on kayak that I can stand on.  However, until then I was curious if anyone in a similar situation has figured out a way to do this or something similar from a sit in kayak.

 

 

[stk]

I just got my kayak this weekend and I love fishing a jig as well.  I haven't really mastered the kayak positioning yet but I would imagine that an anchor or stake out pole would help you stay in one place while you pick apart a specific piece of structure.  All of my rod's are 7'2" and I would think a shorter rod would be a bit easier to control while sitting down.  but I think if you did some practicing while sitting down you can get the hang of it.

[Felix77]

I fish it sitting down.  The trick for me ...

 

1 - Anchor.  As already mentioned if you want to pick something apart you need to be anchored down OR at the very least be in a very slow drift to cover an area slowly.

2 - From a seated position I don't bring the bait all the way back to the reel as you do when standing.  I bring it back half-way and pitch it from there.  Takes a bit of practice and you need to learn to handle the bait without actually holding it in the other hand.

3 - I don't use less than a 3/8oz weight.  Seems to just be easier to handle.

4 - Keep your rod tip relatively parallel to the water and with little/no slack in the line.  When you get that bite you set upwards hard.  Just don't flip over.  

 

By the way ... I have tried it with spinning gear.  15lb Braid and a 6'6" rod.  Works well too.  It doesn't need to be  a 7'+ baitcaster when sitting in the yak.

[buzzed bait]

before i bought my wilderness ride i was fishing a BPS ascend sit in kayak.  And i always have a jig tied on one rod and worm on the other.  both rods are 6'10" and i like them a lot.  i had a 7'2" jig rod, but got rid of it because it was too long to be effective in the kayak.  a rod between 6'6" and 7' is ideal. 

i for one try to anchor as little as possible, obviously hard to do in all situations, but just how i am. 

what felix said about the hookset/rod position is dead on accurate.  another thing is if you're not already a line watcher you need to become one.  i feel you fish with a slack line or semi slack line a lot more often from that seated position so you really need to watch for those bites that go undetected.

trying to skip docks can be a challenge, or at least for me it is.  it's far easier for me to do with spinning gear while seated that low.  from a high seated position or even standing up in the kayak it becomes much easier for me.  i tend to do some odd upwards rotation from the seated position and it doesn't often go very well for me.

last thing is really truly flipping is about impossible from the low seated position.  peeling off the line and maneuvering that from the low sit in is just frustrating at best.  pitching is about the only thing you can really do from that aspect.

just try it... it's fun as he**

[flyfisher]

Felix hit it on the head with his post.  The only other thing i will add is that if you are fishing deep it is much easier to position shallow and cast deep rather than the other way around as it is easier to maintain position via anchor in shallower water.  My stake out pole is probably the best thing i have bought since i started kayak fishing.  Now i just need one that is about 8' instead of 6'  

[flipin4bass]

You can flip or pitch from a sitting position. I practiced one winter sitting in my kitchen which is 30' in length and by the time spring had came I was pitching into a one foot square at 18-21 feet. With practice you'll be doing it in no time. I've posted this video on the forum before and I think it proves the point. Now, unless you speak Korean you will not understand a word he is saying, but it does show that pitching while sitting is possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPLJwPZqjXg&list=FLs2PY0DhzkMOd3x6_1WgVkw&index=7

[Felixone]

Wow, I didn't expect such a response.  Thank you all very much for the great tips.  It looks like I am going to have to start practicing.  Like I said I have tried, and just couldn't get it.  Now I know it is just me, and I need to practice more.  Time to make the neighbors think I am even more strange than they already believe.

[Jay Ell Gee]

If I may suggest...

Dedicated a setup to flipping while you are in the 'yak. By this, I mean keep one reel bottomed out on cast control and brakes. You can either pitch like the dude in the video, or (my personal preference) just roll cast underhanded and plop the bait in the required zone. Both work well.

[lmbfisherman]

You don't necessarily have to pitch the jig, a roll cast works just as well or a simple low to the water light cast. 

[Felixone]

So I made it out this weekend.  I tried a bit of jig fishing.  I am not completely sure what a roll cast is, but I think that might be what I ended up using.  It was more of a side arm underhand cast.  Really more of a gentle toss over to where I wanted.  It seemed to work pretty well.  Unfortunately, it didn't catch me any fish.  I blame that on the day more than the technique though.  Hopefully this weekend will be better.  I will be trying a new spot that at least from the map has a lot more cover as well as quite a few docks I can work.

[Felix77]

You can flip or pitch from a sitting position. I practiced one winter sitting in my kitchen which is 30' in length and by the time spring had came I was pitching into a one foot square at 18-21 feet. With practice you'll be doing it in no time. I've posted this video on the forum before and I think it proves the point. Now, unless you speak Korean you will not understand a word he is saying, but it does show that pitching while sitting is possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPLJwPZqjXg&list=FLs2PY0DhzkMOd3x6_1WgVkw&index=7

 

Great video ... fun to watch the video.  Thanks for sharing.

[J Francho]

I have a 6'8" MH jig rod that is perfect for pitching jigs while seated.  Though, I use a SOT, with the seat in a "captain's chair" position, higher up.  One thing you can do, is learn a roll cast.  For punching, you generally only need three or four feet off the mat to get the "terminal velocity" to punch through.  For actual flipping, you can do a modified version of the flip punch.  See the video for that, nevermind the kids and the cat, lol.

 

[Felixone]

I have a 6'8" MH jig rod that is perfect for pitching jigs while seated.  Though, I use a SOT, with the seat in a "captain's chair" position, higher up.  One thing you can do, is learn a roll cast.  For punching, you generally only need three or four feet off the mat to get the "terminal velocity" to punch through.  For actual flipping, you can do a modified version of the flip punch.  See the video for that, nevermind the kids and the cat, lol.

 

 

 

J, thanks for sharing this.  That little down flick you did with the rod is something I had been missing.  I am going to give that a try this weekend.

[J Francho]

Cats love it, lol.  It's something I figured out on my own, while shore fishing.  The wind had blown all the slop up against a steep bank, and I started by poking holes in the mat with my rod tip, but they kept closing up.  So, I sort of came up with the "flip punch" cast.  Caught a few nice fish on that short bank fishing trip, so it found a place in my skill set.