Second Season Kayak Bassin'

[Timothy Glen Vaughan]

This upcoming season will be my second season of bass fishing from a Kayak. Last season I decided to begin Bass fishing and even fished some tournaments. It was a blast, but as you can imagine I was all over the place. I loved to tournaments and plan on fishing at least 5 around Oklahoma this season. Last year I had pretty poor success in the tournaments. I have contributed this to being all over the place and trying too many techniques. Some won't agree with this, but this year I am limiting myself to 5 TOTAL techniques. No matter the situation I am only going to have 5 techniques in my bag. Additionally, I am going to have 2 baitcasting rods and one lighter spinning set up. What I am needing help with is choosing my last 2 techniques. 

 

1. Lipless Crankbaits- by far my favorite bait. I've caught my personal best on it and it is a constant producer for me.

2. Spinnerbait - terminator 

3. Ned Rig- new to this-this years, but I have seen such good things from it I can't wait to try it. The person who I've seen fish this successfully also has luck with a craw on the same rig so this includes the ZMAN NED Worms and Craws on this rig. 

 

What would you suggest my other two techniques be? I'm new to the sport and learning, but I have been fishing all my life. If it helps the tournaments I plan on fishing are listed below. Thanks in advance for the assistance!

 

April 6, 2019: Lake Fuqua/Clear Creek Lake/Lake Humphreys - Duncan OK

April 20, 2019: Lake Konawa - Konawa OK May 18, 2019:
Lake Of The Arbuckles - Sulphur OK Ju

ly 13, 2019:

2019 Annual OKA Open - Fort Gibson Lake - Fort Gibson OK March 1, 2019 - April 30, 2019:

 

 

[MIbassyaker]

Texas rig and/or jig

Topwater.

[Harold Scoggins]

This will be my 11th season in a kayak, but I don't do the tournament thing. Tried tournament fishing out of bass boat and it seem to much like work.  I wouldn't limit yourself to 5 baits, the bite changes from day to day and you should be prepared to cover the entire water column. Have fun and be safe.

[BassKicker619]

Chatterbait

 

Drop Shot

[Dorado]

Owner flashy swimmer mated with either 3.8” Keitech FAT Swing Impact or RI Little Dipper were my #1 producers out of my yak in 2018. Second was the trusty ol’ 1/4oz SK Red Eye Shad in Chrome Blue Back

[Hawkeye21]

Stick with what you’re confident in. I bring 6 rods with me and will usually try them all in a day. Chatterbait is my confidence lure and what I use the most. Always have a top water lure on like a frog or whopper plopper. Always have a squarebill crankbait on. Always have a spinnerbait on. Always have some kind of fitness bait on like a senko. Last one will most likely have a swimbait or something like that on it. 

 

So, four casting and two spinning setups. These are the lures I start with but will most likely be a little different by the end of the day. 

[Choporoz]

The 5 limit is a bit arbitrary,  but I can very much appreciate trying to simplify.   I suggest considering some flexibility in your plans.  For example,  no reason not to carry some shaky heads, and light worm weights for use on your spinning rod.  And a chatterbait that can be thrown in place of the spinnerbait....in fact if I had to pick just one, I'd probably ditch the spinnerbaits.

  I think you'd be doing yourself a huge disservice if you aren't prepared to throw 6-10 inch worms. I love jigs and use them year round in most waters...you can usually throw them on same rig as the trig worms....but if forced to choose, I'd probably have to pick worms over jigs.

Frog would be critical for me but only in certain waters at certain times....it is always fun, but there are rare occasions when every bite only comes from the pads and slop.

[BoatSquirrel]

13 hours ago, Timothy Glen Vaughan said:

I have contributed this to being all over the place and trying too many techniques. Some won't agree with this, but this year I am limiting myself to 5 TOTAL techniques. No matter the situation I am only going to have 5 techniques in my bag.

Not sure that this is the right answer.  Force-feeding fish never seems to go well for me.  Keep an open mind on your lure offerings, trust your instincts and you will learn to adapt to what the fish want on a particular day.  

Its fishing—have fun, keep it light!  I understand you want to succeed but try to avoid piling on the pressure, it will only jack up your mojo.  Good luck and hope this helps.

[Timothy Glen Vaughan]

Appreciate the response so far! 5 is an arbitrary number and it will likely expand. Hard not to with all the options out there. I’ll look into shaky head fishing and try and get some practice on it. I’ve never had much luck with top water, but when I have its been with a frog, so I’ll add it to the tackle box.

1. Lipless Crank baits- by far my favorite bait. I've caught my personal best on it and it is a constant producer for me.

2. Spinner bait / Chatter bait – any suggestions on a trailer?

3. Ned Rig/Drop shot/Craw/Texas rigged worm/creature bait(baby brush hog)- Any suggestions on a worm choice?

4. Frog and maybe a whopper plopper

5. Owner Flashy Swimmer with CPS – 4 inch Keitech Swimbait

6. Some type of jig setup but I've had difficulty getting them to bite it and my confidence is a little shot on it.

With this Drop shotting, ned rig, and true swim bait fishing will be new to me. Any other glaring holes? I do not like square bill crankbaits and am not willing to try them again this year.

[RB 77]

16 hours ago, MIbassyaker said:

Texas rig and/or jig

Topwater.

 

 

Exactly this.

[Hook2Jaw]

49 minutes ago, Timothy Glen Vaughan said:

Appreciate the response so far! 5 is an arbitrary number and it will likely expand. Hard not to with all the options out there. I’ll look into shaky head fishing and try and get some practice on it. I’ve never had much luck with top water, but when I have its been with a frog, so I’ll add it to the tackle box.

1. Lipless Crank baits- by far my favorite bait. I've caught my personal best on it and it is a constant producer for me.

2. Spinner bait / Chatter bait – any suggestions on a trailer?

3. Ned Rig/Drop shot/Craw/Texas rigged worm/creature bait(baby brush hog)- Any suggestions on a worm choice?

4. Frog and maybe a whopper plopper

5. Owner Flashy Swimmer with CPS – 4 inch Keitech Swimbait

6. Some type of jig setup but I've had difficulty getting them to bite it and my confidence is a little shot

1. I think lipless is an excellent choice and I like them for covering water as well.  I catch quite a few fish with them as well, and they can be fished in so many ways.  Excellent choice.

2. I tip mine with a YUM Pulse 3.5, and at times 4.5, as well as YUM Craw Chunks.

3. Any plastic worm will do, I use YUM ribbontails because they're cheap and catch fish.  I also use YUM Dingers on a Texas rig, they're a multitask bait for me.

4. I'm happier with a frog and a spook, and they require a similar rod cadence.  To each his own.

5. Keitechs do, indeed, catch fish.  They're also not too expensive.  The YUM Pulses I mentioned will also work on the underspin and the Keitechs make a good trailer as well.  Grab some good old standard swimbait jigheads as well as keel-weighted hooks.  There's nothing too different about losing some of the flash or getting more weedless when the water calls for it, similar, almost the same technique, but you become more versatile.

6. Jigs, for me, and many others, produce big bites when they're casted.  Pitching them to isolated cover produces bass of all sizes.  Keep throwing them.  You'll become a believer.

[MIbassyaker]

I can't give advice on tournaments because I don't participate. But I do understand the need to streamline choices given limited space and limited rod selection, and to help organize on-the-water decision-making. That starts with making sure the lures you take cover a handful of presentation bases:

 

First, think about where the bass are and how you will get the lure to them. You need the ability to cover the top, middle, and bottom of the water column effectively. So at least one topwater (like a frog, buzzbait, popper), at least one mid-depth bait (spinnerbait, crankbait, jerkbait), and at least one that can be fished on the bottom (jig, texas rig, shakyhead).

 

Second, you should think about including baits suitable for covering areas and baits suitable for hitting specific target spots. A spinnerbait or buzzbait or crankbait will cover large areas, and can hit targets along their retrieve paths, but will not spend more than a second in any one spot, whereas a shakyhead or popper or jig permit you to cast to a particular spot, like bushes or a reed clump or a dock piling, and can be effective letting it fall or sit on that one spot for a few seconds or longer, and perhaps shaken or twitched in place.

 

Third, give a thought to how exactly, and how often your baits will move - you want some suitable for horizontal movement, some for more vertical movement. Bass may be wiling to chase a horizontally-moving spinnerbait. Or they may be hunkered down, waiting for something like a worm to drop on their noses. They will often take jigs and plastics on the fall, so it's important to have something that you can let fall vertically.

 

Some lures can do multiple things, but no one can do it all. But if you can cover the Top, middle and bottom, work both areas and specific targets, in both horizontal and vertical manner, that should permit you to be ready for a variety of situations and conditions.

 

[Timothy Glen Vaughan]

Everyone's responses have been exceptional. Thank you for all the help! Hunting season is over and I'm just waiting for March now.