Kayaks and Pontoons

[mark m]

Hey Mike,
I like your ideas, but #4-steering the kayak with one hand and fishing with the other hand. Once you hook a fish do you reel the fish and paddle to shore at the same time? I would think it would be hard to do both in a moving river.

Thanks
Mark

[Hairstacker]

Mark,

Very good question. I do almost all of my kayak fly fishing in the Delta in sloughs with relatively minor tide and/or wind-driven currents, so it is not overly difficult to maintain the kayak's orientation to the bank with one hand as I drift and cast flies toward the banks. Every so many casts, I do generally find myself putting down the rod, and paddling closer to or further away from the bank, because a lot of times the drift will take you in a direction other than parallel to the bank. But once I hook up, I put the paddle down and focus on fighting and landing the fish. Mean while, I let the kayak drift to wherever it goes, which is generally not that far. Obviously, I do keep an eye out to make sure I'm not drifting into an overhanging branch or something else that's going to skewer me or the kayak. But I generally don't have to worry about that. This would certainly be something to weigh carefully, though, in a river with a faster current. In that case, you might have to alternate between paddling as necessary and fighting the fish. I agree, I don't really see how you could both paddle and fight the fish at the same time. I just haven't had to deal with that.

[metalhead]

I use a WS Pungo 120 kayak which is very stable. I have just recieved a new PakBoat Puffin II, which is a folding kayak. I like to troll with streamer flies. I have attached a Scotty rod holder front and rear. Cabelas has a plastic driftboat style anchor system which will support up to a 20 lb anchor and fits in the Scotty rod holder base.

If I am going to fish a slow moving stream like the upper Putah Creek, I will just park my stern in the gravel and fish the riffle. On open water like a lagoon, or lake, I simply let the fish run and sometimes pull me until it gives up. The earlier comment about tying off to weeds and overhanging branches is an excellent suggestion. I have an SOS shorty inflatable vest that Bill sold me about 5 years ago, works great.

[Rob]

Hey Metalhead

I'm sorry I did not see your post about where we put in and took out until today.

We put in at the bridge on the south side.

Our take out was at Sycamore Camp ground.

We had them shuttle our car down river. $ 15.00

Its not a long drift so fish as much as you can.

We hope to go again as soon as the river clears up.

We will have to take our time on the next trip because I have no idea what the river will be like after the high water.

My boys are both working now, so I'm always looking for someone to go with.

Take Care
-Rob

[Hairstacker]

Kayak fly fishing tips part two:

1. If it's a reasonable option for the conditions and fish you're pursuing, stick with floating fly lines. They are much easier to control on the water, far less likely to get permanently snagged on the bottom in rocks, and you can just flip it behind you and drag it along when moving from spot to spot without having to worry about snagging it on the bottom.

2. Develop your sidearm cast so that you can confidently skip flies underneath overhanging branches of trees along the bank -- much easier to do with a sidearm cast than an overhead cast.

3. Give serious consideration to wearing long shirt sleeves and sun gloves in the summer -- I believe reflections off the water in the summer time make it more likely you'll burn to a crisp if you don't protect yourself.

4. Although you would think a longer fly rod makes it easier to keep your backcast off the water, etc., I have concluded it is better not to use a rod longer than 9'. Every so often, I will cast an excessively tight loop that causes a tangle at the rod tip. Much easier to extend the rod butt over the side without dunking the reel and fixing the tangle at the tip on a shorter rod. I do this at least 2 or 3 times on every trip.

5. Generally speaking, if you are parked on a weedbed, don't cast farther than necessary to be stealthy when fishing topwater for bass. Your casts will be much more accurate, it's easier and faster to cover an area in short order, and you'll have less slack to deal with when setting the hook. A nice bonus is that you'll be that much closer to experience the explosive strike that almost gives you a heart attack.

6. There are areas motorized boats can't get to. Find them. All else being equal, the fish will be less pressured, particularly in areas with limited and/or private shore access.

7. Place marks on your kayak with a sharpee waterproof marker or find some other means of using your kayak to measure/estimate the length of fish you catch -- far quicker and easier, both on you and the fish, than struggling with a tape measure while you're holding the fish.

8. Don't hang around in the middle of the water around blind corners and cuts unless you enjoy being a ramp for water skiers, bass boaters, etc.

9. When you first disembark from the kayak after being on the water for several hours, spend a few moments at shore regaining your sense of balance on your feet before navigating rough terrain, climbing levee walls, etc. You'll find yourself stumbling and falling less often.

10. Every so often, take a break, kick back, relax, have a cup of coffee, and soak in the view. I have found this to be one of the very nicest, therapeutic aspects of being out on the water in a kayak with a fly rod.