Kayak fishing tips

The sport of kayak angling continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Some anglers still do it on the cheap, while others believe you’re not doing it right if you aren’t fishing out of a $2000 elite design kayak.

Either way, the fish beneath you don’t really care, so long as you’re feeding them something that looks good to eat. To that end, here are some useful tips.

Go affordable

Get a kayak you can afford and that you think will be comfortable. Get something that you can handle by yourself. A stable boat with a comfortable seat should be two top priorities. You can always trade up once you get the hang of things, then pass that starter boat off to the next budding angler.

Practice

Start off simple with one rod, one paddle, a life preserver, and your favorite way to fish. If you like to throw crankbaits for bass, find a suitable spot to dump the boat in, grab a handful of your favorite cranks, and spend an afternoon cranking. You build confidence with every fish. And you learn how different it is to fish from a kayak versus bank fishing or from a power boat.

Safety

Ingrain this from the start and it may save your life one day. Put on a PFD every time you get into the boat. Every time. Learn to fish wearing it. While the water is still warm enough to swim in, paddle out to water you can stand up in and tip the boat over. See how much effort it requires to tip over. Then see how much effort it requires to get back in the boat. Move out to deeper water and do it again. Hopefully, you’ll never need to do this when not expecting it, but you’ll know what to do if it does.

Rudder it

If your kayak didn’t come with a rudder installed, plenty of aftermarket options will allow you to add one. The performance and ability to control the boat will improve exponentially if you have a sufficient rudder to control the stern.

Get organized

Fishing from a kayak can be claustrophobic. By organizing your gear and tackle, you’ll be able to reach everything from the seat. Position your most-used items closest to you and work outward from there.

A lot of kayaking gear comes with a lanyard or strap. These are not always for retrieving the gear if it falls overboard, but also for pulling that item closer so you can reach it.

Join a club

Kayak clubs are great. From meetings, to outings, tournaments, swap-meets, even chatting on the club’s social media sites, you can learn a lot about kayak fishing in general, and the better spots and patterns to fish them in your area. Go join your local club, and when you know more than the new guys, share your knowledge with them.

Fish a tournament

That kayak club you joined will, probably sooner than later, hold a fishing tournament. Go fish the tournament. You might finish dead last in the competition, but the entry fee and the time spent on the water will pay huge dividends toward making you a better kayak angler.

You’ll get to see first-hand how to distinguish between all the chatter on social media and what the anglers who really catch fish do to be successful.

Get some wheels

Buy some wheels that fit under the boat and let you pull it from the front. Most are “H” shaped and have pegs that fit into the rear scupper holes. You can also buy adjustable aftermarket wheels, and some will tell you these are bad for the inner scupper hole and may cause wear or cracking over time. Another option is a cradle style cart that uses a ratchet strap to secure the wheels in place. The H style work much better, as the ratchet on the cradle carts nearly always slips causing alignment problems, usually halfway to the water, where you have to stop and readjust the cart.

Fish grips

You can spend hundreds of dollars and buy high quality grips that will weigh your fish when you lift it up, or you can spend several dollars and buy the plastic variety that float, or maybe get something in between. The point is, fish grips come in handy. The same could be said of a landing net, and the two are not mutually exclusive.

Net the fish, then lift it out of the net with the grips. Grips help you hold onto a slippery fish while you fumble around for the measuring board, the identifier, and your camera (if you’re in a tournament). If no tournament, they still help you control the fish. Fish grips are one of the most “kayaky” things that kayak anglers do. Power boat fishermen let the fish flop on the floor of the boat, bank anglers let them flop on the bank. Kayak anglers use fish grips and fish don’t flop much, if at all.

Kayak angling is a fun and fascinating sport. One of the coolest things about it, is you never stop learning. Soon, you start thinking up ways to catch fish using some kayak-specific application and before you know it, you’re doing it.

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