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Minimalist Kayak Report (Best Outing In Years)

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  • Minimalist Kayak Report (Best Outing In Years)

    I posted on here a few days ago about buying a cheap, light and short kayak for a trip we were planning. Today that trip happened and it was the best bass fishing outing I've had in years. I caught three 6+ pound bass the first week in July and this outing trumps that in my mind. I wound up breaking two rods, didn't catch a bass over 3# and had to pull an embedded treble hook out of my leg and there was still no place I would rather of been.

    A friend and I have been scouting out some ponds for the past few years that are very difficult to get to much less fish. This pond has been on our hit list for two years now and I've been aware it existed since I was about 12 years old. We tried to get to it two years ago with out much success. We knew it was real close to a river and far from an area we could park with a truck and it was surrounded on one side by a bunch of houses and private property on the other. We bought two Pelican kayaks Friday night specifically to load them on a boat and access this pond from the beach on the river.

    We loaded them on the boat at the ramp and made a 10-15 mile run to the beach.





    We offloaded the kayaks on the beach.





    We then tied the boat to shore and spun the bow into the waves and dropped anchor.



    We carried the kayaks up the beach and over a near by dike. While we carried them and we both commented how both of these new kayaks combined with the gear we brought were lighter than just one of are regular bass kayaks.



    Once we slid them down the bank we had to make our way through the biggest lilies I've seen to reach the water. This is were I broke my first rod. It was my stupidity for rigging the rod before we were in open water.





    Once we made our way to one corner of the pond we started catching fish. We picked them up on spinner baits, worms and crank baits but not hot and heavy, YET.











    We had already landed about 12 fish between the two of us in about 45 minutes. My buddy then made the switch to a chatter bait and it was ON. When he caught a fish on his new lure on his first cast I took notice. I quickly switched when I saw him pull 7 fish in his first 9 casts. From this point on the bite was unreal for us.












    After lunch we found a deeper hole and I switched back over to my crank bait. I hooked up with a ok fish about 16" and tried to just flip him into the boat. As I did that the rod broke off about 2' down from the tip and with that the bass landed in my lap and commenced to flop about and embedded the treble hook in my thigh. I quickly unhooked the fish and threw him out before he did me even more harm. I had to pull the point of the hook back through my skin in a second spot to get the barb exposed to cut it off and then pull the hook out. I had two broken rods at this point and a bloody leg.


    I was also down the only crank bait I brought with me. I swear this thing had a smirk on its face.



    What was so great about this trip was the size of the fish and the quantity. Between my friend and I we had at least 30 bass a piece and probably a great deal more. None of them were huge but none of them were dinks either. We only caught 2 fish less then 12", most of the fish were 14"-16" with a couple making their way to the 18" mark. It's rare for me not to get a fair amount of dinks.

    The big fish of the day was 20" and 4.5#. We measured several fish throughout the day but this was the only guy that got the scale.


    This was the best bass trip I've had in years. I also love my $200 Pelican kayak. I can see a lot of pond trips with this thing in my future. It's so light that with all the gear I took I would be surprised if I was carrying more then 45# with me. When its that light it may become my favorite bass fishing kayak.
    Last edited by willf650; 08-14-2017, 09:14 PM.
    1980 Something Old Town Canoe
    2008 Native Ultimate 14.5
    2015 Coosa HD
    2016 Hobie Outback Limited Edition #56
    2017 Pelican Trailblazer 1000 (38# of portaging freedom)

  • #2
    Great report, and way to keep spirits high!
    2015 Hobie Outback
    2001 Dagger Cayman

    John

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    • #3
      Awesome.


      Yakman35
      Perception striker 11.5

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      • #4
        Congratulations.

        I'm about to embark on a minimalist trip myself this morning.

        They're the ones I enjoy the most in my kayak.

        I wish you many more outings like you reported here...without the self-surgery of course!
        Mark
        Pasadena, MD


        Slate Hobie Revolution 13
        Hidden Oak Native Ultimate 12
        Lizard Lick Native Ultimate FX Pro

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        • #5
          Wonderful post and thanks very much for the pics. IMHO simplistic yak fishing is what it is all about. I think its great to talk about how yak fishers can access hard to reach places with little labor compared to other fishing strategies.

          smithmal
          smithmal

          2017 Native Ultimate 12 (Lagoon Blue)
          Bending Branches Angler Pro Plus Paddle

          2016 Old Town Twin Heron Tandem (Mango)

          2012 Nova Craft Pal 16' in Royalex-Lite (Burgundy)

          1990 Radisson 12' (SportsPal)

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          • #6
            Awesome adventure! Breaking rods suck, but it looks like you had fun regardless.
            Brian

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            • #7
              Always a nice (lengthy) report to read, when there's several photos included!

              Based on the size of those lilly pads, i was expecting some 10# largemouth!
              Hobie Ivory Dune ProAngler 14 Lowrance Elite 7 ti TotalScan

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              • #8
                very nice, great report. Too bad about the rods and your leg. You can rap some line around a hook and give it a yank while pushing down on the hook and it will pop right out. The large plants you went through are Lotuses not Lilies.

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