late Fall Fishing tactics and ideas

This will be my first late fall season on the bay. I am looking at the boxes of tackle and gear and preparing to stock up on the necessary items to cover the fall run.

Items i have on hand
- Several parachute jigs in 2oz and 4oz (white and chartreuse)
- Plenty of buck tails assorted colors 3/4oz to 2oz for tandem rigs
- 1 6" bomber deep diving crank bait
- 1 Rapala 6" or 7" deep diving crank bait
- Assorted soft plastics
- Spools of leader material 30lb to 80lb
- Several small metal jigs
- Breathable waders with wading belt
- Splash top

Items to add and questions
- Trolling spoons (What size would be best suited for trolling from a Kayak?)
- Small Planner board (would this be useful on a Kayak?)
- What bottom structure should you key on that time of year when trolling? Channel edges in deeper water? Deep pods of bait fish?
- Whats the best way to determine how deep your lure is running?
- How deep do you chase fish at?
- What lures / presentations have worked well in previous years?
- Do Tube's work that time of year in the bay? If so what size works best?
- Does drifting live eel's on deep channel edges work? Is there a tackle store around the BB that sells eel's?
- What area of the Bay do you focus on this time of year?

Ideas
- What about a small 3lb down rigger ball attached to a metered line. Marked every ft. Then you could lower the ball to the desired depth cleat off and troll lighter lures. The down rigger clip would release on a strike and fish on. You would not have to guess what line out or speed combinations to use. See any problems with this idea for deeper water other than a extra line for a fish to wrap on? I think this could possible be a good way to troll a small bunker spoon deep.

[Redfish12]

That is a thorough list you have there! Now you're going to make me have to look into what I have!

This is going to be my first late fall experience from the kayak as well (told you I wasn't the expert!) but my plan is to troll some tandems with bucktails and bombers, slow troll some eels when the blues leave, and possibly try the tube and worm down here with pieces of eel or bloodworm since we don't have sandworms. I also plan on vertical jigging when possible.

From a boat, we usually use a tactic called bottom bouncing where you take a broomstick of a rod and put a 3-way on the main line. Attach a 3-4 foot section of 20lb and then a 15-20 section of 30+ for your leader. We either use a light bucktail or a sassy shad (sometimes two sassy shads). Then just keep that weight bouncing on the bottom... pretty impossible to do from a kayak unless you were in a hobie, and even then I think it'd be tough.

People out west do what you're talking about with the downrigger weight for salmon, but I think it'd be too much drag! I have a leadcore set up that I plan on using and when that doesn't work I'll just snap in some trolling weights to help get the rig down.

I'm looking forward to it!

[Grilled]

in the fall, all i troll is parachute rigs. ive had pretty good luck with them. ill either troll a tandem, 2oz and 4oz or a single 6oz. i have one of those downriggers, they are good if you are trolling spoons but you dont really need them for parachute rigs.

[Yak Fish]

Do you guys put trailers like a grub or anything on the parachute rigs?

[jffoley]

My best luck in recent seasons (in the fall via boat) is chasing breakers. Gonna try the fly rod this year! In the main bay via boat I've also had good luck trolling umbrella rigs. (man, I hate doing that!) I use lead core line. Don't like planers or in line weights. Couple lead core lines out with plugs or umbrellas and a couple mono with tandem 2/4oz. bucktails as GS mentioned...

But I'd much rather cast plugs in shallow areas. Do that at sunrise, sunset or in the dark as often as you can during this part of the season and you will be rewarded...

[Grilled]

Do you guys put trailers like a grub or anything on the parachute rigs?

Rubber shads. I use a 2inch on the smaller parachutes and a 6 inch on the bigger ones. I'll post up some pics in a bit

[DOGFISH]

When I had my boat, fall fishing for me meant bucktails. I used the bottom bounce method or the tandem rig method of trolling. The bottom bounce method seems to be a natural for kayaks. Even without raising and lowering the rod, the paddle speed can be used as a means to bounce the bottom. Then add some speed with additonal paddle strokes.

As I have written in other threads, crankbaits have been the charm for me the last two years. Last year was great. This year so far has been slow for the trolling bite. There have not been that many breaking fish at the mouth of the South River. I may give Eastern Bay a try, somewhere aroung Crab Alley Bay.

With bucktails and parachutes, I like to use the paddle tail type tails. Size depends on the size of the lure. Just a note as to break the pattern. Last year I had a couple small squid skirts, so I tied them on in tandem fashion. The fish tore them up, literally. Its all what you have confidence in. I have been thinking of using a Carolina type rig with gulp alive eels. Hey, who knows, they are bass.

Good Luck.

[ictalurus]

I'd be interested if anyone's ever pulled a small planer. I've tried trolling a 12" umbrella, and it was pretty exhausting, especially while wearing waders. Even a Stretch 25 can be tiring after a while.

I haven't had much luck in late fall. Once the time changes, I can't really fish after work anymore, and I haven't had much luck after dark around here. Up until then, the shallow water bite can be fantastic. 4-6" poppers, shallow running crankbaits, Rattletraps, and flies are all things I have handy. I haven't had much luck with plain poppers this year, but a 4" popper with an 18" leader and a 1/8oz or lighter bucktail has been lethal for stripers and blues this year. Just be sure to take the hooks off the popper. You won't need them. I haven't had a fish hit the popper yet.

Once it starts getting really cold, I start targeting pickerel. That might change now that I have a dry suit, though.

[Grilled]

i tried using a small umbrella, but it created a lot of drag. i did do have small planners that i bought and will be using them this fall....lol

[Redfish12]

Trolling deep divers and stretch's has been enough to wear me out. Cool thing about the TnW is that you have to go really slow, like less than 1mph, so it's not as hard as the others to keep doing it. Oh the other cool thing, it only seems to work in the NE.

I'd be interested in seeing your tandem rig GS, mostly in length of leaders from the 3-way. I've been trying to resist going anything longer than my rod at this point because I feel like it'd make landing a fish tough, but then again, I could always just handline them in the rest of the way.

[ictalurus]

I forgot to mention the trolling spoons. I use Tony spoons, silver with yellow feathers, size 13 or 15. I have an 18 that I haven't pulled in a while. I use a 4-6ft leader and a 1.25 or 1.5oz inline trolling weight. It seems to work pretty well for blues and stripers, especially around drop offs. The hooks on the Tonys rust really quickly now, which stinks. I tied some feathers on better hooks but haven't tried them yet.

I haven't tried this set up in the late fall, but it might be worth going up to 2 or 3oz to get the lure deeper. The 1.25-1.5oz weights are easy to pull, and I don't think the heavier ones would be much worse. I haven't figured out a way to get it to a consistent depth, though. If you know of the height of the rod tip and the angle of the line relative to the horizon or vertical, figuring out the depth is a matter of trigonometry and marking the line. In theory, anyway. A simple inclinometer could be made with a protractor and a weighted line. We use this archaic system for fishing our plankton nets, and it works pretty well.

[DOGFISH]

Rusting Hooks

I use to do alot of spring trolling years ago. The large spoons, 19 and 21, were very popular then. The rusting hook problem is a long time problem. During the winter, I would take the rusted hooks off. Remove the feathers. Sand off the rust as best I could and paint them with black rust resistant paint. I would then re-tie new feathers onto the reconditioned hooks. It saved considerable money over buying new hooks.


Just a blast from the past.


Good Luck.

[DOGFISH]

Island Hoppers

While controversial for some, there is the option of an electric motor. I know, I know, this is sacralige for some, but it is an option. My first motor mount was made out of a milk crate, star board, turnbuckles and an old town canoe motor mount. I put the battery in the milk crate. Worked great. Fall and Spring trolling is easier with a trolling motor.

However, there is an even easier rig. Island Hoppers make a mount that slides into your flush mount rod holders. There is no permanent alteration of your kayak. Put it on and take it off at your option. Their site is at:

http://www.islandhopperoutboards.com/


[ATTACH]Island Hoppers Photo[/ATTACH]


This can all be done for about $300. Fall trolling is easier with a trolling motor. A MinnKota Endura 30lb thrust motor presently cost about $129, not on sale, plus a battery. Most if not all will only need a 30lb thrust motor, which will give a longer run times. An electronic maximizer, digital, model would be better, of course at a higher cost. Trolling motors are an option for those wanting to use more conventional trolling rigs.


Good Luck.

[mmanolis2001]

That's pretty cool. I would be Leary of adding that much weight on a boom out to one side of the kayak though. That looks like it could mess with the stability of the boat. Maybe you can add a counter weight of some sort on the other side to balance it out.

[Mullet Miller]

Cool thing about the TnW is that you have to go really slow, like less than 1mph, so it's not as hard as the others to keep doing it. Oh the other cool thing, it only seems to work in the NE.

Who told you TnW don't work here?