There is a river that I like to fish with lots of structure. Other anglers also like to fish the same river. Navigating my kayak around the power boats is challenging. But! I discovered an Ox Bow with a narrow and shallow entry with submerged rocks. This spot gets low boat traffic and low fishing pressure.

The entire Ox Bow overflows with vegetation during the summer months: lilly pads, weeds, and green “slop” on the water’s surface. I rig my rods specifically for this spot: I tie a leader to my main line (braid) via Crazy Albero Knot and then tired directly to my bait. No swivel. No clip. This reduces weed hitch hikers!

On my last trip to this spot, I fished a frog pattern for two hours. Several explosive strikes. But, no hooks ups. :-(.

While removing my leg-less from frog my leader, I heard the sound of a fish jumping out of the water behind me. I dropped my frog rod and picked up my rod with a wacky rigged Garry Yamamoto senko and made a precise cast to the concentric circles left by the fish.
Once the senko hit the water, I lowered my rod tip to allow the senko to flutter towards the bottom without resistance….fish on!

The fish only weighed 1 lb 2 oz. But, it pulled like a heavy weight! OMG. This fish had shoulders!!! 🙂

The next time I return to this spot, 3 out of my 4 kayak rods will have a frog on them. My forth rod will have a wacky rigged Gary Yamamoto senko! 😉

During the June new moon, the Fish360 Team traveled to Cuttyhunk island to hunt striped bass. We took the Cuttyhunk Water Taxi and stayed at Pete’s Place. This was our first team trip, but it shall not be our last.

From dock to door, the commute took two hours. We unloaded our gear and setup base camp at Horseplay. Based on the tide and wind, we started scouting spots. The locals thought we were crazy!! We are not crazy, we are systematic!!!

James Jewkes landed a fish at 12:00 PM in the afternoon on a white Super Strike little neck popper. This was the first fish of the trip and his first trip to Cuttyhunk.

Bringing a kayak to Cuttyhunk is logically challenging. But, the real challenge is the unpredicable conditions. The first time I kayak fished Cuttyhunk, I had to negotiate 5 foot waves and fog. On this trip, the plan was to kayak fish and skish a protected area. On the first night, we geared up and started our trek. While going up a steep hill, one of my DIY kayak carts broke! We used the other cart to make it to the water’s edge and paddle across the harbor. The winds and waves at Churches Beach were un-characteristically strong. We could not paddle or swim out safely. Dead men do not catch fish. We parked the kayak and fins and caught some fish from shore.

On the second day, we fished the incoming tide at the South West point. There were 6 – 10 foot waves coming from two different directions. We had wetsuits and studded boots, which proved to be required equipment. When our plugs landed on a wave, we had to crank our ZeeBaas and Van Staal reels at lighting speed to pick up the slack line. The crashing waves eventually knocked me off my rock. After the third time being thrown off my rock and landing between adjust boulders, I had a difficult time holding my position. I eventually learned why.

On the second night we found a school of fish. We casted everything in our plug bags: wood, plastics, metals, teasers, and customs. We worked the entire water column. We fan-casted the entire area. After two hours and 1,000+ casts, the tide started to turn. We got schooled!

We fished nearly every commonly known spot and some un-commonly known spots under the most challenging conditions: 6 – 10 foot waves, 15 – 20 mph winds, and weedy water. We field tested new gear and plugs. We left with more plugs than we brought (thanks to the plugs we found on the tidal zone rocks). We caught fish. But, most importantly, we learned something about our selves, each other, and surfcasting.

I arrived at BIP Outdoors at 6:30 AM this morning to buy some lively shiners and jigs. This was my first time in BIP Outdoors. I was impressed with the live well system and the ice fishing tackle. With no time to waste, I was drilling holes by 7:00 AM. The ice was 12 inches thick with 6 inches of slush. The air temperature was 62 degrees. And the fog was thick. I have never ice fished under these conditions.

Using my Jiffy Pro4 auger, I drilled a set holes in a straight line from near the shoreline towards the center of the lake. I drilled a second set of holes parallel to these holes a short sprint away. This proven pattern allows me to fish the entire water column and cover a wide area.

I rigged my Jacks Traps tip-ups with shiners and set them up on the first set of holes. My first fish was a black crappie. My second fish was a yellow perch. And then swam in the pickerel! My first pickerel weighed 1 lb 9 oz. My second pickerel weighed 2 lb 2 oz. And my third pickerel weighed 2 lbs and 7 oz. This fish was so powerful, it move the entire tip-up!

After each pickerel, I quickly replaced my 10 lb fluorocarbon rigs by slipping the Tactical Anglers power clip off and on the swivel secured to the tip-up line via Palomar knot. Tying knots on the water is slow. Tying knots when your hands are cold and the wind is blowing is even slower! Time is fish!! Re-rig via swivel and clip!!!

With my tip-ups in my peripheral view, I jigged the second set of holes from shallow to deep and back again. My first fish on the Eurotackle tungsten ice jig was a ferocious yellow perch. This presentation hooked several more perch and sun fish.

This was my first time on this lake. This was my first time ice fishing under these conditions. I exploited a pattern from my fishing journal and caught fish. Fishing patterns will help you hook fish! But, good gear and technique will help you land fish!! Go fish!! 😉

On my last surfcasting trip, I got up a 4:00 AM. I put on my wet suit and drove my pre-packed Suburban to a sandy beach with points, bars, and troughs. I got to the my spot at 5:45 AM. While putting on my surf belt and grabbing my rod, a ranger came up to me. I thought he was going to point out the “No Parking” signs to the left and right of my Suburban. To my pleasant surprise, he offered me a parking spot in a restricted area. There is a special place is heaven for people like him!

After a short walk, I reached the water’s edge in record time. The sky was still dark. I read the water. I casted over sand bars. Nothing. I casted into troughs. Nothing. So I decided to trek a mile over soft sand to a point. When I reached the distant point, the tidal current was colliding with the wind induced current. The cross product of these two force vectors was whitewater! Whitewater!! Whitewater everywhere!!! I waded out on the sandy point until the water reached my surf belt. The waves were crashing on my chest. I had to cast between incoming waves. Not a safe place for waders! My ZeeBaaS reel cranked through it all without fail. My 7mm Neosport wetsuit kept me warm. I fished every plug in my surf bag. The Guppy pencil popper penetrated the onshore wind and out casted all the plugs in my surf bag. The “wind-shield-wiper” action in the rough surf was amazing. I fan casted the point. When the sun started to rise in the horizon, a fish engulf my Guppy pencil popper when it was only 20 yards away from my boots. The fish pulled drag against the tidal current! Bluefish? No!! It was a keeper striped bass with shoulders!!!

Surf conditions are difficult to forecast. Weather apps give me an indication of what I will face when I reach the water’s edge. But, when I am on my sandbar or rock, the conditions can change (and often do) without warning. Hence, I carry an array of plugs to fish the entire water column under all conditions. The Guppy pencil popper is now a permanent tenant in my surf bag.

A friend of mine invited me to go kayak fishing to a secrete spot. I am a firm believer that there are no secrete spots; only secrete systems. But. I was not going to decline an opportunity to go fishing! After nearly countless turns through a small country pumpkin town, we finally arrived at his secrete spot. There was no launch ramp. No ramp! We had to hoist our kayaks overs a metal guard rail and drag them down and up a 12 foot long 45 degree slope to access the river.

The secrete spot was a fallen tree just down current from a feeder trout stream. I fished this entire structure with nearly everything in my Plano boxes. Nothing! I drifted and fished other structures down river. Nothing!! After the sun had set, I paddled back up river to fallen tree. I put on a white 5″ Gary Yamamoto swim bait rigged on an Owner Beast hook. I made a long cast to the down river side of the fallen tree. Fish on! My 7 foot heavy-action rod was bent over. The fish jumped out of the water. When the fish landed on the water, the erupting sound echoed up and down the river. And then…without warning…my line went slack. 🙁 I know my gear. Trust me, I know my gear! The fish was huge. HUGE!!!

During the drive home, the adrenaline was pumping through me. My mind was thinking so clearly, I felt like I was half my age. I have landed fish, big and small on this presentation. This was the first failed hook up on this presentation. What went wrong? When I got to my work shop, I compared the swim bait to my other Gary Yamamoto swim baits. Eureka! The hook was one size smaller than I normally use on a 5″ swim bait. Mea culpa. I now use the largest Owner Beast hook on my swim baits that will not impede the paddle tail’s seductive side-to-side action.

In fishing there are no guarantees. Sometimes you win. Sometimes the fish wins. When I lose, I learn. The more I learn, the more I win. I am well educated. 😉

Today I had the opportunity to fish some new water in the Belgrade Lakes, Maine. I was on the road by 3:00 AM and on the water before sunrise (5:00 AM). When kayak fishing, I have two rods rigged for shallow water and two rods rigged for deep water. I troll to my spots. When I get to my spots, I cast to both sides of the 10 foot water mark. 100% fishing. 😉

My first bite was at the begging of trip. The fish hit a 4″ Gary Yamamoto senko in shallow water (less than 3 feet). This fish was the meanest bass in under the dock. A new personal best for the smallest large mouth bass.

I continued to work deep and shallow water as I paddled towards an island that got further away the more I paddled. Nothing! So I started to make my way back to my first spot. I worked the dock where I got my first fish. Nothing!! So continued working the water column as I drifted. Nothing!!! I was about the insert my rods into my rod holders when I noticed some PVC pipes coming down from a cabin into the water. I made a long cast towards the PVC pipes with a blue/white 1/4 oz spinner bait with small silver Colorado blades and a white Gary Yamamoto grub that I bought at the Merrimack Valley Rotary Club 4th Annual Fishing Flea Market this past April. Fish on!

OMG! This fish put a parabolic bend in my St. Croix mojo bass rod. I fought the fish to the starboard side of my kayak. I leaned over, lip gripped the fish with my left hand, and pulled it out of the water. This fish is my new personal best for the largest large mouth bass: 4 lbs.

This trip was epic. I achieved, not one, but two personal bests. I will continue to fish shallow and deep water. But, I will also fish big and small presentations. Fish outside the tackle box. 😉

I recently took a friend surfcasting. He wanted to learn how to chunk. When we got to the water’s edge, I told him that when I go chunking, I break all the rules, except one: the 15 minute rule. He looked at me perplexed.  So I explained the rule to him.

My chunking methodology is simple. I dress my bleeding sharp hooks with tasty chunks. I secure the chunks using an elastic. A blue elastic for Mackerel. A tan elastic for clam. I aim to the Azores and make a cast. I then wait for 15 minutes. If feel a bite, but do not hook a fish, then I real in my rig after 15 minutes. Why? Scavengers!

I made the first cast for my friend to show him how to properly load a rod and propel a chunking rig into deep water. 15 minutes latter, he reeled in a skate. For the rest of the tide, he checked his rig every 15 minutes!

Scavengers like skates, crabs, lobsters, scup, and other marine species will politely remove all the meat off your hook and leave you the elastic! Bare hooks do not catch fish!! Check your rig every 15 minutes!!!

There are two fresh bodies of water in Montuak: Fort Pond and Hidden Pond. Both ponds hold a variety of species. Fort Pond has nice shoreline access. Hidden Pond is best fished via kayak. With limited access and time, I focused my energy on Fort Pond.

You can access Fort Pond by way of the boat ramp on South Erie Street.  There are flats on either side of the boat ramp. As you face the boat ramp, the flat to the left has more vegetation and the flat to the right has more rocks embed into the bottom. The deeper water is a good cast’s distance away.

During my recongonsize, I found lots of bait on the flats. I fan casted the flats with every presentation in my AquaSkinz Cobra Bag. Not even a bump! 🙁

While wading through the flats to get into position to cast into the deeper water, I saw swans and deer. As the swans swam by, they did not twitch a feather. The deer paused, stared me down, and then galloped away.

I propelled every presentation in my bag as far as my St. Croix Mojo Bass rod would hurl them. I retrieved each presentation accordingly through the depth transition (15 feet to 5 feet) until they reached my boots. The first fish hit a spinner bait (white/chartreuse) with a white Gary Yamamoto curly tail grub. The fish jumped completely out of the water. An absolutely amazing fish! The second fish hit the same spinner bait, just a few yards down.  The bite “died”.

I quickly swithed leaders via loop-to-loop knot and sliped on a Gary Yamamotosenko (Watermelon with Black and Red Flake / 6 inch) onto my Tactical Anglers clip.  Thanks to my polarized sunglasses, I watched the third fish swim from deep water and strike my wacky rigged Gary Yamamoto senko as gravity pulled it to the pond’s muddy bottom. OMG! What an incredible display of animal aggression! The bite “died” again. 🙁

I slipped a Slug Go (Arkansas Shiner, 6 inch) onto my Tactical Anglers clip and twitched it thought the depth transition. BANG! Fish on!!

This fish had bite marks on it’s back and tail. Clearly the Walleyes in the pond were hungry!

Montauk is legendary for hunting striped bass in the Atlantic. But, it also has a great freshwater fishery. On your next trip to Montauk, be sure to pick up a copy of Long Island’s Best Freshwater Fishing by Tom Schlichter, get your New York Freshwater Fishing license and bring your freshwater gear.  When you arrive, stop by Paulie’s of Montauk!

For my last fishing trip, I researched a certain river via litterateur and Internet. I identified some fishy spots. I geared up the night before: organized my presentations, made new leaders, mounted my kayak, and stuffed all my gear into my Suburban. I got up at 4:30 AM. When I arrived at the access ramp, the number of trucks and boat trailers exceeded the parking capacity three times over! I squeezed my Suburban between two trucks with trailers and launched my kayak.

Given all the traffic in the main river, I used Google Maps on my iPhone, which was secured via lanyard and a water proof case, to find the Oxbow. The entrance had a submerged rock with 8 inches of water above it; my kayak floated over it without a scratch. Once in the Oxbow, the hunt began.

I do not yet own a fish finder / chart plotter. So, I read the water to identify structure and measure relative water depths using old school techniques. My polarized sunglasses helped a lot; particularly when locating bait fish.

I fished frogs through a field of lily pads. Nothing! I fished frogs behind a shadow line created by 30 foot trees. Bite!! The aggressive fish swam off with one my frog’s legs!!! Fish: 1. Angler: 0.

I continued to fish in the shadows with another frog. Explosion! A fish engulfed my frog in less than two feet of water!! With my rod fully bent, the fish swam right into a stump protruding through the water’s surface!!! Fish: 2. Angler: 0.

I switched to a chartreuse-over-white, 1/2 oz Mags Lures swim jig (lead free) with a Gary Yamamotto grub. With my kayak anchored, I made a long cast into deep water (10+ feet). Nothing! I made a second cast just to the right of my first cast. Nothing!! I made a third cast just to the left of my first cast. A fish hit the jig like a freight train!!!

The chain pickerel was full of color and without a shortage of food. It pulled the scale down to 1 lb 2 oz. I still have all my digits, thanks to my lip gripper. Fish: 2. Angler: 1.

When I hunt for fish in new waters, I carry four rods pre-rigged to fish various structures, depths, and cover/vegetation. I never know exactly what I am going to cast into or towards. I find the hunt as much fun as the catch.