I have been reading some of the reports about some bass being caught around our area......Oyster Creek being one of them that is holding some nice fish.
The kayak can be one of the best ways to fish in the spring when the water is still cold and the bass are a little sluggish..... The kayak fisherman can get into some shallow water that most boats cant......The great thing about the shallow water is it heats up faster in the spring.
I offten talk about fishing the yellow minnow while in the bay.....I will always use this lure when out.....But I do fish alot of soft plastic baits in the early part of the year.....Colors in pink,yellow,white,red,watermelon and rootbeer are just a few colors I like to use.
Some of the best soft plastic baits are Zoom, Vision sand eel or Rain fish (not weighted)Yamamoto,Yum,Berkley PowerBaits and Slug-Gos.
I'm not sure about most guys.....But when fishing shallow water I found fishing soft baits to be hard because the lead head is always to heavy and the hook way to big or small hook and still to heavy that the bait drags the bottom.....Then gets all messed up with weed....... So no more jig heads for me.
All my soft plastic baits are fished with a 1/0 or 2/o Gamakatsu hook and maybe one Lunker City insert weight with crazy glue to hold in place....If your doing nothing over the winter you can wrap some thread around the hooks so the bait with stay straight and the crazy glue will hold better.
The great part of fishing no jig head is that the bait will sink very slow.....and you can just give the rod tip a short twitch..... also the bait will look much more natural looking to the fish then something dragging along the bottom.
Some times in life we need to think outside the box....Spring time Bass are just looking for an easy meal....The bait with just a hook and no weight is great because they don't feel anything.... when they pick up the bait.
also if you take notice the water is gin clear this time of year.....No boats to get the sand and mud in the water.....Fluorocarbon as a leader should be used.....until the water gets dirty a bit.....
In a kayak your not going to be casting a country mile..... Your just flipping the bait out....If the rod and reel cant throw just the soft plastic bait with a hook.....Then your set up is way to heavy and you need to down size your gear some..... Keep in mind a 5-8 pound bass is going to pull your kayak all over the place anyway....So fish light tackle and enjoy the fight of the fish.
Now get some soft plastic baits.....sit by the TV and make up a bunch in a couple colors so your ready to hit the water......I'm done with mine and have been out the last couple days.
The water is cold.....and the bass are hitting ever so light.....most times your not going to feel the hit or bump like your thinking.....Keep your eye on the line.....when it starts to move or twitch.....just set the hook....fish on.
hope this helps some of you this spring with fishing the shallow waters of the bay.....stay in 2-3 feet of water.....fish the soft plastic baits with little to no weight......But most of all have fun with the early spring run of Bass.
Thanks
Dave
