My lessons learned on the kayak

Saltwater Kayak Fishing
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Took the kayak out after work today. For some of you who do not know I am stationed in Georgia with the Air Force but my significant other currently lives in Charleston. I was born in Charleston, went to college in Charleston and for all purposes I am from Charleston. I visit Charleston about 3 weekends a month but today I went to my local wildlife management area pond.
Following lessons learned on the kayak:

-If you have a C-Tug cart make sure you secure it to your yak where the shape of the yak is straight(more middle rear of the yak). If you put the straps where part of the yak tapers then any hard bumps could cause the yak to separate from the kayak. Learned that today but the cart is amazing. I was able to move all my equipment at one time, once seated correctly.

-You can go places boats can’t . The pond I fished at was very large(should have taken a picture) but towards the back area of the pond it gets real shallow and lots of structure. It was very easy for me to weave in and out structure with my kayak. I’m glad I got rocket tubes on the Ram-ball where I can lower or raise the angle of my rods for transit.

-Don’t forget your equipment. Forgetful me left the other half of my tackle bag in Chuck. Unfortunately that included my soft plastics, jig heads, weights, hooks, etc. So before you leave on a distant trip or just a local trip bring all your tackle. Even if you don’t bring it all on the yak. Having options is helpful.

Always have live bait as an option when you go out. Whether fresh or salwater always take the extra time to grab live bait. When I wasn’t having any luck with artificial’s I wish I had spent some 20 minutes to grab some live bait.

I know some of this is preaching to the choir but it might help someone. As for the fishing I didn’t get a bite, but still a good day. No rods broken, lost 2 lures because I got hung up but improved my stand up balance and explored more of the WMA pond.

Fishing report: Even though it doesn’t apply to SC, I will still post anyways.
Great t

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Nice rig…congrats on your trip. I find that the ‘getting outdoors’ part of fishing outweighs the ‘catching’ - at least, that is what I tell myself after a skunk day :smiley:

There are a few guys around here with fly experience in their yaks - hopefully they’ll chime-in.

Lowcountry Kayak Anglers - http://www.lowcountrykayakanglers.com

http://www.facebook.com/groups/lowcountrykayakanglers/

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First get a cricket cage and a bream buster, or two. Second a cheap fly rod is a light bream buster, mono a little longer than the pole and popping flies. This set has caught many fish in the ponds and rivers around Charleston. Unless you are ready for the crack that is fly fishing…

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Nice boat! You might want to try the cart more towards the seat on the boat. It will take a ton of weight off the handle, and should stay attached to the boat better!

DD

Annoy a Liberal, Work Hard and Be Happy!

5

If you have decent form, you can easily cast small poppers, bream bugs, and trout flies 25-30 ft. from a seated position. Find a teacher, because self-taught form is usually wrong. It’s not so easy casting large poppers or weighted saltwater flies sitting down.

For pond fishing, a (reel-less) tenkara outfit would be fine. These are very convenient (telescoping), inexpensive, and easy to learn, and the extra rod length would be helpful if you are sitting. Otherwise, a low-end 9’ 7-wt. would do the job.

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Thanks Dave! Idid move it forward on the trip back to my truck and it made a huge difference. @ Reel shock I was actually thinking of a bream buster but was concerned I might not be able to get a surface hit so close to the yak.