A Tippy Test for Anglers: Landing Fish From a Kayak

By WENDY KNIGHT/New York Times

Published: September 9, 2005

AMERICAN Indians fished from dugout canoes, and Adirondack guides had their wooden guide boats, but most contemporary anglers have favored center-console outboard motorboats or flats skiffs for fishing in shallow bays. But now, a growing number of people have started fishing from kayaks. "Kayak fishing is our No. 1 priority," said Kelley Woolsey, the senior vice president for marketing and sales at Confluence Watersports, a kayak manufacturer. "In three years, fishing has grown from less than 10 percent of our market to over 25 percent."

Fishing and kayaks may not seem like a natural fit. Kayaks are tippy and can be confining. And sitting isn't necessarily the best position from which to cast a line or reel in a catch. But there are advantages to fishing from a manually powered craft, which can glide easily along rocky coasts where bigger boats - and motors - might founder.

"Kayaking allows you to slip up on the fish," said Dave DiBenedetto, an editor at Saltwater Sportsman magazine, who first fished from a kayak in 1997. "A rod dangling two feet off the water has less of a profile, so the fish aren't spooked." Paddling is also more environmentally friendly than power boating.

Then there's the dare factor. "It's a thrill to hook a big fish in a small boat," Mr. DiBenedetto said.

Indeed, I found that out on a hot summer afternoon, paddling a sit-on-top kayak off the Connecticut coast accompanied by Mr. DiBenedetto and Nils Christensen, a fishing guide from King Cove Marina in Stonington, Conn. We had just dropped our fishing lines to troll within three feet of the rocky shore of Elihu Island, when, almost immediately, a hard yank bent the pole, resting in a portside holder, toward the saltwater.

Fumbling to put down the paddle, I snatched the pole and steadily reeled in the increasingly resistant line. "Whoa!" Mr. DiBenedetto shouted.

As the fish pulled away, my kayak jerked in the direction of the catch and the pole bent toward the beast below. Suddenly, the line went slack: yet another one that got away.

The worlds of anglers and paddlers were pretty much separate until the early 1990's, when people first began experimenting with saltwater kayak fishing in Southern California. The sport is now most popular in Florida and Texas, with Long Island and Connecticut coming on strong. These days, anglers who favor kayaks can buy them tricked out with everything from fish finders to rod mounts to global positioning systems. A fully equipped fishing kayak can cost between $800 and $1,200.

There are a few basic ways to fish from a kayak: fly-fishing, casting and trolling. Both sit-on-top (also called recreational) kayaks and sea kayaks with cockpits can be used. "In a sit-on-top kayak, the fly-fisherman can get close to the target," Mr. Christensen said. He said that sit-on-top kayaks are ideal for sight fishing, where one spots the fish and then paddles toward them before casting into the water. With fly-fishing and casting, the kayak is merely a means to getting closer to one's prey; with trolling, the kayak is an integral part of the equation.

To troll, you cast the line behind the boat, place the rod in a holder and then ever so gently paddle forward (sixth-tenths of a knot, or barely a whisper of motion, is the ideal speed, Mr. Christensen said). The rod is a conventional one, with a nine-inch plastic tube on the line that simulates an eel and a live sandworm on the hook whose scent attracts the saltwater fish.

It sounds simple; that doesn't mean it is.

To bait the line, you need to rest your paddle on your lap or secure it with side paddle straps so you don't lose it in the water. Then, with the boat rocking underneath, you bait the line, without dipping the spinner into the water, and cast, without dropping your paddle or tipping over. Balancing all of this takes some finesse. With a rod holder in the rear and a front mount, it's possible to troll and cast simultaneously, even though tangling your lines - a complication virtually guaranteed for the novice - is a messy proposition.

Adam Kimmel, a cinematographer and a seasoned fly fisherman, regularly fishes the freshwater lakes near his house in Taconic, Conn., from his Tempest Pro, a Wilderness System sea kayak. But he warned of the challenges of fly-fishing from the low purchase of a kayak. "The higher you are, the better the fly-fishing is," he said.

The rocky Connecticut shoreline is an ideal habitat for the crustaceans and bait fish, including herring and shad, that striped bass and bluefish eat. South of Elihu Island, known to locals as Leadwood's Island, are Sandy Point, Napatree Point and Fisher's Island, three of the most fruitful fishing spots in the Kitchen - the expanse of water between Sandy Point and Napatree Point, so named because anglers still pull out dishes and kitchen appliances that a hurricane deposited there in the 1930's.

OUR trolling along Elihu Island yielded only a modest catch - fish ranging from two to eight pounds that we unceremoniously tossed back into the bay. "This is an old man's sport," Mr. Christensen said, lounging in his kayak.

When the fish hit, though, it clearly is not. The average size bass caught in these waters is 28 inches to 30 inches, or about 8 to 12 pounds, said Don Michaud, an avid fisherman who runs the King Cove tackle shop, but a fish 40-pounds or larger is not uncommon. A jerk from one of those beauties is sure to give you a "Nantucket sleigh ride"- pulling you across the water - or worse, flipping your boat.

Blissfully paddling in the searing afternoon sun along the pink granite rocks and wild roses of Elihu Island, it was easy to forget about the line trolling behind the stern. "Catch anything?" an elderly man suddenly hollered from shore. Indeed we had. A blue crab, 10 stripers and then, after one last six-pound bass, a tailwind back to the marina.

With the incredible growth in popularity of inflatable kayaks, we thought this article fit better here than under Boat Fishing...Enjoy

KAYAKING IN ESTES PARK

By James Putnam

Thinking of moving up from shore fishing? The advantages of being on the water are many. I love the closeness to nature, and how peaceful and tranquil it is. Wildlife is less intimidated by people when they are floating in the water. I have seen mule deer, coyotes, fox, and all kinds of waterfowl. My favorite times have been drifting through small herds of wading elk in my local body of water, Lake Estes, Colorado. I have taken photos of elk from five feet away. They took no more interest in my kayak and me than they would a duck or a loon.

There is also the mobility aspect of kayak fishing. A lot of times if the fish aren’t biting where you are, they are elsewhere. It’s easy to fish a bay here, a point there, a cove on the other side of the lake, the inlet etc... Estes Park is a small town, and often I’ll run across some of my fishing buddies in one of the lake's honey holes. My kayak has two rod holders so I can troll while I travel from spot to spot. The rod holders aren’t necessary, as you can place your rod in the bow of the boat and troll backwards.

Some lakes/ponds don’t allow boats, but do allow personal water craft. At these places you can fish structures that you can’t reach from shore. As my kayak weighs less than forty pounds...my tackle box weighs more...it’s easy to hike in.

Although float tubes are also a convenient way to fish, I prefer the kayak. Personally, I find them to be more fun on the water, but there are other advantages. To me the most important is convenience. By the time I get to a lake/pond I’m "jonesing" so bad to fish, I have to fight the urge to cast out the car window. There is no inflating, no waders to put on, and no awkward flippers to strap on. I simply unlock and unstrap my "yak" from the roof, throw it in the water and go.

Another very important advantage is speed. In Colorado the weather can change in an instant. In a tube I don’t feel safe if the weather looks as if it could turn for the worse, so I stay near shore. In the kayak, no matter how far out I am, I can return to shore in minutes.

I also like the fact that I can carry gear. It’s easy to tote two or three rods, a tackle box, and even a cooler. This is helpful during camping trips and family outings. I have used the kayak at bigger reservoirs, like Aurora, to carry gear from one side to the other to meet people shore fishing. Sometimes I’ll get lucky and catch one before my buddies get around the lake.

It easily crosses shallow areas in lakes. If you have fished in a tube you know the places I’m talking about. The water is less than a foot deep, but the ground beneath is like quick sand. In a kayak you can drift across areas that are inches deep with ease.

You don’t need a lot of money to get into kayak fishing. Obviously you need a kayak. I have a Heritage Feather Light 9, which was designed for fishing. Before that I fished from an inflatable Sevylor I bought off a Kool-aide vendor after he used it for a display, so any kayak will do. Oars can also be costly. I use a mid-range one now, however, the $20.00 one I had before was sufficient. I used to use a cheap foam and strap roof rack, which could be loaded and unloaded fairly effortlessly. However, I feel safer and more secure with the Thule rack I have now. It is sturdier, quicker, and wicked easier to use.

I highly recommend trying kayak fishing. It is both relaxing and exciting. It can bring you to areas of your local lakes that you have not fished before. It is a relatively inexpensive way to try trolling, which I have found very effective. It is a whole new fishing experience. A lot of lakes/reservoirs marinas’ rent out kayaks for a reasonable rate. So get out there and give it a try, you just may find yourself hooked.