singingdog

North of Kinmount: small 'eyes and so-so fishing for smallmouth. Lots of musky, with some big ones, but mostly very feisty, medium-sized fish.

You either have a bad batch of line, a bad batch of weights, or knot tieing issues: 30lb PowerPro should not be breaking off even under extremly heavy use. I have 20lb PowerPro on some reels that is 4 seasons old and I don't experience break offs like you have described.

I use tungsten weights for a couple of reasons: increased feel (which I thought was a joke until I fished them) and because I am trying to not use lead when possible.

Custom made from Kawartha Lakes Bait and Tackle. He makes a titanium frame spinnerbait, with Gammy hooks for less than what a Booyah will cost you.

If you are fishing from shore, see if you can find one the Mepps Long Cast spinners. They aren't common in Ontario, but give you way better casting distance and are no more difficult to fish.

Yep, great fish and great pic. Don't worry about the old women....you can always tell the folks that are getting enough.................fishing.

I find a kayak is much easier to manuever than a canoe. I have a sit in one....the opening on my kayak is very large and can fit all my fishing gear between my legs! I personally would go for a sit in, if you have a sit on kayak and tip you may lose all your gear much easier.

Most SOTs are much more stable - less likely to tip - than SIKs. I can sit sideways on my SOT, with my legs in the water, cast, fight and land fish and never even come close to tipping. Many SOTs are stable enough to stand and fish from. Any kayak that tips - SOT or SIK - is going to lose gear that isn't lashed in.

timmeh has good advice on cold weather. I wear stocking-foot waders in my SOT from ice-out right into late May.

Great fish, great story, you didn't do anything wrong.

Add a buzzbait to your topwater smallie action...nothing as heart-stopping as a good buzzbait bite, and they often hit it when they won't hit other topwaters.

Why a kayak instead of a canoe?

1. Kayaks are much easier to handle solo than a canoe. They are not affected by the wind and are much easier to paddle in rough water. I have taught people to do both, and most folks will never be able to handle a canoe solo in even moderate winds. Most folks can learn to paddle a kayak in even heavy winds in about 15 minutes.

2. a SOT kayak is a better fishing platform than a canoe: you are closer to the water, have more seating options, and it's easier to land fish. Recently, a 44" musky was landed from a SOT kayak: try that solo in a canoe!

3. trolling is much easier in a kayak. With a good rod holder, you can paddle in pretty much any water/wind condition and easily troll while watching your rod.

Kayaks - at least fishing kayaks - are not lighter than canoes for equal length. In fact, that is the downside of a SOT kayak. My 15' fishing kayak weighs 70 lbs outfitted and is an absolute bear to carry anywhere. If I can't get it there on a cart, then I am probably taking a canoe instead. When you start talking weight per paddler, then canoes really shine. 2 paddlers with a nice 30 lb canoe can access lots of backcountry water easier than one person with a 70 lb boat.

A quick breakdown of SOT kayaks verser traditional (SIK) boats:

1. SOTs are better for fishing: you can carry and access more gear, sit sideways, and land fish easier from a SOT

2. SOTs are "wet" boats. They require good clothing to fish in cold weather. SIKs are much drier and allow you to paddle in colder conditions with less cold-weather gear (until you fall in, which is a whole other discussion about kayaking safety)

3. Generally, SIKs are higher performance boats for paddling any distance. There are high-performance SOTs, but they are not the norm.

Hope this helps. For good information from folks that fish daily out of kayaks, try Yakfisherman.ca. or the Kayak Angler magazine site.

save yourself some $ and skip the spray on scents....I don't think it makes a bit of difference to the bass.

Just up the road from BPS the guy is usually selling Pointer 100s for around $15.

There are lakers there, but catching them from shore this time of year is about as likely as getting a date with a super-model

Decent bass in that lake, mostly smallmouth. Jerkbaits, jigheads with plastics and a couple of good topwaters will probably do it for you.

Knockoff, but probably a decent jerkbait. If you look, you can find them for that price right in Ontario, get an original, and not have the hassle of Ebay....but, the hunt is fun. As all things internet, if it looks too good to be true....

You don't need both the electrial tape and the backing.

People use backing for two reasons:

1. to save $.

2. to keep the braid from slipping on the spool.

If you use backing, then the tape is unnecessary. Tie the backing straight onto the spool, then connect the braid to the backing with a uni-to-uni knot. Spool up the braid.

If you want to tie the braid straight to the spool with no backing, then wrap one layer of electrical tape - sticky side down - onto the bare spool and then put on the braid. Tie the braid to the spool with the same knot you use to tie on lures.

We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this.

So, I assume you are eating bannock, wearing buckskins and typed this in English because your keyboard doesn't have all the Ojibway characters? Oh wait...you mean all the other cultures, not yours. Not interesting at all....just typical.

Try right at dusk, just as the sun hits the horizon. This seems to be a "magic" time for walleye around here. In the scenario you describe, I would sit outside the weedbed and cast a shallow running lure - husky jerk, rapala, xrap, spinner.... - in past the weedbed and retrieve back over the weeds toward deeper water. Once it gets dark, I would concentrate on the area between the weedbed and shore.

During the day, work the shady side of the weedbed. Imagine the fish have their back to the sun, looking out of the weeds. If they seem super-finicky, try sneaking up on likely looking pockets in the weedbed and dropping a jig straight down in, almost like flipping a jig for bass. Let the jig drop to the bottom and hop it a few times. Be quiet!

Nothing. Bass are very seldom line-shy, especially for top-water. The only time I use a leader on braid is when I am using walk-the-dog style topwaters, then I use a mono leader. Otherwise, the lure fouls in the line too easily. Most bass lures will have better action if you tie directly to them.

On river smallmouth, you can catch a lot of fish - and good ones - fishing a 1/4 oz jighead with a 4" green or brown grub on it. Cast and crank like a crankbait, bounce off the bottom, deadstick it on eddy lines, burn it just below the surface like a spinnerbait.

Don't let the selection overwhelm you too much. Color doesn't matter 95% of the time with jigheads....lots of very good smallmouth jig fisherman don't even paint their jigheads. A good hook is really what matters. If I were going to worry about selection, I would stick to 2 styles: a football jig for bouncing off rocks, and a weedless jig for timber and vegetation. BPS makes a wicked 1/4 oz football jig with a weedguard that you could probably use 75% of the time.

Have fun!

Since you are fishing current, weight matters a fair bit more than on still water. 1/8 is a good size for slack areas (eddies, place where there is little current), but may not get you down to the bottom in areas of faster current. 1/4 is probably all you need in addition to the 1/8 unless there are some deep pools with good current.

Changing the trailer will do almost as much as changing the weight. a 1/8 oz jig with no skirt and a small worm on it will sink much faster than one with a double-tail hula grub or a full skirt and a craw-trailer. Take a variety of trailers with a 1/8 and a 1/4 and you should be good.

My experience on rivers is that getting the jig down so that it is just banging the rocks can seperate the 18" fish from the 12" fish.

Unless there are monster trout in there, I would go 4 lb or lighter for line. You can save some respooling by just tying on a 4lb leader to your existing line.

Thanks a lot for the responses guys, I appreciate it.

 

The model I'm currently looking hard at is a Pelican castaway 116. It's a sit on top model that is 11.5 feet long. Does anyone have any good or bad experience with pelican kayaks? I'm going to look at a few other models before I buy anything but this one has caught my attention. I'm going to go talk with someone this week and see if they'll let me test it.

 

Also one more question for the experts; what are the main advantages and disadvantages of a sit on top model. Aside from being able to move around a little more are there any differences in terms of stability? I've never used a yak before so stability is something that is important to me. Just FYI I am about 5'9 and 195 and I do have some experience with canoes so this isn't totally new to me. I'm also not worried about getting a little wet, this will mostly be a summer toy.

 

Thanks again

The main advantage of the SOT is comfort and ease of fishing. With an SOT you can move around much more, sit side saddle, cross your legs, reach your coffee Where it really shines is ease of fishing. I find it much easier to land fish - especially large, PO'd musky - from a SOT. As well, it is easier to access tackle and other gear.

The downside is how wet you will get: great in the summertime, not so much in early spring and late fall. I get around that by wearing stockingfoot waders in colder weather and I am just as comfortable as I am in my SIKs.

Stability has nothing to do with SOT/SIK....it is strictly related to hull width and shape. There are SOTs out there that are fast and tippy, there are SIKs that you can stand up in.

Lastly, several other folks have nailed it when they say don't get hung-up on a fishing-specific boat. It is very easy to outfit a kayak to make it a great fishing machine

You should check out yakfisher.ca It's a site dedicated to kayak fishing in Canada: mostly in Ontario and Quebec. Lots of good info over there, and a bunch of folks that will do their best to help you out.

Adventure Guide is a great shop in your area. The advice to go to a demo day is bang on. The more boats you can paddle before you make up your mind, the better.

Yes, it's way easier to fish out of a kayak than a canoe. Wind doesn't affect you near as much, and it's much easier to control a kayak than a canoe. If you choose a SOT (sit on top) kayak, it's super easy to land fish. I can sit sideways on my SOT, with my feet in the water and fish with no worries of falling in the water.

The Compres are lots of rod for the $, and they seem to be very lenient with the lifetime warranty. I know of 2 folks that have slammed rod tips in car doors, been very up front about it with shimano, and still had the rods replaced. I have 4 Compres and like them a lot.

The difference between extra fast and fast could make a difference. If it's a huck-and-crank rod (crankbaits, spinnerbaits) then the slower action of the St Croix might be nice. IMHO, the speed and sensitivity of the Compres really lend themselves to jig fishing.

Your never going to get the distanc with a baitcaster that you do with a spincaster: different tool for different purpose.

I was a die-hard spinning fan until I tried a baitcaster last season. Now I own two, but never go out without a spinning outfit to balance it. I am real good with a spinning reel, but cannot come close to the consistent accuracy that I get with a baitcaster. This only applies when casting to cover. In open-water situations, I will take the spinning reel any time. If you always cast to open water, and distance is an issue, then spinning reels are going to do it for you. If you want pinpoint accuracy to cover, then a baitcaster is a better tool.

Drag? Using the drag on a spinning reel is for folks that don't know how to backreel