Kayak trout fishing

[Birddogtwo]

Does any one else use a kayak? I bought a Wilderness systems pungo 2 years ago and haver only used my float tube twice since then. Great speed and manueverabilty, at 10' I just toss it in back opf my truck and go

[sbeausol]

I had one, but it was designed more for touring than fishing (and thus rather narrow)... only fished a few times from it, but was ultra stealthy, only issue was managing rod, paddle, and flies.

[GlennC]

I've got a Wilderness Systems Bandit and love it. Just under 10' and 40#'s. Easy to toss on the car and carry to the river. My wife bought me a nice little anchor set up using one of those folding anchors you see for float tubes. I just slide my fly rod down along side my leg while i paddle. I think this spring I'm going to get one of those Scotty fly rod holders so I can try a bit of trolling as I paddle.
Gotta love those kayaks! I can get into all areas of the river that are inaccessable to waders. Plan to try it in the salt this summer. Wonder what it will be like to tie into a big striper in the little 10 footer.. whoppie!
I was always concerned about stability in a kayak, but the wider models like the Bandit and Pungo are VERY stable. I'm sure they are more stable than a canoe. I've tried rolling the Bandit and it's pretty much impossible to do by accident.

[Birddogtwo]

I have a Scotty rod holder that works very well for trolling and put on some bungee coprd along the side to hold the paddle or the rod. I built a 10" 3 weight Loomis GLX that really keeps my back cast out of the water. I'm hoping to fish the Androscogginn from it this year. If I can get out behind the barn soon I'll post pictures
Dave

[MJ]

I have used an Old Towne Loon111 kayak for some years now. I purchased it with the sole intention of using it as a fishing yak. When I bought it, I was at that time not into fly fishing; so this year will be only my second season giving it a go with a fly rod. Last year I had ABSOLUTELY no idea what I was doing regards fly fishing from a yak; but, nonetheless, I did manage to catch a few fish from it. The boat measures out at 11'1", has a large cockpit (17"x55") and weighs in at 45lbs. Like any kayak, it sits low to the water and is most 'stealthful'. Usually during transport I just pull it out of the bed of my truck with all my gear stowed inside and port it, again with gear inside, on one shoulder. I suppose if I had to hike any distance or over rough terrain, I'd have to pack my gear in a bit differently. But for relatively short distances over easy terrain, so far, so good.

[Birddogtwo]

It's a great way to fish! As you said just toss it in the truck and go. It's so easy. Where do you fish? Do you ever fish in the Lakes Region?
Dave

[MJ]

Birddog, as I mentioned in my initial post, I am rather new to fly fishing, so most of my yak fishing experience up to when I picked up a fly rod was warm water and spincasting. Unfortunately, at this point, it seems I still have a bit of a ways to go yet getting my backcast up when sitting at water level. But, to answer your question, no, I haven't kayak fished up in the lakes region. My kayak fishing has been all down here in southern NH, Canobie Lake in Windam, Massabesic in Auburn and a few other places near by. There is a small river just down the road from my place, the Spicket River, which I have enjoyed. However, it is a small river (creek actually), and blown downs and such makes it impassable much of the time. The Merrimack is not far from me, but fishing it this far south usually leaves my lines with a very unpleasant 'brownish' tint. Canobie Lake and Massabesic are both good bodies to fish. Neither lake permits swimming, so there are no water skiers or jet skies churning up the water or, as they can do on occasion, causing general mayhem. Although I prefer to wade when I can, I do expect to fish from my kayak some time again this year.

Mark

[Steve H.]

Mark, your references to the Spickett River bring back lots of memories. I grew up in Salem, only a short bike ride from the Spickett. I spent countless days during my childhood exploring the floodplains from Bridge Street to Lawrence Road, and sometimes up by the old Hawkins Farm. I caught lots of fish, never anything big, but lots of variety. Brook trout were always the crown jewel, but I liked to catch fallfish, hornpout, and eels too. Occassionally I'd catch a bass or pickerel, but these were mostly pretty small, and since I was using bait at the time, not very common. And of course, tons of sunfish and yellow perch. I knew every hole on the river, it seemed, and never failed to catch a few and have a great time. BIG snapping turtles too! The biggest one I ever saw was out behind Akerman Dr. The size of a dump truck tire.

[MJ]

Steve, sounds like you managed to utilize quite well the resources you had at hand while a kid. I can easily picture you enjoying the Spickett as you described. Back in the early sixties when I was a boy, my buds and I did very much the same things on Providence Hill Brook as you did further downstream on the Spickett. (As you might know, Providence Hill Brook flows into the Spickett down near what was known then as Wilson’s sandpit situated between Shannon Rd and N. Main St. This, by the way, is now a small developed lake with some very nice homes all around it.) As a kid I never floated all the way down to the Spickett, but I did fish the stream behind Hose House 2 located on Bridge St. (I spent some time on Bridge St. as a young teenager. I worked on the dairy farm that was just up the street from the bridge.) As I write this, Providence Hill Brook, the Hitititi and the Spickett are all well over theirs banks. During my drive into work I cross over all three streams, and all three are well swollen…just like they get every Spring. You mentioned catching a few Brookies on occasion. Unfortunately, the state, for whatever reason, opted not to stock the Spickett last year. They did in 2003, but not last year. I also noticed that in 2003 the ‘river’ had been cleared by someone or some organization of fallen trees and such. It was clear from above Town Farm Rd all the way down to Bridge St and, I only assume, beyond. Last year, however, there were just too many barriers to navigation to get very far past the bridge on Town Farm Rd. Perhaps that is why it wasn’t stocked. Or, perhaps it wasn’t cleared because it wasn’t stock? Hmmmmm…
Anyway, Steve, it was nice to hear that you have good memories of the Spickett. I bet it’s safe to say kids living on or nearby the stream are managing to create good times on it still.

Mark

[Birddogtwo]

Marcus,
I hope I'm about to post pictures of my Scotty rod holder, my paddle holder, and my anchor pulley. Just took them after reading your PM Nothing really fancy but it works without being complicated. Let me know if you have questions
Dave


http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid164/pff64179a3e859438338ae873d4ff1f32/f48a5b26.jpg.thumb
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid164/pa9f068f03344b9fa36af4cb0ce071301/f48a5b20.jpg.thumb.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid164/pe1612a92ab81aad12b691195e4a1e01e/f48a5b19.jpg

[Birddogtwo]

OK that didn't work! I'll PM the pix to you
Dave

[MJ]

Dave, I managed to view the pics you inserted into your post. I just cut and pasted them into the browser. Unfortunately, they displayed as thumbnails, but nonetheless, I was able to view them. It would appear, we both have pretty much the same set up on our yaks. My Scotty, as I may have mentioned in earlier posts, is fitted for a spinning reel, but it has managed my fly rod up 'till now. Incidentially, I am heading up to Mountain Rd Fly Shop in Raymond this afternoon, and hopefully, they will have a fly rod holder that I can substitute. Likewise, I set up a simple anchor system on my boat too. It's nothing eloborate, but it works nicely when I choose to use it, small, compact and out of the way.

I have some questions for you regards your trolling, but they may be better asked in a PM. I'll shoot one off to you a bit later on. Thanks for providing the pics!

Mark

[fessiewig]

Birddog,

I've gone in and tried to get your photo's up with no success. Then I simply made it a linked "URL" and there seems to be something wrong with the "address" you've used. Just to let you know, when you're writing the post you'll see a line of boxes just under the "Subject" box. On the far right is the "Img" and another called "URL". If you want to display a picture you'd use the "Img". If you simply want to connect to another web page you'd use the "URL". Now, how to use them. Type in the full address (http://www.website.com/whatever.jpg). Now highlight it and click on "Img" to display the picture or "URL" to create a link to it.

If that's not clear let me know where you got lost and I'll try to clear it up.