Basic yt questions - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

Deamon · 10-23-2015, 12:38 PM

Hey FyshFuud...

Whoever goes out on a sport boat and says to themselves:

I'm going to grab/use the weakest bait in the tank and that'll allow me to manage and have bait available later in the day?
Let me keep this weak arse upside down swimming bait on my line because, well, it's still alive...

PLENTY of kayakers do!!!

Fish bite the hottest baits. If you KNOW fish are around, get your liveliest bait out. ALL IN!
I always get a chuckle when I see guys casting Macks...HOT BAITS equal more bites...why give them concussions?
ALWAYS have a sabiki rod ready so you can drop on a bait ball and get fresh bait in your tank...

Jim

ctfphoto · 10-23-2015, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deamon

...why give them concussions? Jim

LMAO, nice one Jim.

taggermike · 10-25-2015, 09:08 AM

Good replies already. Id say in our fishery YT will not eat a dead bait. Like Deamon said, don't fish a weak bait when you've got good ones in the tank. Give yourself the best chance. That said tho, macks can stay frisky on the hook for a long time. When I'm trolling and see the rod tip twitchy steadily I know the bait is swimming. If when you wind in the bait to check for weeds or foul hooking the bait has good color and swims away strongly its good to stay on.
When i have a bait get nervous i usually take the rod out of the holder and put it in free spool. If nothing happens i put the clicker back on and keep trolling.
YT are not subtle biters and you'll know your bit cause your clicker will sound like a howler monkey.
YT can be deep or on the surface, right in the kelp or out in open water. Keep looking a moving. Mike

taggermike · 10-25-2015, 09:54 AM

Heres some thing well worth studying. Especially in summer surface focussed fishing birds are your greatest friends and best fish finders. Birds are out there for one purpose, to find food. They're professionals, with millions of years of evolution perfecting them. Let them work for you. Every one knows a big flock of diving birds is great but most bird behavior is much more subtle. Species, calls, flight speed, distance off the water, and direction can all give information. Even birds doing nothing or their absence from an area can be informative. A yak is so quiet I often hear birds. And that can be very informative. Terms are the best indicators. They hunt in loose flocks that spread out to cover an area. They call constantly to keep contact with surrounding terns. When one finds or sees some thing its calls change. "Im here I'm here", "I'm looking I'm looking", "I see some thing I see some thing", "Food! Food!". That's my translation any way. When one tern finds fish and makes the call it pulls in the nearest circle of birds, the next circle of birds sees those and turns, and out the call spreads. Amazing yo see one tern diving and within a minutes there's a hundred. Its a great comunal hunting technique. If you see a few turns flying slowly and usually zig zaging in an area making contact calls, even if they're not actively diving, you're in the right place. Terms are best, but gulls, pelis, shearwaters, and even comorrants all have a story to tell. I got to rambling. Im a bird watcher. Hope this helped. Mike

Harry Hill · 10-25-2015, 10:50 AM

Still looking for which way you guys are hooking the mackerel. Through the nostrils was how we always hooked anchovies but I've never used bait as big as mackerels, I'm thinking a 6/0 ringed circle hook for YT with a swivel and paddle slow.

Geno Machino · 10-25-2015, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by taggermike

Heres some thing well worth studying. Especially in summer surface focussed fishing birds are your greatest friends and best fish finders. Birds are out there for one purpose, to find food. They're professionals, with millions of years of evolution perfecting them. Let them work for you. Every one knows a big flock of diving birds is great but most bird behavior is much more subtle. Species, calls, flight speed, distance off the water, and direction can all give information. Even birds doing nothing or their absence from an area can be informative. A yak is so quiet I often hear birds. And that can be very informative. Terms are the best indicators. They hunt in loose flocks that spread out to cover an area. They call constantly to keep contact with surrounding terns. When one finds or sees some thing its calls change. "Im here I'm here", "I'm looking I'm looking", "I see some thing I see some thing", "Food! Food!". That's my translation any way. When one tern finds fish and makes the call it pulls in the nearest circle of birds, the next circle of birds sees those and turns, and out the call spreads. Amazing yo see one tern diving and within a minutes there's a hundred. Its a great comunal hunting technique. If you see a few turns flying slowly and usually zig zaging in an area making contact calls, even if they're not actively diving, you're in the right place. Terms are best, but gulls, pelis, shearwaters, and even comorrants all have a story to tell. I got to rambling. Im a bird watcher. Hope this helped. Mike

I like it!

Geno

ctfphoto · 10-25-2015, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by taggermike

Heres some thing well worth studying. Especially in summer surface focussed fishing birds are your greatest friends and best fish finders. Birds are out there for one purpose, to find food. They're professionals, with millions of years of evolution perfecting them. Let them work for you. Every one knows a big flock of diving birds is great but most bird behavior is much more subtle. Species, calls, flight speed, distance off the water, and direction can all give information. Even birds doing nothing or their absence from an area can be informative. A yak is so quiet I often hear birds. And that can be very informative. Terms are the best indicators. They hunt in loose flocks that spread out to cover an area. They call constantly to keep contact with surrounding terns. When one finds or sees some thing its calls change. "Im here I'm here", "I'm looking I'm looking", "I see some thing I see some thing", "Food! Food!". That's my translation any way. When one tern finds fish and makes the call it pulls in the nearest circle of birds, the next circle of birds sees those and turns, and out the call spreads. Amazing yo see one tern diving and within a minutes there's a hundred. Its a great comunal hunting technique. If you see a few turns flying slowly and usually zig zaging in an area making contact calls, even if they're not actively diving, you're in the right place. Terms are best, but gulls, pelis, shearwaters, and even comorrants all have a story to tell. I got to rambling. Im a bird watcher. Hope this helped. Mike

This times 1000 .....well written.

taggermike · 10-25-2015, 03:24 PM

I had the same experience yakdout had. Across the nose led to the hook turning back in to the baits' heads. And missed fish. I went to the up thru the top jaw and it was better. Now I'm rigging by baits with a bait needle. This way only a thin string is through the bait, you can use a bigger hook, the baits can move freely, the baits live longer, and very rarely (close to never) turn back in to the head. Many don't care for using Spanish macks. They have a weak mouth that tears out and putting a heavy guage hook thru them really hurts em. When rigged they do much better, live and swim well, and don't spin at faster speeds. Rigging takes a bit of practice and there are lots of tutorials on YouTube. Mike

Harry Hill · 10-25-2015, 04:12 PM

thanks guys, this helps me a lot. I have fished live shad hooked under the dorsal or through the tail but that won't work trolling. It's been awhile but I thought we hooked anchovies through the nose but we fished mud suckers through the upper lip. I'll watch some of the you tubes on rigging live baits. I appreciate the answers and they help.

10-23-2015, 12:38 PM	#1
Deamon Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 1,972	Hey FyshFuud... Whoever goes out on a sport boat and says to themselves: I'm going to grab/use the weakest bait in the tank and that'll allow me to manage and have bait available later in the day? Let me keep this weak arse upside down swimming bait on my line because, well, it's still alive... PLENTY of kayakers do!!! Fish bite the hottest baits. If you KNOW fish are around, get your liveliest bait out. ALL IN! I always get a chuckle when I see guys casting Macks...HOT BAITS equal more bites...why give them concussions? ALWAYS have a sabiki rod ready so you can drop on a bait ball and get fresh bait in your tank... Jim

10-25-2015, 09:08 AM	#3
taggermike Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Chula Vista Posts: 1,589	Good replies already. Id say in our fishery YT will not eat a dead bait. Like Deamon said, don't fish a weak bait when you've got good ones in the tank. Give yourself the best chance. That said tho, macks can stay frisky on the hook for a long time. When I'm trolling and see the rod tip twitchy steadily I know the bait is swimming. If when you wind in the bait to check for weeds or foul hooking the bait has good color and swims away strongly its good to stay on. When i have a bait get nervous i usually take the rod out of the holder and put it in free spool. If nothing happens i put the clicker back on and keep trolling. YT are not subtle biters and you'll know your bit cause your clicker will sound like a howler monkey. YT can be deep or on the surface, right in the kelp or out in open water. Keep looking a moving. Mike

10-25-2015, 09:54 AM	#4
taggermike Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Chula Vista Posts: 1,589	Heres some thing well worth studying. Especially in summer surface focussed fishing birds are your greatest friends and best fish finders. Birds are out there for one purpose, to find food. They're professionals, with millions of years of evolution perfecting them. Let them work for you. Every one knows a big flock of diving birds is great but most bird behavior is much more subtle. Species, calls, flight speed, distance off the water, and direction can all give information. Even birds doing nothing or their absence from an area can be informative. A yak is so quiet I often hear birds. And that can be very informative. Terms are the best indicators. They hunt in loose flocks that spread out to cover an area. They call constantly to keep contact with surrounding terns. When one finds or sees some thing its calls change. "Im here I'm here", "I'm looking I'm looking", "I see some thing I see some thing", "Food! Food!". That's my translation any way. When one tern finds fish and makes the call it pulls in the nearest circle of birds, the next circle of birds sees those and turns, and out the call spreads. Amazing yo see one tern diving and within a minutes there's a hundred. Its a great comunal hunting technique. If you see a few turns flying slowly and usually zig zaging in an area making contact calls, even if they're not actively diving, you're in the right place. Terms are best, but gulls, pelis, shearwaters, and even comorrants all have a story to tell. I got to rambling. Im a bird watcher. Hope this helped. Mike

10-25-2015, 10:50 AM	#5
Harry Hill Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Yucaipa, CA Posts: 1,136	Still looking for which way you guys are hooking the mackerel. Through the nostrils was how we always hooked anchovies but I've never used bait as big as mackerels, I'm thinking a 6/0 ringed circle hook for YT with a swivel and paddle slow.

10-25-2015, 03:24 PM	#8
taggermike Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Chula Vista Posts: 1,589	I had the same experience yakdout had. Across the nose led to the hook turning back in to the baits' heads. And missed fish. I went to the up thru the top jaw and it was better. Now I'm rigging by baits with a bait needle. This way only a thin string is through the bait, you can use a bigger hook, the baits can move freely, the baits live longer, and very rarely (close to never) turn back in to the head. Many don't care for using Spanish macks. They have a weak mouth that tears out and putting a heavy guage hook thru them really hurts em. When rigged they do much better, live and swim well, and don't spin at faster speeds. Rigging takes a bit of practice and there are lots of tutorials on YouTube. Mike

10-25-2015, 04:12 PM	#9
Harry Hill Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Yucaipa, CA Posts: 1,136	thanks guys, this helps me a lot. I have fished live shad hooked under the dorsal or through the tail but that won't work trolling. It's been awhile but I thought we hooked anchovies through the nose but we fished mud suckers through the upper lip. I'll watch some of the you tubes on rigging live baits. I appreciate the answers and they help.