New guy on the block: Have enjoyed visiting these posts for several years - thought it was about time to contribute. Do most of my fishing for largemouths and pickerel from a kayak on...

KayakDon Loc: Bethel, NY

Have enjoyed visiting these posts for several years - thought it was about time to contribute. Do most of my fishing for largemouths and pickerel from a kayak on a smallish private lake (240 acres) in the southern Catskills. NY. Hard to take pics since I’m always on my own. Will see what I can do about that.

Concern these days is falloff in LMB catch. No problem finding 18+” pickerel - caught about a dozen (and several smaller) over 2 days (about 8 hours on the water) last weekend. But only half dozen bass, biggest about 2 1/2 lbs., most much smaller. And a couple of those could have been smallmouths - and one was definitely a rock bass (red eyes). 15 years ago could count on catching 3-4 LMB’s, 16-18+”, in a couple of hours, every time I went out.

Old-timer on the lake says it’s an explosion of the crappie population, and that they’re eating all the fry. Any thoughts?

bknecht Loc: Northeast pa

Welcome KD, if the old timer is right I’d start with targeting those crappies. They certainly do love eating young of the year and they eat really, really well.

Gordon Loc: Charleston South Carolina

KayakDon wrote:

Have enjoyed visiting these posts for several year... (show quote)

Welcome Don. Glad to have you on board. Good intro post and looking forward to some more post and pictures from you. I do enjoy seeing what others catch from different areas.

Able Man Loc: North Coast (Cleveland, Ohio)

¡Welcome to the Fishing Stage Forum, Kayak Don!... I'm thinking that bknecht "is onto something"; with that: "target the crappie" idea... Put "a bit of pressure on them", every opportunity you get, then "throw a fish fry" for friends and family!!

Fredfish Loc: Prospect CT.

KayakDon wrote:

Have enjoyed visiting these posts for several year... (show quote)

Welcome to the Stage Don. Follow Bk's advice and target the Crappie. Lord knows, the more they eat, the bigger they get.
Beside that, have the Bass spawned yet? Our water temps are just starting to get to where they should have been 3 weeks ago, so our spawn is late in a lot of lakes. Looking forward to your reports and pictures. Good luck and Tight Lines.

nutz4fish Loc: Colchester, CT

KayakDon wrote:

Have enjoyed visiting these posts for several year... (show quote)

Welcome KD, Glad to have ya. Yours is one of the kind of introduction I really enjoy seeing, not the ones that give no personal information or experiences, but merely demand a report for a particular body of water that they would like to fish. Background like yours will make your needs well known while humanizing you and that's what we respond to best here , as you know by your prior visits. nutz

plumbob Loc: New Windsor Maryland

KayakDon wrote:

Have enjoyed visiting these posts for several year... (show quote)

Alright another kayaker in the group. Welcome Don to the stage. Can't help you with the LMB's but would like to see a pic of your yak. I know what you mean about on your own trying to take pics. My feet pics with fish have been displayed quite a bit on here.

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

Welcome aboard from yet another kayak fisherman. Those of us that do target crappie, and enjoy their delightful taste, would definitely encourage you to begin some degree of "harvesting" on those crappie! They enjoy live bait such as minnows, however they also strike well on small jigs tipped with maribou, bucktail and rubber grub styled add on's like Mr. Twister type products!

For inspiration on the crappie, here is a snapshot from my kayak fishing efforts....

Good luck on your next outing!

They can be easily spooked from noise above...like a clanging paddle or foot scuff. I like vertical jigging the best, but tossing out a bobber rig works well too. Where you find one, others will be nearby, typically in a school.

bknecht Loc: Northeast pa

fishyaker wrote:

Welcome aboard from yet another kayak fisherman. T... (show quote)

Nice crappies and we’ll composed photo Yaker, absolutely beautiful to the eyes and belly. Thanks

Rotorhead Loc: North georgia

I agree the crappie will eat just about any small fish. I would target the crappie and even try and start a crappie tournament, maybe a fish fry at the end of the tournament. It will take several years for the large mouths recover. We had a great lmb fishery in lake Lanier, N Ga but the spotted bass have taken over. The lmb are becoming increasingly difficult to catch. Catch and release will also help.

KayakDon Loc: Bethel, NY

Here’s two pics. Don’t usually go out with a net anymore.

plumbob Loc: New Windsor Maryland

KayakDon wrote:

Here’s two pics. Don’t usually go out with a net anymore.

Thanks for the pics Don, real nice set up. I didn't know Old Town had pedal power. Is it a prop or flappers like the Hobie has?

If you have a problem getting access easily to your net, i can post a pic of a solution if you need to see it.

KayakDon Loc: Bethel, NY

plumbob wrote:

Thanks for the pics Don, real nice set up. I didn't know Old Town had pedal power. Is it a prop or flappers like the Hobie has?

If you have a problem getting access easily to your net, i can post a pic of a solution if you need to see it.

Prop - works great. Have to be careful when I'm near weeds or lily pads, but easy enough to raise pedals and clean them off, drop them back into slot and get moving again - or use paddle to maneuver and get to open water. Love to see a pic of your net setup.

plumbob Loc: New Windsor Maryland

KayakDon wrote:

Prop - works great. Have to be careful when I'm near weeds or lily pads, but easy enough to raise pedals and clean them off, drop them back into slot and get moving again - or use paddle to maneuver and get to open water. Love to see a pic of your net setup.

The 3rd pic is the relocate of the net i mentioned earlier. Fredfish put me on to the taco clip and originally i had the net on the starboard side. However going through rougher waters the net would pop off.

So i mounted the clip on top by way of turning the taco clip towards the center of the bow. Net sets center, clip holds it in place and easy to reach with my left hand. Also have a 8' tether line on it in case i loose it while netting a fish.

Billycrap2 Loc: Mason county,W(BY GOD) Virginia, 🇺🇸🦅

plumbob wrote:

The 3rd pic is the relocate of the net i mentioned earlier. Fredfish put me on to the taco clip and originally i had the net on the starboard side. However going through rougher waters the net would pop off.

So i mounted the clip on top by way of turning the taco clip towards the center of the bow. Net sets center, clip holds it in place and easy to reach with my left hand. Also have a 8' tether line on it in case i loose it while netting a fish.

Nice rig there Plumbob you definitely ready for fishing 🎣🎣🎣👍🏽👍🏽🎣🎣🎣🎣🐠🐠🐟🐟🐋🐋🇺🇸🇺🇸🦅🦅