I have a few trips with my new Predator XL minn kota under my belt and all I can say is, wow! I have mainly fished for striped bass so far. The thing about fishing flats for striped bass during the day is that the fish are feeding on schools of tiny baitfish such as silversides and sandeels. The bait is always trying to get away from the schools of hungry stripers which means they are always on the move. The fish will come up in one place, feed for as long as they can keep the bait condensed, and then they go back down to reform the bait into a tightly packed ball. Where will they come back up? Well, if your in a kayak it seems like it is always a half a mile away. Often times they go back down before you can paddle to them making for some very long and very tiring days.
Last Saturday was this was and I was fishing with my good friend Chuck. Poor Chuck paddled his arms off for one or two fish while I, with my Predator XL minn kota, caught at least 30 fish. There was no denying that I caught more fish because I had the motorized kayak plus the fact that the smaller profile of my kayak didn't spook the fish as easily as a boat does.
Fast forward to the following Tuesday. I headed out for some recon because I had an upcoming guided trip. The skies were overcast and there was little wind. Both perfect conditions for striped bass surface action. As I was unloading my Predator and gear I noticed a few distant birds working some bait on the surface. I quickly unloaded and got on the water as fast as I could. As soon as I approached where I saw the birds I could see schoolie stripers feeding on the surface. Backs were coming out of the water and fish were tail-smacking bait. Tail smacking is a common technique used by stripers to stun bait and swing around to eat the stunned prey. There were fish blitzing everywhere!
I made my first cast and hooked up immediately. I caught several more schoolies between 20" - 24" before the fish went down. I remarked to myself that days like this are when the fish stick around for long periods of time. Sure enough, within minutes the fish were right back up and continued to blitz for hours. I played with using different lures, but the stripers were so fixed on what they were eating that it was only a paddletail shad which was able to get their attention. I have no idea how many fish I caught that day. I had the GoPro running and put together a nice short video. Eventually my arms were so tired from catching fish that I couldn't set the hook anymore. I left the fish blitzing just the way I found them five hours earlier.
Interested in a guided striped bass kayak fishing trip? Visit the kayak fishing page at TimMooreOutdoors.com for details.
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