Yakin’ with The King
John McKean
Hungry hordes completely surrounded my kayak, churning water as far as the eye could see. “If these are sharks or piranhas, I’m a goner!” I thought. Fortunately, Lake Erie doesn’t harbor either of those two man-eaters. What I was facing instead was over three acres of ravenous white bass! Coming to mind then, in the levity of a situation that did not involve me being devoured, was Julia Roberts’ famous line from the movie Pretty Woman – “This is gonna be a SURE THING!” And it was!!
Heck, all I had to do was gently lob cast a 1/16 oz. jig, which carried a 3” plastic fantail minnow, with two hands on the long handle of my Kayak King Emmrod. Direction didn’t matter. But the double-fisted grip and springy tip allowed superb distance of the light bait without any unnecessary energy expended to potentially rock the small craft. I just drifted slowly, sat still, and hauled in bass after bass, which struck on every cast. Talk about livin’!
Modern sit-on-top fishing kayaks are constructed to be as efficient as they are productive. Multiple rod holders, numerous tackle storing hatches, fore and aft bungee tie downs for coolers and gear, depth finder set-ups, and easy tracking hull designs provide virtually all the benefits of a big bass boat, yet with everything close at hand for immediate deployment. About the only drawback to kayak fishing, in fact, is standard fishing gear – particularly the cumbersome, ever lengthening spinning and casting rods. Enter the Kayak King and its brand new cousin, the Rugged Flex.
It’s such exhilaration to paddle a kayak that I generally begin by trolling. Breathe in the fresh lake air, delight in scanning the scenery all around, skim carefree across the water’s surface, and thrill to the mild upper body “pump” created by hand propelling the craft. What I discovered early on that was NOT needed to upset this serene setting was a long fishing rod in my way! The Emmrod, in addition to many other attributes, is the perfect fishing companion in that its short length never interferes with the blade stroke! Indeed, with the extra long Kayak King handle firmly in place in my kayak’s deep right side rod holder, or even in the special pocket drilled in my center console, I’m permitted to dig my paddle right in just past the close, low lying line while trolling; in other words, a normal, natural stroke without hassle or modification.
Most often I make my initial trolling run over a shallow breakline, say where water deepens suddenly from 6 to 8 feet, as determined by the left side mounted depth finder. A weed edge or a stump row is also a very productive spot to pull my usual lightweight jig and soft plastic swimming minnow combo. Speed is varied, but usually determined by my energy or laziness on any given day (but at my age, always tending toward the slow side!!). Whatever speed creates the initial strike, however, is matched as closely as possible from that point on. I just keep following the line with a loose eye on the depth finder, to insure proper positioning, until the fish take. If they don’t cooperate within a reasonable amount of time, I move out deeper to the next breakline and begin again.
Neat thing about the Kayak King pole is that I never have trouble detecting a strike! Its compact size places it constantly in my immediate visual range, and those steel coils flex with authority under a fish attack! Also the exposed portion of the handle (the part not within the rod holder) is easily grabbed, since the pole is sitting right in front of me, to begin fighting back! Rarely, do I need more than a gentle “punch” forward to set the hook, since an Emmrod, by nature, is a lot more stable than any long fiberglass or graphite model.
Interestingly, an Emmrod will often get fish while trolling that will not strike lures pulled by standard poles. I did a few experiments recently, comparing a regular light six-foot graphite spinning rod against one of the new two-tip Rugged Flex tops, mounted on a Kayak King handle; same lure, same approach, same water, yet ALL fish came on the Rugged Flex! This leads me to believe that the long soft tip rods, when waved around during sometimes shaky paddling (of which I’m guilty), create wild, unnatural lure motion, whereas the Emmrod, which is “closer to water” and not prone to whipping about, allows a bait to behave as it should!
Now when a section of water yields two or three strikes, it’s time to stop paddlin’ and commence chuckin! Drift and redrift the hot area, casting with the same Kayak King set-up. Absolutely no need to change the winning rod and lure set up. Merely use the outstanding leverage of the long cork handle to easily toss out the lure, point the tiptop guide downward and in that same general direction, and commence a medium fast retrieve. Fan cast around and haul in whatever your original troll may have uncovered, whether a school of bass, walleyes, crappies, or pike! Hope you have a net nearby in one of the spare rod holders, and, for heaven’s sake, don’t rock the kayak in all the excitement!!
Yes, the kayak/Emmrod system is as enjoyable and easy as it sounds. A word of warning, though –remember there’s a nice sized cooler strapped in right behind you and within easy reach; keep a few of these tasty rascals but beware of the adrenaline fueled temptation to throw all the lunkers on ice! You really don’t want to stay up all night cleaning fish (believe me!!!); after all, tomorrow you’ll be fired up to start bright and early to again go “‘yakin’ with the King”!!
