More and more people are realizing that fishing kayaks are an ideal platform for fishing. Especially people that have the big super fast bass boats that do 70mph, and suck as much gas as a big rig truck, aren’t necessary to catch fish. A lot of them are looking at kayak fishing as a new way to be on the water, and catch fish. Pretty often, people are catching more bass from kayaks than they ever did on a stinkpot.

On a fishing kayak, you can creep up into 2 feet of water, and get deep into spots where you will never even hear a boat motor. How often have you seen bass boats down in the sticks at the far end of the lake? You know, the spot that looks so fishy! My partner and I used to fish this area, but we had to anchor and walk to fish, going back and forth along the bank.

Wading the bank worked for the most part, but usually only during the spawning season. This time of the year, the fish rarely abandon their bed for anything, even a fishermen that may have spooked them any other time of the year. Fishing kayaks allow you to spot the beds, or fish from a distance, and stay quiet and stealthy to approach them.

Another example of why people are buying so many fishing kayaks lately, is because of the ease of storing it. You can’t put your bass boat in the hallway upside down, or any boat for that matter. With 4-5 fishing kayaks, you can easily mount them or hang them upside down. This many kayaks allows you to take your entire family, and maybe even a friend.

I do this, and trust me, my fiance disagrees, and believes I don’t need that many boats. Fishing Kayaks force people to know what gear is necessary to catch fish, and only take it out for the day. After discovering this, I sold just about all of my tackle, and used the profits to get a kayak, and also enjoy a nice little vacation to Bimini. I had a good bit of gear.

Paying for the expensive gas bill that comes along with a bass boat is a big factor in people buying fishing kayaks. On more than a few cases, I have blown a grand on gas over the weekend, just tootin around with the family. Once I sold that rig, it makes me kinda upset to imagine the investments we could have made with that money.

It is super expensive running big boats in todays economy, in other words. When gas was approaching $5 dollars a gallon, you can’t imagine how much we spent on just a weekend in fuel. Trolling motors were useless after an hour.

Times are getting tougher now a days, and more are starting to see that you can enjoy fishing kayaks for a very little investment. Fishing kayaks hold their value as well, especially if you purchase used, you can usually get what you paid for it when it comes time to sell.

Just like a book, fishing can depend a lot on your ability to read. Instead of reading through pages, you are observing everything around you. Pay attention to the weather conditions like wind, tidal movement, surface and water temparature. All of these factors can help make a decision on how to fish, whether that is by boat, kayak, wading or using light tackle.

Now that the basic decision-making is done, you can head for the water to do some more heavy reading. As you paddle out you see all the early morning activity on the water. There are schools of mullet of all sizes and baby shrimp jumping for their very lives up close to shore. If the bait source is running away, they are being chased by something, so that would be a good place to cast. As you look down, there are crabs scurrying across the bottom. What are they fleeing from? Notice their speed and direction, and use that information to figure out where to cast your lure.

Pay attention to where the birds are feeding. I watch especially for the blue heron, pelicans, and gulls. They are always on the fish. Follow them. If you know what to look for you can learn to read the wildlife activity on the water just like a living book. It will tell you where to find fish and what they are feeding on.

Structures are the next most important thing to pay attention to. The physical layout of the area you are fishing can control the movement of baitfish and predators alike. I tend to focus on drains, which are gaps between islands and sand bars where water flows from shallow to deep areas. When there is a lot of tidal movement these areas have a TON of bait fish passing through, with some nice speckled trout and redfish sure to follow.

Once I am settled into an area, I generally start off with a topwater to check things out. This will draw some agressive strikes pretty quickly if there are any game fish in the area. Once the fish are found try switching to a soft plastic fishing lure, possibly weedless depending on your situation. This will help you get that big fish. A few casts in each area of the drain should be enough to scope it out before moving on.

The lure I use most often is the Sea Devil by Brown Lures. Usually the Pink Hologram color works best for me, but they have a bunch of different colors for any situation. This color works well for me whether the water is dark or clear. This is pretty much my go-to plan in almost any situation.

Learning to read this “living book” can give you a real advantage the next time that you go fishing. As always, pay attention to the weather, wildlife and structure to get the most out of your day. Time and practice will teach you what all of these clues mean, so go out and test it for yourself. Good Luck Fishing!