Pre-spawn bass on the yak

 I understand the theory behind what you've expressed here, but I'm having conflicting thoughts in it's practice.  First is,how does the hooked fish know, what's pulling it out of its hiding, the fish is moving either way, either by the reel or the boat. 
  I can understand that perhaps the fish, may sense the movement of the tube, or kayak, "the danger" moving away, but to not fight when it might want to move away from the noise. 
Just had a thought on "the pulling of the fish" maybe, while backing out the fishing platform (whatever it may be) the movement is smooth.  Not a mouth ripping jerk to "Wake the fish up"  And perhaps the fish,then doesn't realize anything other than it's prize (food) is attempting an escape?
  I can certainly say I've never fished this way, never seen the Bass pro's on TV do this either.  Still trying to get my head around this.  The whole thing about moving the fish out with the boat, rather than the reel ???? My mind, the fish is moving reel or boat. Whats the difference?

Troy

I understand the theory behind what you've expressed here, but I'm having conflicting thoughts in it's practice.  First is,how does the hooked fish know, what's pulling it out of its hiding, the fish is moving either way, either by the reel or the boat. 
  ...............
  I can certainly say I've never fished this way, never seen the Bass pro's on TV do this either.  Still trying to get my head around this.  The whole thing about moving the fish out with the boat, rather than the reel ???? My mind, the fish is moving reel or boat. Whats the difference?

Troy

It pretty simple. The fish can sense proximity from you from a mile away. Believe it or not it knows every little movement you make. As the boat pulls the fish out first it senses the boat moving away. Second if it pulls a little drag at the beginning it senses the proximity to you getting farther. So it gets confused and it just relaxes.

On the flip side when you are reeling it in, it knows that it's getting closer to you and then it panics and starts fighting back. This is exactly what you want to prevent the fish from doing until you have taken it out in the open.

This is not a technique that I took from someone else. I don't know if I can claim to be the inventor, but I developed it from my own experiences on the water. For sure someone must have done this in the past. But I have not found this written or anywhere else. So may be I can charge royalties, hmm? 

Try this on your next fish. You don't have to do this in the trees. And it does not have to be a bass either. Do so in the open water as an experiment. You will find that the fish will completely give up fighting and you may even have to reel in some slag just to keep some pressure on the line.

Ill try it but ill be fighting my instincts.

These rods may not be as expensive as you might think. Definately less expensive than the G.L stuff and other "highend" brands. Check out rogue rods site. But I wouldnt make a purchase until talking with EK at KZreelrods. I believe he can add this grip style to a blank for you.

If anyone can reproduce this process I believe it will be you since you are in the prime area for wood mamas and you already know how to back paddle with one hand. I certainly will love to hear if you can do this or not.

I build my own rods whenever I can. And I can do semi custom jobs too. But those are still too rich for my blood. 

I fish with a Berkley semi custom lightning rod medium light and a semi custom Berkley Cherrywood medium action. These are trout rods and they average $30 after improvements. 

It makes perfect sense to me, although it never would have occured to me to apply it to fishing.

It's like chasing down a cat to pet it...  It'll usually run away.  But as soon as you relax and stop chasing, it will come right up to you.

Or something like that, anyway.

That's why I said it sounds like something from the Chinese proverbs...   "To catch the cat, you must not chase the cat".  hehe

That's why I said it sounds like something from the Chinese proverbs...   "To catch the cat, you must not chase the cat".  hehe

Ahhhh! Sun Tzu stuff=Chinese proverbs? 
Actually is more like jedi stuff. 

Of course, this practice is mainly applicable to finesse fishing, right? Because it doesn't seem like it would work with reaction baits like spinnerbaits, jerk baits, etc.

I also have a one-handed-paddle technique that I use often when fishing kelp beds for rockies. On windy days, it is often necessary to continually adjust your positioning (while fishing or while fighting a fish) to avoid snagging the kelp. Or to keep the fish away from the kelp. My technique is pretty similar to the one described by hydrospider; its all about leverage.

Thanks for the great conversation, guys.
PK

Of course, this practice is mainly applicable to finesse fishing, right? Because it doesn't seem like it would work with reaction baits like spinnerbaits, jerk baits, etc.

PK. this works best with light weight lures. You can finesse it with heavy lures also. The problem with that is that you don't have the hands to keep the tension on the line when pulling the fish out with the boat. When the tension is light the fish can and will shake your hook out easily if you have a heavy weight on it. With light weight lures this won't happen very often.

Might want to use scent on your plastics when performing this manuever also. Because it seems like the fish is more likely to continue mouthing the lure if it tastes like food.

Another technique to consider w/b to put the rod between your knees and make two quick back-strokes. As soon as you feel the bass pick up the lure. This c/b accomplished in about 2 seconds. And if you're paddling directly away from the structure/fish, the yak will continue gliding backwards while you've got the rod in your hands.

You really don't need any scent for the bass to hold on to senko type plastics. They will try to swallow it if they don't detect your line first. It might make a difference in getting them to bite but otherwise you should worry about them swallowing it more than spitting them out.

Another technique to consider w/b to put the rod between your knees and make two quick back-strokes. As soon as you feel the bass pick up the lure. This c/b accomplished in about 2 seconds. And if you're paddling directly away from the structure/fish, the yak will continue gliding backwards while you've got the rod in your hands.

In some cases (and I have done so about 7 times already last year) you have to really go far away (like 50 yards) because there might be many submerged trees in one area. Gliding along would not be enough especially with a double-digit fish. It is capable of giving you a sled ride. But it is good strategy for starting the kayak in motion before setting the hook.

I thought I might as well chime in with my opinion and experience so far. Last spring was epic at Clear Lake, I fished there in the yak and some in a pwrbt. I caught plenty of fish. If I killed a fish, and for sure I killed two, it was because they ate the senko very deep in the throat. I didn't loose a single fish in wood structure due to its' getting tangled. I broke some hooks off on the set. I hook them hard and quick, (so they won't swallow the damn thing), and then back paddle to get them out and to keep from breaking a rod. You'd also be surprised how many fish I caught with hooks already in them, not to mention many torn up mouths from being previously caught by a treble lure. It's a lucky thing these fish keep feeding/biting, even with deformed mouths!
I use #30 spectra with 4 foot 12 or 15 mono "topshot."
Oh yeah, also killed a fish that swallowed a plastic frog too deep.

I thought I might as well chime in with my opinion and experience so far. Last spring was epic at Clear Lake, I fished there in the yak and some in a pwrbt. I caught plenty of fish. If I killed a fish, and for sure I killed two, it was because they ate the senko very deep in the throat.

Mako1,

Sounds like you had a killer time in Clear Lake.

Yea, the bad thing about Senko is that they get swallowed if you are not careful. However the danger of that is pretty slim with the cold water right now. If I did kill one, it usually gets invited to go home with me for dinner. I have been very successful at removing hooks that are deep hooked with the following method:

1) Move the senko away from the hook to expose the shank.
2) Thread the line through the gill plate and pull on it from the outside carefully avoiding hard contact with the gills as much as possible. This process will bring the eye of the hook out.
3) Now the hook will have the shank pointing straight out the gill plate opening. By grabbing the eye with your fingers you may be able to torque the hook so that the shank is pointed towards the tail of the fish.
4) Most of the times if it is a small fish the hook will just pop out at this point. For the bigger fish however some help to pop the hook is needed. So I use the split ring pliers in the picture that has a hooked tip and pry the rounded portion of the hank and pull straight out. The hook should just slide out easily.

With the huge fish however you may not be able to bring the eye of the hook out through the gill plate. And since I use 1/0 hooks I can use this little device to remove them. Very easy to use.

I didn't loose a single fish in wood structure due to its' getting tangled. I broke some hooks off on the set. I hook them hard and quick, (so they won't swallow the damn thing), and then back paddle to get them out and to keep from breaking a rod. You'd also be surprised how many fish I caught with hooks already in them, not to mention many torn up mouths from being previously caught by a treble lure. It's a lucky thing these fish keep feeding/biting, even with deformed mouths!
I use #30 spectra with 4 foot 12 or 15 mono "topshot."
Oh yeah, also killed a fish that swallowed a plastic frog too deep.

That is almost the process I was describing earlier except for the hook set part. You set the hook first and then back paddle. So let me ask you how big were these fish that you caught in thick cover? I ask because I have noticed that the very large fish sometimes start pulling drag as soon as you set the hook on them. They don't hesitate to do so at all. With 12# test a 10#er would be pulling drag easily.

I use and 8# leader so a 6#er would strip quite a bit of line in it's first surge. I picture you setting the hook and then pick up the paddle and to the one hand trick like hydrospider described so vividly. So there will be a fraction of a second when the fish (if it decides to run) could get you in the trees easily. More so if your bait is inside a tree to start with and you have to pull is out as soon as you hook up. Could you tell how you do this in more detail?

It's like this!!    

Have you thought about using a single hand paddle that you can manuever your yak with and hold the rod with the other? I carry a home made hand paddle for small adjustments and moving back from cover.

I think a paddle like that will serve well for adjustments, but what we are talking about here is to power out of a spot as quick as you can by back paddling. Would it be able to accomplish that?
Keep in mind that you are towing a big fish out of trees at this point and you need to do it quickly before the fish realized she has been caught.

She?
You mean Miz Bass...???...

She?
You mean Miz Bass...???...

the female is the targeted victim.