Fishgator - Kayak Fishing Blog

The Must Hit List for my Summer Kayak Fishing

Planning out my summer today, and here’s the first spot that I absolutely must fish this summer. (Also, I’ll be showing off a new kayaking toy very soon… stay tuned!)

The Lake Shores Marshes Wildlife Management Area

Website

The DEC indicates that this spot is rife with smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, and Northern Pike, which definitely piqued my interest. Also, there appears to be a boat launch on a creek there (Black Creek actually, although not the one I’m familiar with).

The rest of this week is suspect, weather wise, so I will be doing this one next week.

Apparently also plenty of birds, muskrats, and other critters to look at while I’m paddling along, so I look forward to this trip. This will be a full day trip I would imagine, so I’ll keep you posted on when I go.

Tags: Fishgator Fishing Hotspots, Fly Fishing for Bass, Fly Fishing for Pike, kayaking, WNY Kayaking

First Kayak Trip 2008

With the newer NYS Bass regulations, I decided to head out this morning onto Black Creek. Photos when I return.

Plan is to look for bass, get some photos, and hopefully take a few on the fly rod.

Tags: bass, black creek, Fly Fishing for Bass, Fly Fishing for Pike, kayaking, pike

Flatstalker????

This one’s new on me…. Quite a fishing “kayak” though.

Dropped an email to these folks tonight.  Very much interested in learning more about this boat, and how it would hold up in New York waters.

Tags: fishing kayaks, flatstalker, kayak, kayaking

How to choose what Kayak is right for you

REI, one of the larger online shops that sells kayaks, offered a decent article on selecting a good kayak.

A brief excerpt:

Whether you’re headed to a local lake for the day or off on an extended paddling tour, you’ll want to make sure you’ve chosen the boat that will let you get the most out of your time on the water. The information that follows will help you sort through the options for flat water paddling.

	Determine your paddling-trip preferences (day trips, expeditions, family recreation) before selecting a boat. Choose a boat based on the type of paddling and water for which it was designed. Design and materials will affect how your kayak handles in various situations. Consider the important “extras” before purchasing your kayak.

Be sure to visit REI.com for the rest of the advice.

Unfortunately, they don’t include any information on fishing kayaks specifically, but from my experience, if you’re serious about the sport, the sit on top kayak is the way to go.  Look for one with a center console big enough to add a rod mount.  Here’s a full list of REI’s sit on top kayak accessories

Tags: kayak accessories.kayak, kayaking, REI, rod holders

Bass Season, Pike Overlap, and Things I didn’t Know

Well, well.

I’ve been buying a fishing license in New York every year for 19 years now, and I don’t know when this little rule changed, but it makes me happy, and reminds me of the year I spent in Maine.

Per our friends at the DEC, bass season is KIND OF a thing of the past.

Black Bass largemouth/smallmouth	3rd Saturday in June through November 30	12″	5
Black Bass largemouth/smallmouth	December 1 - Friday preceding the 3rd Saturday in June	Catch and release only	Artificial lures only

When I say that, I don’t mean I can take bass from the water whenever I want, but rather that the State has perhaps more clearly defined what they mean when they say “fishing” by changing the wording on bass regulations. And again, I don’t know when this changed, but here’s the skinny:

You can target bass year round now.

You can only take them from the water like always, meaning from the third Saturday in June, etc. But this changes everything.

First, it more clearly states what fishing means in regards to the other species. It means targetting. It means any attempt to in any way hook a fish, as opposed to keep a fish. That was always the spirit of the law, but not necessarily the letter of the law.

Sure, there were some particular stream sections that had “no kill all year trout fishing”, but that was for very specific areas, and very specific creeks. This is an official, statewide “Catch and Release” Bass policy. And it’s great.

Second, it should help some of the resort areas like Black Lake. As choked as that Lake gets late summer now with weeds (and fishermen), this will extend the periods during which they can effectively do tourism commerce. Sure, folks went up the in May and June before and targetted bass, but now they can feel good about it.

Third, it’s going to make my pike trip on Saturday to Black Creek just that much more fun.

I like this regulation. If anyone knows exactly when it went into effect, please comment below.

Tags: bass, black creek, kayak, kayaking, pike, season