Kayak Fishing by Eric Henson
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nyone who knows me will tell you that when it comes to inshore fishing I am an artificial only type guy, whether it comes to soft-plastics, hard-baits, or flies. I have full confidence that if you use the right one of these artificial baits at the right time you can trigger most inshore game-fish to eat. Fish are opportunist and will eat just about anything that crosses their path in the right circumstances. I’ve even seen redfish caught on jalapeno peppers and eat plain jig-heads with nothing on them! The main thing you are trying to achieve with any artificial bait is the silhouette of a particular bait the fish that they are feeding on at that time to get a reaction. Now, I will say that the realistic look of lures these days’ definitely helps trigger the feeding response of predator fish. But, most of the lures out there are designed to catch the fisherman first! When fishing with artificial bait “lures or flies” you must make sure that you are covering the entire water column. I almost always start out with a Yo-Zuri 3DB Pencil top water in the early morning. They are great for bombing long casts and covering lots of water in the twilight hours when it is a little tougher for you see everything. If I’m
not getting any blow ups on top, I will switch up to suspension baits like the Yo-Zuri 3D Inshore Twitchbait. These will suspend a foot or so below the top and again you can cover lots of area. I almost always use these baits as my fish finders! If it’s a real grassy area I will switch up to the Monster 3X X-TAIL rigged with a 1/16 oz. weedless belly hook. This bait will suspend at different depths depending on the speed that it is retrieved. Then, last but not least a Monster 3X 4 ¾ X-MOVE rigged with a 1/16 oz. open face jig-head. I will use this bait mostly for jigging areas where I have found fish or to pitch at fish that I have actually laid eyes on. The same goes with flies… Gurglers in the early morn, then streamers and weighted flies the rest of the day covering all of the water column. Whatever you decide to throw on any given day you must have complete confidence in what you are using. Do your best to match what is swimming around you. Then change up speeds on your retrieval and colors until you find out what that are chewing on that day. No matter what, just have fun because if you are out on the water fishing. Tight lines and Tight knots to everyone! Eric Henson is the owner of Casting Kayaks LLC. a guided kayak fishing company out of Sarasota Florida. He specializes in inshore light tackle or fly fishing from Tampa Bay to Charlotte Harbor. To book a guided fishing trip with Eric check out his website www.CastingKayaks.com or give him a call at 941-504-1349
FACEBOOK.COM/COASTALANGLERMAGAZINESARASOTA/ | APRIL 2019 | SARASOTA / BRADENTON 3