MALLORYTOWN, Ontario - Serious anglers and waterfowl hunters have long known the advantages of downsizing from boats powered by outboard motors to kayaks designed specifically for outdoorsmen.
Using a kayak provides the option of using it as the primary craft for hunting or fishing outings or as the secondary craft by being towed to those out-of-the-way locations that hold waterfowl and fish. Kayaks have an advantage over boats powered with electric trolling motors in waters impossible to navigate because of channel-choking weeds.
The latter reason has seen a sharp rise in recent years in the use of kayaks by anglers who enjoyed the option of some laid-back bass fishing at Caiger's Resort in the 1000 Islands Region of the St. Lawrence River. During the summer months, as well as the fall season into October, bass boats can be heard leaving the dock at dawn to travel the river's main channel to locations that are used by professional tournament anglers.
Unheard are the ever-growing number of kayak anglers who seek out the countless inlets and channels - many of which lead to open bass-holding pockets of water - that become overgrown by weed beds by early July.
"Local guides such as Doug Amos have had a lot of success in recent years putting their clients on largemouth bass, in addition to the smallmouth for which the St. Lawrence is well known," Caiger's co-owner Tom Banditelli of Tamaqua said. "With their bass boats they are able to travel miles up and down the river, but Doug often jokes while having breakfast with his clients about some of the biggest bass in the river being minutes from our docks in the channels off Thompson's Bay.
"For those fishing the big water out on the main channel of the river, only our clients who have really gotten to know the water are able to come close to matching the numbers and size of the fish Doug regularly catches. Those who fish the small channels in kayaks are usually not going to catch the same numbers, but ironically they often catch some larger fish.
"As a rule of thumb, if there is a body of water, such as the St. Lawrence, that holds big fish, then the smaller, out-of-the-way spots are also going to hold big fish. Best of all, these fish are almost always less pressured because surprisingly few residents who have summer homes seem to be serious fishermen and more interested in boating and other water sports."
Bass season in Ontario now opens the third Saturday in June, and Banditelli said that anglers who targeted the smaller channels had outstanding success using topwater baits in general and soft baits such as YUM Frogs in particular. One factor that makes topwater fishing so effective in kayaks is the ability to slip undetected by drifting into the heavy cover and making short casts that decrease the chance of hang-ups on the retrieve that often create strikes at the kayak in the final turns of the retrieve.
Anglers who regularly fish out of Caiger's and target bass in the channels soon learn how effective using spinnerbaits are in locating and catching bass. Newcomers usually give up on these baits because of the amount of weeds that are snagged, but the secret of success is to use a horizontal presentation - almost as if jigging - and to crimp the barb to reduce snags.
When fishing from a kayak, one learns quickly just how little tackle is needed to have a productive outing when targeting bass, or for that matter, Northern pike. Because the angler sits so low in the water, no matter if fishing from a kayak with a cockpit or deck seats, in a very short time techniques such as "flippin'" and "pitchin'" are - if not mastered - learned.
Most kayak anglers avoid crankbaits and stickbaits because every treble hook represents three problems just waiting to happen. YUM Dingers, Senkos and other similar soft baits rigged any weedless style and the large YUM Tubes that incase the entire jig are the way to go.
Finally, fishing from a kayak allows doing some housekeeping when the need arises to gain access to an area that just has to be holding fish. Simply drift into a thick patch of weeds, pull them apart to create some casting holes, back out, let the area settle and return later for the action.
Yes, there are times when by downsizing to a kayak some big-time bass action can be had on any water.
For information on Caiger's Resort, access the website at www.caigers.ca, call (613) 659-2266 or email info@caigers.ca; for information on fishing with licensed fishing guide Doug Amos, access the website at www.fishing1000islands.com, call (613) 923-5257 or email damos@repnet.com.