Big fish - small boat

Yesterday, while out in the kayak, I got into some fairly decent fish
Blues of about 28 - 34 inches and maybe 10 - 14 pounds. ( two landed, one large, one "small")
After the initial savage take and a short run, these fish would take up a position near the bottom and directly under the seat of the kayak.
It was very tough to put any pressure on them to move them from this spot
I'd direct them with the 8wt from one end of the boat to the other, and from the right side to the left side
They'd head back under my butt every time
I know how to fight a good fish while standing, but find it quite difficult to do seated in such a confined space as the cockpit of a kayak.
I was in a similar situation last year too. A huge blitz that went on for hours... I spent so much time with the fight that I only landed three fish
Fighting a stubborn fish like this gets real old when the water all around you is boiling with blitzing fish.
Any tips?

My only suggestion would be to make sure the line is really tight then bang on the handle section of your rod with your free hand. The vibrations transmitted down the line may agitate the fish into some movement. Worth a try at least.

Larry :D

Sounds like a great day fishing! 8)


I am assuming you are in deep water.

More than likely, you are pulling yourself on top of the fish due to the lack of leverage and resistance. I use a small drift chute that I can deploy as soon as I hook up. If it is shallow enough, you could drop a 3lb ladie's barbell anchor instead.

If worse came to worse, I would also consider putting that rod in the rod holder and paddle away from the school and use the boat to tire him out quickly.

Hope this helps!

-Phil

Sounds like a good time...especially if your yaks got a mirage drive... I'll be testing, Pretty much exactly that out in a few weeks..Planning on doing some very deep Chromid fishing starting in a week or two,Soon as I get some stuff done on the house....

The drift chute keeps sounding better and more needful a thing all the time..Just can't afford one yet... :( Sucks to be broke...

Bill....mirage drive?? my kayak's nearly 15 years old, I'm happy it still floats :D
(a five gallon bucket rigged with a three or four point connection around the rim makes a dandy drift "sock")

Phil... these fish were definitely resting in the spot where my rod could put the least amount of pressure on them.

I'm a strict minimalist, no anchor, drift sock, or rod holder on my boat. It never occurred to me to back paddle, I'm sure that would have made a difference. I'll try it tomorrow :D

Two tricks that sometimes work for me are to give the fish some slack and let them make the next move or tighten up on the fish and use the boat with the drag of the water column to plane the fish up, as you mentioned back paddling.

Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

To turn halibut or heavy salmon on that initial strong line breaking run. ( where most break offs occur ) We used to twang the line . This would often turn a fish that was running directly away from you . So now the fish is turned at an angle away from you the line is dragging thru the water with a big bow in it wearing out the fish. Thus a sudden jerk on the line from the fish will not stress the line and break it.

I hated it when a 100 lb+ Halibut sits under the boat and head shakes. I did find that my light kayak with pressure from the rod at right angles to the boat would skid sideways a bit allowing me to move the fish out from under it.

To bring in a really big halibut over 150 lbs You let it run while you paddle to shore. Then fight it from shore where you can land a fish too big for the kayak. The added bonus to this is that if a shark attacks your fish, you are not right there at the scene in a kayak. :shock:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gnu Bee Flyer

I hated it when a 100 lb+ Halibut sits under the boat and head shakes.

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Whoo Wee!! 100 lb. halibut in a kayak, there's a whole story to share right there! Man, what a fight! Fly tackle? Doesn't matter, that would be a battle royale on any kayak-portable tackle.