Wintertime Spots and Stripers - Vertical Jigging Spoons to load the Yak!
Looking for a productive way to load the kayak with hard fighting spotted bass and even the mighty striper this winter? Try adding a soft lead spoon such as a Flex it spoon to your tackle box for some rod bending action! Vertical jigging a spoon is a killer technique for wintertime fishing on Lanier and surrounding waters and has been used by anglers with success for years. But from a kayak? YES! This is not just a technique for fishing from a powered craft. Vertical jigging a spoon is extremely effective from a sit on top kayak provided you are armed with the right tools before you set out! It may even be more effective from the kayak in some circumstances!
First I want to cover what you need before embarking on your journey. Bass type gear in spinning or conventional is recommended as this is not a finesse technique. Arm your reels with a minimum of 12 pound test in mono or braid if preferred. When using braid make sure to tie on a short flouro leader. I use 15 pound mono line for 99% of my spoon fishing. You will need several spoons that are available at local tackle stores like Hammonds fishing center in Cumming, GA or Oakwood bait and tackle in Oakwood. The flex it model works great in 1/2 oz up to 1 oz varieties. My go to is the white 1 oz pictured in the bass mouth below with a gray reflective foil finish. Once armed with tackle and reel, quality electronics are the key to finding and fishing this presentation effectively. You need a sonar unit that will show you your spoon when dropped and return readable fish arches.
Armed now with spoons and quality electronics you now need to choose your fishing location. Choosing a location to launch your kayak can make or break your trip any time of year so choose wisely! While there are fish lake wide throughout the year, good areas to start searching are in the back of creek areas. During wintertime the back areas of creeks will often hold bait and predator fish. The shallower water warms quicker during the day and seems to attract the fish to the area. The kayak is extremely effective in searching out fish in these areas because of it slow speed. While slowly paddling an area keep your eye on the graph looking for bait or fish arches. Pay particular attention to the bottom as fish will sometimes stay close this time of year. One small arch off the bottom can quickly become spaghetti on your graph once you drop the spoon!
When graphing fish drop the spoon while watching on the screen. Let the spoon drop to the bottom paying close attention to your line tension and the screen. Sometimes the fish will eat the spoon before it hits and you will feel the line go slack, you may even see it disappear on your graph! When this happens engage the reel and pull up to load the rod and set the hook! If the spoon doesn't get hit on the drop let it rest on the bottom and jig it vertically with an up and down motion of the rod. Lower the rod while the lure is sinking to keep the slack down and jig it straight up again after it hits bottom. You will know when a fish hits, trust me!
Sometimes you will graph fish but they don't seem to want the spoon. In this case jig the spoon several times then reel up about half way, pause let it drop again and repeat. Many times you will see the fish follow the spoon on the graph! Often this technique "power reeling" will entice a school and draw a strike especially if you are over striped bass.
This technique works well while fishing live bait for stripers as well as by itself! You can expect to catch good numbers of fish on most trips as well as a nice variety of fish. Spotted bass, Stripers, Perch, Crappie, and even the elusive Lanier Walleye can be taken with this technique. As we move into the winter months why don't you give this a try from the kayak! Good luck and make sure to visit our online forum at: http://lanierkayakfishing.proboards.com for more information!