This is a video from a few salmon I caught this past June out of Port Washington – in my kayak! This day I caught a 25 lber (39.5″) and a couple 12-13 lb fish. I’ve caught 36 kings this year so far in the kayak, with the fall run coming soon… heck of a way to fish!
I’ve got a brief write-up here: http://www.teamtroutmafia.com/blog/2015/8/25/better-late-than-never-a-25-lb-king-salmon-in-a-kayak
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Niiiiice! That looks like a blast.
Very Cool!
That is straight-up cool.
Thanks guys. All this started because I love to fish, but couldn’t afford a boat (or a truck…). Found out about “kayak fishing” and an addiction was born! Been doing it for a 2.5 years now, and this is my 2nd season fishing Lake Michigan. It’s an awesome way to fish – I actually turn down offers to fish with friends on their boats (recent friends who I didn’t know when I bought the yak) to fish with my kayak buddies.
Very cool to watch, I love seeing those kings pull you around 
We just fished Port this past weekend and saw someone trolling in a Kayak and we thought how cool that was to see. We have hard enough time getting them landed in a boat!
Definitely a lot of fun. I miss fishing kings out of my float tube
very cool
That is one of the most intriguing salmon videos I have ever seen! Awesome! Your catch rates are phenomenal(better that most “trolling” boats I would wager……
How do you maintain 2-1/2mph or so? Paddling? What depth tool do you have attached to your line….I see you reach for and detach some apparatus…..? How are you controlling your depth/speed/etc….?
Awesome video.
Thanks guys. Timmy, I generally use torpedo divers (8 and 12 oz, usually 1 of each, depending on the depth I’m fishing) to get my baits down. I’ve got them rigged up with a steel leader and an OR-16 clip. I let out my lead, about 20-50 feet, depending on what I’m running/time of day, then clip on the torpedo diver. It almost acts like my downrigger. You can see the approximate depths for your speeds on the torpedo diver website.
I try to maintain 2.0-2.2 mph. I know about what my angle of my line to the water should look like with my 12 oz torpedo when I’ve got the right speed. That helps me estimate currents and such. Obviously I don’t have any fancy downprobe or anything like that, but I have surface water temp on my fish finder, and lots of times you can see the thermocline on there. When I get hit, I’ve only got 2 rods out, so I can remember pretty easily how much line was out so I can repeat that presentation. And since I only have 2 lines, I can go back over that waypoint once I get the fish in. I’d probably catch even more fish if I didn’t have to pull my other line and fight the fish. By the time I measure it and take a pic (I participate in kayak wars, an online kayak fishing competition), decide if I want to keep it or not (generally I’m dragging the fish around on a stringer for a while, bleed it out, then put it in a garbage bag and throw it in my kayak). By the time that’s all done and I get my lines set up, it takes time. The vast majority of my 39 kings (3 more this morning…) have come between 4:00am and 5:30am or 7:00-9:00pm. That prime time is hot, and I gotta get my lines back down as soon as possible. After that magical 5:30, sometimes 6:00am window, the bite is winding down. If I’m feeling it, I’ll go work deeper water and try to catch them out there, but I’ve usually had enough and call it by 7:00am.
Flasher flies were extremely hot for me from June until the beginning of August when we had our first real big West blow that brought in cold water. I caught 1 king on a spoon in that time, rest on FF. Since, it’s been a spoon bite. When I’m trolling spoons, I try to do a lot of start and stops to put a little more action in the spoon. But since the beginning of August, it’s been somewhat slow for me (I think June/July spoiled me).
That is one of the most intriguing salmon videos I have ever seen! Awesome! Your catch rates are phenomenal(better that most “trolling” boats I would wager……
How do you maintain 2-1/2mph or so? Paddling? What depth tool do you have attached to your line….I see you reach for and detach some apparatus…..? How are you controlling your depth/speed/etc….?
Awesome video.
WAY COOL Mark, thanx for sharing!!!!!
I love the video! Where do you buy the torpedo divers and does the color make a difference?
Al
Fishing out of Gills Rock, Wisconsin the 2nd week of July and there were a couple of guys fishing out of Kayaks…they were doing as well as anyone fishing out of the boats. They were using a brand of kayaks that I had never seen before – brand was called Native Watercraft. They had a bicycle pedal and it was attached to a larger plastic propeller under the kayak, they were just pedaling like you would on a bicycle and tooling/trolling around catching kings. Got the guys card – Chad Gulseth. Pretty cool
bestfishes – jim
Thanks guys! You can find torpedoes at a lot of places, I think. I got mine from Fleet Farm and Midwest Shooter Supply (Lomira, WI). I’ve only used black. Contemplated playing with color or adding some tape or something to use as attractor, but black has worked fine.
Guthook1, I’m sure you saw Chad and Keith Gelhar. They were fishing Salmon-a-Rama (kayak division). Chad finished 1st, Keith 3rd. Kalvin and I finished 2nd and 4th fishing out of Port Washington. I think I was the only one in the top 8 without a peddle kayak. That’s definitely something I’m saving up for. By paddling, I can only run 2 lines… a king will do it’s best to tangle my lines. I’ve run 3 if it’s slow and no wind, but only a crankbait out the back. I caught one king on a flicker minnow this year in 70 feet out the back, and had one tear my line during salmon-a-rama on a shad rap. Once I get a peddle kayak, I can run 2-3 color leadcore out the back with the torpedos out the side. Lots of guys do well on the leadcore out the back, especially when cold water is around. The Natives are pretty sweet, I would probably go with a Hobie. Hoping to have one setup for next year!
Fishing out of Gills Rock, Wisconsin the 2nd week of July and there were a couple of guys fishing out of Kayaks…they were doing as well as anyone fishing out of the boats. They were using a brand of kayaks that I had never seen before – brand was called Native Watercraft. They had a bicycle pedal and it was attached to a larger plastic propeller under the kayak, they were just pedaling like you would on a bicycle and tooling/trolling around catching kings. Got the guys card – Chad Gulseth. Pretty cool
bestfishes – jim
I was looking at the Natives last night online. What is that you like on the Hobies that make you want that over the Natives? Thanks for all of your info!
Al
One more question. …What model Native Watercraft were your friends using?
I’m looking into a hobie revo 13… it’s a fast boat with the turbo fins. I do some inland fishing in weeds, and that propel drive will get tangled up pretty bad. The mirage drive might not be the best in that situation, but it’ll be better. Reverse isn’t all the important to me… and I cartop my kayak on my equinox. The revo will fit much better with my tarpon if I take both yaks.
I believe Keith and Chad have a Slayer 13 propel, but I’m not 100% sure. Check out Keith’s videos at
Watching his videos inspired me to do what I do. He’s an awesome fisherman… there’s a reason he’s always up on top of the leaderboards of tournaments.
Thanks, Mark! I found Keith’s videos on youtube and will check them out. It looks like he uses the Mariner 12.5 pedal Have a great Labor Day. Catch lots of fish!
Al
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