now if i could go back years and start kayak fishing all over again this is what i wish
i knew what i wish i would have done the lures i wish i would have used to catch fish
in numbers and in size and this is the gear i wish i would have had as a beginner kayak fisherman now
that you have a kayak you actually can explore every single inch of that lake which could be
a downfall for you but if you adopt the 10 percent rule you can really dial this in now the 10 rule
is that the majority of the largemouth bass you are seeking are actually only found in 10 percent
of the water and that doesn't mean that these all these bastard is hanging around this one stump in
this lake but what it does mean is that they're found in pockets of water that make up around 10
of that body of water that you're fishing so what this means is you're out there with a search bait
and trying to find a large ball fast you actually catch one that's the moment you should stop and
study how you caught it because what you want to do is reproduce that scenario in other parts
of the lake so you caught it and i catch it in three three feet of water what i catch it by what
i catch it on what was the retrieval speed all these things because as you move yourself around
the body of water that you're fishing you're going to try to recreate these scenarios
which are likely where the rest of the largemouth bass are hiding in other parts of the lake and
keep this in mind if you catch a largemouth bass largemouth you usually travel in groups of two or
three and so if there's one there there's usually a couple more so don't leave bass in order to go
to try to find bass so stick around try to hit a couple areas change up your baits and you most
likely will catch another one maybe even three now if i was starting from zero this is where i would
start looking for fish if i was new to the sport so what we're going to talk about now is cover
and structure and the reality is this was super confusing for me whenever i started out because a
lot of people use those two words interchangeably and they're actually two different things so let
me define it for you cover is going to be the stuff on top of the water it's going to be your
docs your laydowns your fallen trees your grass your pads your mats your stumps your beaver dams
man i love beaver dams there's always fish hanging down here here's a video of me just slamming some
fish on the beaver dam now cover is important in fishing because that's where bass actually like
to hang out they like to hang out there because it plays into how they feed because since they are a
predator they use this cover in order to ambush the prey boom they're hiding around the docks
because they can hide behind one of the pylons they're hiding behind that lay down because they
can hide behind that tree stump and whenever unsuspecting little fish come through pop they
slam it a lot of the behaviors of lmb actually go back to how they feed so it's really important
for you to become an expert on the behaviors of a largemouth bass and i have a variety of different
videos on my channel that share a things that large mouth bass hate so check out that video nine
things largemouth bass hate i'll put the link in the description below now structure is different
than cover it's actually the framework of the body of water you were fishing so when someone is
talking about structure they're actually talking about the changes in the topography of the water
they're fishing structure is important because not only do baths love cover they also love changes in
structure especially if there's not a lot of cover so a lot of your structures are going to be your
drop-offs your creek channels your points your humps your submerged island your bluffs your cuts
your holes saddles your flats and more once again they love these things because it plays into their
feeding behavior a lot of times you'll look up on the side of the bank and you'll see all these bait
fish jumping just because largemouth bass like to push these bait balls up against the ledge because
whenever a largemouth bass heard these bait balls against a ledge organ structure it actually
limits the escape routes for those fish making it easier to feed so the ideal temperature range that
bass love to feed in is around the 65 to 75 degree range this is because their metabolism is primed
for these temperatures to feed and this is why it's a little more difficult
when the metabolism goes down when the water gets cold to actually catch fish it's not impossible
you actually got to change up the way you're fishing in quarter temperatures it's going
to be a little more difficult and it changes the nuances to how you should be fishing but if you're
new to this and you really want to catch a large mouth bass whenever that water temperature hits
65 to 75 degrees you are going to catch more bass than you usually do outside of those temperature
ranges all right let's talk about gear for a minute i have a ton of gear on my fishing kayak
and the reality is when i started i didn't but guess what i still caught a ton of bass
at a basic level you only need a few things you need your kayak you need a pdf you need a paddle
in order to get out there and start fishing now if you have yet to buy a kayak and you're actually
looking to purchase one online or if you're looking to purchase a used one i actually just
finished up the video called buyer beware the used kayak fishing buying guide so that'll help you out
i'll throw the link in the description below so let's talk more about your rod and reel setup
now if i was starting out from zero this is what i would do and walk my butt into walmart and buy
a spinning reel and rod combination set so these are going to run you if you see them around 70 70
to 100 this is the range that you're looking for uh you're looking for kind of a medium
power fast action rod which is going to be the most versatile for a bass fisherman as
a beginner and the reason that i recommend this is that this real uh rod combo casting is going
to be simple for you it has great accuracy it's great for lighter lines and baits and it's great
for mid-size game fish and sports fish so if you're starting out from zero this is going to
be the perfect rod and reel set up for you without breaking the bank all right guys begin to value
out of this please hit that like button let's get this video out to more people let's move on
to the fishing line so there's three different types of lines which you may already know you
got your mono your fluoro and your braid what i would recommend is getting around eight pound
test fluorocarbon and so what this is going to do especially if you're fishing clear waters i
fish up here in northeast ohio a lot of my lakes are really clear and so i want the refraction rate
of that fishing line to be virtually invisible to those bass so i've had a lot of luck utilizing the
fluorocarbon line eight pound test next i'd highly recommend i wish i knew this starting out when i
when i grew up my dad taught me the clinch knot which is not a bad knot the fisherman's not
but i relearned a couple years ago the palomar knot so if you don't know how to tie the palomar
knot one it's really simple two it's really strong and i created a 60 second video of how you can
learn to do it so i highly recommend adopting the palomar knot something i wish i had known
a long time ago and the two lures that i would recommend and you know if you walk
down the aisle at walmart you're going to get overwhelmed really quickly or if you go into a
fishing specific store there's going to be aisles and aisles and aisles of fishing lures you have no
clue what to buy and a lot of these things can be expensive so two lures that you should master as a
beginner these are things i wish i knew starting out the wacky worm rig and the ned rig this is
going to allow you to fish the upper column of water to the middle and the bottom column of water
and if you can master these you're going to catch fish in numbers and in size so i got two videos
for you how to fish the wacky rig how to fish the ned rig i'll throw those in the description
below but really quick these are not only inexpensive but really simple to use all you're
going to need for the wacky rig is a size one gamakatsu octopus hook and a five inch senko those
are pretty cheap and for the ned rig you're just gonna buy a ned rig kit likely at walmart it's not
gonna cost you a whole lot and this is gonna allow you to fish the middle and the bottom columns of
water to pick those fish up if they're not on top you just have a five year learning curve all the
mistakes i've made i've tried a ton of different things and man i've found a lot of success with
this and i know that you will too hey guys thanks for watching i'll see you later bye you