by Todd Corayer
For kayak fishermen, summer striped bass fishing does not always mean a move to deep waters. Salt ponds, with their eelgrass beds, curves, creeks, long stretches of warm mud and communities of crustaceans, minnows and sand eels are perfect destinations to find bold bass hunting in shallow waters and around structure. They also provide a sense of adventure to the paddling fisherman with their endless beauty, low fishing pressure and sweet demands of time and tide.
Stripers are ultimately opportunistic, preferring to lurk behind energy-conserving rocks or other natural structures so often you’ll need to target areas with deeper, tidal influenced trenches where flows are stronger than small silversides or peanut bunker can fight. Swimming a soft plastic or twitching a Crystal 3D Minnow Magnum parallel to an incoming tide can be deadly. Be patient, relax the line, let the tide do the work. It’s the pulse of the water, with an occasional twitch that wins the fish. Positioning your kayak alongside an inlet might put you in a favorable, circular eddy that affords more casting and catching with less paddling.
Your day should start before dawn or as twilight overtakes as those expanses of bottom will warm quickly under a summer sun, pushing fish down. That plan requires some daytime recon to build an understanding of how water moves and where rocks or shell piles will change that flow, even slightly. Start with a seven foot medium action rod, some twenty pound braid and a rattling crankbait. That low frequency beat will help draw attention in any water.
Fishing salt pond tidal flows also means thinking differently; often it means
targeting areas where no bass would be caught dead in daylight. They may dart in and out of skinny water as they push bait or roll over to consume crabs and shrimp in less than a foot of water, while their slapping tails are your siren, all the while using darkness to their advantage. They can can be finicky when bait is plentiful; a ⅛ or ¼ oz. D.O.A. jig head paired with a soft jerk bait matched to the color of the bait you see will be key. Cocahoe minnows in white or pearl are reliable staples until the high heat of summer but bass are fickle so be ready with several different patterns already rigged in sizes matching the bait.
Birds know first and best; even one overhead might mean more than you think. Gulls and terns, with keen eyesight and aerial advantage, will alert you to bait and what’s eating them. Don’t give up when the sun is rising; opportunity is in a stripers DNA so the loud splash of a top-water popper might raise an angry strike even on the brightest bluebird morning. As an orange sun rises or sets to welcome a sweeping blanket of stars, there’s few things more amazing than catching a magnificent striped bass from a kayak in a silent salt pond.
by Todd Corayer
