Belle Isle Kayak Report: February 2015

Many of you, my faithful readers, may be unaware of the timing of these articles. Today is Sunday, the day after our Patriots beat the Ravens in one of the most exciting games you’ll ever see. Boston is in the midst of a cold snap that started a few days ago and has seen wind chills in the negative double digits. Currently, it has warmed up to a balmy 16 degrees as I write this month’s offering.

What the heck do I write about?

The ponds are getting iced up really well and the hard water fishing will get going strong. The sudden cold snap without slush or snow has made for some black ice like a window to underwater. I remember skating as a kid and chasing sunfish and pickerel around, me on top of the ice and them below. They could always turn faster.

Since it’s the dead of winter with not much kayak fishing to do, now is the time for me to organize, clean and service my tackle, rods and reels. Not a job that I enjoy especially but very much needs to be done. When I go out fishing, I usually put together 3 rod and reel combos and a 1-gallon ice cream tub full of tackle, lures on jigheads, swivels, etc., for whatever my quarry is on that particular outing. The 3 rods usually have different weighted lures or lures with different action. This way, I can grab a different rod for each different offering. I’ve got a couple of dozen ice cream tubs that are piled up on my bench that needs to be gone through. Oh, boy!

Time to replace the worn, rusted, and bent hooks on lures. A decent pair of split ring pliers will make this task a lot easier.

I used to service, clean and grease my reels myself, but not anymore. Some light maintenance, yeah, but mostly I just pack ‘em up and send ‘em out. I personally really like Shimano (not an endorsement, but if a Shimano rep is reading this, well…). They have a great service department, reasonable prices and quick turnaround time, plus all parts in stock. My reels all come back mechanically perfect.

As I break down my gear, I’ll tell you what I like and use.

I like round, conventional bait casters. My go-to reel for casting big plastics like Hogys is the Shimano Calcutta 400 BSV, paired up with a rod about 7 feet long that’s rated for heavy lures, about 3-4 ounces. This combo casts well for me and has the gumption to handle big, powerful stripers.

I also like the Avet with the MC, or magic cast. I’ve always liked the Avet for trolling and live lining but couldn’t get a long cast out of them until they included the MC feature.

Rods I like are heavy and medium/heavy graphite with fast action, 1-5 ounces 20-50. I use this basic rod for casting or trolling big stuff.

The setup I usually give to my clients for spinning is a Stradic 5000 or a Baitrunner on a Shimano Saguro 7 foot medium/heavy, fast action. This rig can handle various lures in medium to heavy weights. For smaller and fresh water fish, try a Stradic 2500 on a Saint Croix Mojo inshore 7 foot medium/heavy graphite with a fast action rated 1/2 to 1-1/4.

Well, that’s just what I like. Whatever works for you is what you should use. Now, it’s back to organizing my bench. Fun, fun, fun. Gotta do it. Shows are coming and I’ll probably buy more stuff. See you at the Coastal Angler booth!