Softbaiting From A Kayak for a Newbie

Josh Darby says he is ‘a bit of a mixed bag’ when it comes to trying new things. He generally enjoys the challenge of attempting new fishing techniques or lures; however, he admits he is also prone to stubbornly sticking with a particular soft-bait colour or fishing destination.

Fortunately, life has a way of forcing us out of our comfort zone and into unchartered territory. This push into the unknown has occurred to me many times, and mostly for good. In a fishing context, this has included finding myself on the Kaipara for the first time enjoying an incredible bait fishing session in a couple of metres of water after bad weather forced us to abandon a Far North fishing trip. On another occasion, early morning mechanical issues led to an exceptional fishing session not far from the ramp after our trip out wide had to be abandoned. Most recently, the Covid restrictions have led to me, along with many other fishos, having to find other avenues for meeting my fishing fix. For many this has included surfcasting, fishing from the rocks, and kayak fishing. I must admit that I have not taken the opportunity to enjoy the challenges and rewards these other styles of fishing can provide as much as I might like. So, with the boat in lock-down, I managed to secure an alternative mode of fishing transport – an inflatable kayak. Over the following weeks I ventured out on three occasions, with each trip producing some spectacular fishing experiences.

Josh on the move after he hooked a kingie in the shallows.

Trip One – Snapper success

Six hours after midnight and the blood was already pumping – quite literally. The previous 10 minutes had been spent frantically inflating my newly acquired kayak. With that accomplished the next challenge involved coordinating what was a somewhat awkward entry into the kayak. Now on board, and with my dignity still somewhat intact, I set off. My confidence grew as 15 minutes later I was still floating and closing in on the target area. With no electronics aboard I used the Navionics app on my mobile phone to set up a drift on the edge of a likely looking channel. I turned to see my good friend Joe (socially distanced) and watched on with jealously as he sat in his rigid kayak and selected one of his two rods from his kayak’s rod holders – what a luxury!

Having settled on a drift line in approximately 12 metres, I felt behind me for a plastic container I had placed under a bungee cord earlier. It contained the essentials – a dozen or so soft-baits, a few jig heads, some 30lb leader, and a small pair of scissors. I selected a 7” Redbone ZMan and threaded it on to a 3/8oz jighead before launching a cast. Back in the game! The fishing was slow to start with but as the sun began to rise, I noticed the small amount of belly in my line ‘jump’. I responded with urgency, winding out what little belly was left before striking. It wasn’t the prettiest of strikes, having had to adjust to the limitations of fishing from a seated position, but it did the trick. My rod buckled over and a small amount of line escaped before I felt the distinctive nods of a nice snapper. I yelled out to Joe, proud as punch, as a moderate snapper of around 45cm joined me in the kayak. I might as well of caught a 20lb fish, such was the sense of achievement experienced from landing this modest fish from a kayak.

The next few hours produced some excellent fishing. Joe and I enjoyed some vicious bites as we fished a channel edge that dropped off gradually from six to 14 metres. I’d just started to get the hang of the different requirements of casting and striking from a seated platform when I heard Joe yelling out from my port side – “I’m hooked up mate! It’s a good one!” I turned around to see Joe, rod loaded up, being towed along at a decent rate. I paddled over and watched on as he battled and eventually brought a substantial snapper to the side of his kayak. At 14lb, it was Joe’s PB snapper. With seven fat snapper of my own on board, we decided to call it a day and make our way back, absolutely stoked with our kayak fishing experience.

Joe caught three PB snapper across three trips, and all off the kayak.

Trip Two – Kingfish powered

Buoyed by the success of the first kayak fishing expedition, it was only a few days before I once again found myself on the water, albeit with a slightly more suitable kayak – this one was rigid and even had two rod holders! Once again, I joined Joe and we paddled our way out to the same area in hope of replicating our earlier success. After picking up a couple of nice pannies, I had my drift and cast angle dialled in. Having deployed my soft-bait again, I was anticipating it touching down on the bottom when I suddenly felt a substantial weight through the line. Responding quickly, I set the hook and soon I was enjoying a close quarters battle with what was obviously a solid snapper. After some toing and froing, a snapper of around 10lb surfaced. A fist pump and a few yahoos had Joe looking over to see what all the commotion was bout. I should have kept my mouth shout as I then spent the next 10 minutes trying to get my snapper in the boat. With the fish barely lip hooked and with no net, I eventually managed to slide my fingers under its gill plate and ease it on board. Could it get any better than this?!

Feeling pleased that I had once again secured a good feed of snapper, I pushed in a little shallower to around eight metres and cast out one of my favourite coloured soft-baits – the Atomic Sunrise. Sensing it was nearing the bottom, I adjusted my line by winding in some of the belly and, as I did, I came up tight on what felt like the bottom, except it wasn’t. Line started exiting my reel at an astonishing rate. First, I called it for a large kahawai having encountered a few already. However, the extended run and the amount of load through the rod had me then calling it for a kingfish, and a decent one at that. Nervously, I shifted my body weight in the kayak trying to find a position where I could apply some leverage. No can do – I was at the mercy of the fish. Feeling helpless, I was pulled closer to shore and into the rough stuff, as evidenced by the kelp now surfacing around my line. Almost certain I was about to lose this fish, it suddenly changed direction and started heading for deeper water.

Now 15 minutes into the fight, I was being pulled along at a great rate of knots. Joe paddled after me and watched on as I attempted to regain some line. No luck with that. The fish had found a depth it was happy with and I could not seem to move it. With the fish continuing to pull me along I put through a call, via Siri, to my good fishing buddy Eli. I then tucked my phone into my life jacket in such a way that he had a live view of the action. Now, almost an hour in, I had begun to wonder if I would ever get this fish up. Fortunately, it suddenly shot to the surface leaving me wondering if I had been hooked up to a shark this whole time. Fortunately, the appearance of a yellow dorsal fin breaking the surface confirmed my earlier suspicions – it was a kingfish, and it wasn’t small! Another 15 minutes and it finally surfaced next to the kayak where I was able to slide it in with relative ease. It was spent! At around 15kg, it was a beauty and if it wasn’t for the long paddle home I might have jumped on the internet and bought a kayak upon my return!

It doesn't get much better than that! Josh with his est. 15kg kingfish taken on an Atomic Sunrise soft-bait.

Trip 3 – Stonking snapper

Our final kayak trip started slower than the previous two, so I had made the call to push a little further around the coast to another area I have had success in from the boat. Suddenly, both Joe and Dave, another friend of mine, were hooked up in their kayaks. Watching on, the rear of my kayak suddenly jolted sideways, and I turned around to see one of my rods buckled over with line peeling off. All three of us landed our fish, though Joe’s took a while to come up. It was a stonker and at over 15lb, it was another PB for him. With the wind picking up, we decided on one last drift. We weren’t far into it before I heard yelling. Turning towards the sound, I located Joe being dragged along at quite the rate. I took a moment to ponder just how insane this was – to be fishing from a kayak and enjoying such incredible fishing for three consecutive trips. Dave and I paddled over to Joe and watched on with astonishment as he boated a snapper even bigger than his last! With that, we were off home, and I was thankful that life had once again nudged me towards an unexpected, but ultimately welcome experience. 

December 2021 - Josh Darby
New Zealand Fishing News Magazine.
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