The Twin Cities metro area is surrounded by phenomenal kayak fishing lakes. Bodies of water that are not over a few hundred acres in size and loaded with pike, bass and panfish. Most have well-maintained boat landings, great water quality and get marginal fishing pressure due to their size. Most big-boat anglers like big water. Kayak anglers appreciate the benefits of a small lake.
When the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers organization was in town recently they established base camp at the Double Tree Hilton hotel in Brooklyn Center. There were a lot of nearby lake options to take a half dozen Hobie kayak anglers to, but the local anglers I checked with prior to the conference said Weaver Lake was productive and showing no signs of slowing down.
We hit the water early on a Thursday morning and had the lake all to ourselves. My local contacts told me the bass and pike were hugging the weedline and to use a jig tipped with a plastic scented trailer. Since I am a contrarian I chose a topwater lure to cast into the lily pads that rimmed the shoreline near the boat landing.
Fortunately for me one of the anglers, Barb Carey, chose to stick with what was supposed to be working and proved that listening to the local anglers is a formula for success. After watching her land two largemouth bass I slid up close to where she was fishing, worked her for information and quickly tied on what she was using from my supply. I hadn’t had a single attempt on the topwater lure I was casting so it was time to change my luck.
Two casts later I was reeling in a bass. I was just about to brag to Carey about my fishing prowess when she set the hook on a small northern pike. On light tackle even a hammer-handle, as small pike are commonly referred, can put up a good fight.
It wasn’t long before the entire Hobie crew of kayak anglers was changing to the trusty jig tipped with a plastic scented trailer. All except for “Griff.” Steve Griffin is a prolific writer from Saginaw, Michigan that was bound and determined to catch a fish on one of the crankbaits he received from one of the conference attendees. He casted that lure, he trolled that lure and just when we were all convinced he would give up and join the rest of us catching fish, he hooked a nice bass.
Griff had discovered the secret to unlocking the crankbait code. He would troll the lure in deep water. While the rest of us were working the edge of the vegetation he was trolling his minnow imitator out in open water in search of suspended fish. And he found and caught them.
Which just proves that on any given day there may be multiple tactics and techniques that work. Never get stuck on one presentation. There may be others that are just as good or better.
On the way back to the boat landing both Carey and I realized we were dead even on the number of fish we landed. I immediately claimed the win, adding to my total a bass I lost as one-half, but she quickly countered with the only pike caught counting as two instead of one which beat me handily. All the others quickly jumped on her bandwagon and I conceded the bragging rights to her. It’s tough to be disappointed when you have had that much fun.
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