I rented a fishing kayak from the navy base and took her out last weekend, had 2 poles in the rod holders just behind me trolling tube and worm about 40 yrds back at a slow relaxing speed. I had 2 nice hits on, but by the time I reached back and grabbed the rod the fish was long gone. I had the drag set very low, so if one hit it would let him run a bit. Is this proper or should I run with a tighter drag? I spent a good 6 hours in the yak, got some great exercise, but need to work on the catching more. Any help would be awesome.

Thanks,
Cool Beans :fishin:

Tight drag. You want that hit to set the hook.
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Disagree. Had mine too tight last year, had a big blue hit and snap the line. Not sure of other people's experiences....

Thanks!! I will be out there again this weekend!! Was very happy with the stability and how the yak handled even in semi choppy water. Wore me out but was alot of fun. I'll try with the tighter drag. I'll keep it tight, but back off enough to allow it to peel some line before breaking. Running Yozuri 30 pound hybrid fluoro-nylon that seems plenty strong.

I didn't mean locked down. Just tight. Only time you want to fish a drag that's loose enough for the fish to run with your offering is when you are bait fishing.
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I'm with Nebe, Tight drag.....you can get away with it in a yak because the yak actually acts as a secondary drag as it will move when you hook into a decent sized fish.

i used to miss allot of fish when trolling.... as they hit and were bending the rod
with the tip bobbing frantically :point: indicating head-shake so i began holding the rod
instead to maintain better tension and less got off

....that's hard to do in a kayak unless it's either self propelled or a hands free hobie

Disagree. Had mine too tight last year, had a big blue hit and snap the line. Not sure of other people's experiences....

Line twist
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Beans
If the yak is pedal power,,, keep pedaling til rod in hand
Circle hooks help also IMO

I'm with Nebe, Tight drag.....you can get away with it in a yak because the yak actually acts as a secondary drag as it will move when you hook into a decent sized fish.

Absolutely! A tight drag, but not locked down as Nebe said, you want it so a small fish will hit and hook itself without pulling drag, but a big fish will just peel drag off right after it hits...THAT gets you adrenaline going!

Don't use too big of a piece of worm...just a piece. Porgies will grab the tail and yank it. There are alot of big ones around this year and it gets expensive. Bass will hook themselves 90% of the time. A tight drag is the way to go. Sharpen your hooks because some of the commercially sold tubes use crap hooks (which is a good reason to make your own). You mentioned you had the rod in a rod holder but don't say what kind. If the holders are such that the rod is sticking straight up that's n.g. you want the rods out low, parallel to the water to get all of the slack out of the line. A lot of guys with their own boats use rod holders up front adjusted so the rod is low, parallel to the water. It's also easier to monitor the rig with it in front in case you pick up weeds which will prevent bites. If you rent, you may not have a choice but try to get one with the rod holder up front.

I'm with Nebe, Tight drag.....you can get away with it in a yak because the yak actually acts as a secondary drag as it will move when you hook into a decent sized fish.

Yeah, The Dad Fisherman! The yak works as a secondary drag.
Hey, where the heck are you guys finding sandworms this year anyway? Must be a bad year to be a sandworm.

Gulp worms work better IMHO.
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Gulp worms work better IMHO.
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on a two hook bottom rig(for scup and sea bass) i tried an experiment with natural and gulp sandworms. the gulp out caught the natural bait 10 fold. and lasted longer as well.

Never had any luck with Gulp worms, we gots tons of sea worms on the north shore, but once I went to the Vineyard and they were nowhere to be found!

Just picked up the Yak for the weekend:fishin:. Got my sand worms in the fridge and ready to head out in the a.m.

Cool beans Have you rented the power Boats on the base( 40.00 bucks for 4 hours or 80.00 for 8 My issue is finding a 2nd person they wont rent if i go out alone PM me if your interested

I've rented from the base before. Usually have one or more anglers with me when I go. I've never tried renting alone. MWR rentals have got to be the best deal around.
I didn't know they had fishing kayaks available.