Any Comments on Canoe fishing for Striped Bass?

[chingweiliao]

Hi S-B friends:

I have a 15' mad river canoe and I plan to fish S-B at the essex river , hampton river and the PI sound area. I have read some canoing book but still dare not to try S-B fishing yet in any tidal river.

I appreciate any advices or comments in this regards!

Sincerely Yours,

Ching-Wei Liao

[JohnR]

Don't try it today! Too windy ...

Seriously, don't do it where there is a lot of current or boat traffic. Also consider that any nice fish will pull you all over the place... Consider a Kayak?

[fishsmith]

I have a 13ft Duke canoe, and I've been all over in that little guy, fishing for whatever will hit my line.
Rivers are great for canoes, time the tide right and all you have to use the oar for is a rudder. It does get exciting when you''ve got a fish on, a cabin cruiser heading right for you and a gang of jet skiers seeing who can go the fastest.
Good luck and be careful.

[STRIPER77]

Be careful buddy--canoes and kayaks are very low profile. They are Very hard to see by boaters if there is Any roll, chop, or wave to the water. Pick your days and your places very carefully.

[redcrbbr]

i don't know if it is a good idea to honest with you. couple athree hundred dollars worth of gear in a canoe that can roll over or be run over without too much trouble. good ideas need landing gear as well as wings to fly

[Bill L]

....wear a life jacket

[chingweiliao]

Hi S-B friends:

I have planned to use canoe for S-B fishing for months. But many of you feel negative about this idea especially this few days (very windy). I will cancel my plan to essex river this weekend. It sounds like that my canoe is only for good fresh water fishing, too bad, since my wife has put all extra money into house remodeling and I can not afford any real boat in the near future.


Thank you for your advices anyway!

Sincerely Yours,

Ching-Wei Liao

[breakfast fish]

how comfortable do you feel in the canoe???? do u swim well??? i fish alot with my kayak, especially at night when the boat traffic has abated. i tend to fish with another guy with a kayak, but half the time i'm chasing blues in the bay with 3 foot swells with no concern. i was in a blitz of blues few days ago before the wind blew across ri. the blues were averaging 10-15lb they were pulling me all over the bay. my suggestion to you is be prepare for anything. i fish mainly with single hooks for the ease of removing from the fish and the erase of what if this happens. get safety gear, floatation device, whistles, fog horn,cell phone, and a little bat. if u have any question let me know. good luck and be aware of your surroundings when u are on the water.

[breakfast fish]

oh, by the way.....cwl.nei how ma?????? sorry can't write any chinese characters on this site.

[STRIPER77]

Don't feel bad--I've been surf fishing for 3 years. Yeah sometimes I wish I had a boat----but then I realize--if you can't afford at least a 21 foot boat / trailer/slip/ins./ etc. then saltwater is best fished from the beach. The good thing is, you will meet people and they will offer you opportunities on their boats. Then you'll know if you want to second mortgage the house--risk divorce --etc. You'll catch your share of fish from shore---Don't get into the kayak/ canoe thing unless you really understand the waters and the limits of those type of craft.

[Goose]

I've fished quite a bit in colman canoe (not the greatest canoe). The area I fish has little boat traffic and a few sand bars,which is great to give the lower back a rest. Like the guys are sayin, crush your barbs or put on a single hooks. We where in a blitz one morning this summer and I threw a 3-4# blue in the canoe , not a very good idea ta say the least......with lots of life left in him and no place fa him ta go , yup, had to get the hook removed, I was askin for it alright. Summer time(during day light hours) is the safest time to be out there. Comunication with your partner is also key. The best thing is your mobil and you get access to killer spots(private). Use the KISS theory ( keep it simple stupid) don't bring more tackel then ya need, things can and will get clutered in a canoe real fast, 7' rods tops. If ya fish out of a Great Canadian or Discovery which are far more stable, you'll wanna be out there more days which means more fish.

[Scotch Bonnet]

I agree with Goose. I fished the Narragansett coast with my wife in a canoe for a few seasons. We would troll(electric trolling motor) in close to the rocks with the tube and worm and did quite well. I have a picture of my wife with a 25# bass she caught and released from the canoe. We would fish at night in July and August when it was calm and never had any problems(except the night she hooked a decent fish with her drag all the way tight! I thought we were all going to the bottom.) I always fished close enough to shore that even if we did tip we could swim back to shore. Wear a life jacket and keep gear to a minimun.

[Brooksie]

I was out in my brothers buddies boat a couple of years ago at night and we saw this barge, or maybe it was a tug boat, can't remember but it was moving fast through the channel and then started blowing his horn, I look and see a guy in a kayak going right in front of him. He is lucky to be alive.

[Fish_Eye]

My last video is dedicated to someone who died fishing out of a canoe. He had fished the inshore water next to Martha's Vineyards many time before, but on a night when it was blowing hard offshore (creating a false sense of security by keeping the water immediately next to shore flat-calm) he must have ventured out a little too far -- his body was found the next morning!

Be careful out there.

Mike

[chingweiliao]

Hi SB Friends:

I thank you all for the advices.

I probably will only go boat finhing at sea, when I have at least a
16' run-about boat. But this is not going to happend for several years.

Nevertheless, I have a good time last night at ocean front of PI. I caught 10 SBs within 2 hrs. The biggest one is around 30" and the remaining are around 24". As usual, all of them will caught on herring. I did try eel, but I lost it by setting the hook too fast !
After that hit, I slowly presented my eel again, but lost the whole eel without feeling any hit on the other end. I guess, I should not use any sinker. My tackle set up is below:

a. Circle hook (6/0)
b. 36" and 40 Lb leader
c. fish finder with 3 oz bank sinker

I reel the eel very slow but no hit except one big pull which triger my in-mature set hook. I present my eel in an area where I caught 10 fish there by herring chunk in every of my cast during that period of time.

Sincerely Yours,

Ching-Wei Liao

[Fishpart]

CWL, If you are using a circle hook there is no need to set up. Just reel up slowly and it should hook itself. Congratulations on the fish though. Keep at it.