Articles

Kayak Threshers:               Southern California is known as a nursery for all sorts of pelagic sharks and one of those seasonal (less so these days) species that visits are the Thresher Sharks! These nearshore pelagics are unique in that they tend to favor relatively shallow coastal water, putting them not only in reach of landbased anglers, but also making them a favorite and popular target for kayak fishermen as well. During the late Spring and Summer and continuing well into the Fall and early Winter months the juvenile and sub-adult Thresher sharks start to come within small boat and, more...

              While most landbased shark fishing in California consists of casting baits and slide baiting, there is small but growing group of anglers doing things a little differently. Taking a page out of the Florida and Texas playbook, some fisherman on the left coast have begun using kayaks and drones to deploy baits off the beach, reaching deeper water and as a result bigger and more formidable catches! Deployment:               One of the more popular ways to deploy baits on the West Coast is via the use of remote controlled aircraft, or drones. Some are using simple store-bought units, but...

In previous articles we have discussed the tactic of “Slidebaiting”, a unique way of fishing that does not involve any actual casting of the bait. However, there are certain scenarios in which slidebaiting is not the correct or most effective approach. It is these situations and the specialized rigs that go with them that this article will address.   There are two different “classes” of casted rigs when it comes to landbased fishing: suspended rigs (which incorporate a float to elevate the bait off of the bottom), and bottom rigs (which present the bait on or near the bottom). Within...

One of the age old questions any shark fishermen gets is “What bait did you use?” While bait selection is just one piece of the intricate puzzle that is successful landbased shark fishing, it is a very important part of the equation. The following article will try to de-mystify the basics of bait for shark fishing, with the focus of this article being on kayak deployed baits. Bait Types Bait for shark fishing can be almost anything that swims, but obviously certain baits are better in certain applications and for certain species. Most shark baits can fit into one of...

“J hooks are better because they hook fish wherever they can stick”. “Circle hooks are better because you don’t have to set the hook”. “Treble hooks are better because you they are more likely to hook the fish”. Anyone that has spent any amount of time fishing has heard all of these rationalizations for why a certain kind of hook is superior over any other. The problem with this way of thinking is that almost every fishing situation can call for a very different kind of hook, and this makes it very hard to make blanket statements such as “...