Kayak Fluke Fishing is fun and the catch is good eating. Rigging for fluking is not to different from the way I'm setup when drifting eels for stripers. There is a couple of extra things to think about and I know others do it different than me so remember there is more than one way to catch fluke from your kayak. I have a big fold and stow landing net because it's easier to stow away when launching from the beach but any kind of large net will do and don't forget to attach a safety leash or a float to the net handle. It's a bummer watching your net sink slowly to the bottom while you are still fighting your once in a lifetime fluke (I know that for a fact). You need a net fluking from the kayak because most of the time you lose the fish when trying to get it into the foot well of the kayak.

Fluking from the kayak is messier than striper fishing because I bleed the fluke before icing it down. In the boat we use the live well to bleed out the fish in the kayak I was bleeding the fish on a stringer. Last weekend I did see a nice mesh bag that was used to transport the fluke and I think it would be a great way of holding the fish while bleeding them. I like to chill my fish before filleting because it makes the meat firmer and easier to fillet and if you are out for an extended period chilling preserves the meat. I have a big soft cooler bag with zipper that I have a bag of ice in so i put the fish on ice after bleeding them.

I use conventional setup for all my fishing but any medium to slow rod will do. If the rod is to stiff you tend to lose the fish during a head shake or at the net trying to land it one handed. Softer rod not to long tend to work better for me in the kayak. There is no time that I feel the need to move the rod over the front of the kayak so there is no need for a longer rod. My reels are spooled with 20lb Power Pro and I use a 3 way rig with a 4 to 6oz Spro as my weight and 36 to 72 inches of line for the teaser hook. The Spro is attached to the 3 way with a 6 to 12 inch leader made from 40 to 60lb fluorocarbon or hard mono leader material. The ticker line is to prevent the jig from spinning up and tangling the long leader. The teaser is made from 20 or 30lb fluorocarbon with a Kahle hook or a wide gap bait hook. Teaser is the wrong terminology because I'm not using any teaser right now, no blades, beads or buck tail sleeves. Using live minnows as bait I prefer to send the minnow down on it's own to party with the big boys. On the jig I use fluke belly, clam, or squid and if there is a bluefish that decide to come to the party he'll make great strips to hang on the jig (This is another reason it's messier to fluke fish).

Drifting for fluke on a windy day, you may need to add a drift sock on the kayak to slow you down or you have to set the rod down to use your paddle to slow the drift or stem the tide. During slack tide you can paddle to imitate a drift so there is no bad time while fluke fishing from a kayak.

A couple of tips for the first time you go out fluke fishing from the kayak, some of them I hope you never need to use but if you do and you don't have them you will be happy you brought them out.

1. Heavy duty side cutters or dykes that can gut through the thickest hook on any jig.
2. A clean brand new x-acto knife because the hook goes in easier then it comes out from the underside and you may have to cut a starter hole to get the barb clear to cut off with the dykes.
3. iodine and bleach or other disinfectant.
4. Bandages to put on after you bled all over the kayak.

On the first couple of trips you should use bank sinkers instead of jigs for your weight because it's one less set of hooks to be aware of when landing fish. It's also one less hook to tangle in your net. When fishing two rods for fluke I have one setup with a bank sinker that I use less weight on and I let the line out until the weight is bouncing / dragging on the bottom with more scope in the line. The second setup is fished straight down or with less of a scope than the first to prevent them from tangling while drifting. I try to drift backwards with the lines on each side of the kayak, if you keep getting turned because of wind and tide then fish 1 line at a time. Tie up several spare rigs so you don't have to retie while fishing if you get bit off by a bluefish. Use quick release clips on the standing line and attach the 3 way to the quick release.

Nils

Nils, you've done it again

Another great post that will help everyone from novice to the seasoned veteran.

Excellent post Nils. I want to know more about the cooler bag I wedge a cooler in my aft well and am not completly satisfied with that setup. What brand/model are you using?

Here are some cooler bag examples. Like most I have found, they are a bit pricey.