Beautiful fish...awesome colors, awesome water...nice a power pole....Great Job... thanks for the tag along I have been so busy with 6 Rescued horses this summer, I only took the yak out once and didnt catch a thing but skeeters...LOL
I just discovered your channel. I kayak fish also. My husband doesn't fish, he reads a book in his kayak while I fish in mine. You have such a calm demeanor about you. The scenery around you is gorgeous! I fish in Texas. Mostly at Lake Ray Roberts, Sanger, Texas. Thank you for your videos and the respect you show to the fish and nature. Karen Ponder, Texas
Thanks Karen! I'm glad you enjoy the videos! I'll be heading to Texas next month to meet up with my friend Jim from Dallas, we have a guide booked for a couple days of fishing on Falcon Lake. It should be an awesome trip!
I'm lucky to have lots of great fishing spots around here that don't get much pressure and the fish always seem willing to bite. When life gets me down spending time fishing always seems to help relieve the stress and take my mind off other things. Those bad times always pass so keep your head up, tomorrow's a brand new day!
Hey Matt. Glad to see a video with you using the power pole. Looks like it works great in that area you were fishing. The river systems you fish are some of the most pristine waters I have ever seen. Great video and great fish. Keep them coming. I always enjoy them.
Thanks Derek! With the wind and the current pushing me around yesterday I probably would have given up long before I did if I didn't have the Power Pole to hold me in place. It's a great tool to have for fishing these shallow rivers!
Thanks Chris! That's one thing I like about fishing smallmouth. I've seen them anywhere from a light tan color to almost black like you said. It seems like the really dark ones I usually find in spots with faster current.
Awesome video man! Sweet footage as always and nice smallies you caught too! It looks like that power pole setup you got really helped you out staying put on the river to fish those spots.
I don't think I would have caught half the fish I did on this trip without the Power Pole! It was tough to spot fish with the wind rippling the surface but I was still seeing a lot of big ones on this stretch. I had two that were probably 20" or better get into weeds and break me off. I would have added them to the video but there were too many expletives to edit out lol. I picked up some Spiderwire 15lb invisibraid, gonna spool up a reel with that and hopefully it doesn't spook them in this clear water. I'm hoping for a calm day this week, if I can spot them from a little farther away I think I'll hammer them!
NDYakAngler That is awesome! I have been looking into one of those Power Poles for my kayak as well, from your video they prove to be an excellent anchor to keep you in the right ambush spot to catch fish when there is wind and current. That is tough to see those fish when the water starts to ripple, that good you could still spot some of the big ones! That was pretty awesome when you parked next to those old posts in the water and you just pitched in there and that big smally came out! Oh wow that is awesome you had those 20" plus smallies on even though they broke off! Haha I know what you mean about not using some footage when breaking off on a fish, some choice words may be used lol. That's awesome you picked up some of that spider wire, that should help from the break offs and they won't be able to see it either. Do you prefer a certain brand for your fishing line or braid or do you just get whatever is on sale for the type and pound test you are looking for? You should have some nice days all this week! I hope you can get out there and hammer those smallies man! Good luck
I generally use braid only for frog fishing or throwing catfish rigs. I like 30lb Power Pro Super Slick for that. The rest of my reels are spooled with Trilene Sensation, 10lb on spinning and 12lb on my casting reels. I think part of the reason I had a couple break off on the 10lb line is because I've had the same line on that reel all summer and it's starting to get weakened from uv rays and lots of use. I'm still gonna throw some of that 15lb Spiderwire Invisibraid on one of my spare spools and give it a try. It's supposed to be translucent but it has more of a whitish color. I have a feeling if the fish are in a feeding mode they won't notice it.
NDYakAngler Oh awesome! Yea I have 30 lb braid on my frog rod as well which I love knowing that you can pull those bass out of tough spots. I have suffix braid but I want to try the braid you use. I bought a new St. Croix rod setup this spring with a pflueger reel and spooled it with 8 lb trilene but I am not happy with my reel, I really want to get a couple of the abu Garcia reels you have, those are awesome! I wish I would have spooled my reel with 10 lb trilene. I also would like to get another St. Croix spinning setup like you have so I have two spinning rods. I have 12lb trilene on my baitcaster as well. Yea I can bet all the sun uv rays and many fish catches had something to do with those smallies breaking off on you, getting fresh line on will be good. I am interested to hear and see from your video how that spider wire invisibraid will do, I hope you slam them on that new line! I will respond to our email as well, I have had a busy couple days.
NDyakangler, your videos are the best. Thankyou for taking us along on your adventures. I have a question, what weight Bitsy bug jig do you prefer. My river here at home is like yours, and would to use the same size jig. Thankyou!
Thanks Ray! I use a 1/4oz Bitsy Bug most of the time. If the river is low and the current is moving slower than usual I’ll sometimes go with a 3/16 or 1/8oz.
Great content … I recently just start using jigs caught a few but today I lost 2 bass think I had a bad hook set it was very windy today …. What rod and reel combo are you using medium or medium light spinning rod ?
Been loving your channel. Thanks for all the great fishing. I was wondering why you don't use baitcasters? I've been trying to give them a go, but I usually go back to my spinner...
Thanks Chad! I have a few baitcasters that I like to use for certain lures or situations but I mostly fish spinning gear on the river. I might have to bring one of the baitcasters with next time I hit this stretch though, I had a couple big ones break off on the 10lb line I run on the spinning rods. I have 12lb spooled up on a couple of my casting reels and that would probably be strong enough to keep most of those bigger fish on when they dive into weeds.
24.5 largy in 97 on halloween night thats my pig on a rubber worm great vid i barely catch anything big these days a big one is 14inch it was seven 12 oz. saw a kid catch a 10 3 oz on a rapala brokenback crabkbait at night biggest bass i ever saw
It’s really been an essential tool the last couple weeks for bed fishing smallmouth. Most of the bigger ones made me work a jig in front of them for 15-20 minutes and the Power Pole kept me still enough to do that. So many other times it’s come in handy too, I’d get a new one in a second if something happened to mine. Actually I did break it recently, emailed them to try to get a replacement part and instead they sent me a whole new unit that I received within a week!
Got some of the black Bitsy Bugs to fish for shoalies down here in Jawja. You said they work in pretty much all conditions. Our rivers are generally more silty/muddy than the rivers up there, I believe. Do the jigs work in muddy/stained conditions for you, too?
Thanks Ralph! I'm really starting to like this stretch of river. I fished it a few times this week and caught more 20" smallies than I've caught all summer!
Hey Matt: The markings on those beasts were especially gorgeous indeed. Have you been using the power pole in any of your previous videos? Or is this the first? Either way, your video really shows off its usefulness. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Larry! I did a catfishing video last year with the power pole. I've been getting a lot of use out of it lately but I think this was the first footage I've uploaded with it this season. There's two or three other trips I've had it with lately that I'll probably make a video with eventually. I've been getting a lot more footage than I have time to edit this year. At least that will keep me busy this winter!
I had to make a custom mount to install it on the Tarpon. It was tricky to do, mostly because of the weird angle the rear handle screws stick out at and I didn't want to drill any new holes. I might have to make a more in depth video on that sometime but in this video I give a quick overview of how I have it set up: ruclips.net/video/w_0yLMNU34o/видео.html
With the shallow clear water and my Costa sunglasses I can see them from farther than I can cast sometimes! I use 10lb mono so I keep my drag set kind of light. It might have been a little lighter than normal at first on this trip just because of the cold temperature and me forgetting to adjust it before hooking into one.
I prefer the Bitsy Bug. It has a lighter weed guard and thinner gauge wire for the hook so it’s the better choice for my style of fishing with light line and not much for thick vegetation or cover to hang up on.
i like how you don't have your rod and hands in the frame with the headcam but it would be nice to see how youre working the reel time to time to get an idea as to what youre doing...hopping, popping, swimming, etc. nice content all around though, keep up the good work and keep slaying those chunks
HAH! I just picked up some of the black 1/16th oz Bitsy Bugs that were on sale for just 2$ each as an alternative to those pricey Nikko Hellgramites and here you have a video on these too! I try to watch several videos of lures I'm getting or gotten to see how effective they are, how they look underwater, or if there's a different way to work them. But now I see I need to get a 1/4oz version for casting-pitching, I was gonna but I figured I should stock up on the little guys, I went with the 1/16oz versions to swim-bounce here since 95% of the Susquehanna/Chenango junction region is just pretty much nothing but softball-to-basketball sized river rock flats. Should be great luck with those since they already caught me a Yo-Zuri Sashimi Shad on 3$ clearance before I even left Dick's, so _!_
Speaking of jigs I have a question about one jig in particular and that's the strike king bleeding white bass jig and my question is that is it a finesse (or finese? jig)or is it a normal or casting jig if anyone can help me out with this then I'll be greatly appreciated and also I'm sorry for asking this here on a 5 year old video 😅 :/
I believe that’s a version of the Bitsy Bug jig. I consider that to be more of a finesse size jig. Most bass jigs are quite a bit bigger with a much larger hook, a lot of them are overkill for the bass that rarely get over 4-5lb here.
@NDYakAngler ahh ok thanks for helping me out here with this and also I do enjoy your videos and my favorite one so far was the lego chewbacca one anyways stay safe out there everyone and also tight lines everyone tight lines 🎣🎣🎣🎣
That's one of the few things I've added since I did my last kayak setup video although I have a video from last year where I do a quick overview of the Power Pole. I had to make a custom mounting bracket for the Tarpon which I didn't really go into but you can see how I have I set up here: ruclips.net/video/w_0yLMNU34o/видео.html
Straight fishing. No bs. Respects nature. Thumbs up!
Beautiful fish...awesome colors, awesome water...nice a power pole....Great Job... thanks for the tag along I have been so busy with 6 Rescued horses this summer, I only took the yak out once and didnt catch a thing but skeeters...LOL
If you get time would love a video on your power pole set up/review! Keep crushing🎣
I just discovered your channel. I kayak fish also. My husband doesn't fish, he reads a book in his kayak while I fish in mine. You have such a calm demeanor about you. The scenery around you is gorgeous! I fish in Texas. Mostly at Lake Ray Roberts, Sanger, Texas. Thank you for your videos and the respect you show to the fish and nature.
Karen
Ponder, Texas
Thanks Karen! I'm glad you enjoy the videos! I'll be heading to Texas next month to meet up with my friend Jim from Dallas, we have a guide booked for a couple days of fishing on Falcon Lake. It should be an awesome trip!
I'd do almost anything to fish like you do, man. Going through a bad time, but your videos cheer me up (despite my skepticism in earlier posts). ✌️
I'm lucky to have lots of great fishing spots around here that don't get much pressure and the fish always seem willing to bite. When life gets me down spending time fishing always seems to help relieve the stress and take my mind off other things. Those bad times always pass so keep your head up, tomorrow's a brand new day!
Hey Matt. Glad to see a video with you using the power pole. Looks like it works great in that area you were fishing. The river systems you fish are some of the most pristine waters I have ever seen. Great video and great fish. Keep them coming. I always enjoy them.
Thanks Derek! With the wind and the current pushing me around yesterday I probably would have given up long before I did if I didn't have the Power Pole to hold me in place. It's a great tool to have for fishing these shallow rivers!
Ya better keep the pliers handy when fishing the bitsy jig. It also has an extremely high hook up ratio. I love em
My favorite fishing channel on the web.
It's cool how each fish looks so different. The ones I catch here are much darker almost black. Another great video.
Thanks Chris! That's one thing I like about fishing smallmouth. I've seen them anywhere from a light tan color to almost black like you said. It seems like the really dark ones I usually find in spots with faster current.
Beautiful river...what a spot
I need to come up and do a weekend river float with you. Great videos as always.
That first smallmouth looked like a football. Another cool vid man
nice day! looked like there were 2 others chasing that last one. awesome!
I see that a lot with smallies, especially this time of year. I had one chase the one I was reeling all the way into the net on Thursday!
Another nice vid mate, wish I was there
you absolutely slay the smallmouth out there
What quality fish you get! I'm gonna have to get that bitsy bug and head down to Minnesota.
6:30 You let that fish go like it was your best friend...
Awesome video man! Sweet footage as always and nice smallies you caught too! It looks like that power pole setup you got really helped you out staying put on the river to fish those spots.
I don't think I would have caught half the fish I did on this trip without the Power Pole! It was tough to spot fish with the wind rippling the surface but I was still seeing a lot of big ones on this stretch. I had two that were probably 20" or better get into weeds and break me off. I would have added them to the video but there were too many expletives to edit out lol. I picked up some Spiderwire 15lb invisibraid, gonna spool up a reel with that and hopefully it doesn't spook them in this clear water. I'm hoping for a calm day this week, if I can spot them from a little farther away I think I'll hammer them!
NDYakAngler That is awesome! I have been looking into one of those Power Poles for my kayak as well, from your video they prove to be an excellent anchor to keep you in the right ambush spot to catch fish when there is wind and current. That is tough to see those fish when the water starts to ripple, that good you could still spot some of the big ones! That was pretty awesome when you parked next to those old posts in the water and you just pitched in there and that big smally came out! Oh wow that is awesome you had those 20" plus smallies on even though they broke off! Haha I know what you mean about not using some footage when breaking off on a fish, some choice words may be used lol. That's awesome you picked up some of that spider wire, that should help from the break offs and they won't be able to see it either. Do you prefer a certain brand for your fishing line or braid or do you just get whatever is on sale for the type and pound test you are looking for? You should have some nice days all this week! I hope you can get out there and hammer those smallies man! Good luck
I generally use braid only for frog fishing or throwing catfish rigs. I like 30lb Power Pro Super Slick for that. The rest of my reels are spooled with Trilene Sensation, 10lb on spinning and 12lb on my casting reels. I think part of the reason I had a couple break off on the 10lb line is because I've had the same line on that reel all summer and it's starting to get weakened from uv rays and lots of use. I'm still gonna throw some of that 15lb Spiderwire Invisibraid on one of my spare spools and give it a try. It's supposed to be translucent but it has more of a whitish color. I have a feeling if the fish are in a feeding mode they won't notice it.
NDYakAngler Oh awesome! Yea I have 30 lb braid on my frog rod as well which I love knowing that you can pull those bass out of tough spots. I have suffix braid but I want to try the braid you use. I bought a new St. Croix rod setup this spring with a pflueger reel and spooled it with 8 lb trilene but I am not happy with my reel, I really want to get a couple of the abu Garcia reels you have, those are awesome! I wish I would have spooled my reel with 10 lb trilene. I also would like to get another St. Croix spinning setup like you have so I have two spinning rods. I have 12lb trilene on my baitcaster as well. Yea I can bet all the sun uv rays and many fish catches had something to do with those smallies breaking off on you, getting fresh line on will be good. I am interested to hear and see from your video how that spider wire invisibraid will do, I hope you slam them on that new line! I will respond to our email as well, I have had a busy couple days.
NDyakangler, your videos are the best. Thankyou for taking us along on your adventures.
I have a question, what weight Bitsy bug jig do you prefer. My river here at home is like yours, and would to use the same size jig.
Thankyou!
Thanks Ray! I use a 1/4oz Bitsy Bug most of the time. If the river is low and the current is moving slower than usual I’ll sometimes go with a 3/16 or 1/8oz.
You Rock man! Thanks for everything, your videos are therapeutic and inspiring!
Amazing smallies! Nice work!
They dont make them like that back home... great fish!
Great content … I recently just start using jigs caught a few but today I lost 2 bass think I had a bad hook set it was very windy today …. What rod and reel combo are you using medium or medium light spinning rod ?
Nice bro
Best fishing vids on RUclips! Good job!
U should have more subs!
man, you r in fish heaven
Been loving your channel. Thanks for all the great fishing. I was wondering why you don't use baitcasters? I've been trying to give them a go, but I usually go back to my spinner...
Thanks Chad! I have a few baitcasters that I like to use for certain lures or situations but I mostly fish spinning gear on the river. I might have to bring one of the baitcasters with next time I hit this stretch though, I had a couple big ones break off on the 10lb line I run on the spinning rods. I have 12lb spooled up on a couple of my casting reels and that would probably be strong enough to keep most of those bigger fish on when they dive into weeds.
24.5 largy in 97 on halloween night thats my pig on a rubber worm great vid i barely catch anything big these days a big one is 14inch it was seven 12 oz. saw a kid catch a 10 3 oz on a rapala brokenback crabkbait at night biggest bass i ever saw
Very much enjoy all your videos. Please keep them coming. I noticed you got the power pole for the yak. Is it worth the 600.00 price tag? Thanks
It’s really been an essential tool the last couple weeks for bed fishing smallmouth. Most of the bigger ones made me work a jig in front of them for 15-20 minutes and the Power Pole kept me still enough to do that. So many other times it’s come in handy too, I’d get a new one in a second if something happened to mine. Actually I did break it recently, emailed them to try to get a replacement part and instead they sent me a whole new unit that I received within a week!
Got some of the black Bitsy Bugs to fish for shoalies down here in Jawja. You said they work in pretty much all conditions. Our rivers are generally more silty/muddy than the rivers up there, I believe. Do the jigs work in muddy/stained conditions for you, too?
Beautiful smallie. Love where your fishing. Thanks for sharing
Thanks Ralph! I'm really starting to like this stretch of river. I fished it a few times this week and caught more 20" smallies than I've caught all summer!
I love the title of this video! :)
nice smallies!
How deep does the river average seems so clear can practically sight fish they sure are huge chunks keep those videos coming take care and God Bless
Hey Matt: The markings on those beasts were especially gorgeous indeed. Have you been using the power pole in any of your previous videos? Or is this the first? Either way, your video really shows off its usefulness. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Larry! I did a catfishing video last year with the power pole. I've been getting a lot of use out of it lately but I think this was the first footage I've uploaded with it this season. There's two or three other trips I've had it with lately that I'll probably make a video with eventually. I've been getting a lot more footage than I have time to edit this year. At least that will keep me busy this winter!
Go ahead and accumulate. Don't sit in the house editing on a day you could be fishing. Fans like me need your videos to WATCH in the winter.
Would a white twister tail grub work with the black-blue bitsy bug?
Not sure if I missed it. What rod/reel set up do you use?
Beautiful!!
Really appreciate your videos. Could you please show how you rigged your power pole?
I had to make a custom mount to install it on the Tarpon. It was tricky to do, mostly because of the weird angle the rear handle screws stick out at and I didn't want to drill any new holes. I might have to make a more in depth video on that sometime but in this video I give a quick overview of how I have it set up: ruclips.net/video/w_0yLMNU34o/видео.html
What rod/reel are you running the bitsy bug on?
Nice smallies.
Matt, 2 questions, how can you see them so far away? Why is tour drag set so lightly?
With the shallow clear water and my Costa sunglasses I can see them from farther than I can cast sometimes! I use 10lb mono so I keep my drag set kind of light. It might have been a little lighter than normal at first on this trip just because of the cold temperature and me forgetting to adjust it before hooking into one.
NDYakAngler thanks Matt!
Nice video!
Do you use any of the bitsy flippin jigs over the regular bitsy bug?
I prefer the Bitsy Bug. It has a lighter weed guard and thinner gauge wire for the hook so it’s the better choice for my style of fishing with light line and not much for thick vegetation or cover to hang up on.
i like how you don't have your rod and hands in the frame with the headcam but it would be nice to see how youre working the reel time to time to get an idea as to what youre doing...hopping, popping, swimming, etc. nice content all around though, keep up the good work and keep slaying those chunks
the one that went 20.5 was a literal football
Great vid! Are those waterproof socks and Sandals?
Thanks! They're sandals with NRS Hydroskin neoprene socks. They keep my feet warm down to mid 40's water temps.
Awesome vid. Made me subscribe.
We're can I donate
Love your videos
What trailer bait does he use on the bitsy jig??? Does anyone know
3 inch black kalin
HAH! I just picked up some of the black 1/16th oz Bitsy Bugs that were on sale for just 2$ each as an alternative to those pricey Nikko Hellgramites and here you have a video on these too! I try to watch several videos of lures I'm getting or gotten to see how effective they are, how they look underwater, or if there's a different way to work them. But now I see I need to get a 1/4oz version for casting-pitching, I was gonna but I figured I should stock up on the little guys, I went with the 1/16oz versions to swim-bounce here since 95% of the Susquehanna/Chenango junction region is just pretty much nothing but softball-to-basketball sized river rock flats. Should be great luck with those since they already caught me a Yo-Zuri Sashimi Shad on 3$ clearance before I even left Dick's, so _!_
Is that the bitsy bug mini? Or the flipping jig
It’s the Bitsy Bug mini jig.
👍👍👍
Where are you fishing what state and river?
Speaking of jigs I have a question about one jig in particular and that's the strike king bleeding white bass jig and my question is that is it a finesse (or finese? jig)or is it a normal or casting jig if anyone can help me out with this then I'll be greatly appreciated and also I'm sorry for asking this here on a 5 year old video 😅 :/
I believe that’s a version of the Bitsy Bug jig. I consider that to be more of a finesse size jig. Most bass jigs are quite a bit bigger with a much larger hook, a lot of them are overkill for the bass that rarely get over 4-5lb here.
@NDYakAngler ahh ok thanks for helping me out here with this and also I do enjoy your videos and my favorite one so far was the lego chewbacca one anyways stay safe out there everyone and also tight lines everyone tight lines 🎣🎣🎣🎣
What size where you using?
1/4oz jig/3" grub
What part of North Dakota you from?
I live in Fargo. There's more water to fish east of here in Minnesota so that's where a lot of my videos are shot.
What line do you use?
I use Trilene Sensation, generally 10lb on my spinning rods and 12lb on my baitcasters.
Thanks!
Where are you fishing?
Power Pole on a yak? You need to make a video of your Kayak!
That's one of the few things I've added since I did my last kayak setup video although I have a video from last year where I do a quick overview of the Power Pole. I had to make a custom mounting bracket for the Tarpon which I didn't really go into but you can see how I have I set up here: ruclips.net/video/w_0yLMNU34o/видео.html
What kayak is that
It's a WS Tarpon 120.
why do fish chase other fish that get hooked
The other fish think the hooked one is either still chasing it's meal or struggling to keep it down and they're hoping to snatch it up.
what kinda jig you using? check out my vid i just put up i got a 22" 4.5lb smallie on the river..hit like a musky!!
I use a 1/4oz Bitsy Bug jig with a 3" Kalins grub for a trailer.