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Fighting Big Fish From a Kayak

Whether it's a big snook trying to get back into the mangroves, a tarpon out on the flats, or a 30 pound striped bass in the ocean, they all have the strength to tow your kayak places you don't want to go.

An anchor is the obvious answer.  But, pitching out the anchor is not going to stop that snook in time before he gets back in the mangrove roots.  A small anchor won't slow a 100 pound tarpon much, especial if you're over that very soft moral sands in the Keys; besides, you can't drag an anchor all across the grass flats!

Your best bet is to quickly present the broadside of the kayak to the fish.  Make the fish pull you sideways.  Once a fish get that kayak moving headlong, it takes very little effort to keep towing you along.  The down side to this tactic is that a big tarpon can literally turn you over if you do not "brace" (lean the opposite way) the kayak.  Two years ago a stuck a tarpon well over the 100 pound mark.  I hooked him on a purple bunny strip, I was just off the beach at Venice.  This fish was so strong, and so determined to swim in only one direction; that I had major concerns about capsizing my kayak if I showed him too much beam.  About an hour and a half into the fight he had me so far offshore that I could not differentiate the high-rise condominiums of Venice, I could only see that the horizon was irregular and that there was structure in that section of the beach that was taller than the surroundings.  I was seriously contemplating breaking the fish off.  Rather than simply breaking him off, I started applying more pressure than what I actually was expecting the tippet to bear.  Within a few minuets of applying this seemingly excessive pressure, the tarpon started veering more to the south, and then more westerly.  That tarpon eventually towed me back to within two miles of the beach before I brought him along side for a release.

I got my bearings, and made the paddle back to my launch site.  When I arrived within a hundred yards of the beach, I spotted another group of happy tarpon rolling on the surface.  I paddle into position for an interception of the slow moving school of tarpon.  I stood up, stripped out some line and made ready for a cast.  The fish move into easy range.  I made a little roll cast to get some more line past the rod tip.  As I raised my arm to start the cast and my whole started to quiver from the over exertion of my previous encounter.  Discretion being the better part of valor, I just let the school of tarpon swim by not twenty foot from my rod tip.  I was done for this day; I reeled in my line and paddled back to the beach.

I have experimented with sea-anchors, and various types of anchors dragging along the bottom to assist me in dealing with large fish.  The problem always seems to come near the end of the battle.  There is always this moment of indecision at the end of the battle; should I pull up the anchor, should I leave it down, will my fish end up tangled in the anchor line, am I pulling up the anchor too soon?  As far as tarpon fishing goes, following too many close calls and a few lost fish due to tangling in my drogue; I have pretty much decided to stick with fighting big fish from just the pressure I can exert by the drag of the kayak only.  I have given up on sea-anchors completely. 

Flies For Kayak Fishing
With only one exception, I use the same flies from the kayak as I would use in any other situation; I do however like using big circle hook flies for big stripers.  Prior to using circle hooks almost exclusively on large striped bass, I lost some really nice fish on standard J-hooks.  The problem would come when a big fish would tow me off in one direction and then suddenly change course, with my kayak moving in one direction, and then suddenly the big striper moving in another, I would end up with a slack line and several big fish came unbuttoned on me.  Once hooked, I have never lost a big striper on a circle hook fly.

Harry Hall sefly
Guided Fly Fishing

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