By Paul Lebowitz

“Sometimes the visiting ‘Basscar’ crowd isn’t so friendly. Feels like fear,” said Terry Gowen. The northern California kayak angler and Clear Lake regular was talking about the growing kayak bassing scene and how established lake users are dealing with their new neighbors.

Although still a rarity, more and more kayakers are sampling the sweet water and finding it to their taste. The bass boaters who are used to dominating the lakes don’t always put out the welcome mat for their new competitors. It’s understandable; there’s only so much space to go around.

The topic came up not long ago on All Outdoors Radio Network heard Sundays from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on KCBQ 1170 AM in San Diego. Show co-host John Grabowski, a successful long-range captain, also has a reputation as something of a largemouth hot stick. When his ever-enthusiastic radio partner Ed Zieralski pointed out the tremendous growth rate of kayak fishing, Grabowski made a snap-cast straight to the logical conclusion.

It won’t be long before club bassers find a fleet of fishing kayaks parked in their favorite spots. Grabowski envisioned up to a dozen kayakers working every major point at Southern California’s bass fishing hot spots.

That’s not to say Grabowski was averse to the situation, so don’t lob any stones his way. In fact, he and his buddy Zieralski have given kayak fishing plenty of positive publicity over the years.    

 Back to Clear Lake’s Gowen. To be fair, he said stink-eyed encounters are rare.

“The locals are great up here. They are interested in how I’m doing and we share reports. I owe a lot of my success to wisdom shared by local guides and regulars,” Gowen explained.

Rather than the iron-tossing nastiness occasionally reported at the La Jolla kelp, most freshwater conflicts will probably look like the one I witnessed at San Diego’s Otay Lakes in February. A small club tournament was underway. As the competitors crawled their bass boats along the lake shore, faces a mask of concentration, a trio of kayakers found themselves hemmed in.

One basser tossed a lure inches from the stern of a kayak. Another positioned his boat bow to bow with a kayak, only a couple of feet separating the two. Neither club basser made eye contact with the paddle-powered anglers. Deep in a fishing daze, they didn’t seem to recognize the kayakers as fellow fishermen first on the spot.  

Obviously, kayakers will have to earn the respect of current lake users. Give the powered crowd plenty of space, and when they encroach on us, please try a friendly word first. It worked for Gowen.

Let’s move on to how kayak bassers take advantage of the craft’s stealth, portability, and shallow draft to nail bucketmouths. In Gowen’s case, there’s no shortage of skinny water that strains out the powerboat crowd.

FROM SHORE POUNDER TO BASS CATCHER – Adam Coca said he used to be a frustrated shore caster. Once he bought a kayak his days on the lake got a lot fishier. It took Coca only took two or three trips to dial in fishing kayak style. PHOTO COURTESY ADAM COCA

DID SOMEONE SAY STRUCTURE? – When kayak fishing for bass, you don’t just fish structure, you fish in the structure. Clear Lake angler Terry Gowen shows off the rewards of fishing deep in the jungle. PHOTO COURTESY TERRY GOWEN

KAYAK HOG – The stealth factor makes kayaks into effective bass catchers. Sneak up, cast into the weeds, and bam! Who knows what could happen? PHOTO COURTESY ADAM COCA

“Clear Lake is full of backwater haunts that sometimes require dragging the boat over fallen trees or bringing the paddle into the boat and using your hands to pull yourself along through the trees. The kayak also allows me to get way back on the (grass) mats,” Gowen said, then illustrated his point with photo after photo.

Rickey Noel Mitchell is another devoted kayak basser. Mitchell runs his Paddle and Flies guide service out of Fresno on lakes such as Blackhawk, Pine Flat, Millerton, and the Delta. Why does fly-flicker Mitchell prefer the kayak?

“The stealth! You can get right on top of the bass. It’s scary,” enthused Mitchell, who cautioned that the kayak is almost too sneaky. Bass won’t spook, but will see you and won’t bite.

Mitchell paddles his fishing kayak straight into the weeds. 

“I go right up on top of the grass beds and look for holes, or go inside and I mean inside the tulles,” Mitchell said.

Fishing in the jungle leads to frenzied fights. Mitchell recounted an especially memorable battle:

“One 7-lb. bass took my fly and pulled me under a huge tree. The limbs were sunk about a foot under water. All I could do was hold on. I got her up, but she was under some hydrilla. As soon as I got her uncovered she pulled me backwards!”

Adam Coca of Pinole, California uses his kayak to chase bass in the Delta and Central and Northern California lakes such as San Pablo Reservoir, Shadow Cliffs, Del Valle, and Mendocino. The formerly frustrated shore strider said his days are much fishier now that he can stalk bass in their own element. 

Coca first saw fishing kayaks at the Fred Hall Show in San Francisco.

“I fell in love. I got one, outfitted it with a depth finder, and I’ve been hitting it every weekend since,” said Coca, whose go-to bait is the Senko.

“I’ve been tossing them into the tulles and yanking out some nice ones,” Coca said.

For Coca it took only two or three trips to get the hang of bass fishing from the kayak. Like Mitchell, he discovered it is possible to sneak so close to the bass they get lockjaw.

Wind complicates kayak bassing; it’ll blow a ‘yak right out of position. To combat it, Coca carries a small collapsible anchor that he quietly lowers long before he gets into his fishing zone. Other times, he uses the vegetation to his advantage.  

“If the wind is really crazy, I’ll clip onto the tulles. It keeps the kayak right there where I can cast along the weed line,” Coca said. 

Coca said the kayak saves him money and fishing time.

“I take it right off the top of the car and launch it anywhere I want. It’s affordable. I know a day’s worth of boating costs $100 easily,” Coca added.