Becoming discouraged.. need a mentor!

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by Jonesyak

When you are using a weight with live bait do you use a slip egg sinker? With or without a swivel? Or do you stick a crimp on weight a few inches back from the hook?fficeffice"

I nose hook my mackerel because they troll better that way.

Weight wise I flyline of there is a hot surface bite but if it's slow I just slide a half ounce egg on the line with no stop or swivel.

If there's fish working deeper I use a one and a half to three once egg, with a swivel and three feet of fluorcarbon. When fishing this way I let out sitting still, and drop it to the bottom. Then put a few cranks on to get it five feet or so up. Then troll it that far out. The idea is that when I stop to cast iron etc.. the bait will sink down till it's just off the bottom, but not drop so deep it can hang. When I'm paddling it will rise up in the water column. The faster I go the higher it get's the slower the deeper, and since I'm usually on the move covering ground looking for fish then stopping when I find them it covers a lot of the water column.

Jim

[jorluivil]

Roughly 15 trips to LJ
198 miles round trip
15 gallons of fuel per trip on average
$4.25/gallon
4-5 hours drive time round trip

When I caught my first WSB at LJ I stopped keeping track of my trips

[dwntwnall4u]

Originally Posted by Fiskadoro

I nose hook my mackerel because they troll better that way.

Weight wise I flyline of there is a hot surface bite but if it's slow I just slide a half ounce egg on the line with no stop or swivel.

If there's fish working deeper I use a one and a half to three once egg, with a swivel and three feet of fluorcarbon. When fishing this way I let out sitting still, and drop it to the bottom. Then put a few cranks on to get it five feet or so up. Then troll it that far out. The idea is that when I stop to cast iron etc.. the bait will sink down till it's just off the bottom, but not drop so deep it can hang. When I'm paddling it will rise up in the water column. The faster I go the higher it get's the slower the deeper, and since I'm usually on the move covering ground looking for fish then stopping when I find them it covers a lot of the water column.

Jim

Thank you for the details.

[yaky yak]

I do pretty good at LJ for an out of towner. I don't spend a lot of time making bait. I have had good luck yo yoing iron. I do it all year. I like to have a surface jig set up, my yo yo jig set up, and a lighter 20# class outfit for trolling macks. I got rid of my bait tank a long time ago, and relie on a home made bait tube, works fine.
Yellows like to move around I believe so I do the same thing I am all over the place. You got to believe your going to get hit on the next cast.
I am 50/50 on catching yellows on bait and on jigs. I have a baitcasting set-up for my subiki rig. I use heavyer pound test 15 to 20# for subiki's and use a single hooked spoon on the end. I have got some good size fish on my subiki rig while trying for bait.
Getting a fish finder was a game changer. I have a cheap little humming bird FF. Less then a 100.00 I search for bait balls then drop my iron on them, works pretty good for me some times.
I may make 5 or 6 trips for nothing, but then BAM fish on. That feeling of a big beast pulling your yak around motivates me through the dry spells.
I often spend 12 hours on the water and paddle 15 miles or so around LJ. I am proof that hard work and dumb luck will get you fish if you lack skill. I have a cheap kayak, a cheap car, and cheap rods, yet still get several yellowtail each year. If I could only get a WSB now I'd be happy. Good luck and put in work, you'll get bit.

[Jonesyak]

Thank for all the advice and encouragement! Perfect advice Jim thank you.
Had a great day on the water yesterday. Cought lots of bait fish and my first yellow bite. Next week I will try again.

When putting a small FF on a yak, do you have to cut holes for the transducer? I have a decent spot to mount the monitor, just not sure where to go after that. And my 6v batt is in a soft pack behind my seat, not sure how that will play in.

[jorluivil]

Originally Posted by Jonesyak

Thank for all the advice and encouragement! Perfect advice Jim thank you.
Had a great day on the water yesterday. Cought lots of bait fish and my first yellow bite. Next week I will try again.

When putting a small FF on a yak, do you have to cut holes for the transducer? I have a decent spot to mount the monitor, just not sure where to go after that. And my 6v batt is in a soft pack behind my seat, not sure how that will play in.

Check the Share Your Innovations thread and check out the way others are mounting their transducers. I know there's guys out there that have cut holes in their kayak for the transducer, this is the one type of install where you measure 10 times and cut once.