I know a lot of you guys are the DIY type. So am I. If I can make it, I’m going to. Especially when it comes to rigging or baits. So here’s one for you today from Greg Vinall-The Complete Wooden Lure System. Here’s what it contains. Read more…
I figured I’d post this up here as a little fun entertainment for you as I was entertaining myself as the kayak fishing season is winding down. I stumbled across an article on The Art of Manliness a while back about the ultimate zombie apocalypse survival gun. It totally captured my attention and instantly wanted to do it, myself. However, I left it alone for several months and now that there is not as much fishing going on with cold weather, storms, and high water, now is as good a time as any. I started with my Mossberg 500 all purpose and ended up with something pretty kick ass!
Mossberg 500 All Purpose
I already had my 12 ga Mossberg for duck hunting. As I was reading all the mods done to it, I started to worry that I might have one of the ones where the forend was a singular piece and couldn’t be taken off. After a little closer inspection, I found the castle nut and got it off after removing the slide and unscrewing it. The forend came right off. From there, it was just a simple matter of attaching the mods that I wanted with very few tools. Here is a list of the mods that I’ve already added:
Now it looks like this.
Zombie mods to Mossberg 500
It is still a work in progress. I have several additions I’d still like to add to complete it. The butt stock, pistol grip, and foregrip are all hollow and can be used to store survival gear and/or small tools, etc. There are 3 more additional mods I’d like to add:
That might add some significant weight, but in a survival situation, I’d like to start off with as much ammo as I can. I’m combining that with 2 full bandoliers and a shot shell belt. I have a good supply of bird shot, 00 buck shot, and rifled slugs at the ready for a variety of survival needs. This was a fun project and I’m going to stretch it out a little further. It’s totally easy and anyone can do it. The aftermarket parts for guns like the Mossberg 500 and Remington 870 are quite numerous and inexpensive. You can have fun mixing and matching different parts for what you’d like to do. Now that I’ve converted it, it is extremely easy to convert back for duck hunting. Although I think I will keep the pistol grip butt stock because I like way that feels.
If you’ve done something like this, post a link to a pic for us in the comments section. I’ll probably follow this post up with a future update as I add the last few mods. Be on the look out for that if you’ve enjoyed this.
Sometimes when I’m on the water it seems like bass won’t bite anything, but a bass tube bait. Even in the midst of other more realistic baits, they may prefer the tube. It just depends on the conditions. I say it is versatile because, maybe more than any other bait except for a jig, it can be used to mimic a variety of forage. Additionally, they come in a wide range of sizes from 1″ for crappie, up to 5″ for large bass. Even beyond that for some salwater applications. Most times, a tube bait is meant to mimic a crawfish on the bottom with the tentacles looking like the claws and legs, but can also resemble a bait fish. They can be casted and retrieved, used like a jerk bait, twitched, drifted, deadsticked, even trolled. It can be rigged with a jig head, nose rigged, texas rigged, even rigged backwards with a jig head. I’ve had bass bite on all of these presentations and rigs depending on the day.
3 3/4″ Bass Tube
3 3/4" Bass Tube Black with Blue Flake
3" Natural Colored Crawfish
I love drifting these small 3″ natural crawfish baits over holes in the river holding smallies. Many times, deadsticking it or drifting it along with the current is all it takes.
On a tough day, a small “easy prey” bait like this can trigger a bite when you can’t seem to get one any other way. These little guys are super realistic with natural colors claws, legs, eyes, and antennae.
The ultimate combination is one of these guys texas rigged with the hook point in the tube body for weedlessness, an invisible flourocarbon leader, and some crawfish scent. If you can’t catch a fish with that, there aren’t any around. Click here to grab a bag of these tasty little morsel crawfish for river smallies.
In the Fall, a great presentation on the river for smallmouth bass while kayak fishing is a 3 or 4″ swim bait. I like to fish them a little bit quick and aggressive in the Fall, but will sometimes slow them down to bump the bottom every now and then. You can fish it just like a grub. Even rig it weedless on a keel weighted swim bait hook to pull through tough cover. What’s the best color? More often than not, I like natural colors. A dark back and white or silver under belly. Watch the video below as I explain more about it and how I use it.
4" Natural color minnow swim bait
I took a trip down to Fletcher’s boathouse to kayak fish on the tidal Potomac river a couple of weeks ago with a business associate. We didn’t stay long because there were other friends there and kids who had to leave early. Nevertheless, in a couple hours, I was able to land this monster blue catfish.
Fighting the big blue for several minutes
Lately over the last 2 years, it seems the wind has been really fast much more often than not. High wind days can be aggravating for kayak fishermen, but also good for fishing conditions. You just have to accept that it may ruin some of your finesse fishing techniques and, like the article below says, you’ll be fishing with search baits most of the day.
How To Catch Bass in Wind on Reservoirs.
I prefer to rig up spinner baits and crank baits. Something a little on the heavier side so I can get it down if I’m on the reservoir. It also allows me to get a really long cast so I can get a crank bait deeper. Use the wind as your friend or a tool in your favor. On the river, it may present a little more of a problem. You may have swirling or cross winds while you are trying to go downstream. But, chances are you can tuck away some where or use the bank of the river gorge to your advantage to better control your kayak. You may have an upstream wind against a downstream current. This can present a good opportunity for trolling as well. You paddle upstream gently with the wind at your back assisting you. Your lure (I like to use 4″ swim baits for trolling) is slowly working its way upstream as you paddle. If your lure is heavy enough and your speed correct, you can keep a tight line and detect bites. This also works well with crank baits to keep a tight line in high wind.
So there you go, give some of those techniques a try next time you’re out kayak fishing and the wind is really kicking up on you.
Just in the last week I’ve heard many reports of kayak fishermen specifically, as well as other boaters, drowning. The common theme was that nearly 100% of those who had accidents or capsized were not wearing their PFD even if they had it in the boat. This is a concern this time of year especially as the waters are getting colder and cold water kills! Even in shallow water or not too far from shore.
So, I thought, let’s not make this a safety issue. Safety is boring and many people don’t take it seriously until it’s too late. Let’s face it, if everyone was concerned about safety there would be no one driving cars without seat belts buckled or riding motorcycles without helmets. Safety issues just aren’t cool.
But, gear for our sport IS cool. So, let’s not make this a safety issue, let’s make it a gear issue. I believe this will get more to actually wear their PFD while kayak fishing or boating in general. Here’s how we make it a gear issue. When we are in a kayak, there isn’t a lot of room. We need to maximize it. One of the best ways to do that is to spend anywhere from about $75-120 and get yourself a paddling PFD with gear pockets. I personally use and ascend, but let’s take a look at the Stohlquist below.
For a more thorough list of appropriate kayak fishing PFD’s, see this list.
Note the straps, storage pockets, clips, etc. Some things I like to keep in my PFD are:
I would hate to have to turn around to my crate every time I wanted to use my clippers. Instead of storing them in the cockpit or crate somewhere, they are conveniently at the ready on my person by being stored in my PFD. Additionally, some models like the Stohlquist above, have the fold down front pockets which actually lets you have a small work surface for gluing worms or tying leaders while you are on the water.
So let’s be safe, but let’s make it cool too. Spend a few bucks and better manage your gear while keeping yourself safe at the same time. Get a high backed kayak fishing PFD and stay safe!
Specific freshwater kayak fishing rod design for our sport are here! See the specs on our custom model below!
A nice bass on the Lutz baitcaster kayak fishing rod
A great all around versatile rod for kayak fishing. We like the spinning model for soft plastics, small crank baits, spoons, and spinner baits. We like the baitcaster model for larger crank baits, swim baits, and frogs.
Graphite blank is made in the USA and the rods are built in the USA as well.
Available in spinning and baitcasting models.
Only $189
Email us for details or to discuss your custom needs. Chris Lutz
chrislutz@lutzlures.com
Check back often for more kayak fishing adventures, trip reports, and rigging pics and videos.
