Tricking up a Kayak (and other useful hints)

[Cheech]

As per my other thread, I have just bought a new Ocean Kayaks Scrambler XT and need to now trick it up for fishing. I am planning to use it in the Pine River and Redcliffe reefs. Maybe even do a few trips around the Pin when I get experience. I know that area from when I had a tinnie.

Any suggestions of what to add, how to add, where to get, how to make, etc will be greatly appreciated. Would be handy if you can post some pics of your yak, or the mods you have made.

Some of the things I think I will need are;

• seat
• paddle (but which one and why?)
• extra rod holders
• set up an esky
• set up a create
• anchor?
• other tethers
• anything else I missed

Thanks in advance.

Cheech

[Cheech]

Come on guys, surely you have lots of suggestions for getting a yak ready. I thought this was going to turn out to be a useful thread for others as well, to have hints and tips in the one thread.

[wags on the water]

Give it time mate and best of luck with the new toy.

Cheers,
Wags

[Cheech]

That's it. New toy so I am anxious to get going. I shall be patient.

[Just_chips]

I'll try and get some pictures of some of the things that I have set up on my yak and post over the next few days. But for a start I'll give a breif description.

Kayak: Viking Profish 45, original prototype model with inbuilt rudder system (this design was discarded after the initial run of about a dozen yaks) C/W 6 flushmount rod holders, front and centre hatch covers, round screw on access holes for access inside hull rod storage etc. Paddle keepers and bungy straps over well recesses.

Paddle: Glass shaft touring paddle by Northwest 230cm long. (Rosco Canoes)

Seat: Viking high back seat

Other Accessories:

• Lowrance X52 Sounder connected to 7amp hr 12v sealed lead acid battery.
• Garmin GPS72 handheld GPS mounted on swivel base.
• Home made plumbed livewell with rod holders (fits in rear well).
• LED white light wired internally through hull to sounder battery with piggy back connectors when required.
• Two rod lock (berkley) style forward mounted rod holders.
• Flush mount rod holder extensions (40mm pvc drainage pipe) to keep reels up and away from water level.
• Full length anchor trolley / pulley to allow anchoring from stern, bow or centre of kayak.
• Small folding anchor rigged with breakaway cable tie on quick release float.
• Small drogue / sea anchor to slow drifts
• Numerous rod leashes made from bungy strap.
• 6mm rope leashes with clips both ends (previously used for rod leashes) to hep secure yak in fishing spots without the need to anchor etc (tie off to tree branches, pontoons etc to give position without drifting or messing about with an anchor).
• Lots of gear with lanyards/leashes attached and also anything I can find that floats or is more resistant to salt water and corrosion ends up coming home with me too.
• Lots of innox. I buy it by the box now rather than a can at a time.

Hope this helps with a couple of ideas, hopefully it should make a bit more sense when I get a few pictures to accompany the post.

Hopefully a few of the other yakkers show us theirs if I show them mine .

Kev

[PinHead]

I am still trying to work out how to install a sounder in mine.

[Just_chips]

Here Greg, check these vids out









Other than that you might want to talk to your hobie retailer, i'm sure they will help.

Kev

[LostNearBribie]

This could be a Kev appreciation thread...

[LostNearBribie]

OK here are some of the things I have done...

Got most of the bits from Be Cee Eff including the box.
Lights run on batteries and I haven't had to change them yet.
Front light is just zip tied on back light is mounted to the timber.
There is a piece of timber on the inside of the box for strength.
I always have cats eye lights on my hat also.
Also is a pic of the sounder box I put together (since been changed to a narrower box).
The transducer stays in a mount on the yak.
There is a transducer scupper in the middle of the yak.
I bought the Humminbird rubber boot that is made for it.
Was lucky that the Lowrance still fit in it.
I also run PVC pipe around 60cm long in the flush mount rod holders.
And have put a Cannon rod holder on since these photos...

[Cheech]

Some very good ideas so far.

Was wondering about the anchor and if you could rear mount. Looking forward to seeing how the pulley system works. And how you cleat off the anchor line.

I tried fitting some of the 40mm pipe, but it seems the rod holders that are already fitted to the yak are about 1mm too small in diameter and cannot get the pipe in. May be slightly out of round or something. I will see if a bit of sandpapering will allow it to fit when I get some time on the weekend.

With the drogue anchor, do you use the same fittings as your normal anchor to get it to connect to the back of the kayak? I have a small parachute drogue chute that will be perfect.

I was wondering how and where to mount the transducer. I have a spare sounder that was in my boat that I will be able to use. The scupper hole looks to be a good place as there is a scupper just a bit forward to where my feet rest. I noticed the the scupper hole is small at the top, but is a cone shape under the yak, which will be big enough to take the transducer and not have it protrude below the hull. Will play with that on the weekend as well.

I also have 2 of those cannon or scotty? holders. The kind that have a base mount and the top adjustable holder slots in and locks. I think that is the sort you guys mean. They were sitting in the shed gathering dust, waiting for a new life.

Do you think 1 scupper will be enough? I plan to block up the 2 scuppers at the seat area with pool noodle foam, as the seat is really low and will be constantly wet. And if I use one of the remaining 2 scuppers for the transducer, then there will only be one left. I suppose it does not matter unless the kayak fills with water, and I am not planning to use in any rough water.

One question I asked on another thread that I am interested to know is with transportation. Can you transport them right way up instead of upside down on the roof rack? The curve or the yak and low roof racks, it touches the roof and has a gap between the rack and the yak. If I have it upside down I will need to make some sort of extension to the roof rack to make it higher. But if right way up, will it get lift at speed and convert to a low flying plane?

[Just_chips]

Some very good ideas so far.

1. Was wondering about the anchor and if you could rear mount. Looking forward to seeing how the pulley system works. And how you cleat off the anchor line.
2. I tried fitting some of the 40mm pipe, but it seems the rod holders that are already fitted to the yak are about 1mm too small in diameter and cannot get the pipe in. May be slightly out of round or something. I will see if a bit of sandpapering will allow it to fit when I get some time on the weekend.
3. With the drogue anchor, do you use the same fittings as your normal anchor to get it to connect to the back of the kayak? I have a small parachute drogue chute that will be perfect.
4. I was wondering how and where to mount the transducer. I have a spare sounder that was in my boat that I will be able to use. The scupper hole looks to be a good place as there is a scupper just a bit forward to where my feet rest. I noticed the the scupper hole is small at the top, but is a cone shape under the yak, which will be big enough to take the transducer and not have it protrude below the hull. Will play with that on the weekend as well.
5. I also have 2 of those cannon or scotty? holders. The kind that have a base mount and the top adjustable holder slots in and locks. I think that is the sort you guys mean. They were sitting in the shed gathering dust, waiting for a new life.
6. Do you think 1 scupper will be enough? I plan to block up the 2 scuppers at the seat area with pool noodle foam, as the seat is really low and will be constantly wet. And if I use one of the remaining 2 scuppers for the transducer, then there will only be one left. I suppose it does not matter unless the kayak fills with water, and I am not planning to use in any rough water.
7. One question I asked on another thread that I am interested to know is with transportation. Can you transport them right way up instead of upside down on the roof rack? The curve or the yak and low roof racks, it touches the roof and has a gap between the rack and the yak. If I have it upside down I will need to make some sort of extension to the roof rack to make it higher. But if right way up, will it get lift at speed and convert to a low flying plane?

1. Anchor can be rear mounted if you want to. I use my anchor trolley to pull the anchor down to the rear. But there are other methods without the need for an anchor trolley. Most answers can be found by searching youtube.
2. Put a cut length wise along the pipe for about 60-70mm and then a second about 5mm wider at the open end closing back to the original cut to form a narrow birdsmouth. The pipe will now fit in the holder.
3. Yes same fitting. Small stainless steel carbiner clip.
4. Transducer mount is a personal choice, some mount inside the hull in a bed of silicone shooting through the hull but if your scupper accepts the transducer and keeps it fairly flush then this may be a more than acceptable option.
5. Perfect.
6. Don't know, this you will need to gauge for yourself by using the yak with only the one scupper. Don't be scared to get wet though cause it will happen and you won't notice your wet arse till you sit in our dry car.
7. My yak goes on the roof right way up no probs at all. In fact everything that is in the centre hatch stays there also adding a few extra kgs to the whole thing.

I will try and get some photos done in the next couple of days but this arvo I have kids cricket followed by my footy training so it won't be till Thursday atleast but more likely Friday.

Kev

[Just_chips]

Ok first lot of photos include:-

My small folding anchor that is tied initially at the top but then the rope runs down the side of the anchor and is attached with a very small cable tie to the bottom hole of the anchor. This means that if the anchor is stuck hard I can pull hard enough on the rope to snap the cable tie and the anchor will then turn and come up front first without me capsizing trying to pull it up.

The anchor trolley is basically a pulley system that runs the full length of the kayak. I use a ring and a caribiner at each end of the rope. I connect my anchor float or drogue to the ring and then use the pulley to take it up to the bow or stern of the kayak so that the anchor is not attached mid yak allowing swells and boat wash to hit me side on rather at the ends where the kayak can ride these out better.

Notice I also have a float attached to the anchor. If I hook a good fish i can simply disconnect the carabiner that joins the anchor setup to the trolley and give chase or let it tow me and come back to the float later to pull the anchor in or re-anchor in exactly the same poisition.

My Drogue is just one from a chandlery that is for small tinnies I have added a float to the top of it to keep it up high in the water column at all times, it is attached to about 5 - 6m of rope, once again finished with a carabiner at the end.

My second anchor is for shallow water only and is simply a PVC coated 3kg dumbbell. This can just be dropped over the side and will hold your position or slowly drag in strong current. Not really suitable for snaggy areas but compact and very handy otherwise, same again with the carabiner for quick connections.

Kev

[Just_chips]

Next lot:

• The centre well built in my kayak allows for heap of storage and all my tackle and accessories get jammed in here during a trip.
• The small hatch at the end of the well gives access into the hull and I can store a fullly rigged 7ft rod in the hull. This is particularly useful when launching and returning through surf as if you get rolled there are no rods sticking out of holders waiting to be broken.
• This is how I cut my PVC pipe to fit the flush mount holders, and a couple of shots of them in the flushmount, notice the extra height above the water that this gives. I also cut a small notch for the reel to seat nicely in the holder.
• A couple of photos here of my current style of rod leash. The plastic 'D' ends come from bunnings on a short bungy cord and you can also get the small plastic carabiner from the same area. I discarded the original bungy strap and replaced it with one of a finer diameter and made them a bit longer. These seem to work fairly well for me at the moment.

Kev

[Just_chips]

• Sounder and Handheld GPS mounted on a cradle with forward mounted rod holder in background.
• LED white light on small post, I also use a good quality LED head lamp which I can turn into any direction as well as keeping a well charged dolphin lantern with me at all times if fishing in darkness/low light with any possiblity of interaction with other boats.
• A couple of shots of my livewell setup which is basically a butchered esky. I cut off the handles and drilled holes in it and mounted skin fittings, one for water in which connceted to a bilge pump that I toss over the side and one is just water out so it forms a basic recirculating live well. The box on the front contains a 7am hr 12v battery connected to a switch and a small device called a tank timer, this cycles the pump automatically running about 34seconds on and 166 seconds off thus conserving my battery power as the 7amp hr battery would only last about 2.5-3 hrs running continuously.

Kev

[Just_chips]

A few other accessories that I use regularly:

• Trolley made from a supacheap fridge trolley. Cut the handles off and cut the tray to the shape of the bottom of the yak and trim with pool noodle. One strap and you can cart it anywhere.
• Touring paddle. I used to have the standard paddle that came with my yak but got this new one recently and have found it so much better to use, less effort for the same power/speed means you feel better at the end of a long day.
• Paddle keeper on the side of the yak is almost necessary for stowing your paddle when not in use.
• Paddle leash is great when you are surf launching as if you come off your yak you just need to hold your paddle and eventually the yak will come back to you.
• Ping pong bat hand paddle - great for small adjustments to drifts or slight manouvering in tight spots without having to dig out the big paddle, can be used one haded with the rod in the other hand also.
• Floating gaff
• Dry bag for mobile phones keys etc
• One of my first rod leashes, just 2 carabiners joined by a length of rope. I now use these to tie off to trees or pontoons without needing to deploy anchors etc.

Everything I have posted here is a copy of what others have done before me and most of this info was found by searching the dedicated kayak fishing sites and forums. There is also mountains of info to be found on youtube you just need to customise what others have done to suit your needs.

Good luck, I hope I have helped.

Kev