Rigging a sit-on kayak for spearfishing?

pick up my perception this week its the freedom deluxe, going to do a few mods for diving, my buddy is also picking his up cant wait to get it in so many reefs to see, let you know how we get on

spearflap said:

pick up my perception this week its the freedom deluxe, going to do a few mods for diving, my buddy is also picking his up cant wait to get it in so many reefs to see, let you know how we get on

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How did you get on Spearflap?
Here's some details on mine (sounder, anchor, diveflag, gun fastening etc...)

hey sunfish is that a daytripper paddle? good paddles bought one when I first got my yak and never needed to change it.

scottwilson said:

hey sunfish is that a daytripper paddle? good paddles bought one when I first got my yak and never needed to change it.

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Yeah that's a daytripper. I paid cash for the kayak and the dealer gave me a free paddle. I've thought of buying a dearer one but as you say, the daytripper's fine - lightweight and my size. I carry a breakdown paddle inside the hatch. It's heavy and uncomfortable but it's only for emergencies. It's my spare motor.

I have done several yak expeditions which have been great until the wind picks up. Mind you it would help if I had a quicker yak.

ok, so this thread has been quiet for a while but i now have a fairly specific set of 'yak' based questions so lets hope it comes back to life.

firstly, i have an ocean kayak trident 11 angler edition, with the 'transducer compatible scupper'. it also has a hatch in the centre (the long type) as well as a hatch at the front.

I got a garmin 90 fishfinder as a pressie recently and have finally got round to buying a battery (and a tuppaware box to put it in) and some other assorted bits.

The transducer is a bit of a funny shape (kind of boat shaped) but i'd like to try and use the 'special' scupper space if possible. anyone know if you can chop all the excess plastic off safely?

if i needed to mount it inside the hull where could i get a foam rubber (or similar) piece of material to make a holder thingy (like in all the youtube movies on the subject) and what about the glue? what glue would i need. please be specific.......and if you know where i can get it and how much that would be smashing.

And what about the cable gland. i bought one from a chandlers this morning but now i'm not sure.........its probably fine but might be a bit bulky.

I appreciate that photo's would help but i was totally unprepared this evening. i'll take some pics tomorrow and add them to this post.

Any help would be very gratefully appreciated.

Chris

OK folks, i've had a quick scout on the www and found a few pics that will hopefully help you to instruct me.

Chris I used silicone to mount the transducer in my scrambler and a piece of sponge with the middle cut out.

I glued the sponge down then filled it with silicone, gave it a slow stir to remove any bubbles and popped the transducer in. It was supposed to be a temp setup but it worked that well I left it in.

cheers scott,

does your temperature readout work from inside the hull? (i'm guessing not for water temp but had to ask)

You can happily chop of the plastic brackets above the transducer without affecting it, the gubbins are all in the big lump in the bottom.

The scupper hole is designed for Humminbird transducers as they are distributed by the same people as Ocean Kayaks: Johnson Outdoors UK - Distributors of Watercraft and Marine Electronics

But they do do "boots" to adapt some transducers to fit in the hole, might be worth dropping them an email, they've always been very helpfull when I've been in touch with them.

I just stuck my transducer on the inside of the hull with Silkaflex and it works fine, just squeeze in a big lump, taking care not to get any bubbles in it, push the transducer in and let it set. It's still stuck now though I doubt it'll last forever, but it's a 2 minute job to restick it.

No, the temp won't work accurately.

Oh and if you use the scupper hole you do run the risk of scraping your transducer if you run over rocks or drag it up a pebbly beach, inside the hull it's protected.

Regarding the cable gland, use it if you want, but it's not nessesary. With mine I routed the two cables up through a hole directly under the FF mount. That way it's kind of protected from splashing. The inside of your Yak is not 100% water tight, the hatches will let in a little water if it's rough or you flip it, nothing to worry about at all. So there is no need to seal the hole up water tight.

If you want to seal it better just splodge a load of silicone around the cables once they're in place.

HTH.

thanks magpie. just the kind of answers i was after.

ok team, get yourselves a cup of tea or a cold beer and settle into a comfy chair.......this could be a long one.

fitted my fishfinder on sunday. i was going to mount the transducer in the hull as many people suggested but at the last minute i decided that that would be a waste of fishfinder functionality and a fishing specific kayak so i had a think.

the transducer (see previous post) was not kayak compatible (ie. with a long threaded post to put through the scupper hole) so i decided to cut a 3" piece off the end of my flagpole (white plastic 21.5mm∅ tube, about £1.25 for 2m from B&Q, fits exactly into the scotty rod holder mount i got thrown in when i bought the kayak, and exactly between the two bracket mounts on the transducer......sweet!) and screw it onto the transducer mounts (that fit exactly in the scupper hole). making sure it comfortably extended out the top of the scupper i marked the level for a split pin, took it off the transducer, drilled the split pin hole, cut off the excess pipe and wrapped it in black insulation tape (waterproof and looks better than white). i screwed it back on and filled the inside with silicone sealant to fix the stainless screws and strengthen the whole piece. i put a healthy dollop of sealant on the top of the trans mounting area and pushed it into place, securing the split pin (a pretty tight fit against the slight curve of the kayak surface!). i filled the front half of the gap between the pipe and scupper side wall with sealant and left the back half open so water will still drain away. after the sealant had cured/set/hardened (whatever sealant does?) i topped it of with some black sealant in and around the front of the pipe and over the split pin (as it wasn't stainless).

next i mounted the display bracket. luckily the area in the middle of the kayak between the middle and front hatches (where most people mount theirs) isn't flat. i say luckily because i use the straps over the middle hatch to secure my fins and they extend over this area. i settled for fitting it in the only place the thing would fit on a flat surface where i would still be able to see it. the left side of the front hatch. left as the hatch is secured on the right.

the cable gland i bought turned out to be perfect, and very easy to fit (if a little confusing to insert the 3 wires into the rubber bung in the right order so they all point in the right direction......sounds easy? try it.).

my brother in law (who's workshop and tools i was using) also had a great idea for a battery tray.......the top cover off a leisure battery. the sandwich box i bought from asda for £2.50 fitted exactly in the mouldings of the battery cover with a bit of space round the edges for the excess cable. i secured the tray with a couple of screws through the footwells (siliconed of course) but i'll be replacing these with stainless bolts, penny washers and lock nuts when i get the chance. a few pieces of polystyrene insulation wrapped in duck tape stopped any wobble of the battery in the sandwich box and a bungee secured it in the tray.

by the way i got a pack of little rubber grommets from B&Q for a quid, and used one to put in the side of the sandwich box as a waterproof entry point for the cables. pulled the cables to the right length inside the box and put a dab of sealant around the entry point.

the cables for the screen plug i managed to route through the anchor points for the front hatch strap, again it was an exact fit.......... luck-tastic, and tidy to boot!

oh, and yes, the transducer is very slightly proud of the hull along one edge (only by 10mm or so) but its far enough forward as to not touch the ground even when the kayak is resting on that side.

here's the rest of the photo's.

i hope this has been able to help someone out there (and given others a bit of a laugh).

sorry about all the photo's being at the end of the post but i wasn't sure how to make them appear amongst the text (please feel free to give me the answer).

Top bodging mate, very tidy job.

To put the pictures in the text you need to upload them as normal, then open the picture before posting the message, the address bar at the top will have a link to the picture, such as:

ht tp://forums.deeperblue.co m/attachment.php?attachmentid=26192&stc=1&d=1257457927

Copy that, paste it into your text and put [im g] at the start and [/im g] at the end (without the spaces). Then go back into manage attachments and remove the picture so you don't get it at the bottom as well.

HTH

Great job & a interesting read - well done for achieving what you wanted.

Great thread...its really got me thinking....

My main concerns are single or double....
Double will be heavier and will not be properly balanced so may affect handeling....
Single will be better balanced and lighter but lacking storage space....

Hmmmm.....

A lot of the links to suppliers do not work, some other links work, but as most are a few years old... I'm wondering if there are any new links?

I'm looking at Bournemouth Canoes UK, Poole, Dorset - Buy a Canoe or Kayak On Line or in our UK Shop and they have reasonable delivery to Ireland...
Are there any other suppliers anyone would reccomend?

OK...

So I'm beggining to settle on the trident range from Ocean kayak....

3 bonus's....
It has a rod pod to keep spearguns and fishing rods in....
If has a compartment for the fishfinder
It has loads of clips and points already installed so you can add whatever you like without any drilling.

So... money aside (As there is not much difference anyway) a 13ft or a 15ft....

Whatcha reckon? lighter and slower or heavier and faster?
At the minute I am leaning towards the 15 as it can carry 280kg but I think 15ft of boat is massive for a little bit of recreational spearing...

Any thoughts?

Edit: Hmmm... now I'm getting worried that the rod pod seems a little uncomfortable to some people as they think its a little wide, I guess it can rub off the legs...hmmmm

Maybe revert back to the prowler 13... some good deals on that at the moment...

bobdonny said:

OK...

So I'm beggining to settle on the trident range from Ocean kayak....

3 bonus's....
It has a rod pod to keep spearguns and fishing rods in....
If has a compartment for the fishfinder
It has loads of clips and points already installed so you can add whatever you like without any drilling.

So... money aside (As there is not much difference anyway) a 13ft or a 15ft....

Whatcha reckon? lighter and slower or heavier and faster?
At the minute I am leaning towards the 15 as it can carry 280kg but I think 15ft of boat is massive for a little bit of recreational spearing...

Any thoughts?

Edit: Hmmm... now I'm getting worried that the rod pod seems a little uncomfortable to some people as they think its a little wide, I guess it can rub off the legs...hmmmm

Maybe revert back to the prowler 13... some good deals on that at the moment...

Click to expand...

There's some good options around at the moment, including the tridents and prowler. Dont forget the scupper pro too - there's a few of us on here with those

personally, unless you expect to be well geared up, say for a day out, then i dont imaging the T15 would be worth the extra length, weight, etc.

For me, i have found that weight is THE most critical element in sot kayaking. Allow for your own gear, plus the yak, plus the wheels, plus fishfinder (eventually...) with battery, etc. it all adds up!

like you said the rod pod may be more hassle than value - if you end up getting in and out a bit between dives then you will end up with a gun stowage on top of the yak - and that will probably end up being easiest generally.

If you have the pennies then i would recommend the kaskasi Marlin - or perhaps the dorado. A composite Marlin weighs about 23kg:

Kayak UK - home of Kaskazi Kayaks in the UK
"Weighing just 23kgs she is also very popular with ladies as she is so light to put on the roofrack or handle ashore and is so quick and nimble on the water. Large stowage hatches with neoprene seals to hard hatch covers make the Marlin a very capable touring kayak"

I think the Ocean kayak weights are excluding some of the standard bits - not sure the trident 13 is really just 25kgs.
Trident 13™ Angler - Ocean Kayak

Thanks man,

Ya weight is a tricky one to calculate.... I suppose you could add an extra 50kg to your own weight as a guide for gear...

Interesting reading about lenght and the myth of speed....

Capn Jimbo's Top Ten Fishing Kayak Myths

I use the "Scupper Pro" and find the length good. It tracks fairly well, paddles nicely and is capable of taking weight. It's just over 14ft and personally I wouldn't go for anything shorter. The scupper also takes on a rough sea well and you just can't say when you'll get caught in one of those. I'd hate to be in one of the shorter angling kayaks if I got caught out by the weather.
Cap'n Jimbo makes some reasonable points from an angling point of view but when spearing you don't dick about with drifting. You paddle to where you're going then leave the boat anchored while you dive. Well that's what I do anyway.
There's a boat dealer in Ireland that carries a couple the "Kaskazi" range. I was looking at them myself a couple of years ago and that dealer was better value than the UK one. I'll see if I can find a link. He didn't carry the one I wanted but said he could get it for me.
I bought my Scupper from a dealer in Kinsale. No need to import one if you can source it cheaper locally. There's also a dealer in Durrus who sells the kayaks made by a French company who used to be in partnership with ocean Kayak and do a boat almost a double of the scupper.

Here's the dealer in Durrus:- Kayak sales in munster and cork , Ireland . The Scupper copy is called the "Tempo".
I can't find the guy who had the Kaskazis. He used to be on "Apollo Duck" so maybe he doesn't do kayaks anymore. I think if I was getting a Kaskazi I'd check out prices for importing direct from SA as the UK dealers prices seem outrageous.
The dealer in Kinsale doesn't seem to be on the web anymore either but he used to supply to "Jellyfish" in Clonakilty so I'll ask them next week.
Here's Jellyfish:- Kayaks Shop Ireland Surf Kayaks Shop Cork Clonakilty
and here's:- http://www.funboats.ie/ a place in Fermoy that has a few Ocean Kayak boats.
Hope this is some help.