Rigging a sit-on kayak for spearfishing?

[Lockedin]

Be VERY CAREFUL using your scupper holes with your cart! I don't remember exactly where (probably on kayakfishing.com ), but I read of people getting minor to massive (lost 'yak!!!) leaks. This is because the scuppers are a bit thinner due to the molding process. As I said, I cannot verify this as fact, but I've chosen to err on the side of caution, and now lash the kayak to the axle with a ratcheting tie-down.

Enjoy!

 

[Mr. X]

Hi,
I read something similar, perhaps related to a change in scupper hole strength in some models(?). Although I notice that Ocean Kayak & Cobra produce their own scupper hole carts; I think one is plastic - odd choice of material but perhaps lighter & more forgiving on the kayak? I suppose they don't mind if your kayak needs replacing more regularly -- although I suspect they value their reputations, as the kayaks are expensive & buyers would likely change brand preference.

The cart I like the look of the most so far is sold on ebay out of MA, USA. It has large, removeable wheels & suspends the kayak quite high. The price is quite reasonable too although shipping to the UK would be expensive. Might look for one next time I'm out there.

I've actually got a set of plastic wheels off an old plastic wheel barrow...maybe I can make one? Saw a battery powered golf cart in Focus yesterday - looked like the v-shaped guides could hold a kayak!

 

[Mr. X]

Hand-lines for yak trolling.

I have been making up some new handlines today. The aim this season is to catch bigger fish and mackeral (my favourite fish).

Last year, we caught a couple of fish (a pollock & a bass), trolling with a homemade handline off the back of the yak. The rig was simple: a home-made winder, a length of para-cord, an American swivel clip, a length of 10lb line terminated with a single 30 year old, 11cm-ish, blue & white Eddystone eel. I opted for this simple rig, having lost my fancy first rig (holographic feathers with a terminating 14cm blue & silver rapala-like bass lure with 2x big treble hooks at the end) when we unwittingly encountered shallow water & dense weed as we passed over the top of a hidden reef -- major snag .

This year I have made 3 rigs:

- replaced the 11cm E. eel with a 14cm generic yellow & black eel. Hoping that the bigger lure will appeal to bigger fish. 14cm seems a favourite size of bass fishermen in S. England. I might try one of the currently fashionable black eels later. This should be good for all conditions, inc. weed & shallow water.

- made another handline, as above but with coloured mackeral feathers, with a 3 foot leader of 12lb line at the end, terminated by hefty 14cm, yellow & orange, Lidl's gel lure, skewered onto a 4/0 or 5/0 circle hook. The terminating lure might be a bit too big but it is easy to change. For deeper water.

- an old shop-bought crab line, with a recovered heavy duty game swivel, lock clip, currently attached to mackeral feathers & terminated with a yellow, 10cm Lidl's gel lure, with a Lidl's fluorescent lead head providing the hook.

I have a few other feather rigs that I might try later (plastic prawn feathers with glittery bits & small hooks; hokai rigs some with major cod hooks; holographic/glitter feathers -- saw a guy fill a bucket with mackeral using these with a child's handline on Chesil Beach).

 

[Huan]

The most effective commercial pattern for mackerel is 4mm red pvc pipe on a hook, the piece of pipe only needs to be about 2cm in length and doesn't even need to extend past the curve of the hook.
the closest I have seen to the type of material I am talking about is the green and yellow earth sleeve sold from electrical supply shops.

 

[portinfer]

Just been looking over at SurfSki dot info ... looks like a white kayak with red or orange tips is to be avoided

Surf Ski . Info

That is unless you feel like rigging your kayak with a sharkshield...
Cheers
Ed

 

[Mr. X]

Interesting Huan, I can't recall which colour but I read that one common colour found on mixed colour feathers never catches fish. I think white is supposed to be good too. I even heard of bare, shiney silver hooks being effective for mackeral!

Portinfer, I could not open your link -- but I am guessing from the gist of your comment it is something to do with kayaks being the ultimate shark lure! (Gulp). Just found the link:

Maybe I should give those red-head white lures another go this season!

I've added a smaller second eel to my main hand-line. Blue & white with glitter bits -- about 5"/12+cm. I wasn't sure how to rig it, so just ran a separate mono line, to the clip (which I switch to a locking swivel clip), a couple of feet shorter than that of the bigger eel. Hoping that one size or other will appeal to the fish. I'd like to try a cheap paravane (about £2.50), if I can find one in a shop (not worth shipping).

 

[portinfer]

That was my view too Mr X - just add some anchor sized trebles and you are away !
Edward

 

[Pav]

Check out the New Mini X from Malibu kayaks if your after a short fishing/dive Yak.

 

[Mr. X]

Lidl dive & boat gear on sale tomorrow (10th May)

Lidl's boat and dive gear go on sale tomorrow 10th May.

• Lots of ropes that look like they might make decent float lines.
• Boat fenders (might make a float?).
• Dinghy!
• Cheapy wetsuits -- not for serious spearing but kayaking/summer snorkel/surf/kids/...
• Stainless steel karabiners
• booties
• torch

Lidl Online

I got a handline for the kayak from Lidl's for 2.99 a week ago (they still had a pile left over from the previous week) ...it has 3 blade spinners & 3 rubber worms, line, weight & winder/handle. I reckon it is good value: I have seen the blade spinners selling for 1.50 each elsewhere (a usually inexpensive online retailer) & similar handlines selling for around 7.00 in a seaside store. It comes with a 300g weight (10oz+) weight(I normally think of of 1oz as a big weight).

 

[Mr. X]

Mini-X

Check out the New Mini X from Malibu kayaks if your after a short fishing/dive Yak.

Hi Pav, must have missed this post. Just found a link...looks interesting - has anybody got one? (I think its about 3 ft shorter & 20lb lighter than mine OK Malibu 2...so quite portable): Fishing and Diving Kayaks, Sit-on-top Kayaks, Malibu Mini-X

 

[Mr. X]

Homemade kayak cart / yak trolley for a sit-on kayak

Homemade Kayak Cart...​

The sherpas were suffering so ... I finally got around to making that kayak cart, it didn't take as long as I expected and it cost nothing...everything was recycled. I didn't design it, just started putting parts together to see what might work. I am pleased with the result. It works well on the drive. The real test will come in a few weeks time.

The uprights are actually straight (the pictures are misleading) and made of steel pipes with fibre glass sleeves (made from a salvaged broken beachcaster) to help protect the scupper holes. I have since found a pipe that could be used as a wider axle later, if necessary. Another advantage of making your own, which hadn't occurred to me before: you can tweak the design and add features at will.

I also fitted a homemade lifting bar to one of the car's roof bars a few weeks ago (unnecessary on our smaller car but helpful on the taller one). So, in theory at least, solo kayak loading, unloading & transportation should now be feasible...and with spearing/angling gear too. "Deep joy!"

 

[mundial]

i can say i have a new toy?:friday
new ocean-kayak yellow scupper pro

with the jigging rod from the seat

450 long
66 wide
rocket! ! ! ! ! ! !

 

[Pav]

Nice Mundial!

I'm awaiting delivery of my Mini X! A change in life style (baby), so recently sold my fishing ski as I wanted something quick and easy, and that would fit in my Van. Good center hatch for storing spear etc, and should get me out to the point after work for an hour or so. Sacrifice will be speed! , so will work the waters closer to home ;>)

The Scupper Pro gets great reviews on the fishing yak sites. Fast Yak. Good choice.

 

[Mr. X]

That is a cool looking fishing yak Mundial. I've seen pictures of your spearing catches -- do you really need rods as well?! Nice cart too.

Pav, is this the life progression of a kayaker: fishing ski -> mini-X -> tandem-> triple -> 3x frenzy-> ..?!

'Tried out the kayak cart & lift bar yesterday at Kimmeridge and .... major success. My "chief sherpa" was tickled pink by the whole thing -- it was reminiscent of the character in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Caracticus Pots?): a gadget for everything! Not only could I load and unload by myself but all the kit went in the yak, which I pulled alone which made everything much quicker, easier, less stressful. It also meant we could just park, rather than dropping off the yak first. Big win.

The little stick stand on the cart broke (not surprised), so I will replace that will some steel pipe.

We had some mini surf for our first hour. There are a lot of odd rock piers sticking far out into the bay, often lurking just below the surface at Kim. so it required a focused mind. I went out alone later, trolling deeper waters and checking out the headland where windsurfers were hitting the waves. Decided to haul in the lines & head back in when the 2 foot surf started getting closer to 3 foot. The M2 is remarkably stable though and with self bailing it almost seemed like cheating.

Quickly lost all the lures from the Lidl's hand line -- the supplied 10oz weight was far too much. 1 or 2oz would have been better. Also lost an cheap eel just as I landed the yak on the slipway (so back to the 30 year old one!).

 

[mundial]

hi
i have started with a cobra FISH N DIVE
big yak slower then others
my point is to get fsat to my points & also return fast
truling & jigging if i have time ot the VIZ is bad !
also long distance with the kayak 10-15 KM
this yak giving me a lot of options all time around

 

[Mr. X]

Caught another Bass off the yak today in Dorset ... pulled the hand-line tight and starting splashing about, thought it might be big but was just a small one. Prob. below the legal limit, so released it. Very solidly hooked, the hook went out through one slot in the lower jaw & hooked up through the other -- skin wasn't even pierced! Conditions were excellent, very flat & sunny.

I was trolling 3 Hokai "holographic mackeral feathers" with a cheap copy of an Eddystone eel, & my 30 year old Eddystone eel a second line. The bass took the cheap copy eel behind the feathers. Both eels are blue & white, but the copy has flecks of glitter in it &, I noticed recently, tends to glow-green in the dim light (an unadvertised feature?); I also trimmed the end of its tail to more closely resemble that of the Eddystone eel (which moves better).

Heavily loaded the kayak and trolley with gear & broke the trolley on the way back going up a rough ramp. Repairable -- but will need to load more lightly in future.

 

[Pav]

Mr X. I'd like to see a sketch or photo of that rig with the hokai with a trailing eel lure. I've often thought whilst fishing a string of lures of adding a bass / pollock lure at the end. Looks like you're doing it already with some success. , are you still using a weight?

 

[Mr. X]

The digital camera is currently in York - will try to post an image later. I have 5 handlines set up in various combinations, I usually take one or two out with me. I think only one has a weight currently - a string of feathers with a modest 1oz weight & I haven't used it yet. I got a dozen or so sets of old assorted feathers & the like cheap off ebay a while back -- a lifetimes supply for me perhaps, so I have various things I can try. (Huan reckons 2cm of red tubing is the biz for mackeral -- must give that a try, I suspect it was based on research or experience).

I'm often in the shallows and/or weed, so weight is not generally beneficial. Having too many hooks in the water can be a problem too. First time trolling from the yak (last year?) I had a long string of feathers & a 14cm lure with 2 treble hooks (probably on 10lb line too!). It was way too snaggy: lost the lot going over a very weedy reef in shallow water.

I was hoping for mackeral this weekend, hence the feathers. The eel was really just taking the place of the weight to provide enough drag to pull the feathers out straight. A guy caught a bucketful of mackeral from a small boat last year at the same beach (and gave them away ) -- although I didn't see where he fished.

Using thicker line helps a lot, you can at least recover the lures/feathers then. I make the final link to the eel - or gel lure - a bit weaker, so there is a chance of salvaging some of the rig (15lb seems about right, quite tough -- will also try some 12.5lb next time -- caught the small bass of dark, stiff 15lb Daiwa line, although I usually buy clear line if available).

I usually just troll a single eel on 10-15ft of mono & some parachute cord - very cheap & simple. It hardly ever snags & so is ok in shallow water just feed it out & forget about it - caught a bass & a pollock that way. Ideally, I would pull a plug as I know you do. I'm a bit wary of pulling a decent plug though because I'm usually on unfamiliar ground & will often go over shallows & weed before I realise it.

Spent some time yesterday glueing cheaper eels to hooks (real Eddystone eels don't seem to need this treatment) to give them some "spine" -- a Mike Ladle trick. Didn't have any superglue last time I tried this & tried general purpose adhesive (PVA) which wasn't up to the job. I used epoxy this time - that should do the trick .

I've been using small-ish eels about 11.5cm. To get bigger fish, I reckon a bigger lure might be called for (or maybe the big ones don't feed much in the middle of the day?). I have a couple of v. big Eddystone eels but there seems to be a conspiracy to keep the 14/15cm-ish ones out of the shops (even got sent smaller ones when I tried mail ordering them -- & no response when I tried to get the right ones - www.Jims.org.uk!:naughty) -- I suspect they are too effective for the general public!

I'm going to try a black eddystone eel copy next (about 14/15cm) -- latest fad! Supposed to provide an excellent silohette for the fish to pick out, esp. as dusk sets in (although that might all be *******s!).

 

[Pav]

thanks for that detailed reply.

I've been stuck on my lures for the past 5 years but you remind me of my south coast tatics when I lived over that way. I used to use a red eel on a long trace connected to a swivel with a small bullet weight on the main line. This would get pollock around 3lb. I also used the plastic black looking lug worm again for pollock. Have only ever had Bass on the rapalu type lures and spinners in the estuary.

For mackeral I nealy always fish off close to the bottom (jigging) rather than trolling. I do get them on the troll but its a lot quicker to get a few fish jigging. If its really flat and calm I sometimes find I'm fishing under them and need to troll to get up to the mackeral.

This year the mackeral have been a bit slow locally, although i seem to be catching more consitently than most by using smaller feathers (really meant for sane eels / lance? ), but they work well for me and often share my catch with my mates in the car park!

 

[sunfish]

I sometimes carry a small spinning rod on the kayak. I find that casting my string of flies then retrieving them sink and draw style catches way more mackeral than trolling. While doing this I let the kayak drift and hang a leg over one side to try and keep it straight. When I hit a shoal I often hook 4 or 5 fish at once then unhooking them is something else.