Rigging a sit-on kayak for spearfishing?

I just bought an Emotion brand SOT Kayak called the "Fisherman". I won't be doing too much hook & line fishing with it. I mainly got it as a freedive/spearing platform.

It was regularly $699.00 at Cabelas. I picked mine up on sale for $309.00!!!!

I just COULD'NT pass that up! What a steal! Anyway I thought this post was supposed to be about rigging up Kayaks for SPEARFISHING. It sounds like you guys are talking more hook & line fishing .

I'd love to see pictures of some of you guy's Yaks. I'm off to the garage to "stare" at my kayak for awhile & contemplated customization jobs on it. Then I'm off to the lake to try it out!!!!:t

Are any of you using an anchor?
What size?
How is it rigged?

I was out this weekend (bad vis, so I angled a bunch of short Halibut), and the wind and current were so strong that my buddy & I put our 5 gallon buckets in the water as sea anchors, and rafted together to slow our drift through the kelp bed. Eventually, I used the kelp and a surfing leash to tie off to a few thick strands of kelp. I don't know if an anchor would have worked in this current / wind combo, but I have been looking into getting an anchor for a while now.

Bad ears so took the yak out last weekend for some spinning. Set a small trot line with mackerel (thanks Dave) before I went plugging ... just in case I didn't have any luck plugging.

Didn't achor - just drifted around the reefs plugging with a floating one but no luck after an hour - pulled the trot and had a nearly 6 pound bass and a fine pair of bream ! Doesn't beat spearfishing but does provide some fish.

Bought some other lures too but seem to be happier with surface floaters... can see where they are.

Yes - got some good advice from Tom on spinngin kit and bought a couple of plugs from Veals - went for a Yo-Zuri Mag popper in blue colour - 5 inch / 1 oz... works well and is nice to look at too !
Got a blue Maria ANgel Kiss and a J-11 and a Bass Bandit - all from Veals.

Didn't get time to try them today from the kayak (water supply to house required) but did have a 45 min plugging session after work on Friday from the rocks - no results but nice to chill out.

Might try an eddystone but am scared that there will be too many thinkgs to think about ! Happy to paddle out - set a trot - do some pluggin - pull the trot and heas home

Mr x - This is something I've noticed. I went diving where I go plugging.

The shore cascades down over kelp covered boulders and then onto coarse sand with the occasional clump of kelp. The weed/sand edge is about 10m out from the shore (underwater) and then the depth is about 8m to 10m.

All the fish are at the bottom around the weed/sand edge.

So if I am plugging I want to be fishing 10m out and 10m down.

I can get the horizontal distance either by casting or by using a kayak but the depth ... hmmm the depth... 10m is deep for the plugs I have !

Any ideas ? Rapala Sliver ?

I've been thinking of setting a trot from my kayak too. How do you deal with all those hooks in the confines of a kayak Portinfer? I know about the box with slots for hooks but could you explain the exact setting and lifting please. eg.Do you take each hook from the slot by hand or does the first weight you drop star pulling them out automatically? If so, do you tilt the box? Are the hooks baited in advance? Are crabs likely to strip the baits?

In some ways the smaller, lighter the craft you use to set a long line the better. However setting long lines is a potentially dangerous pastime & I am not sure if I want to encourage it on an open forum? Ed has had fist hand knowledge at setting trotts from several people before he began setting his own. There are also conservation issues because although more selective than nets they can still kill a lot of unwanted fish! This can be avoided to some extent by selecting bait & placement.
Great fun when it goes right but very dangerous if you get it wrong.

I am tending to lean towards what Mart just said. But I guess people may try this anyway so this is what I did - make up your own minds.

The first time I set it was in 10m to 15m of water in a place I know well from spearing (as far as I am aware I am the only person to dive there so wasn't too concerned about other divers).

I had 15 size 4 hooks set at about 6 foot apart (a two arm stretch).
I baited with mackerel strip.

I went out mid afternoon with a swell of 1ft (magic seaweed stats) and 0 knot wind. Sea was glassy and I knew which way the currrent was going.

I had made the line up before by rolling it around a piece of foam offcut. (You need to reverse the hook snood wraps from the main wrap as you wind on - same when picking up).

I attached a 4 pound weight to the end of the line and baited the hooks as I laid the line. I think I baited about 4 hooks when the weight hit the bottom. From that point you really need to pay attention to the side the line is going out and the drift from the current. With a tide over 2m (ie 2.5m or 3m plus) the drift in that area will not pull the kayak more than you can just hold. i.e. no need for any stop device on the side of the kayak - however you would be well advised to have one so as to avoid being pulled in by all the rest of the hooks / being pronged by a hook etc etc

But then again if you have a shallow sided yak you may be capsised by this method. As you can see this is a serious and potential accident waiting to happen either way !

Anyway, once all the hooks are baited you should be drifting away from the original set spot and the likne should be stretched out over the sand (only sand will do... DO NOT set over rocks).

I tied the end of the line to another weight (6 pound) and then from here attached a line intended to rise vertically to a float.

I left it and went plugging for a short period - picking it up is a matter of picking up the float - winding in the line (reverse the wind for the hook snoods). Take the bait off as you wind. Again this is ONLY possible if the drift is less than the weight of the boat. I cannot itterate the importance of this - if you get it wrong you will be trying to pull a line of 15 plus hooks with it slipping through your hands... not good and potentially lethal.

As the fish come up I pulled them directly into the boat and put them straight onto a stringer attached to the yak. THen I unhooked them and carried on. A 6 pound bass is fine but I was dreading having to deal with either a large ray or a conger or a dogfish.

I don't think it would be possible to deal with these fish and then you have either the option to cut them off the snood at the hook (if they haven't pulled you in by then) or do something else equally unfriendly.

Once the last weight comes in I had the fish on the stringer and the line re-wrapped on the foam with the float line on a separate winder.

Now this was ideal tides and weather. And even then it wasn't easy. Much easier from say Mart's 18 foot (or is it longer?) dinghy as you still don't have much weight but you have more room to work in and you can attach a safety board stop to the side of the boat. Also you are not likely to be tipped over.

I only tried it cos I had bad ears and couldn't dive.

I tried it again last weekend or the one before.... what a change.

I set it on the high tide, got the drift wrong, hooked my leg three times, dropped it on the reef and not the sand, the swell was scary and it was getting dark. THe tide was much stronger and I found it very hard to set.

I decided to leave it overnight and so went to pick it up the next morning at fist light.... I do alot of kayaking and the seas were high with a cross swell of about 4 foot. No fun at all and I was on the point of being pitched several times. I couldn't get out to the line. I tried several hours later when a reef was protecting the place I dropped it. Managed to get to the linebut even at relatively slack water the current was too strong and I couldn't keep my place and pull the line.

You need three or four arms in a situation like this and I wouldn't advise trots unless you are very adept with your kayak and know the currents.

I don't think I will be trotting again until I know that the seas will be glassy smooth with no wind(summer) and even then might reduce it to 10 hooks which kind of negates the point of trotting.

Like Mart says you can end up killing alot of fish unecessarily.

I wanted to try it and am glad I did but like I say maybe a few times was enough. Live and learn.

Thanks for that Portinfer, sounds a bit hairy alright. Like you I do a fair bit of kayaking but in swell like that I wouldn't want anything to do with hooks.
It's a bit off the subject of kayaks, but when I lived in N.E. England, I used to set one on the beach at extreme low tide on spring tides. I used worm, mussel or razors for bait and would catch codling, dabs and other flats. I used 10 or 12 hooks and mostly caught 2 to 4 fish. At each end of the line I had two 8oz grip leads, buried in the sand, and I usually ran a further 20yds of line back up the beach and buried the wooden winder. This meant I could haul the line before the tide went all the way back. If there were any dips in the beach, where sea coal and debris collected, this was a good place to set. Likewise any areas of wormcasts.

I layed the cord on the sand, buried the winder, then knocked an old cricket stump through the centre of the buried winder. The winder was made from two 18inch lengths of 2 by 1 and two 1ft lengths of thick broom handle, screwed into a square shape. The spider leads were 2 at each end, and buried 1ft deep.
House bricks would be too light-the sea would roll them. My uncle set a longer length and used the fishplates intended for joining lengths of railway line.(No, he didn't unbolt them from railway tracks!)

The fishplates were used because of their weight and didn't need burying. If I remember them right, they were about two feet long by six inches wide and one inch thick and made of steel. They may have been a little less but they were heavy to lift anyway. You wouldn't be hauling those up a beach. I suppose they were chosen because they already had holes in them, and in those days of coal and heavy industry there were plenty of them laying around.

This thread is really extensive, and a lot of this has already been covered, but thought I'd share my spearo kayak experiences from last summer. The yak is a Malibu Pro2Tandem.

1. Buy a cart - I wanted to save cash and didn't bother, but kayak plus all your gear, weight belt, food, water are easily lugged to the beach by one person with a cart. I bought a 'Scupper Pup' from the States and lash it to the back of the yak when I'm out spearing. It's awesome and breaks down very small.

2. GPS is not essential but really, really helpful. Not only as has been discussed is it a great backup / safety device, but just awesome for logging marks, wrecks, etc. Also very useful in helping you gauge distance / speed / time esp if there is a current running. Also can set an anchor alert so if the anchorage slips and you start drifting, you can hear it. Very useful if you leave your missus on the kayak whilst you spear!! lol

3. Rod holders are awesome for trolling, and also for using the yak when viz is shite, you can still fish. But tie the rods on as well! I lost 2 rods this year when some friends capsized my yak in relatively calm seas (broadsided by a freak wave). In fact, lash and stow anything that moves. As I learnt the hard way, it's not IF you capsize, but WHEN.

4. Comfy seats! Do it! First long paddle and you won't even be thinking about how much they cost every again! Also great for adding additional storage on the backs that saves deck space / clutter.

5. Dive flag - don't bother - too much faf, gets in the way, I lost mine after a couple of days. I tie my float to the back of the yak, and use the alpha flag on that to indicate I've left the boat. The type of people that are a danger on the water to the kayaker / spearo don't know what the flag means anyway... (I'm thinking here of a specific incident at Old Harry Rocks last summer when a 40ft sunseeker type thing chock-full of t*ssers made a half mile deviation from its course to power past me at full tilt, 10 feet from the yak and wave - makes my blood boil just thinking about it!)

6. Velcro paddle holders make great fixing points for spearguns. I got a whole load from TopKayaker.net

7. I lash my weight belt to a length of 4ft para cord and stash it in the rear tank well of the yak. That way, I can suit up, slip into the water, retrieve the belt and put it on, but if it slips it doesn't sink to the bottom. I stash mask and snorkel in the rear pouch on the back of my seat. I wear the long johns from my diving suit with a waterproof but breathable top for the paddle, and place the top half of the wetsuit over my seat for extra padding! Fins get lashed in the front tank well.

8. Anchoring - hardest thing in the yak. I so often had anchorages slip, or snag, nearly capsized trying to retrieve etc. etc. By far the easiest and safest way is to dive down and place, then retrieve when finished.

9. Using the yak to go spearing ROCKS!! Just make sure you allow yourself the whole day you will want to stay out!! You can move spots with the tide, sunbath and picnic in between dives, get to very secluded spots...

New addition for this season - portable Marine VHF - am doing the operator's licence soon. I want to get a bit more adventurous, but you need to take kayaking as seriously as any other boating...