Kayak Fishing

Silver_Bullet

Silver_Bullet

Rogue One
Charter Life Member
Benefactor
Multi-Factor Enabled
Joined
Dec 16, 2016
Messages
1,137
Location
NC/SC Line
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
So I've said on here before I don't like paddling and fishing, especially in the river and IC waterway and creeks during tidal change, or anywhere there is current. I tried one of these, it changed my mind about a kayak for fishing it handled so well, and was crazy stable. Ended up buying this beast of a yak.

13'2 long
36" wide.

The cart is a must. Hull is 96lbs and drive is 21lbs. Plenty of room for tackle, little storage places everywhere. Room for a big fish bag or even a standard size yeti / cooler. The drive is spring assisted, and you can pop it up with the turn of a knob. Very simple and easy. I'll have this in the water next week and will report back. In the meantime I'm going to mount two rod holders and a fish finder. Already has two places for hummingbird transducers built in, being Old Town is owned by the same company. The Drive feels smooth out the water. I hope it lasts, as this thing wasn't cheap by kayak standards. Minn Kota is also part of the same company and they had a hand in helping design it from what I've watched in reviews.

Can't wait to get this in the water. Come down and teach me a thing or two @Burt Gummer or you other yak fishermen.

Oh I've got to find a long enough paddle, the one I have isn't long enough for this high seat and wide kayak. I'm tempted to use a canoe paddle just for launching in shallows LOL

IMG_0699.JPG
IMG_0700.JPG
IMG_0701.JPG IMG_0703.JPG
 
Last edited:
I see a lot of people with pedal kayak use one of the hand paddles instead of carrying a full size. I'll be at Randleman Lake tomorrow morning bright and early.

Go to Cookout and procure one of the milk crates they leave sitting beside the dumpsters, 3700 Plano boxes fit perfectly.
 
Last edited:
Silver_Bullet said:
So I've said on here before I don't like paddling and fishing, especially in the river and IC waterway and creeks during tidal change, or anywhere there is current. I tried one of these, it changed my mind about a kayak for fishing it handled so well, and was crazy stable. Ended up buying this beast of a yak.

13'2 long
36" wide.

The cart is a must. Hull is 96lbs and drive is 21lbs. Plenty of room for tackle, little storage places everywhere. Room for a big fish bag or even a standard size yeti / cooler. The drive is spring assisted, and you can pop it up with the turn of a knob. Very simple and easy. I'll have this in the water next week and will report back. In the meantime I'm going to mount two rod holders and a fish finder. Already has two places for hummingbird transducers built in, being Old Town is owned by the same company. The Drive feels smooth out the water. I hope it lasts, as this thing wasn't cheap. Minn Kota is also part of the same company and they had a hand in helping design it from what I've watched in reviews.

Can't wait to get this in the water. Come down and teach me a thing or two @Burt Gummer or you other yak fishermen.

Oh I've got to find a long enough paddle, the one I have isn't long enough for this high seat and wide kayak. I'm tempted to use a canoe paddle just for launching in shallows LOL

View attachment 14254
View attachment 14255
View attachment 14256 View attachment 14257
Click to expand...
That's a nice kayak David. I'm ready man. I'd like to come down end of the summer or first part of fall for a weekend. Say when
 
Burt Gummer said:
That's a nice kayak David. I'm ready man. I'd like to come down end of the summer or first part of fall for a weekend. Say when
Click to expand...
When. Just get up with me and let me know ahead of time to make sure I don't have anything going on. I'm off every other weekend. Once I get use to this thing in the rivers and creeks, I'm tempted to troll for Spanish and Kings a few hundred yards off shore. Been watching guys do it from the shore.

Think it's big enough that I won't be a top water plug for a shark? LOL
 
Last edited:
Silver_Bullet said:
When. Just get up with me and let me know ahead of time to make sure I don't have anything going on. I'm off every other weekend. Once I get use to this thing in the rivers and creeks, I'm tempted to troll for Spanish and Kings a few hundred yards off shore. Been watching guys do it from the shore.

Think it's big enough that I won't be a top water plug for a shark? LOL
Click to expand...

Oh yeah. Guy that runs the North Carolina Kayak Fishing Association forum was in the sportsman last year for catching a limit of kings from his kayak at oak island. Lots of people shark fish from them. Most of them live to tell about it haha
 
Burt Gummer said:
Oh yeah. Guy that runs the North Carolina Kayak Fishing Association forum was in the sportsman last year for catching a limit of kings from his kayak at oak island. Lots of people shark fish from them. Most of them live to tell about it haha
Click to expand...

Just carry a dive tank and a Garand....yall will be fine.
 
You just gave me the perfect idea for our place in Murrell's on the ICW! Time for some Google Fu on these. My wife will be so happy that you suggested it to me. ;)
 
skiles said:
You just gave me the perfect idea for our place in Murrell's on the ICW! Time for some Google Fu on these. My wife will be so happy that you suggested it to me. ;)
Click to expand...
I like the fishing in Murrell'e inlet. Only thing is the boat traffic is heavy on the weekends. That gets me to thinking I might need one of those flag poles with a bright triangle flag when in the creeks going through the marsh. Some of those boats fly around those bends, and in a yak you could be bellow the line of sight due to tall grass.
 
Silver_Bullet said:
I like the fishing in Murrell'e inlet. Only thing is the boat traffic is heavy on the weekends. That gets me to thinking I might need one of those flag poles with a bright triangle flag when in the creeks going through the marsh. Some of those boats fly around those bends, and in a yak you could be bellow the line of sight due to tall grass.
Click to expand...

There is plenty of boat traffic on the weekends. The flag is a good idea. That would definitely suck to get plowed by a boat.
 
Silver_Bullet said:
I like the fishing in Murrell'e inlet. Only thing is the boat traffic is heavy on the weekends. That gets me to thinking I might need one of those flag poles with a bright triangle flag when in the creeks going through the marsh. Some of those boats fly around those bends, and in a yak you could be bellow the line of sight due to tall grass.
Click to expand...
Yak attack makes a pole with a flag and marker light that mounts to gear track. It's $90....

I own one. And so far have only used it once. Wish I hadn't bought it. If I lived your way I'd use it every time I went out
 
I've got one that me and my son fart around on at our hunt club. We've got a nice pond on it that's fun to play on and stocked yearly with bluegill or shellcracker. I did a DIY outrigger setup to keep us upright. We took in on the marsh side at Folly Beach a couple of years back and that was a dang workout. Fighting the tide...both ways...lol. Those outriggers have a ton of drag on them.
xXmqfiH.jpg

CHRIS
 
You can't hide money. ;) I would be all over one of those myself if I wouldn't get shot when I got home. That should be stupid stable. It is about the same size as @Bull Durham's kayak, but the extra weight on yours comes from the drive. I've never minded paddling, but have been intrigued by those and peddle ones for white some time. I will say that you will end up carrying more gear than you will ever use. Check out the Garmin Chirp viewfinder if you are looking for one. It is an all in one portable package good for a kayak. I've got myself a small tackle set up for my weekend of mostly ultra light kayak fishing here. You are going to have yoo much fun.
 

Attachments

  • 20170701_205351_001.jpg
    20170701_205351_001.jpg
    168.4 KB · Views: 23
ChickenHawk said:
You can't hide money. ;) I would be all over one of those myself if I wouldn't get shot when I got home. That should be stupid stable. It is about the same size as @Bull Durham's kayak, but the extra weight on yours comes from the drive. I've never minded paddling, but have been intrigued by those and peddle ones for white some time. I will say that you will end up carrying more gear than you will ever use. Check out the Garmin Chirp viewfinder if you are looking for one. It is an all in one portable package good for a kayak. I've got myself a small tackle set up for my weekend of mostly ultra light kayak fishing here. You are going to have yoo much fun.
Click to expand...
Ha I've been skimping on ammo and guns for a while. It's surely still much cheaper than a skiff. I went with the humminbird piranhamax 4 di. 130 dollars and provides 3D image. All I really need to know is the depth and to be able to find a ledge to run bait parallel with for most of the fishing I will be doing it salt inshore. That'll get me by for now. I wouldn't attempt to fish with a paddle kayak in the ICW current. It's hard enough to control a boat with a trolling motor during a tidal change. You would constantly have to anchor.
 
Silver_Bullet said:
Ha I've been skimping on ammo and guns for a while. It's surely still much cheaper than a skiff. I went with the humminbird piranhamax 4 di. 130 dollars and provides 3D image. All I really need to know is the depth and to be able to find a ledge to run bait parallel with for most of the fishing I will be doing it salt inshore. That'll get me by for now. I wouldn't attempt to fish with a paddle kayak in the ICW current. It's hard enough to control a boat with a trolling motor during a tidal change. You would constantly have to anchor.
Click to expand...
@Bull Durham and I fished in the ICW in our paddle kayaks last Ocotober. You end up anchoring, but that wasn't a problem at all. It's shallow enough that you can anchor and pull anchor in seconds. I'm not knocking your setup at all as I am a bit envious. Lol. Best of luck to you. Fishing out of a kayak on the ICW is a blast.
 
Yup, it was great. It's the only way to go if ya want to hit all of the little islands and humps. We both have the anchor trolley system on our boats so it was a snap to deploy/retrieve the anchor and the trolley system lets you fish both with the current or with a quick and simple adjustment, you can turn around and fish against the current (making your bait seem to swim against the current). This is my favorite way to fish the channels, oyster rocks, and sloughs that that you encounter in the sounds. I like to thoroughly work a rock or channel and while drifting is easy, I prefer to slow down and fully cover the water column by quietly anchoring up and fan casting the entire length of a rock or bar.
 
Last edited:
Here, you can see one of the many oyster rocks that we discovered on a falling tide. We were able to work all sides of them from our yaks. On a side note, the channel where TSheaffer got bumped by the "man in the gray suit" was about 150 yds from that spot. He was re-rigging and drifting at the time.
 

Attachments

  • image.jpeg
    image.jpeg
    94 KB · Views: 31
Last edited:
Bull Durham said:
Here, you can see one of the many oyster rocks that we discovered on a falling tide. We were able to work all sides of them from our yaks. On a side note, the channel where TSheaffer got bumped by the "man in the gray suit" was about 150 yds from that spot. He was re-rigging and drifting at the time.
Click to expand...
I can't wait to drift / troll some mud minnows or small croakers on carolina rigs. I love going to the mouth or back of a creek during tidal change and just drifting and dragging a mud minnow. I can already taste the flounder!
 
Silver_Bullet said:
I can't wait to drift / troll some mud minnows or small croakers on carolina rigs. I love going to the mouth or back of a creek during tidal change and just drifting and dragging a mud minnow. I can already taste the flounder!
Click to expand...
Drifting some finger mullet through and area like that should be great for reds. We did it in the creek on the back of oak island during a falling tide and everyone caught a couple nice drum between 30 and 40 inches
 
Burt Gummer said:
Drifting some finger mullet through and area like that should be great for reds. We did it in the creek on the back of oak island during a falling tide and everyone caught a couple nice drum between 30 and 40 inches
Click to expand...
It makes me sad to catch a big drum, cause I can't take it to the hill, but they are tons of fun. Puppy drum in the slot size is good eating. We eat fish 2-3 times a week normally at my house, except this winter we didn't. I'll usually try to get 20+ flounder, and 200+ spots, pompano and Virginia Mullet to put in the freezer each season. Right now I'm craving yellow belly spots, as hurricane Mathew got my catch last fall! Freezers thawed out.
 
Toss my 40" insulated fish bags in the back and I'm ready to troll baits. Just need to add a trolley anchor, and I'm about finished rigging. Two Scotty rod holders front, and a PiranhaMax 4 DI.

IMG_0709.JPG
 
Silver_Bullet said:
Toss my 40" insulated fish bags in the back and I'm ready to troll baits. Just need to add a trolley anchor, and I'm about finished rigging. Two Scotty rod holders front, and a PiranhaMax 4 DI.

View attachment 14519
Click to expand...
I've installed anchor trolleys on several folks kayaks for them. Something about drilling holes in someone else boat tickles me to death
 
Burt Gummer said:
I've installed anchor trolleys on several folks kayaks for them. Something about drilling holes in someone else boat tickles me to death
Click to expand...
I drilled for two clips for the transducer wire at the back. The transducer was too big for the factory cut out scupper hole mount, it's made for the higher end Helix transducers. They had two threaded holes for mounting in the back, just had to drill for the wire, which I did on the top, well above the water lol.
 
Silver_Bullet said:
I drilled for two clips for the transducer wire at the back. The transducer was too big for the factory cut out scupper hole mount, it's made for the higher end Helix transducers. They had two threaded holes for mounting in the back, just had to drill for the wire, which I did on the top, well above the water lol.
Click to expand...

I've heard of lots of folks putting the transducer inside the hull. I've got an old fish finder I'm gonna try on mine. From what I read the only difference you'll see if it won't read water temp correctly
 
Burt Gummer said:
I've heard of lots of folks putting the transducer inside the hull. I've got an old fish finder I'm gonna try on mine. From what I read the only difference you'll see if it won't read water temp correctly
Click to expand...

I had a transducer inside the hull of a fiberglass bass boat and it worked perfectly. Aluminum notmso much. On a kayak it should be fine. Temp sensor is a different cable on the units I've owned. Just run that one off the back.
 
CZfool68 said:
I had a transducer inside the hull of a fiberglass bass boat and it worked perfectly. Aluminum notmso much. On a kayak it should be fine. Temp sensor is a different cable on the units I've owned. Just run that one off the back.
Click to expand...
This unit has the temp sensor built into the transducer. On the newer units that have 3D down imaging and side imaging they say the side imaging won't work well on inside the hull, it needs to be submerged.

The Piranha4max DI is a heck of a deal for a unit with 3D down imaging. It's like the helix 5 just smaller screen, no dual view, and no gps. Anyway I've got a phone gps app to mark a spot. I've been running one on my bass boat, it's not bad for a cheaper unit. Seems just right for a kayak. I would like to get a nicer unit on the front of the bass boat next to the trolling motor. Maybe next year lol.
 
Silver_Bullet said:
This unit has the temp sensor built into the transducer. On the newer units that have 3D down imaging and side imaging they say the side imaging won't work well on inside the hull, it needs to be submerged.

The Piranha4max DI is a heck of a deal for a unit with 3D down imaging. It's like the helix 5 just smaller screen, no dual view, and no gps. Anyway I've got a phone gps app to mark a spot. I've been running one on my bass boat, it's not bad for a cheaper unit. Seems just right for a kayak. I would like to get a nicer unit on the front of the bass boat next to the trolling motor. Maybe next year lol.
Click to expand...

I must be old school. That side imaging seems like cheating! Bummer on the temp and transducer being together. But I guess it is cheaper to produce that way. It seems like I had all sorts of problems with a transom mounted transducer on a bass boat. But that may have been me going places I should not have gone and using a pole to push through shoals, swamps and bars.
 
Last edited:
Well I tried the no drill trolley. Works but looks tacky. Will probably need that line tension piece. It will get me by until I get the nerve to drill in the side of the kayak!

IMG_0730.JPG
 
Silver_Bullet said:
Well I tried the no drill trolley. Works but looks tacky. Will probably need that line tension piece. It will get me by until I get the nerve to drill in the side of the kayak!

View attachment 14698
Click to expand...
Get the kit with the rubber well nuts, I'll be glad to drill it :D
 
I keep thinking on getting a Kayak, I live in Murrells. I'm gonna try to take the boat out to the jetties Thursday, maybe hit 3 mile if it's nice.
 
Fished the Lumber River. That was a good test, as the Lumber river around the state line is one of the faster flowing rivers down this way, not your typical slow black water river, especially when it's holding water.

Was very easy to hold the place as long as you keep the bow directed toward the current, minimal effort on the pedal. Rudder was smooth. Never had to anchor. It moved swiftly against a decent current, 4 mph with little effort. Started in SC, and fished going up steam almost to Fairbluff, probably about 3 miles traveled. Storms started rolling in this evening, and I was able to keep an easy 5-6 mph pace heading back with the current, and that wasn't going all out. Paced with a one man boat with 55lb trolling motor, and could easily stay with him the entire time, and could out run the gravy boat with a little more effort.

This thing will get up to 7mph but of course 7mph isn't sustainable for an average person all day. 4-5 mph with ease all day, which 5mph is about what the gravy boat with electric motor topped out at.
The only negative, and it's not huge negative, is the turn radius. It's about as good as it gets with a rudder, not bad, as it will turn back into your wake, but if you need to do some sharp 90 degree turns, get the paddle out. Only time I needed to use the paddle was to launch and land.

The drive is fairly quiet, makes a tiny bit of noise, as expected, but still quieter than an electric motor. Very smooth, responsive, and geared just right.

Stability is good. The seat is high enough that it's easy to stand up in. Once up it feels stable as long as you have a foot on each side. You can put two feet on one side, but of course it leans and isn't practical to fish that way, but it demonstrates the stability. I'd feel comfortable standing and fishing in this kayak, as it doesn't feel like it's going to roll at all. Exactly what you would expect from a tri hull and 36" wide. You would have to do something crazy to make it roll. That said I stayed in the seat most the afternoon because of the current. I would have had to anchor if I wanted to stand for a while.

Over all I like it, and am very pleased. I'm surprised how fast the pdl drive and this kayak is.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom