Cold winter day, looks like time to mod.

Well it’s been a while. I just thought I would jump in here and let you all know what’s been going on.

In a nutshell… it’s winter.

Now I like to fish year round and I do, but on the kayak it’s just too dang cold to get out and load it up and take off somewhere and sit fishing deep for slow moving fish out of a yak.  Well, for me it is. I’m not hard core like some of the guys at sckayakfishing.com.

A buddy of mine has a bass boat so we hit the water enough to keep my casting on target and the jonesing of my fishing addiction in check.  This also gives me time to look at the yak and modify it to fit my needs a little more. Last weekend while dragging a C-rig and pitching a jig, my big boat buddy and I, were discussing fishing from a yak. He has been out on one I am storing for another friend and he mentioned the new Coosa fishing kayak from jacksonkayak.com. There are a lot of features of this kayak that make it my next purchase when the dust settles and I can find the funds to acquire it.  The wife looking over my shoulder agrees I should have one. It’s just too cool not to have one.  But until then I will need to modify my own to have all the features I need on it.

Precede with this at your own risk. I take no responsibility for you rushing and screwing up your kayak or burning your house or workshop down.

Two of the features that intrigue me are the rod stager and the paddle stager.  When I am fishing and trying to fish two rods together, I will lay one in the floor and then fish with the other. That way I have the other if needed in a hurry. Now with my kayak the rod lays across the front and will slide side to side with the reel end staying in place. this is fine but can move easily from side to side ultimately falling overboard. Yeah, I know, a rod saver or flotation device on it would keep me from loosing it, but not really what I’m after here. The Coosa has indentions in the edge on the front that will cradle the rod and keep this from happening with a bungee in the floor to lock it in place. They list it in the specs as rod stagers.  Hmmmm I say… I think I could modify my deck to allow the same features on mine.

So sitting on my comfy couch looking at the still up Christmas tree, yeah I’m busy guys bowl games are on and the Falcons are headed to the Super Bowl, I get out my sketch pad.

When I did this my wife let out a sigh that made me think the heat pump had sprung a leak in one of the freon pipes. Rolling her eyes she is asked what I am planning now. In my defence most of my sketches have come true and most work correctly, providing small children with the habit of repeating off color remarks are not nearby.

Anyway, I was able to sketch out where to place my rod stagers on my kayak and also the Coosa has a paddle stager that keeps the paddle from rolling front to back when not strapped into the holder.

Tools were the next train of thought. I had to figure out what would be a great way of creating these indentions. When doing something of this nature you don’t want to cut on your kayak all that much. A hole lets water in. So I decided a propane torch and golf club shaft would serve as my molding tools for the rod stager and an aluminum pipe slightly larger than my paddle shaft for my paddle stager.

The key to using a torch is to not touch the hull with the flame. The key to using a torch is to not touch the hull with the flame. The key to using a torch is to not touch the hull with the flame.

That was not a typo.  If you touch the hull it will soften and char black before you can realize it and then it cannot be molded. Charred polypropylene is rock hard and you want some softness to flex on impacts and to be mailable for shaping. I would suggest practicing on an area that is going to be unnoticeable or if you have a separate piece laying around, practice on that.  I got lucky with my Mojo Angler by Emotion ®. It came with a detachable center console that I have decided not to use and will provide me with much practice on this and hole and crack sealing media.

Go ahead and decide to do this over a couple of days so you wont rush it. I would suggest starting on the rod stager because it is the smallest and easiest to do. If you make it ugly you can decide a different way for the paddle stager or not to do it at all.

The key to creating these staging areas is to measure where you want them. (2 or 3 times is good, you can’t undo this) Please take your time the fish will still be there.  Also sit in the yak and make sure when these are used everything will be where you want it to be and out of the way. The last thing you want to do is trip over something when you learn to stand and fish.  (Speaking of this, LEARN how to reenter your kayak if you fall out. Both deep water and shallow water reentry. And always wear your P.F.D.)

When heating this large of an area you want to do it slowly and then press the molding tool into the “softened” area not the “melted” area. A melted area will possibly leave a hole or look bad. Trust me you’ll look at it while fishing and constantly wish you had taken your time. It’s also a good idea to use a high heat resistive grease on the metal of the molding tool to prevent sticking to the softened plastic.

The way I did this was to hold the torch about 4-5 inches away from the area I was heating and watched the area to see it start to soften. You have to gauge on how long to hold the heat on it. Different kayaks have different thickness to the hull so it may be thinner or thicker depending on manufacturer. Mine did turn a slightly brown shade but I didn’t allow it to burn.  After heating the area for a little while I tested the softness with the molding tool, the golf club shaft, and pressed firmly down to see if it would sink in and it barely worked so more heat needed to be applied. You do not need a one inch deep impression here, only enough to cradle the rod shaft. Then step away and let it cool.

Once it cooled I sat in the yak and placed the rod where I wanted it to be and was very satisfied at how it turned out. Not deep enough to lock it in where the tip could be snapped off, but enough to keep it from sliding side to side with weight shift when I’m standing.

I didn’t take the time this time to do pics while working so here are some of the finished projects.

Rod Stager

rod stager

Now when you do the paddle staging area remember you are heating a greater area and are dealing with a thicker part of the hull so be careful. Take your time and do each side slowly like you did with the rod stager.

Here are a couple of pics of the paddle stager.

Here is a pic of the stager with the aluminum pipe.  I had to heat twice and press with all my weight to make each one.

Here is a pic with the pipe across the yak in both paddle stagers. You have to make sure and measure correctly when you do the second one. You really want them to match up.

Hope it works for you as it did for me. Remember I take NO responsibility for you trying this on your own.

Be safe and God Bless.

Brett

The Anchor Trolley

One of the great things about having a yak is the portability of the beast. Beast, you may ask? Yes, when trying to figure out how best to load it on your Explorer with 31” tires and a small suspension lift it does turn into a beast. I’m sure I bring great laughter and joy to quite a few of my neighbors.

With the yak being so portable I quickly found myself unable to just fish. I was forever spending the majority of my time readjusting my location to where I wanted to fish. The wind, the current, or even a bite once in a while would drag me off my location. I needed a way to keep myself put.

Enter the anchor. I Imagine a guy a few years ago, Kronk we’ll call him, was trying to make his way across a river filled with caveman eating monsters or fish in that same river, on a dried out log. While in the middle of the river paddling with his hands he may have looked down and saw a multitude of fish he could catch. Fishing with a cane pole and paddling with one hand I am sure got old really quick. So later that night whilst poking sticks into the fire trying to find a better show to watch, (stick poking the fire was similar to channel surfing now-a-days), he came up with a vine and a big rock. That next day he went out back and rigged it all together. Yeah, I’m sure his buddies were laughing at him and all his work but he was determined to make it work. Later that night while drying out and channel surfing he decided to tie the vine to his log instead of his leg. Especially in deep water. That next morning the anchor was used correctly for the first time in history. Coming home that afternoon with the catch of the village and having his pic chiseled in a rock was undoubtedly on of the highlights of his life.

What did Kronk teach us…. location of tie-off and length of anchor rope is “very” important.

Now there are many types of anchors for many different functions. To us, kayak fishermen, it can be whatever weighs more than your average brick and can be found around the house. Finding something around the house is great, it feels free. You don’t even think about the fact you already bought it a long time ago. Anyway, a length of logging chain or a dumbbell even a kid’s sand pail or empty 2 liter bottle filled with Quickrete, makes a good anchor.

My anchor is a foam covered 3lb dumbbell from Wally-world that someone in my household acquired to use in an effort for weight-loss. My rope is a good 50ft anchor rope from the same place. I first used carabiners or snap rings on each handle beside the seat for my tie off points. Very useful quick disconnect.

For river use I realized this would not work the way I needed it to and would possibly cause my fishing buddies hours of entertainment and re-enactment. Not wanting to endure this emotional abuse once again I hit the inter-web and went to SC kayak fishing and GA kayak fishing websites to research the anchor trolley. (Both sites are to the right on this page)

I will now go through my second install of the anchor trolley. The first one was placed incorrectly and required me to learn a new craft called welding of plastic. I had to fill in the holes of my first attempt. It did work but was not placed correctly to maximize use.

One of the main reasons you see me putting the bungee cord on the stern of my anchor trolley is that if I am on a river in better than slow water and I drop the anchor I don’t want there to be a hard shock to that mount if it gets hung up on a rock. A soft stop as we called it in school would keep it from ripping off after a few jolts.

Now here is an interesting scenario. Let’s say you are in a lake and you are anchored on the deep end of the spectrum, and you hookup with a nice big fish and you need to play the fish and enjoy the sleigh ride. What are you going to do? Waste time weighing anchor? No, what you do is use snap rings or a carabiner and you use it to connect your anchor to your anchor trolley. Then when you need a quick disconnect you just unhook it and let it go onto the water.  No, no, no, you wont loose all your rope and anchor, because you have a float of some kind tied onto the other end of your anchor line. I personally have a 1 liter plastic bottle tied off on mine so I can drop it and pick up my anchor later. Just be sure to test your anchor and float before you have to use it. Seeing your float sink below the surface might cause you some concern so make sure you test it first.

The end result…

Be safe out there and God Bless.

Brett

Fish Finder Installation

Installing the fish finder

After doing the sales paper research and finding a fish finders that I could afford I went out and researched the heck out of them. Looking on-line and also at the units in the local sporting goods store and having the opportunity to see them run in demo mode I decided, for better or worse, to go with the Eagle Cuda 300. I hate seeing the little arches and wanted a fish id option on the unit of my choice.

This little gem worked great first time out. I kept making changes with the settings until I had it so out of whack that I had to reset to factory but once I got it back to where I wanted it I left it.  It just takes some time to get it set correctly to suit your needs.

When mounting a ff in a kayak you have one of two options.
The first option is to rig it outside the yak so that water temp can be read and you get a very clear reading from the unit unobstructed as you would through the hull.

In fishing the river I decided the second, more commonly used in a yak, option would be mounting the unit inside and shoot through the hull. That way the transducer would be protected should I have to scrape over rocks in fast moving water and not worrying about snapping it off.

Location, Location, location!!

I sat in my hot work shop with fans blowing the hot air around for a good 30 minutes moving the ff connected to the mounting bracket until I found a spot that was relatively out of my way but easy to get to in order of making adjustments or to just turn off. (the butt of my fishing rod works great as a remote if I’m in a lazy mood.)

I followed the steps already listed in the following link. Follow these instructions and I will post my finished product below.

Install fish Finder

Thank you so much Ted Mackel for your instructions. You really made this an easy install.

So I decided to mount the ff on the right side of the yak in front of my foot wells. It’s easy to see and it is out of my rod holder’s way when using it to troll around.

I had to drill four holes for the mount. The center one was large enough for the ff connecting cable to slip through with slight force and also the three holes for the bolts to mount it with. I filled all gaps with a marine grade sealant that I thought would not drip but it did. Have to clean that up later.

Next came the fun task of finding a good spot for location of the transducer. I decided I didn’t want it directly under me and since I have a pretty high water line on the side the bow would be in the water under every situation I could think of. As per Ted’s instructions I sanded the bottom of the yak and then “tried” to mount a cup that I could pool up the “glue or sealant” for the transducer but it would not stay in so that is the white ring you see. I put in a copious amount of sealant and put the transducer in with the rear going in first and rocking forward while pushing down to get all air bubbles that may have been created out of the way. Then I taped it down and but a 3lb hammer on it to keep steady pressure. In 24 it was ready to fish.

For the battery a quick trip to Radio Shack got me going with an 8 AA cel power supply.

Good Lord look at the wires!! What am I going to do with all this. LOL So I take an extra eyelet I had laying around and put it on the inside of the yak and coiled up all the wire and zip tied it on that eyelet. Tucked safely out of the way.

It works great. With a 3/8 oz jig with zoom trailer I could see the jig rise and fall on the screen of the ff. Loving it so far now just need to get the skunk off.

Good luck out there and God Bless.

Brett

Mojo Angler Modding

(This all took place in the summer of 09)

So after having quite a few good days on a couple of lakes and the river, I have found the console of the Mojo Angler to be in the way even when pushed all the way back to the furthest position. It would be ideal for someone of smaller stature but my almost 6ft frame it kind of gets in my way. The wonderful guys at Emotion made it so you can remove the console. Here you can see that it has a nice little spot for the water proof pelican box that came with it and the Scotty rod mount, and a nice cup/water bottle holder. ( I don’t think they ship with them anymore)

Well, I decided I could move mine and I would be able to move around more freely and cross my legs when needed. Another reason was turning side-saddle, while the sides of the yak are tall getting my long legs past the console was tricky.

Now taking the Scotty mount out of the console was lots of fun. They used some kind of industrial rivets that the drill just spun to no end.  After getting a screw driver in enough to apply some pressure I finally drilled out enough to pop the mount off the rivets and there was no turning back.

Placement for my Scotty rod holder was key to my enjoying myself fishing. I needed it within reach but not so close I would have the same trouble with it as I did my console.  Here is where the wife and kids bugging me for a pool comes into play. (I agreed to a 27ft round above ground pool 2 years ago.) After launching in the pool and trying to get in I realized my skills at re-entry were lacking, severely.  I’m sure my neighbors that were mowing their lawn enjoyed the show. One guy actually checked on me after a failed attempt. You see, I figured out how to get in fairly easily in the 4ft of water, only took a couple of tries, but when I tried getting in without pushing up with my feet is when it actually turned into a fight against all that is unholy in this world and I wouldn’t quit until I had made it.  The third try like this caused the yak to roll violently and the opposite side of the cockpit smacking me very hard in the top of my head.  I did see stars, and my neighbor got off his mower to check that I was alright. (yeah they think I’m strange now)  After much discussion and figuring out you have to enter from the bow in deep water I could go back to my original purpose.  I found that if I placed the rod mount between the cup holder and the front of the cockpit I would be able to not only reach it easily but it would be well out of my way.

After a quick drying off and dragging the yak back to my shop if drilled all needed holes and had attached my rod holder back onto the yak. I only had automotive silicone in a blue color for sealing the mount and you can see some of it on the side in the pics. It’s sealed and doesn’t need to be pretty.

All in all I am very happy with it.

Be Safe and God Bless.

Brett

Brett’s first post!

Well, now here I am.  Most know me not to be one that would start a blog much less put any time into it. So, we’ll see.

About a year and a half ago I decided to quit saving up for a bass boat and pursue fish from a kayak. After reading endlessly on the internet and watching youtube videos with guys and girls catching fish from a kayak I seriously started searching for one of my own.

A local hunting and fishing outfitter, The Southern Sportsman, is the upstate retailer of Emotion kayaks.

http://www.thesouthernsportsman.com/

http://www.emotionkayaks.com/

I decided the Mojo Angler was more my size and fit nicely into my budget. These guys are great and let me try it out one day on a local lake. I was sold. It was a very steady ride and I felt very confident after only 20 or so minutes.

I went to other demos and tried other yaks out but most of them were all out of my price range. The mojo fit my needs and that’s what mattered, well, that and getting on the water.

I also love photography and will combine the two for hopefully a good read and perhaps take you on an adventure or two with me.

I’ll leave a pic of my Mojo and can guarantee many more are to come.

Be safe and God Bless

Brett