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Posted by jas on 09:48:09 07/22/03
In Reply to: All that "stuff" posted by Cliff Blair
: As an east coaster I can' help but be a little jealous of your west coast fishing. I am amazed at all that "stuff" you carry out with you on your yaks. What a mess it must be if you roll over in the surf. I can just visualize one of you trying to get back on your yak tangled with gear, line, hooks and floating debree. My east coast fishing is so simple, one rod, needle nose pliers and couple of lures. Even then I managed to lose my best rod when something big yanked it out of the RAM rod holder when my head was turned...Cliff Blair, Brockton Mass
Cliff,
Before I launch and land, I secure everything. Some days, there is no surf to contend with. Some days there is sizeable surf but I can usually find the lull. Though I prepare for the worst.
I don't always stow my rods in the hatch, but they're always secured with rod/gear leashes. I don't rig up until I get past the surf zone.
I have a tackle bag that holds a couple of thin Plano "somewhat" water proof trays. I use a dry bag to hold my larger tackle trays; these house my lures. Both bags are secured to my kayak. I use retractors and leashes for everything. Both bags go into my rear tankwell. My game clip is secured by a retractor. My game bag, club, bait bucket, etc are secured by additional leashes.
I keep all loose/small items my seat and tackle bag. And my VHF radio is secured to my person by a mini retractor.
I've also glued/epoxied a few small plastic hooks (3M hooks
originally made for hanging keys) inside the yak. The hooks used in combination with small bungees
keep the other gear I stow inside the hatches stabilized (First Aid, Dry Box, Bilge, Jacket, H20, etc;).
It would be difficult to find someone that's been kayak fishing (for sometime) who hasn't lost a rod/reel or other valuable equipment to Neptune. It's also oh too easy to bump something off your kayak once you're out past the surf. I've bumped pliers and lures off in the past but have refined my securing techniques and awareness of my gear to where that hasn't happened for a while (knock on wood).
Once I'm fishing, I'm sure to double check the drags to be sure that if a big fish hits my bait, he can take line without tipping me, breaking my rod tip or snatching my rod out of the holder.
Tight lines,
jas
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