Kayak Rigging
I surfed many websites looking for ideas and methods for
rigging my kayak for fishing. You could say that I was like a kid in a candy
store with 5 bucks. The excitement was just as intense as getting my equipment
ready for the first trip of the season. There are so many ways to do this and
no one way is the right way. There were several criteria that I had set for
the rigging process.
- First and foremost, the hull must remain relatively
water tight. That's one of the SOT's assets that I
felt must be maintained.
- Maintain a low center of gravity for stability.
- Maintain a clear deck for fishing.
I started out putting my fish on a stringer
and dragging them around. This turned out to be kind of cumbersome besides, I'd
rather put fish on ice as soon as I catch them to help keep them fresh. I
really needed a place to store a few
drinks, a couple of snacks, and fish. After a little searching I found that the 48 qt. Igloo Soft-sided cooler fits into the tank well on my Drifter
perfectly. It will hold drinks, snacks, and quite a few fish nicely; and
doesn't create any drag whatsoever when paddling from one spot to the next.
Next, I wanted a good pair of
flush-mount rod holders for keeping my rods stowed while paddling and also
holding them in a good position for trolling bass assassins while moving from
one spot to the next. You'd be surprised how many fish you can catch while
trolling from one place to the next. Matter of fact, this is how I find
schools of trout or reds. I opted for flush-mount, thru-hull rod holders that
cost about $5.00 each. I cut the hole for mounting them with a soldering iron
and silicone caulked them before mounting them into place. The soldering iron
made an excellent, clean cut into the plastic hull of my kayak. Some of you
may be wondering, how does that keep the hull intact and water-tight. Before I
mounted them in place, I got a couple of bearing buddy covers that fit over
the end of the holder and tie-wrapped them onto the bottom of the rod holder.
Water doesn't find it's way into the hull around or through the rod holder.
Shown above is another option for
holding rods which, is to tie wrap a couple of foot long pvc pipes to a milk
crate that is strapped in place on the kayak. The crate also serves to hold
other items as well.
I
then mounted a third rod holder between my legs for holding a rod while
removing hooks from fish and repositioning the kayak. I chose a Scotty rod
holder for this job. It can easily be removed if needed, for some reason or
another, with a twist and pull.
Next, no ifs, ands, or buts; I had to scale down
my tackle box. After a visit to Academy, I purchased a Plano Soft Sider
3362-06 Tackle System. It has 4 stowaway containers of which I use 3 of them.
This leaves a little area in the top of the bag for extra items that won't fit
into the zippered pockets. I strap this in place on top of the front hatch. I
can easily slide forward to access anything I might need from it.
This pretty much takes care of the boat for
now. I am still experimenting with an anchoring system and, I am also planning
on adding a depth finder during the winter. Actually, after Santa pays us a
visit this year. I think he's gonna leave me one under the tree.
Texas Gulf Coast
Fishing
