Paddle-Fishing.com

My rigged touring kayak with no permanently drilled holes:
Front view:

Rear view:

The crate, many thanks to the board members here for helping me figure this out:

Testing the crate for float:

The anchor trolly:



The cockpit:



I wanted to setup my touring kayak for fishing without damaging the surface in any way. I pleased with the results everything attaches in under ten minutes and disconnects in five minutes. It's fully functional for fishing or touring.

Some of the key things to make it happen:

Ram mount twist lock suction cup for GPS and cup holder (not shown), these things are strong!
Humingbird F35 wristwatch fish finder. I really don't need to have a lot of detail. I learned to read water long before the fancy fish finders of today were out.
Anchor trolly system attaches with carabiners.
Of course the milk crate rod/gear holder
Home made paddle tether

Nice job.... I have an OK ScupperPro for 5+ years and still have not drilled the first hole in either. Pretty much use the deck loop clips and bungie for everything.

Looks tippy. Nice setup!

Does than anchor trolley have just two anchor points? The two carabiners front and rear? I'm thinking about adding a trolley system to my kayak.

Thanks,

ChrisR wrote:Looks tippy. Nice setup!

I was going to say that FX4 must have damn good balance!

ChrisR wrote:Looks tippy. Nice setup!

It was, I resolved the issues on the maiden voyage. Had to move the anchor to the cockpit and Plano boxes were moved to the bow rigging. Pretty stable once I got the balance worked out.. Not as stable as I would like but it is adequate. The one thing I found is turning around isn't an option in this boat so everything needs to be in front of me and rods rigged before I hit the water. Caught a few nice sea trout today.

yakanglr wrote:Does than anchor trolley have just two anchor points? The two carabiners front and rear? I'm thinking about adding a trolley system to my kayak.

Thanks,

Yes, one front and one rear. If you position the boat properly you shouldn't have any problem with the line crossing you.

The other comment I should add is they fish touring kayaks in cold climates so this isn't all that new of an idea, just not a lot of people doing it down here. I found some video the other day of guys catching huge salmon and halibut in sea kayaks.

Well I think I'll share my adventure from yesterday. You can file this under your newb file:

What a day! Phase one of test rigging failed right at the boat ramp. Nothing like ending up upside down at the boat ramp in front of fifty people. 20 want to help that know nothing about kayaking. Ok reload to reduce the center of gravity. Wind is blowing at about 8 knots as I cross the channel it's giving me a serious core workout. I think well between the paddling and working my core I'm getting a good workout. Finely get over to the flats where I want to fish and decide the boat is still too tippy. I beach the boat reorganize things once again. As I slide back into the boat I get a horrendous stomach muscle cramp in the range of a charlie horse. It took about thirty minutes to clear. Still not dissuaded I paddle out and start fishing, the boat is now well balanced. Kind of paddling, casting I have made about five miles and I get on a sea trout bite. The second one I land jumps right as I go to lip it and buries a treble hook deep in my hand. I work on trying to get it out for about thirty minutes before I realize it is not going to come out without some surgical help. I have five miles to paddle during an outgoing tide with a Rapala crank bait buried in the palm of my hand. This will be fun, not. It wasn't. Banged my hand a dozen times and snagged the lure on the anchor trolly once. My hand hurt. Now I have to get the kayak up on the truck with lure embedded in my hand. Fortunately a couple of well meaning bystanders want to help. A little clueless I hear scraping and I turn around and one guy is dragging my Kevlar kayak across the pavement. I gather all the cool I can muster at this point and say please don't do that, it's very light, you can pick it up with one hand. I just can't get up on the rack with this lure buried in my hand. Anyhow we get the boat strapped to the truck after a few trials. Off to the ER, first thing the nurse says is "Wow that is the worst one I have ever seen and we see a lot of these". An hour later the hook is removed and I'm patched up and on my way home. What a day!

What did I learn from all of this?
1. Keep the center of gravity very low for everything, as in the bottom of the boat, at minimum low to the deck.
2. Rig the rods before heading out, if I need to rig anything other than a crank bait, beach the boat for stability. Honestly it's just easier to have two or three rods rigged so that if one gets messed up just switch rods.
3. Turning around to grab equipment is not an option. I can only reach into the milk crate to get large light items like my flow troll and fishing rods.
4. Bring only what you need. I'm kind of used to bringing the entire tackle store with me so that I can be prepared for whatever the day brings. It's not an option here.
5. Wear paddling gloves. It would have saved me the rest of my fishing day and a trip to the ER. I didn't think I wanted to wear soggy gloves all day but in retrospect the hook would have at worst buried itself in the leather palm rather than my hand.
6. I'll add a fore deck tackle bag as well as another Ram Mount suction cup for a rod holder install. The forward rod holder will just be used as a third hand to hold the rod when tying on a new lure or managing a fish.

What worked well?

1. Pin point casting was a breeze.
2. The Humingbird F35 worked about as anticipated, it gives critical information and not much more. It's an option when space and weight are at a premium.
3. The Ram Mount suction cup is almost as good as bolting things to the deck.
4. Trolly system worked well. Just keep in mind it's all about positioning the boat relative to current and wind.
5. Waterproof, submersible GPS and marine radio proved themselves when I rolled the boat at the boat launch.
6. Because my boat is light and fast I was able to cover a lot of water quickly with minimal effort.

Overall I would say fishing out of a touring kayak down here is very doable but it's kind of like trying to bass fish out of a jet boat meant for fishing in the pacific North West. It's not optimal. On the other hand I can cover a lot of water with ease so that is a plus. I'll report more as I tweak things.

Now that's an honest review/report. Not sure I would enjoy a sea kayak, have you tried SOTs? For me stability is directly related to enjoyability. I imagine it would be tough to hop out of that kayak for wading too.

What model/length is your kayak?

It's a Wilderness Systems Tempest 170, Kevlar. It is one of the very last Kevlar boats they made in the U.S.

DoubleM wrote:Now that's an honest review/report. Not sure I would enjoy a sea kayak, have you tried SOTs? For me stability is directly related to enjoyability. I imagine it would be tough to hop out of that kayak for wading too.

Yes I have, I briefly owned a Tarpon 160. IMO it paddled like a tank and most of my kayaking is touring with my wife. At a later date I may break down and get a Tarpon 140 just for fishing, but for the time being this works.

If you thought the 160 was a tank wait until you paddle a 140! You are comparing apples to oranges, no SOT kayak is going to compare with a touring kayak. They are both built for different applications.

I applaud your efforts in making this work but if you spend a lot of time fishing in Florida you will soon get a SOT kayak for fishing and keep your touring kayak for, well, touring.

And besides, there is nothing wrong with having more than one kayak. I am sure your wife will understand.

Not that much time anymore. Not enough to justify a second kayak along with my power fishing boat. I may get an SOT again at a later date. And yes a realize that it's an apples and oranges comparison. I'll look around and see if anybody makes a glass SOT, I sure did not like trying to cover water with the Tarpon 160.

A glass SOT would last about one day if you fish our waters like they should be fished.