Comments on: Kayak Fishing 101

By: Roland

Roland — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 13:31:51 +0000

D-Sea and Julian, agree as well. In fact I too use it for a variety of purposes. I’ve actually used it to pole around in shallow waters while sitting in my yak.

By: Julian

Julian — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 00:00:04 +0000

I agree, Yak Attack stake out pole is great. Another big advantage I didn’t realize when I started fishing out of the yak was I could retrieve my lures, unlike when I got hung up bank fishing. I just shove the handle end down on the hangup and it comes loose pretty easily. As far as fishfinder goes.. I’m using the Lowrance Elite 4 DSI. It has gps and downscan. I mainly use it for depth for which is very helpful on the yak in murky water. You never know what you might hit. I almost hit a ripped up submerged dock that was swept away in the last storm. Luckily I noticed it on the downscan and the depth was real shallow which alerted me also. I’m still not sure what an actual fish looks like since it’s my first ff and am still getting used to it. The ff records my tracks and I’ve used them to navigate through debris by following the track I made the last time while the water was lower. A ff is a great addition to a fishing kayak for more than finding fish!

Julian

By: D-Sea

D-Sea — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 20:23:33 +0000

For relatively shallow water like saltwater bays and creeks, the kayak stake ACK sells from Yak Attack also works great. I tie from the side cleat so I can sometimes stop larger reds from getting to docks and other structure or can quickly release if the fish goes out towards open water.

By: Roland

Roland — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 20:03:22 +0000

Kim, I personally don’t use one but I o see how many of our customers and my fishing pals do benefit from them. Budget plays a big role in this but for less than $100 you can get outfitted with a system that will do the job just fine. We carry Humminbird products: http://www.austinkayak.com/brand/119/Humminbird.html You’ll see our full like from $89-$2,799.00. As you can see, prices vary quite dramatically. I recommend you read some of the reviews but our more popular models are the 160 due to price and the 385ci Color Combo which comes with an OK compatible transducer (http://www.austinkayak.com/products/1678/Humminbird-385ci-Color-Combo-Fishfinder-Ocean-Kayak-Transducer.html). Of course, you can also buy the OK compatible transducer on it’s own:http://www.austinkayak.com/products/2625/Humminbird-Transducer-for-Ocean-Kayak-Fishing-Kayaks.html

By: Roland

Roland — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 19:51:41 +0000

Charlie, a VERY good point. That’s happened to me before! Another option that many customers configured involves a setup where they utilize snap clips to create a small leader so to speak that connects to the boat and then use another snap or quick release hook at the end of that leader. The extended section of the line will have a float attached to it so that if they had to unhook it for any given reason (catching large fish, sudden current or wind change) they could retrieve it later. Thanks for pointing that out Charlie…good stuff!

By: Kim Erbivelli

Kim Erbivelli — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 19:05:40 +0000

In your opinion, what is the best fish finder to use for kayak fishing. I have a Ocean Kayak Trident 11. I fish in both salt and fresh water.

By: Charlie

Charlie — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 18:31:05 +0000

Anchoring in a flowing river or area of flowing current will cause you to capsize!!!
The boat will swing to face sideways into the flowing water, and swamp you.
Avoid this by buying Austin Kayak’s anchor trolley system that lets your anchor line move to the front (or back) of your kayack so it will swing like a weather vane into the wind – or in this case into the oncoming current.
[Overall great article Roland, just thought I should mention this.]