Paddle vs. Pedal: Part 2, My Paddling Peeves.

An important fact that I should point out is the perspective from which this article is written. I am primarily a fisher person who dabbles in kayaking, as opposed to someone whom is primarily a kayaker who dabbles in fishing. Get it?

Here it is, what bugs me about paddling ...none of this bugs me enough that I don't have fun though, the positives far out weigh the negatives! I'd rather fish from my paddle kayak than a motorized boat any day of the week.

The shear amount of time I spend with a paddle in my hand when I'd rather be holding a rod. Their aren't many opportunities to just put the paddle away in the holder and just fish. Even with a light breeze a paddle boat with an efficient hull will drift fast, and drift fishing is usually the only time I actually get to put the paddle away. A drift sock or anchor scenario would allow this with the added complexity of the additional rigging, and more lines and _things_ to be aware of.

I can't effectively slow troll, although I have improved my hook-ups drastically due to changes in technique, I still miss more fish than I'd like to admit. I'd rather have the rod in my hand and feel every little tap as opposed to having the rod way out in front of me, beyond my paddle stroke. More often than not by the time I reach the rod after seeing a hit, the fish has came unhooked and is long gone.

It's hard work, especially into a head wind. I don't mean to sound like a wimp, I often fish spots which require a considerable paddle before I even get started fishing. Throw in a stiff wind, some current or tide action and this can require two, three or even four or more times the time and effort. In-fact throw in the effects of wind, tide and currents and I've probably done the equivalent to a number of 30 km plus outings. After a number of injuries over the years I find this a challenge and often find, upon arrival; I'm needing quite a bit of relax time before I get into any serious fishing ...and that's only if I can find shelter since I could be being driven back by wind or current. I realize if I wanted to take some paddle lessons I could minimize my wind profile with an offset paddle and better technique, but why when their are other options? My core gets pounded, even with months of pre-season core strengthening. My core starts to feel like lumpy jelly after four or five hours of hard paddling, and sometimes I get some really sore joints, particularly my elbows and also my wrists to a lesser degree.

I can't casually drink my coffee while paddling (or other things, ie. pick my nose, swat a fly, smoke a stogie or snap a picture). Well I guess I can however I hate putting that paddle down and loosing my momentum or even distance if the conditions aren't favourable, just for a sip. When I'm actively paddling and I'm enroute I just can't wait to get to my fishing spot.  Sure there are those stellar mornings where this isn't much of an issue, but I'm a big fan of fishing whenever I get the chance no matter what the conditions and I find those stellar weather outings are few and far between.

Stability, don't get me wrong, pretty much ALL fishing kayaks are stable, but the sleeker quicker models which are much more pleasant to paddle for my typical outings, certainly aren't as stable as others. It's not that I've ever tipped, I have come very close on a couple occasions, and if it wasn't for the fact that I'm really on my toes when things get hairy I'm sure I could have gone over many more times.  It doesn't hurt to watch for boat wakes either, had a monster wake get thrown at me from a coast guard ship that decided to gun the throttle out front of me (Pickering, Ontario). If I hadn't quickly and desperately got the kayak pointed head on into that wake I would have been over for sure. Something else I'm finding the need to do is stand on occasion, especially now that I more often fish smaller bodies of water than before. It's not that I can't stand in the Quest, I can, but it's not easy at all and I only recommend doing it when the water is a nice temperature and you have minimal gear.

It could be a drier experience. Quick and efficient paddle kayaks ride low  and aren't as stable or able to carry as much weight as others. I constantly have to be on my toes and work the side angle of the boat to minimize side soakers. I find even with waders on it's uncomfortable to get a soaker, yup, a cold clammy butt sucks. It doesn't bother me so much in the summer but during spring and fall it kind of bites.

Leashes, I use leashes, lots of them, I don't like having to constantly think about things going overboard. Even still I've lost a few items, a net and a few lures; thankfully I have not lost any nice tackle or electronics like a couple of friends have. Since I rarely take that paddle off my lap I have one more leash to contend with and this is the one that annoys me the most. I most often fish with a rod that is kept leashed in a holder on either side of me, I'm constantly getting these rods criss-crossed with the paddle leash. Now I think about it I probably should just dump the paddle leash altogether in favour of a small pack-able spare paddle to be kept in the hull, and possibly add some bright tape to my paddle shaft so I can easily find it floating if it goes overboard. I think this last idea will have considerable impact, I think I'll definitely give this a shot next time I go out in the Quest.

In a weird way, all of the above peeves contribute to the experience positively, they make it more challenging, the experience more consuming, and probably help take my mind off day-to-day stress, ie. work.  I find myself constantly thinking about ways to improve the experience. When I'm out in my Quest I am truly focused on 1) safety, and 2) catching fish, other than that I'm just taking it all in and having a great time.

YakDreams

Custom Scotty Flush Mount for Electronics on a Hobie Outback

Here is a spin I did for a Scotty mount, similar to how I did the RAM mount in my other article here.

After much reading it seemed that Scotty fluch mounts were a fairly popular choice, almost a standard approach to mounting rods in a much more useable way on an Outback. Despite this I really didn't want to cut big holes in my kayak, however after a couple weeks without my electronics or a rod holder I was able to build the courage.

I think one of the deciding factors was that my old 'dashboard' from my Quest seemed to fit the same spot pretty nicely. So I effectively killed two birds with one stone, while I figure out how I'm going to mount my electronics I'll use this rod holder to hold my old electronics setup from the Quest. The only time I tend to troll on this side of the boat is when I'm running more than one rod, and that doesn't happen very often so for now this will tie me over.

Here's the Quest 'dashboard' with the Hummingbird fish finder and GPS;

Here's the same dash on the Outback;

I didn't have to add any holes for the wiring either as I did a similar trick as to what I did with the RAM mount on the Sport. I simply followed the standard install procedure for a Scotty flush mount and then filed a small indent into the edge of the 1-3/8" hole for the wires. I made two backing plates out of Ikea cutting board. One goes inside the hull, one outside. The one on the outside had the channel cut for the wires as per the RAM setup.

You'll notice the angle the flush mount is on. This is necessary to make sure that the bolts are as far from the rudder lines that run inside the hull as possible.

In the future I could replace the dashboard with a simple Scotty Hummingbird mount for a really low profile fish finder mount, or put the electronics somewhere completely different and just use it as rod holder mount. The more I use this setup the more I like it and I'll likely keep it the way it is and figure out a way to mount the second rod holder towards the back of the boat. Another thing I've been debating is moving the fish finder a little to the right on the dash and putting a standard Scotty mount on the dash. It would be a little busy, but it would also be cool to take care of three things with a single flush mount in the hull, ie. less holes in the hull in the end.

My next rigging article will be about the fun I had mounting the outrigger mount.

YakDreams

Paddle vs. Pedal: Part 1, Why I love to paddle fish.

An important fact that I should point out is the perspective from which this article is written. I am primarily a fisher person who dabbles in kayaking, as opposed to someone whom is primarily a kayaker who dabbles in fishing. Get it?

Fishing from a kayak is fantastic no matter what the style you own. You are out on the water fishing and exploring spots you would never have access to otherwise. It is a peaceful, tranquil and relaxing experience with plenty of thrills should you hook into an energetic fish, and can often get you into fish you would have never had a crack at by any other means. Now aside from the general pluses, after nearly four years on the water I had to seriously break down the pros and cons when I was ready to take the next step into a new kayak. Their is constant banter within the kayak fishing community about the pros and cons of pedal vs paddle (also known as Hobie bashing lol, some make a career out of it, right Luna? :) ), this series of articles will give you my point of view.

You know I thought about this a lot, I had many many fun outings in my Hobie Quest (yes Hobie make some decent traditional sit-on-top kayaks that aren't pedal driven), and I don't want to get into everything that happened on those outings but at the end of the day and after lot's of thought, I was really only able to boil it down to a few aspects, primarily shallow water, to a much lesser degree manoeuvrability, and finally a clutter free deck …at least possibly a clutter free deck.

With a sleek and reasonably quick paddle craft I really didn't have to worry about where I paddled, or where I was drifting or where I was getting pulled in the heat of the moment. I say reasonably quick because even when we are talking paddle kayaks, fishing kayaks are wider and more stable, albeit slower than traditional kayaks, even the sleeker and faster ones.

I never had to worry about plowing through thick weeds or skimming boulders. More than a few times, a fish or a combination of having a fish on and dealing with getting it unhooked, maybe taking a picture, and then releasing the fish, I have found myself ran ashore, whether it be rocks or weeds, at least with a roto-moulded polyethylene kayak their really isn't anything at all to be worried about. In-fact from day one this was my entire case for paddling over pedaling, I simply didn't want to worry about stuff like that.

(photo courtesy of Vee)

I've explored extremely shallow back bays, too shallow to hold fish  .....so what's the point other than to see what's on the other side (why did the chicken cross the road?). Unless you are into photography or hunting or turtle collecting this isn't a huge plus, I've even pushed myself through bogs and got myself tossed around a little flying over shallow rocks.

Manoeuvrability boils down to a couple of things. The boat is a good eight pounds lighter than my pedal craft and better balanced, it's easier to load and unload. It also has a very smooth bottom which is great for making quick turns, well quick for a paddle craft anyways, this of course has it's drawbacks when we are talking about tracking. One neat side effect I discovered with this, when I hook into a fish that is behind me or to either side, if it's got some weight to it, the boat spins and points towards the fish relatively quickly all on it's own, that combined with the elasticity of the line and I find I'm on top of the fish in no time and most of the fighting happens close to the boat. This feature is great for tournament fishing particularly if you have a net, but not sure I like this for pleasure fishing.

One thing I should add, if you go with a manoeuvrable design over one that tracks well out of the box, you can always add a rudder to add tracking. The beauty with the rudder is you can always make slight corrections to the rudder angle to counter for trolled lures or wind, and keep an even paddle stroke.  I only use the rudder when going from spot to spot or trolling, the rest of the time I have an uber manoeuvrable platform. I'm not sure I could ever own another kayak without a rudder.

Finally I'll touch on the clutter free deck, which absolutely isn't always an accurate description. You need a place to brace your feet, ie. pedals (which can also be used for rudder controls) or you have one of those ribbed decks which limit your ability to stand comfortably and limit your rigging options. Chances are, if you got into this for fishing, you'll be adding some rod holders, a fish finder, and possibly other mounts for cameras, GPS phones etc. So guess what, good bye clutter free deck  ....however, I put a lot of thought into how I positioned all my stuff, so if I wanted to go out for a reasonably clutter free experience, I could leave all that stuff behind, and go out on a simple outing.  In reality I did this maybe once or twice, so it wasn't much of a factor when I started looking at new kayak options.

YakDreams

Check back for Part 2.

Making My Own Flies and Bucktails

After several years of having a tying kit on my Christmas and birthday list I finally got a kit for my birthday this June.

I tried a homemade concoction just for kicks to get my hands dirty when I first got the kit  ...well I'm pretty ashamed of how it turned out so no pics, however I will fish it just to say it wasn't a complete waste of time.

I'm still trying to get the hang of whip finishing. It's one of those things that I bet is much easier than it looks, I likely need to put the helper tool down and just use my fingers, but then again my eyesight sucks these days so it may not help.

After the first disaster I decided to warm up with some bucktails. I had some 1/8 oz jig heads kicking around so I got to work trying to mimic some successful patterns that I'd fished on my local lakes. I was pleased with how they looked however after fishing them it turns out I had too much bulk in the body and the action was all wrong, I have to trim these puppies down. I made one with synthetic fibres just to see how it compares.

I also made a couple clousers, one in a leach pattern similar to the bucktail colours that seem to work around here and another in a true baitfish pattern, again in popular local colours. I haven't had a chance to try these, I hopefully will soon.

Here they are before I trim them down;

Fishing the Kawarthas, Hot Weather, Not so Hot Fishing

The fishing was probably OK, however I was messing around trying some stuff while my poor wife just couldn't even get a bite.

It was over 30 degrees when we headed out, we immediately saw fish feeding top water so started out fishing some sheltered weedy bays with topwater lures.

My wife had a new rod, her fish finder installed and a new net, unfortunately she didn't get any results with all this new gear.

I started out with a small popper and only got a couple small boils before I decided to give my fly rod a try. If their is one thing I've learned aobut fly fishing from a yak, you want minimal gear and a clear deck to cast from. I didn't last long as I had all my regular rigging plus a couple spinning rods, a few tangles and minimal bites and I decided to give up and try another day without all my other junk. I switched to a texas rigged Senko and hooked into something decent right away on the first cast, almost as soon as the fight began it ended with a break off, it could have been a small muskie.

I then switched up to one of my home made jigs and started fishing a weed flat, after 10 minutes not even a tap, it likely didn't help that my jig had too much body for the size of the head and didn't have sufficient action. I worked it for another 20 minutes or so before switching to a large popper as I approached a weed flat that had delivered in the past. This is a big flat and I fished it for quite a while and didn't get any results. A few times I switched back to the jig, again with no results.

It was time to go but I wasn't ready to give up, I told my wife that I just wanted to try a bay on the way out with a wacky worm. A few casts later I was into a nice bass. I pulled in this nice 17" largemouth. It put up a great little fight and took some drag. It was fat too, had a nice pot belly.

After this fish I had a few more on over a short 20 minutes or so, but I'm not too efficient with the circle hook and just couldn't keep them on the end of the line. In-fact I think I found a colour and technique that may have made the night a very successful one if we'd tried it sooner, oh well, live and learn.

Next time!

YakDreams

Hummingbird Fish Finder Mount on Hobie Sport using a RAM mount

I finally got around to installing a fish finder on my wifes Hobie Sport.  It takes me forever to commit to where I'm going to put stuff and how I'm going to do it. It really sucks to drill holes in the wrong places!

I had a RAM hummingbird kit kicking around for quite a while just for this purpose. I also had a 5 Amp battery and a bunch of hardware. This stuff had been staring at me for long enough, time to get to work.

I chose to put the transducer between the Mirage well and the sail mast socket for a through hull setup. I wiped this spot with rubbing alcohol first, then I simply covered the transducer bottom with a thick layer of silicone and stuck it in place. It took a good couple days to fully harden. Why didn't I use Goop? This is a high stress area due to the sail and drive, Goop is known to react slightly with the plastic and cause quite a bit of heat, I didn't want to take any chances that I'd damage the hull, and last thing I'd want to find out is that no warranty since it was exposed to a chemical (Goop). Plus on my old Quest I used silicone, it's good for over a season, and in fact the last application lasted two seasons and was still going strong.

Sorry, forgot to snap a picture, lot's of pics out there on the intrawebs of this sort of thing, so I won't bother for now.

Here's the mount I'll be using, it has 1" ball.

I made a spacer out of an Ikea cutting board, this will save me from drilling a separate hole and coming up with some sort of fitting for the wires.

I then drilled out the kayak for the mount, I put the mount just ahead of the 'Down' rudder pull. This keeps it out of the way of the tackle tray and pulling the rudder down. Notice I drilled a big hole in the middle, this is where the plugs will pass through. Also be careful with drilling the holes and hole placement, you don't want to fray the rudder lines which run close by. Stick to the shortest bolts possilbe (only stainless of course), I used 1.25" x 10-24.

I then grooved the spacer, the spacer will go between the mount and the kayak, and the wires will run along the groove.

Here it is all mounted and siliconed up, Note: don't use silicone, stick to goop, silicone does not seem to want to stick to the wire at all. On my other setup I used goop and it worked fine, however I like the fact that silicone is easy to remove so I wanted to give it a try. If I ever sell the boat or move the fish finder I just remove the spacer and leave the ball mount for other gadgets.

Here is the fish finder mounted. The hummingbird RAM mount does not come with any hardware, the fish finder only comes with traditional screws. 0.75" 8-32 stainless machine screws and lock washers are the perfect length for mounting the fish finder base to the hummingbird RAM plate.

I bought a weatherproof 12v trailer plug and pig-tail kit from Wally World. I soldered this to the battery and the power line for the fish finder. The battery terminals were given a couple coats of Goop to make them waterproof, you could use liquid electrical tape like I did on my other fish finder battery also. I put heat shrink tubing on the power line solder joints and then added a big blob of Goop to add strength and make sure the heat shrink is sealed up. Since the battery is sealed this makes for a nearly water tight setup, the only thing left to do is to protect the battery from bumps and bangs. I did this by once again breaking out the Goop and gluing some hunks of foam pool noodle to the battery.

The end result shape is perfect for riding in the center hull channel of a Hobie Sport or Outback.



Here's the plug I used from Wally World;

Tested it out yesterday on an outing and it worked great.

Mission accomplished!

YakDreams

Archive: good first day out in 2008 07-01-2008

so back in late March Dr. tells me 'no more kayaking' I held off til now ...I couldn't take it any longer.

After debating selling my yak this past week, with my wifes encouragement, I went out! I wasn't prepared tho, I forgot some stuff, some stuff wasn't working the best after 8 months of outdoor sub-zero storage.. but all in all it was a fantastic trip, the weather was perfect, the lake quiet, despite a bass tourney going on.

I forgot one of my rods so since I had my heavy rod I started out targetting Muskey in unfamiliar territory, my local lake, but at a new launch point. I wasted a couple hours before I moved to the other side of the lake and rigged for plastic. I got action right away with the plastic, landed about half a dozen LMBs, first LMBs I've caught from the yak, and a couple aggressive decent sized rock bass (8" twister tail). This was a great trip, because I've hardly caught a thing on this lake til now.

First cast with the plastic I got this guy, got a few more similar;

Further down the bank I landed this guy, at first I thought I'd hooked a small muskey, he put up a great fight with a couple trips under the yak, eventually he pulled me into the grassy bank. He passed the 18" mark and he was fat, the angle of the pic doesn't do this guy justice (must build camera rig!), his tail is in the footwell, and his girth is as big around as the knee beside him.

Here's another typical;

Hopefully a little physio will keep me fishing, I can't wait to go back out, my best kayak outing yet, bonus that it's local.

good to be back.

YakDreams

Archive: My biggest Yellow Perch 08-20-2007

Well I've been completely striking out in the yak. I'm so new to the water I'm taking the yak out on that I'm too busy exploring, and I'm not finding 'the spots' ...so after 5 hours striking out in the yak, I took to shore to a fun little harbour that always is full of suprises. The water turned extremely cold the last few days in comparison to what it was a week ago, and out came this guy, the perch are usually finger sized at this spot, 13.5" ..my biggest in the 30 years I've been catching them.

(sorry about the poor quality cell phone pic in near dark conditions)

I'm back, well sorta, a new blog, a different theme, and a new kayak!

My first blog didn't last long. It was more general than the new blog, I ranted about technology and the I.T. industry, as well as provided some knowledge sharing, on top of the fishing and kayaking....well I'm done with all that. This time around it's 98% fishing and kayak fishing. But why you must be thinking? I just grew tired of having a beef and having to rant about industry developments, I have to deal with this stuff enough in my day job, other aspects of technology have grown tiring too, I'm not even going to start on that, I'm just done. I just want to put in my time at my day job, do a good job too, go home with a clear conscience and focus on fun and family outside of work.

I'm sad that I seem to have lost most of my old blog. I had wanted to do it all on my own, I built the hardware, setup the static connection, the network, linux, raid, middleware, apache, wordpress ...and the list goes on. I spent quite a bit of time working on images and layout, only to have the box fried in a lightning storm. I still have one of the harddrives, I'm hoping someday I'll find the time to recover some of the images as I can use them here. Fortunately most of my fishing reports are also posted on a few forums so I should be able to recover those.  Over time I'm going to re-create all my past reports to keep the content flowing, and keep them on my personal site for the rest of time. Maintaining this blog will be much less time consuming, I'll be able to focus more on content, which was the driving force in the first place.

As far as the new kayak, after 4 years I've finally took the plunge and bought a Mirage drive boat, a Hobie Outback, I've just started rigging it, as well as my wife's 2 year old Hobie Sport which has remained stock up until now, be sure to check back for reviews and rigging of these two kayaks.

That's all for now, stay tuned as I have lot's to come.

YakDreams

Two new Hobies announced yesterday at iCast

You know at first I thought, hmm these are a bit of a gamble, but not so much anymore. After reading the full release,; instead of yesterdays rumours I'm confident these are winners. Not only will they suit current Hobie Sport owners looking for a step up in speed and maneuverability, they will also make a great 2nd kayak for someone that has a bigger heavier boat and is looking for something that is light and portable, easy to take into hard to reach places and can still carry a fairly decent payload.  I certainly wouldn't hit the big waters with one of these but they sure would be fun on our small lakes and rivers. The only other downside for me would be stability, however I think it's nice that Hobie has come out with a smaller sleek pair of kayaks, the small Revo might even convince a few paddle fanatics to give the pedals a try.

see copy of official news release below.

YakDreams

Oceanside, California – July 13, 2011 – Hobie Cat’s popular Mirage Revolution 13 and Quest 13 now have little brothers, the Mirage Revolution 11 and Quest 11. With the same angler-friendly design, these shorter, lighter models cut through the water like knives through butter. They will be sure favorites for small to mid-size anglers looking to stalk fish with compact, lightweight and maneuverable fishing kayaks.

The Mirage Revolution 11 is powered by Hobie’s patented MirageDrive® pedal system while the Quest 11 accommodates those who prefer to paddle. Fitting a niche that has long gone unanswered, they are first of their kind integrating the feel of longer touring kayaks with shorter more maneuverable river kayaks. They are proudly made in the U.S.A.

Both boats are fast and nimble, track straight and have a sharp turning radius. The cockpit areas include a large front hatch for storing plenty of gear as well as a center eight-inch round hatch. Two molded-in rod holders make trolling easy. Hobie’s Livewell can be added into the trunk areas and can accommodate additional rod storage and live bait fishing. These kayaks will be favorites among anglers looking to fish shallow, fast moving water. But it does not stop there…they are equally as proficient in calm water and ocean waves. There is no learning curve on either boat. They do not use gas and they go places that powerboats cannot like rocky shallows, up narrow creek channels and over prop-snagging vegetation.

A series of fishing-friendly accessories makes it possible for anglers to customize and fit their own preferences. Hobie’s Livewell has a high-flow, self-priming Attwood pump, a six volt sealed gel cell battery, adjustable drain and the capability of holding up to eight gallons of water. A Plug-In Hobie Trax “2” Cart with pneumatic wheels provides for easy rolling of heavy loads over rough terrain or soft sand. Turbo Fins can increase boat speed by over ten percent. New from Hobie….the first ever Horizontal Rod Holder Kit that lets anglers in any kayak, Hobie or otherwise, store rods along either or both sides of their vessel. These are only a sampling of what is available.

Both kayaks are offered in a variety of color choices including Caribbean Blue, Red Hibiscus, Golden Papaya, Ivory Dune, and Olive. They are constructed of seamless rotomolded polyethylene hulls and are designed with open-deck construction. Two-piece paddles with fiberglass shaft and deluxe, padded back-support seatbacks are included with both models. They are easily transportable in the back of a pickup truck or on a roof rack. And, of course, both boats meet the National Marine Manufacturers Association certification requirements for flotation.

HOBIE MIRAGE REVOLUTION 11 The defining feature on the Mirage Revolution 11 is Hobie’s patented MirageDrive. The self-centering padded pedals are connected to two underwater flippers, much like penguin wings; and are locked and unlocked from the kayak with the Click and Go system. Steering is controlled via oversized fingertip steering handle on the left side, making it easy to cast, hook, and land fish while maneuvering to that secret spot.
Length: 11’ 6”
Width: 29”
Hull Weight: 47 lbs.
MirageDrive Weight: 6.6 lbs.
Capacity: 300 lbs.
Additional Standard Features: Oversized forward hatch. Two eight-inch Twist and Seal hatches. Two mesh-covered stowage pockets. On-deck receptacle with cap for optional accessories post or sail mast, dive flag, or nav-anchor light. Deluxe padded seatback with lumbar support. Two molded-in mid-boat carrying grips. Gear bucket. MSRP: USD $1749

HOBIE QUEST 11
Length: 11.1’
Width: 29”
Hull Weight: 47 lbs.
Capacity: 300 lbs.
Additional Standard Features: “Easy Open” hinged hatch with access to large forward storage area. One eight-inch Twist and Seal hatch conveniently located in front of the seat. Aft room for second eight-inch optional hatch for additional storage. Adjustable foot braces for paddling leverage. Two mesh-covered stowage pockets. Two molded-in mid-boat carrying grips. Gear bucket. MSRP: USD $949