[troppo]

I thought it about time I posted how I rig my yak as it is a little different from what others do. Jokes aside about my fishing ability, I have found my simple setup has worked well on the ocean and in the estuaries.

Below are some points which relate to the pics.

yak_on_car1b
Set up for travelling.

yak1
Ready to go get the big ones!

yak2
I have a bungee cord at the front of my yak where I stick the edge of my net to hold it when paddling. This is just a pic for the forum, as the leash is still wound around the handle and it is not clipped to the yak. The bundle of rope on the front is my 'fore and aft' line that I use to stop the yak sliding forward or backward on the car. I leave it on as I may tie off to a mangrove tree when fishing.

yak3
My tackle box. I got it on special for a coupla dollars. I changed the latch to a bit of bungee cord so I could open and close it one handed. I also got my old knife, cut a bit of plastic from a milk carton (after drinking the contents) and made a sheath. It's stitched together with copper wire and the knife is held in with bungee cord. The tackle box is screwed onto a piece of board that allows me to attach it to my yak and has its own cutting board.

The yellow straps at the side are my attempts at thigh straps. I sometimes put my knees under them, lift my knees a bit in order to brace myself securely. Usually for reentry to the beach and the waves are a bit of a problem.

 

[troppo]

More info.

yak4
I have shaped the board under my tacklebox so that it sits tightly into the hole used for a drink bottle and the rubber stretchy used to hold the drink bottle in place holds my tacklebox down. It can't slide backwards or forwards, except with much effort.

yak5
In cold weather, like below about 25 degrees here in Central Qld, I find the water lapping up the scupper holes to be a bit demanding of my ability to withstand chilling. A cut-out from the top of a broccoli box from the supermarket raises me up just slightly so that very little water reaches me. I could just block the scupper holes but that means I am sitting in a pool of water which warms up as it is not constantly being recycled via the scupper holes. Sitting with that warm wet feeling on that region of my body does nothing to help me relax. In summer, I don't usually worry about it.

yak6
My fishing bag fits nicely into the well behind the seat, and so do my rod holders. My leash of cord is very basic but I have had no problems (apart from jumping out and walking up the beach with the rod only to come to an abrupt halt)

 

[troppo]

Still more. Bored yet?

yak7
Rod holder (hi-tech): The rod holder is made from a piece of dowel which is tied to the seat attachment points just behind my seat where there is a well. Black tubing on each end of the dowel means the dowel can't slide out of the string which ties it down. The rocket launcher on the right is a standard one bought from Big W. On the left is an improved version, an old empty silastic tube left over after I did a bit of plumbing. It has some wire to reinforce the top and tie it to the dowel and is secured by the duct tape. In the bottom of the well behind the seat are two drain holes. The bottom of my rocket launchers have a 'leg' of dowel which go into the holes and secures them there.

My rods have venetian blind cord leashes of about 1.5 m and 'c' clips from a Warehouse special.

While not fancy, the system works very well.

yak8
protector sheet: I have a 1m x 1m thick orange vinyl sheet (cut from floor of old inflatable boat) that I drap over my tackle box. It serves several purposes. (1) My waterproofing on my tackle box is not fully effective so it keeps it dry but allows easy access. (2) [main reason] I drap it over my legs so when I catch a fish, like the 60 cm wolf herring I once got a heap of, I can simply drop them in between my legs and maybe even hold them there while I paddle away from the rocks I am about to be blown onto. Good protection. (3) If it is so windy that this sheet starts getting blown out of my yak (it is heavy duty) then I read that as a sign it is time to head for the shore

 

[RedPhoenix]

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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[paffoh]

Thanks for that mate,

Do you have the anchor secured at all to the yak, or if you get in to trouble with it do you just pick it up and throw it into the drink? ( Im talking deep deep trouble i suppose :? )

The bottle top would hold sand great, i have seen a guy rig something very similar to his sinkers so he held bottom well when surf fishing ( I seriously went up to him on the beach and was like 'WTF?' ).

Great setup, cheers!

 

[troppo]

Paffoh: I only have the anchor secured when I am anchored. I don't take the anchor system with me except when the water is calmish. I don't want to capsize and lose it and don't want to anchor in rough water. The handle which the rope is tied to floats, so I would hope in an emergency and I dumped it for what ever reason, I could go back and find the floating handle.

 

[YakAtak]

Great little yak the nomad, and looks like you got it well set up mate.

 

[Phoenix]

Looks great Troppo.

 

[Dodge]

Troppo after seeing the Nomad of LizardWizard on the water, I know what a practical little yak they are, and you have customised it simply and effectively, a good setup mate :wink:

 

[clouseruk]

Hi Troppo,
I'm very new to yak fishing and at last i've found someone who uses a Feelfree kayak.
I have the stretched version ..the Gemini.

Really like your ideas, especially the tackle box set up, what a clever way to use that space !
I hope to pinch a few of your ideas this winter and fit them to my yak.

Have you any more brainwaves/ideas for your Nomad ?
keep them coming, i can't get enough!

Cheers,

Dave :wink:

 

[troppo]

Thanks guys, I appreciate your comments.

I consider myself an average yak fisho who has been encouraged to experiment by the masters on this forum. I will rue the day when all kayak fishing stuff comes in neat boxes from the shop and there is no room left for innovation and improvisation. However, I don't think that will ever happen. My thanks goes to the folks on this forum from whom I have had oodles of inspiration and been provoked into thinking how to make my yak more fishing effective.

Clouseruk, I hope you enjoy your Feelfree as much as I have enjoyed mine - and that is heaps! If ya need any more info just pm me and I will be happy to help.