[Davey G]

I thought I'd put up a thread about what I carry in my esky. I know a lot of guys use milk crates, but I've been storing my stuff in an esky as if I do happen to flip my yak, I'm reasonably sure that nothing will fall out.

In the esky I have a 'live bait tank' which is basically a plastic rubbish bin that I picked up from Officeworks - fits nicely and takes up half the space. Attached to this is a small aerator. I carry spare spools of leader, my night light and spare batteries, spare sunnies and a few other bits and pieces in a red padded bag, I carry 2 tackle boxes one for lures and one for baitfishing gear and jigheads. I also carry a soft pack that holds my collection of SP's (approx 12 packets). I carry a few bigger lures in a clear plastic case. The live bait tank gets used only about every 3 or 4 trips as most of my fishing is now sp and lures, but it is a good feature to have just in case I come across a school of pilchards, yakkas or squid and can manage to jig some up.

I also carry knife, pliers and line clip in the esky, but once on the water I attach these to the yak in easy reach (the line clip goes around my neck on a lanyard).

This system works well and the esky has a small bungee loop/hook to stop it flying open. It's also bungeed to the tankwell to prevent it flying out when I'm paddling FAST :shock: :wink:

Anyway, I've attached a few piccies fyi..

 

[JT]

Nice set up Dave. How do you find grabbing a livie from the well when it is behind you or do you have to pick uo the whole esky?

JT

 

[Magicrik]

great setup dave, i use a crate. I but realized that if i flip the yak all my gear is going to sink into the wobbly. So what ive done is, with my landing net ive cut the bottom out of it as i think there way to long and if you get a big flattie they get all rapped up in it. And i use the bottom of the net over my crate to keep my gear safe and i tie it i with cable ties.

 

[Davey G]

JT - mate, easy as to reach the livies in the tank. It's just a matter of reaching behind with the left arm, flipping the lid of the esky up and reaching into the bait tank to grab a wriggling pilchard, poddy mullet or yakka. Although when I've got a tank full of live yabbies (nippers) they can give you a nasty nip if you're blindly grabbing one!

With my next yak, I'll be simplifying my tackle and will probably start carrying less gear. I'm toying with the idea of wearing a bumbag/fishing vest in which I can carry spare tackle etc - it's probably much easier having everything in a pocket in front of you (although probably not ideal if you take an unexpected swim). This will also mean that I can do away with most of the gear in my esky and only take a couple of small tackleboxes and a few packets of sp's. I dont carry a net/lip grippers etc so dont need to worry about storing them either.

Rik,, this may be a stupid question but if you put the net over your crate, how do you get into it?

 

[troppo]

I am impressed Davey G with just how neat it all looks and how it fits together. Obviously you have spent heaps of time thinking through what is needed and heaps of time browsing assorted shops finding just the right bits and pieces. And I liked ya stainless pliers! (80% rusty looking).

 

[Magicrik]

Re: Dave, i tie down three sides and leave the one at my back open.......and i use some wier that ive shaped into a hook to hook the open side closed.