Basic kit for a Kayak

[Aimless]

Hey crew,

I should be banned from this forum as I'm still back in SA and having a good time fishing.

My parents moved out of their place and lo and behold, I rediscovered a kayak I used to zip around on as a teenager. It's one of these Australis Squids, I think it is the 3m model:

https://www.outdoria.com.au/a/sit-on-ka ... _id=278919

The thing was pretty decent in its day. Although looking at the kit you guys have and the newer Hobies etc, the setups and tech has certainly come a long way.

I was wondering if you think it's worth rejigging this thing to become a fisher. I used to just paddle up and down the beaches and get knocked around in the waves with it. Pretty stable and comfortable and has a couple of rod holders on it.

If I was to kit it out somewhat, what's the basics I need to go fishing on a relatively calm day? Life jacket? Dry bag? Floating box? Keen to hear the thoughts of the pros.

I have roof racks so of course was flooded with visions of travelling to distant bays and going walkabout with it.

I was fitter back in the day so will need to get my arms back up with paddling, and probably practice coming off and on it a lot although I did that plenty.

Don't need much in the way of tackle. A rod and some jigs I think.

Cheers

[Sebb]

Hey crew,

I should be banned from this forum as I'm still back in SA and having a good time fishing.

My parents moved out of their place and lo and behold, I rediscovered a kayak I used to zip around on as a teenager. It's one of these Australis Squids, I think it is the 3m model:

https://www.outdoria.com.au/a/sit-on-ka ... _id=278919

The thing was pretty decent in its day. Although looking at the kit you guys have and the newer Hobies etc, the setups and tech has certainly come a long way.

I was wondering if you think it's worth rejigging this thing to become a fisher. I used to just paddle up and down the beaches and get knocked around in the waves with it. Pretty stable and comfortable and has a couple of rod holders on it.

If I was to kit it out somewhat, what's the basics I need to go fishing on a relatively calm day? Life jacket? Dry bag? Floating box? Keen to hear the thoughts of the pros.

I have roof racks so of course was flooded with visions of travelling to distant bays and going walkabout with it.

I was fitter back in the day so will need to get my arms back up with paddling, and probably practice coming off and on it a lot although I did that plenty.

Don't need much in the way of tackle. A rod and some jigs I think.

Cheers

Looks like a good little kayak.
Perfect for inshore and yes maybe in the bay on shallow water and calm day.

There isn't much space, so keep it simple and minimize everything, good for catch and release.

Might be a bit tricky to take some fish home (where to put the fish). If you're comfortable to reach the hatch and open and close, might be able to utilize it as fish storage. Or if the fish is small, or squid, place in a plastic bag and between your legs.

PFD is a must. Maybe just one rod and a small tackle box on the vest/PFD. And a water bottle. Hand paddle with bungee cord clipped to the kayak. No more I'd say.

Prepare to get wet and bring change in the car. Stay close to shore. Pay attention to the weather, wind is priority, then current, etc.

[Aimless]

Looks like a good little kayak.
Perfect for inshore and yes maybe in the bay on shallow water and calm day.

There isn't much space, so keep it simple and minimize everything, good for catch and release.

Might be a bit tricky to take some fish home (where to put the fish). If you're comfortable to reach the hatch and open and close, might be able to utilize it as fish storage. Or if the fish is small, or squid, place in a plastic bag and between your legs.

PFD is a must. Maybe just one rod and a small tackle box on the vest/PFD. And a water bottle. Hand paddle with bungee cord clipped to the kayak. No more I'd say.

Prepare to get wet and bring change in the car. Stay close to shore. Pay attention to the weather, wind is priority, then current, etc.

Thanks Seb, good advice as always.

I would probably prefer a regular ole life jacket. Do you know of any decent ones with some pockets built in? Something like this but that I can trust will actually keep me afloat if needed!! Ideally not costing $300 either. Even better if it'd work for some rock fishing.

I'd be happy with a bag between my legs, that works for me. The hatches are pretty hard to open from memory.

I think mine has one of those wraparound cords along the edge that'll keep a paddle in place.

[4liters]

Life jacket, maybe a PLB, small tackle box in the rear hatch if you can reach it on the water. I use an Ultra Trek PFD, it's got a bunch of pockets where I keep snips, pliers, phone, keys and so on.

A fishfinder is a great thing to have. I would look at gluing the transducer to the inside of the hull in the front hatch, then drilling a hole near where your feet go for the cables to come out, and mount the head unit between your feet. One of the 7ah FPV batteries would keep a small fish finder chugging along for days.

I've found Berkley Quick Set rod holders to be far more user friendly on the yak compared to rod holders. Your typical rod holder needs the rod lifted forwards, away from where you are sitting which is awkward and can lead to missed bites. The Quick set rod holders you can just lift the rod straight out. The disadvantage is you can't lock a rod into a Quick Set holder so if you flip you'll lose it unless you have it leashed.

With small yaks a deck bag might be a good investment. You can get insulated ones for keeping fish and drinks cool, but the rear deck might be a good place to put a second one if getting in that hatch is hard to reach.

An anchor is super handy to have. I don't think it would be very tidal where you are so you can probably get away with a 1kg grapple with a short length of chain and rope wrapped onto one of those 6" hand caster reels. I'd have a separate pouch for this and store it in the rear deck bag/hatch. If you get an anchor I would recommend installing an anchor trolley as well. BCF sell kits, and most kayak stores probably have them too.

A little drift chute would be good, you'd be able to scrunch it up and tuck it behind your seat when not in use. Being able to control your drift makes fishing out of the yak a lot easier.

Attaching rocket launcher style rod holders to an esky or a crate is pretty common but looking at the pictures in that link you've shared there's not really any space to put a crate. What you could look at instead is a DIY PVC rocket launcher that plugs into flush mounted rod holders. If you don't have flush mounted rod holders they're pretty cheap to buy and easy to install. Just make sure they don't have a hole in the bottom for obvious reasons - flush mounts for boats often have this to allow water to drain out.

Here's an example, you probably won't want as many rod holders but you get the idea:



OK - the caveat to all that is that you've got a pretty light kayak so you will want to keep the load as light as possible. As a consequence you might want to hold off on some of those items and keep your trips focused on just one target with a specific set of gear on board.

[cheaterparts]

Hey crew,

I should be banned from this forum as I'm still back in SA and having a good time fishing.

My parents moved out of their place and lo and behold, I rediscovered a kayak I used to zip around on as a teenager. It's one of these Australis Squids, I think it is the 3m model:

https://www.outdoria.com.au/a/sit-on-ka ... _id=278919

The thing was pretty decent in its day. Although looking at the kit you guys have and the newer Hobies etc, the setups and tech has certainly come a long way.

I was wondering if you think it's worth rejigging this thing to become a fisher. I used to just paddle up and down the beaches and get knocked around in the waves with it. Pretty stable and comfortable and has a couple of rod holders on it.

If I was to kit it out somewhat, what's the basics I need to go fishing on a relatively calm day? Life jacket? Dry bag? Floating box? Keen to hear the thoughts of the pros.

I was fitter back in the day so will need to get my arms back up with paddling, and probably practice coming off and on it a lot although I did that plenty.

Cheers

First if you are kayak fishing S.A. check the local rule first - I have fished with a few S.A. guys and I know the off shore rules are different to Victoria or NSW - inshore or inclosed may be different as well

Locally I never recommend a 3 meter kayak for the bays on anything less than prefect conditions as they are to slow and can become unstable very quickly as conditions go bad - keep that in mind if you go with a short kayak
if you do like kayak fishing look for a fishing kayak more around the 4 metre or longer - it will be safer
to give you an idea I started with a 4.1 metre - then moved to a 4.3 metre and now use a 5.25 metre ski and will go longer next time for the ease of covering distance quickly

as for set up almost every kayak is set up a little different and not because some set up wrong it's more what suits you and the fishing you do

the things I would do - fit an anchor trolley - this give you the option of anchoring safely or to use a sea anchor and set up which way angle you wont the kayak to drift
rod holders in positions that suit your needs and out of the way of you paddle stroke
safety gear as the state rules require
a fish finder to help find structure
some where to store fish - or bait - or lures

but also remember that a shore kayak you do run out of room and normally you can over load the weight limits again fairly easy that also adds to stability problems

hope that is some help

[Sebb]

Thanks Seb, good advice as always.

I would probably prefer a regular ole life jacket. Do you know of any decent ones with some pockets built in? Something like this but that I can trust will actually keep me afloat if needed!! Ideally not costing $300 either. Even better if it'd work for some rock fishing.

I'd be happy with a bag between my legs, that works for me. The hatches are pretty hard to open from memory.

I think mine has one of those wraparound cords along the edge that'll keep a paddle in place.

No worries. Happy to help.
There's a lot of PFDs out there, best is to go to the shops and have a feel what's right for you.
I personally don't like the inflatable and auto inflate, as we have to check the gas, replace, etc. More hassle.

[croe04]

Most of what i'd say has already been said by others, but as for PFD's I have this one and it's great, heaps of pockets etc etc. A PFD is really something you don't want to cut cost on.

I'd focus on economising and especially planning a lot of your trip beforehand because of the size of your kayak, My kayaks longer with much more storage so I can bring 3 rigged rods as well assortments of random gear like plastics jigs etc, but because of your limited storage options figuring out what gear you're bringing to target what will make it much less of a hassle trying to manage everything.

Unless you already have the rod holding accessories like on the website, I would also consider picking up a flush rod holder and doing a bit of drill work because trying to hold a rod between your legs while paddling, especially in less than favourable conditions is not fun.

[Aimless]

Thanks for the tips everyone.

Bit early for me to be looking at sounders and all that - I am just keen to get on the water safely and cheaply using what I have to begin with. I think I will pick an easy spot and give it a go. If I really take to it, I'm sure I'll end up going all in and decking out a sleek new system... but for now let me just catch a squid!

Cheers for the PFD recommendation folks. Croe that looks like the ticket, not too expensive and does what I need too.

[Aimless]

One other question I had - does anyone take out any other safety gear for close-to-shore trips? E.g. beacons or anything?

And what is the preferred type of dry bag. When I go wading I just put my phone in a ziplock which seems to do the job.

[Sebb]

One other question I had - does anyone take out any other safety gear for close-to-shore trips? E.g. beacons or anything?

And what is the preferred type of dry bag. When I go wading I just put my phone in a ziplock which seems to do the job.

Yup, I put my phone on a ziplock and into one of the PFD's pocket.
If you're fishing day time and flat calm day close to shore at a popular spot, high vis clothing, safety flag and maybe a whistle? Should be okay. Diff story if you're going to a remote places. With your kayak (and since you're just beginning to get to it), probably best to fish day time at popular places. Like mornington rocks etc, where you can catch squid close to shore and a lot of people around yet you can still get your own private spot being on kayak.

For low light, definitely need more than just a head torch.