Yakkity Yakkers

[Roger Smith]

As there are a few kayak fly fishers in our club I thought I may start a new thread on this subject. After much past reluctance I have just bit the bullet and bought a Pedal-fish 10. This boat is manufactured in china and sells for a very cheap price. The finish and quality on this craft is equal if not better than I've seen on other more expensive models. It uses a pedal to propeller system, which means it can go in reverse which is a major advantage as far as maneuverability is concerned. It has 3 built in rod holders and includes 2 rocket launchers NONE of which will fit a fly rod. This was easily over come with a few bits of poly pipe. Also with some difficulty I can carry this beast on top of my small car.
I have only had a couple of trips in it and so far been pretty impressed with this type of fly fishing, mostly fishing some snaggy areas on the Murray River, So what I would like to hear is some discussion on what equipment is really necessary. I'm thinking a small plonk to slow down my drifting, anyone any experience on this. How about some sort of stripping basket (I discovered the hard way this boat has a propeller). What sort of areas are other fly fishers frequenting? Anyone know of a gadget that makes getting it on top of a car easier?

[peter birch]

You can ask Dee about a drogue.

[Hirdy]

G'day Roger,

Have a bit of a browse on the YakFishWest forum: all of your questions and many more are answered there. I'll have a go at some them here too.

For a plonk, I use a 15lb dive weight attached to a dive reel. Works very well.

You can put a towel on your lap to use as a stripping basket. Your stripping pallet attached to the side of the yak would also work very well, floating beside you and trapping the line.

There's a device out there which extends your roof rack while you put the yak on, then pops off for driving. I can't remember who makes this commercial product, but I did the same thing with a piece of 1" square rod inserted into my roof rack. I bought a particular roof rack just for doing this. The idea is to lift one end of the yak up and put it on this rack extension, then pick up the other end and put it on the roof rack. Go back to the first end and slide it onto the roof, take off the extension and lash the yak down. Very easy and cuts the weight lifted in half.

You'll work out what equipment is really necessary. Here's a short list of mine:

• You do need to get the safety gear, of course. Don't go out without wearing a life jacket. Ever. Inflatables are best because they do not get in the way while you're casting.
• Leash your rods when not in use. Tip the yak and it gets expensive if gear is not leashed.
• Water and food. These are your fuel, and being a long way from your launch spot without fuel really sucks.
• Your paddle. If the drive breaks, you're up shit creek without it.

Otherwise, that's pretty much it for what is truly needed. there a much longer list of things you'd want though.

Cheers,
Graeme

[Nigel Danson]

Yeah, leash everything including your hat unless you bring a spare.

[Diarmuid O Laoghaire]

You can ask Dee about a drogue.

Screw You Peter!

Ya, like Peter said, a drogue / drift anchor is very good. One thing you will need for this is an anchor trolly. Preferably you would get two of these so you would set one up along either side of your kayak. That way depending on wind and drift you can face whatever way you want when you have it deployed. The anchor trolley lets you set an anchor or drogue at the front, side of rear of your yak. Another thing it is handy for is for tying off a steak out pole too. I find this very handy if I am fishing flats, I dont use a plonk.

If I am sitting down and flyfishing I generally dont have a problem with the fly line, its when I stand up and cast that I start to get into difficulty. If I can I stand facing the seat and strip the line down onto the seat with the drift anchor out the side or front. I seem to get less tangles this way but I have also been able to wear my stripping basket while standing up which has been a help also.

As for loading onto the car, I got a pair of these second hand on Gumtree for $80. I have a Hilux Surf and I would position the first set on the bonnet of the car and the second set at the top of the windscreen before the roof. So all I did then was walk up to the front of Hilux and lift the nose of the kayak onto the first kayak loader and then I walked to the back and just pushed it up onto the second holder on the windshield and kept pushing the yak as the kayak loaders guided it up onto the roof rack.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/like/3223750 ... 107&chn=ps

In terms of holding your rod, you can go into Whitworths and there is a railblaza section and you should be able to get these rod holders and mounting brackets. It allows you too put you fly rod in with the reel facing up, you then close the holder and the rod cant fall out, will come in handy for salmon season I am sure! lol

https://www.whitworths.com.au/main_item ... olutePage=

Welcome to the club! Any questions, you can give me a shout.

Dee

[Roger Smith]

Thanks for the info Dee, things are starting to make sense. It took a while to find out what a anchor trolly was. (Wheres the wheels?) I've ordered one from ebay. I found similar rod holders for sale at BCF but I'll check around to which is the most suitable. The gadget for loading the kayak on the car was the second best idea I've seen yet. I came across something on utube that enables you to load the kayak on from the side, it was a bit fancy but looked a good idea. I managed to replicate it with a couple of scrap bits of polypipe and it works a treat.
Hopefully we can catch up soon and I can get some more ideas from you
Thanks again for the info.
Luv Rog

[Diarmuid O Laoghaire]

Happy to help Roger. Here is a pic of the rod holder for fly fishing. This one is pretty sturdy and I can not see how it would fail. Had a cheaper similar model and it snapped open when a fish a took while paddling to a new destination. Luckly it snapped back straight into my chest so I was able to catch it.

[Hirdy]

Scotty PowerLock. I don't trust the "fly rod" holders and the PowerLock holder takes ANY rod securely.