[w2n]

went kayak fishing yeasterday in my trusty wilderness systems pungo... they arent huge but pretty darn good for north eastern ohio. :supergrin: both measured 19 inches in length. no scale with me as space is at a premium in a 12 foot sit in kayak. these two are out of about 30 i actually got in the boat... running from about 8 inches (gotta love the ones that are willing to hit a bait thats almost as big as they are!) to the 19 inchers shown. im guessing that i prob had about another 10 missed hook-sets and about 5 not make it all the way to the yak. (lots of weeds as you can see in the first pic)

 

[mossy500camo]

Great fishing I see! I want a Kayak or Canoe but people all tell me stories of flipping easily. Is this true? None swimmer here. But thats what life vest are for....

 

[w2n]

I want a Kayak or Canoe but people all tell me stories of flipping easily. Is this true?

in the "wrong" kind of yak, yes. but thats why you dont use a white-water style kayak for fishing. you see kayaks have different degrees of stability. if you get a kayak with a HIGH INITIAL STABILITY they wont roll very easily. and most "fishing style" kayaks are made with BOTH high initial and secondary stabilty. for example... i was worried about the same thing when i got my pungo. so i decided the best thing to do was to put it out on the water and try and eskimo roll the sucker to see what the boundries actually were. the initial and secondary stability are so high on my yak that i actually fell out of the cockpit and into the water without the boat rolling over. :rofl: so i dont worry about rolling over now. now that doesnt mean that you wont fall out of the boat if you do something silly like stand up in it... because standing in any kayak will most likely end with you in the water. youll need some kind of outriggers to do the standing up route. i have seen them set up that way. kiwi makes one called the Stealth that is set up as a pontoon hulled yak. you can stand on that one no problem.

so in my long-winded answer... get the "right yak" and you wont have to worry about rolling over.

get one you wont be sorry.

i'll take some pics of my setup today and post 'em.

and i will endorse wilderness systems kayaks all day every day... great boats.

 

[ManOPeace]

Sweet! I look forward to your Pics. Thanks for sharing your experiance.

 

[mossy500camo]

Yeah, I look forward to your pics as well. Thanks for the info.

 

[joeG26er]

check out jaxkayakfishing.com

 

[w2n]

ok here is the set up... sorry for crappy phone pics (kids have good cam)

12 foot Wilderness Systems Pungo, sit in, rotomolded polyethylene. custom paint job, flying tigers nose art and camo bottom. (done by me)
empty weight is about 45 pounds (i dont remember the exact weight and i dont feel like looking it up) and fully rigged its about 65 pounds im guessing.

another view

able to carry 6 rigged rods (2 bait casting, 4 spinning) on front deck. used cheap berkley wall hanging units and attached to yak with cheap stainless hardware (wing nuts) so that it can be quickly set up and removed.

...and one ultra light spinning set up in the rear flush mounted rod holder. you know for when its time to catch some pan fish for dinner. mmmm blue gill. :supergrin: you can also see the 6 inch dry hatch in the rear deck.

more in next post...

 

[w2n]

here is the seat it came with. pretty comfortable and the angle of the back is adjustable. as you can see i added a bit of extra padding under the seat. it needed it, i sit in this thing some times for up to 12 hours at a time.

here is one of the factory installed adjustable foot pegs.

installed, by me, paddle clips to hold my yak paddle and sculling paddle (much smaller and easier to use when moving the boat around in small amounts).

a cleat for holding my anchor line again installed by me...

and the eye hook that the anchor line runs through towards the rear of the yak (that way when the boat is being blown the anchor is in the water behind me and the boat points down wind).

more in next post...

 

[w2n]

the greatest kayak anchor ever. a trash picked 5 pound window counter-weight. worked over with a grinder and eleventy billion coats of paint.

it came with really good handles (on both ends) to help move it around.

and of course, all good boats need a name...

and just because... shes not huge, i just think this is a great pic. :whistling:

if you have any questions about anything please feel free to post them.

 

[mossy500camo]

Very Nice!

 

[noway]

the greatest kayak anchor ever. a trash picked 5 pound window counter-weight. worked over with a grinder and eleventy billion coats of paint.

it came with really good handles (on both ends) to help move it around.

I'm using a 5lb mushroom anchor, how well does that skinny 5lb anchor hold up in windy weather and sandy bottoms?

 

[w2n]

I'm using a 5lb mushroom anchor, how well does that skinny 5lb anchor hold up in windy weather and sandy bottoms?

it works really well. my best guess is that it has held me in-place or in-place enough in up to 25 mph winds. and to be honest if im on the water in winds higher than that i want an anchor thats going to allow me to move rather than get dragged under because its "dug in". but for your average blustery day... its great. also, when you pull it up, its not full of crap from the bottom, pulls through the weeds easy and there are no flared out edges to get hung up on underwater wood and such. i love the thing. oh and its a good way to slow drift. if you let it out till its just above the bottom it will swing under the yak and just glance off the bottom and let you drift at a nice slow pace in moderate wind.

 

[noway]

it works really well. my best guess is that it has held me in-place or in-place enough in up to 25 mph winds. and to be honest if im on the water in winds higher than that i want an anchor thats going to allow me to move rather than get dragged under because its "dug in". but for your average blustery day... its great. also, when you pull it up, its not full of crap from the bottom, pulls through the weeds easy and there are no flared out edges to get hung up on underwater wood and such. i love the thing. oh and its a good way to slow drift. if you let it out till its just above the bottom it will swing under the yak and just glance off the bottom and let you drift at a nice slow pace in moderate wind.

cool

I had this old timer that passed away last year, he gave me a slug weight mould for a boat anchor. It llooks very similar to yours but stamp 7 which I not sure if that means 7 lbs or the mould #. I might find a person smelting some lead to cast my mould and give it a try.

Your correct in that the mushroom anchor pulls up alot of debris, but I never been hanged up with my mushroom.

 

[No Frills McGee]

Is that aquilla? I been fishing paine creek/grand/ and cuyahoga lately. Gonna hit up lake hodgson soon.

 

[w2n]

Is that aquilla? I been fishing paine creek/grand/ and cuyahoga lately. Gonna hit up lake hodgson soon.

its a "private" lake near hudson and streetsboro. your supposed to have permission to fish there from the owners (which i do ) but i see quite a few people out there that dont.

i like hodgson, it can be a tough lake at times... but when its turned on there is some good action out there. i used to live in ravenna so i have fished it quite a lot. i have found that a FF helps out there more than anything.

good luck, be safe, dont get run over by one of those crazy catamaran sail boats that are always whipping around out there. :wow:

 

[lakota222]

its a "private" lake near hudson and streetsboro. your supposed to have permission to fish there from the owners (which i do ) but i see quite a few people out there that dont.

i like hodgson, it can be a tough lake at times... but when its turned on there is some good action out there. i used to live in ravenna so i have fished it quite a lot. i have found that a FF helps out there more than anything.

good luck, be safe, dont get run over by one of those crazy catamaran sail boats that are always whipping around out there. :wow:

I know that lake you are talking about. I salivate every time I pass it. I would love to get in there.

 

[19Delta]

Great fishing I see! I want a Kayak or Canoe but people all tell me stories of flipping easily. Is this true? None swimmer here. But thats what life vest are for....

I second getting the right yak. FYI - I just picked up a Future Beach Fusion 124 (10' 4") at Dick's on clearance. Supposed to be regular $500, on clearance for $200. I've taken it out 1 time and it's highly stable in the water. I'm not a pro yakker and just wanted something to dink around in.

 

[NJShooter]

Join the Kayakfishingstuff.com forum. Lots of info on everything from kayaks to individual states' fishing spots. Lots of pictures and knowledgeable members. 19Delta- My buddy Gallonoffuel had the Future Beach. It was a good kayak. He wrote a good review and added pictures of how we rigged it on the kayakfishingstuff forum. I am NJ Native Angler on that forum.

 

[wildfiresrozes]

Nice set up, w2n! I have been canoeing a lot, but recently got a couple kayaks. I needed one that wasn't too heavy (for ease with loading/unloading on solo trips) and from what others had told me I decided on a sit on top kind. Got Spitfires. 34lbs, 9ft long. I thought the stability would be decent but was wrong. LoL. Haven't dumped em yet, but see where it would be easy to do. Planned on doing a lot of fishing with them, but haven't attempted it more than just once, bc I am afraid of snagging a nice sized fish and being flipped. Ha! Would tick me off pretty bad to end up in the water and lose a pole, too. So, I think I am just going to keep the Spitfires for fun and splashing around with the kiddo, and eventually get me a nice stable fishing yak. LoL.

 

[19Delta]

Nice set up, w2n! I have been canoeing a lot, but recently got a couple kayaks. I needed one that wasn't too heavy (for ease with loading/unloading on solo trips) and from what others had told me I decided on a sit on top kind. Got Spitfires. 34lbs, 9ft long. I thought the stability would be decent but was wrong. LoL. Haven't dumped em yet, but see where it would be easy to do. Planned on doing a lot of fishing with them, but haven't attempted it more than just once, bc I am afraid of snagging a nice sized fish and being flipped. Ha! Would tick me off pretty bad to end up in the water and lose a pole, too. So, I think I am just going to keep the Spitfires for fun and splashing around with the kiddo, and eventually get me a nice stable fishing yak. LoL.

In a yak, everything needs to be tied, lashed, strapped, bungeed, etc or be on a leash. ie Rods and paddles get leashed so you don't lose them.