Kayak Koz

There's no way I would use a clunky headset like that. If I do try this, it will be with glasses like the XReal Air2 Pro glasses. I'm going to hold off until summer or fall and make sure this is something I really want to try. Well, if I hit the Mega Millions jackpot tonight that may change things 😀

It looks like he's sitting and fishing, not standing. I just installed FFS a few weeks ago and have been out less than a handful of times since then, but I have found it fascinating to watch fish come out of nowhere from a brush pile to hit a suspended bait. I used to hate off shore fishing, but FFS has allowed me to see what I was missing (pun intended).

Try fishing out on the lake in the pitch black of night and miss thumbing the line before the bait hits the water or you accidentally hit the bank instead of the water. I have a few Curado DC's that I rely on heavily when night fishing. But I have to say, I prefer my Curado K's and even my MGL for my daytime fishing. Well, I prefer my Team Lew's Pro SP for skipping and pitching.

In my opinion, the true strengths of side imaging and even down imaging is you are taking the time to map out sections of the lake and place markers. Find the shell beds, rocks, stumps, and brush piles. Though still time consuming, it's a lot easier to do that in a boat because you can cover water at a decent pace. In a kayak it can take a heck of a lot longer to cover, map, and mark water.

I think you need to first ask yourself how and where are you going to mount them. Are they going to interfere with your casting or landing a fish? At the very least, make some cardboard cutouts and tape them to some mounts to get an idea of how the layout will work for you. Maybe you'll find that one head unit works and it's easy to switch views. Maybe the bigger unit is large enough to display the views you need on one screen. I have a 9" Garmin on my AP 120 and I custom built a center console for it. So far, I've found that's all I need since I mainly use FFS. But it's easy to flip to DI, SI, or a combo view. That being said, if I so decide I have just enough room to mount my Helix 7 to that center console as well.

If kayakers want to get together and fish Oconee, Sinclair and even surrounding lakes like Clark’s Hill please send me a DM. Maybe we can start some sort of informal kayak club. My schedule is usually flexible and I can also head out on some weekdays.

1. Safety first 2. Have fun. Remember that (insert Elite series angler name here) can’t do your job.

One thing that I forgot to mention is your setup will vary whether you sit and fish or stand and fish as well as whether you predominantly cast left or right. With my Seastream pedal drive, the pedal unit was both tall and close to my seat. With that, I had the head unit low on the rail and next to my seat and not mounted on the Cellblok. Also, I’m short so things like the pedal drive and head unit were obstacles at times. My Autopilot has a lot more deck space and because I sit and fish the center console made sense for me. Hopefully it’s not in the way when I start standing and fishing.

My guess is that inside 12 -18 months we'll see that happen. AI is going to be the driver for this.

With my old Seastream pedal drive I used the Yakattack Cellblock and the Switchblade for the transducer. With that setup I had the freedom to move things around wherever I wanted and I did not have to drill holes. My AP120 is a different story. I took it out a few times before I settled on where to put my Helix 7 and stow the battery, then I ran the wires internally. But then I decided to add Livescope and a bigger head unit and went through the process again. So now I have a lot more components, wiring, and a Yak Power switching system. The worst part, for me, was locating the big head unit on the rails. I quickly ditched that idea and built a DIY center console. I could not be happier with the results.

FFS is not going away - there's too much sponsor money involved. That being said, a state DNR may decide to ban it and that could change where pro tournaments are held. The scary part is that the technology is only going to get better. I can imagine a time when the unit has AI capabilities and will scan a fish, create a 3D model, and a little box will pop up telling you the size and species. What would be interesting is if any of the elite series tournaments banned FFS on the last day of the tournament.

So by next year there should be an explosion of used bass boats on the market.

I'm late to the party here, but congratulations Clayton! Is this the only event you're going to do? These tournaments are really spread out across the country. I chickened out going to Lake Murray because of the high winds. I later heard a couple of guys swamped out there.

This past weekend I caught a few on FFS with a Damiki rig setup but I didn't use an actual Damiki jighead or Damiki bait. I picked up the jig and small fluke baits at my local tackle shop. So today I went online to price out the "official" jighead and baits and guess what? They are on back order everywhere. It seems every manufacturer is now joining the craze with their own baits and jigs. I even saw one called an FFS Minnow. Love it or hate it, the one thing it seems to be doing is spreading out the anglers on each lake and opening up waters that are generally overlooked. How many times have you motored out to your favorite point or creek channel and found boats already there? Now you have more options to find quality fish.

I’m in the fortunate position of having a few companies that sponsor my kids fishing program at my hotel and I also happen to fish some Bassmaster, Bass Nation, and MLF events. With that, each year I have a jersey made up with my hotel logo and kids program sponsors. While having a jersey at a tournament is not increasing their sales, it does lead to a few sales from the kids program participants. Anyway, last year I ordered a jersey from Atomic Fishing and was very happy with the product. I ordered another one from them this year with some new sponsors. Turnaround time is 6 weeks. As it turns out, USPS lost the package with my next tournament only a few weeks away. I contacted Jamie at Atomic and she was on the case. USPS tracking showed the package at her local post office for a week. Her friend at the post office confirmed it was lost and she moved heaven and earth to rush production on a replacement. Within a week she told me that my replacement jersey was being packaged and shipped. And two days later she sent me an email saying that the post office had found my original order and it was being delivered. So now I feel a bit guilty about getting two jerseys for the price of one even though I feel like I waited long enough (a week after 2 day shipping) reporting the package was lost. For my penance, I just wanted everyone to know that they make a quality product and offer outstanding customer service.

That’s always the dilemma with fishing from a boat. Do you try and pick an area apart or do you run and gun?

Today was a calm day with nice weather so I took the day off and hit the lake for some more FFS adventure. My plan was to fish shallow water today, specifically the backs of creek channels and timber, and made a 2-mile run to my first spot. I saw a lot of small fish and what looked like schools of crappie (blobs on FFS) but no joy at that first spot. But when I got to my second spot the FFS showed the telltale shape of bass and baitfish in the area. I hit the spot lock and tossed a spinnerbait for a dozen casts with no luck. So I switched over to spinning gear and a fluke, used FFS to target the fish and ended up catching three small bass. This gave me an opportunity to correlate the size of the images on my display for the given distance with the actual size of the fish. So that was a good learning experience. Earlier in the week I had watched a video on suggested FFS settings and wouldn't you know it, I forgot to bring those notes today. But I did play with the settings a bit. One thing I noticed is that sometimes the display looks great, and all of a sudden I'll get a hard return on the bottom and everything gets very bright for a while, then settles back down. I don't know what that is. I did move my Fishing Specialties pole closer today by putting it in front of my DIY console mount. That put the head unit right up against the lip of the motor, but it worked. Heading back I ran some docks and a few points, but all I saw were baitfish and smaller fish. I have no idea where the big girls are hiding. I also saw nothing in deeper water as I was moving to and from home. With the heavy sediment we have, they may have been holding tight to cover and I just didn't see them because I don't have the experience and I did not try and sit there and study to see if anything was hiding in the timber. This is why I am considering at least a stake out pole for now and maybe power poles later. You really have to sit and look at a spot so you get a profile view of the fish to target it. If a fish is head on, it's there on the screen and kind of fades away. Maybe I need a closer fixed distance to see them better head on. Anyway, I found bass to target, but there's still a pretty big learning curve. It's not quite video game fishing.

My AP 120 is fully rigged except (DI/SI/FFS) for Power Poles. I'm leaning towards adding two of them to make it easier to fish docks. But I also tournament fish and want to level the playing field. I didn't pay anyone to rig mine. I watched a video or two videos, read, and asked some questions here on BR and received some great responses. Rigging isn't difficult, it just comes down to personal preferences and fishing style. I tried a few different layouts before I drilled holes anywhere. The weight of the AP 120 even mostly unloaded is heavy, especially when you're pushing 60 like me. When I launch from my backyard over my seawall (1-2.5 foot drop depending upon the water level) I do so with the batteries (two 100AH Lifepo) and the motor out. When I get back to my dock I unload my crate, batteries, motor, and rods before hauling it up and over the seawall. I have a 5-7ft bungee dock leash attached to the stern of the kayak, haul the yak up as far as I can, grab the lip of the stern, then walk it the rest of the way and onto the grass. I then load it on a Wilderness Systems heavy duty cart and pull it up a small hill to one of my sheds. If you don't load it on the CG point it's heavy to pull. If I add Power Poles I doubt I could haul it over that seawall anymore. On land, getting it on my trailer bunks is also a giant pain. I keep my Wilderness cart attached until I slide it on the bunks to make it a little easier. But the bow of the AP is pretty wide and hard to get up there so you can slide it forward to get the bunks into the hull. No, and I'm an old guy. My second battery and battery box is the first thing in my tank well, then I have a Flambeau Tuff Krate Premium just beyond that battery box and a small cooler behind that. I can access all of them without killing myself. I know most people like the BlackPack, but the Tuff Krate (premium) has two compartments. The top compartment is smaller and that's where I keep my scale, gloves, hand warmers, gaiter, some tools, and miscellaneous stuff. One great thing about the AP 120 is that there is a storage area on the left side of the seat that can hold four Plano boxes. That's where I keep my primary baits for the day so I rarely have to get something out of the Tuff Krate. I do spend 6+ hours out there on the lake (because I make a lot of long runs) and I find the comfort of the AP to be decent. But at times I wish I had a head rest and maybe a seat cushion. In my opinion, the AP 120 and 136 are true fishing platforms and they are quite a big investment. If you're going to spend a lot of time kayak fishing that's the way to go. But it starts at $4,500 without batteries or electronics. I've heard nothing but good things about Bonafide as a brand. That lower price point certainly is easier on the wallet when you want to add a cart, electronics, and batteries.

So, in other words, throw a green pumpkin worm 😀

I'm RH retrieve on my baitcasters, and for most casts I will cast right, switch, and stop the spool with my left thumb. But with pitching and skipping I will stop the spool with my right thumb and then switch.

For me, cold, muddy water makes fishing tough. But in the warmer months and waters I find that the bass are more active. For almost three months now we've had only 1"-2" of visibility on the lake where I live and the sister lake that I fish nearby. I'm about over that.

I do like the Fishing Specialties unit, it’s just that it’s too far away because of where the tracks are on the AP. If I can find a way to mount it closer it will help things out a lot.

Well, the cosmic tumblers finally all fell into place with the final touches on my Livescope installation and decent weather and I got to spend the better part of the day on the lake this weekend. The weather was partly sunny, winds 12-16mph, water temperature 61 - 63, and the lake is still heavily stained with only 1"-2" of visibility. All Livescope settings were at the factory default, so that meant many settings were on AUTO.. The one thing I have always heard people say when they first use FFS is that you won't believe how many fish are all over the place. In my case, that wasn't true at all. I saw a lot of small fish under my dock as I was setting up, but not a lot in open water and many other areas that I fished. That being said, it is pretty cool when you see them. But you see them mainly when the fish is in profile. When they turn towards you or away from you they tend to disappear. I fished a few points but mainly tried fishing laydowns, seawalls, and backs of creeks. But there was a ton of boat traffic and a lot of wind, so it was hard to really scan the brush piles and laydowns. Even with spot lock, the ever changing wind had me spinning around. It seemed like everywhere I wanted to set up spot lock had me spun the other way. I need to get better at boat positioning with spot lock. What complicates things is my FFS transducer is on a Fishing Specialties pole. So when the wind or wake starts to spin the kayak I need to reach out and reposition the transducer by rotating the pole. And because the rails on the Autopilots are far away when the seat is on the raised position I ended up having to reach and stretch a lot to position the FFS. I also spent a lot of time looking at the screen when I probably should have been casting. I did far less casting than I would have without FFS. Truth be told, I also spent a lot of time just trying to find a quiet place to fish. There were a lot of boats out there and all of my favorite spots were occupied, so I fished areas that I normally wouldn't fish. On that first day I was out there about three hours and caught just one bass. And wouldn't you know it, it was not because of FFS. I casted behind a dock as I passed it and the FFS was on an angle facing forward and towards the sea wall. On the second day there weren't many boats and winds were down to 8-12 mph. But a storm was moving in so I stayed close to home. On this quick trip I played around with the gain settings and TVA, and took some settings off of auto. My goal was to use the FFS and fish docks, but I found it difficult to do that with the wind pushing me around. I did see one big bass under a dock with FFS as I was passing, but by the time I swung around I had lost sight of it. It was big enough and the FFS return was clear enough to see it was a bass and not just a blob on the screen. I love to skip a bait under docks and I'm pretty decent with that on a boat. But it's hard for me to do that while sitting in a kayak. I need tp practice that or get enough confidence to stand when it's windy out. As it turns out, a lot of those blobs on the screen are crappie. Passing between two docks I saw a bunch of blobs and started casting. I tried a few different baits and finally they started hitting on a crankbait. It was fun catching 3 or 4 of them, but I kept having to either circle back to gain position or grab the i-Pilot remote to go in reverse, speed up, or slow down as the wind pushed me around. Again, spot lock was ineffective as every time the wind changed it would spin me around. I motored around and it turned out to be a Crappie on a Crankbait Day and I caught no bass. But I caught some fish and it was fun. So, what did I learn? I need to watch some videos and spend some time out there dialing in my settings FFS is pretty darn cool, but it's going to take some time to really get the most out of it. It's not quite plug and play. FFS probably works best for suspended fish and not moving targets. That's also why Elite Series anglers use multiple FFS units so they can see more area without having to keep repositioning the transducer. But the number one thing that I learned is that in order to get the most out of FFS on a kayak is that I need to add a Power Pole system or at the very least a stake out pole so I can sit in one spot to pick apart a dock, laydown, or brush pile. With a boat you have your foot controls and it becomes second nature to hold relative position with the trolling motor and fish at the same time. But with the Autopilot it's not very efficient to have to try and use the handheld control unit and fish unless you're not fishing or letting your bait float or sink to the bottom. I definitely don't regret the purchase. But I need to find a way to mount the pole closer to my seat and I need to be able to lock myself down with a Power Pole or stake out pole. I don't think I want to be tossing anchors in the water and hauling them back up. My kayak is already getting pretty crowded for space. One more thing - in a previous afternoon test my 18Ah Lifepo didn't cut it running my Livescope system. Since I already had two 100Ah Lifepo batteries I could not see the point in purchasing a 50Ah battery for my electronics and because I run long distances and the potential for interference I did not want to run everything off of my trolling motor battery. So I put the second 100Ah battery in a battery box and put that in the tank well and run my electronics and lighting off of that. And in an emergency, it the trolling motor battery fails or I run it down I can use that second battery to get back to the launch.

I'm fine with the 120, but there are a few reasons for that that are fairly unique to me. The first is that I'm only 5'7", so the deck affords me enough room even with my DIY console. The second is that I purchased my AP 120 when it was on sale for $3,900 and the AP 136 was not on sale at that time. That savings on the kayak price went to a whole lot of other related purchases. First and foremost was a Wilderness Systems kayak cart since the AP did not sit correctly on my C-Tug cart. Costs spiraled from there with Livescope, new head unit, Yak Power wiring setup, and two 100Ah batteries. I don't regret it at all, but part of me wonders if I should just have put a down payment on a Lowe boat instead. As for hauling it, I have a Malone trailer that I had previously purchased for my Seastream Angler pedal drive kayak. Do I wish it was faster? When I'm on big, open water and see bass boats whizzing by, the answer is yes. When I fish from my home and it takes me 40 minutes to get to my spot, yes. So what it makes me do is really plan where I want to fish. Or I trailer to one area, fish for a while, then trailer to another area. But then again, I know when I make a 2-4 mile run I won't be tired and sweaty like I was on my pedal kayak. As for the cable wrapping multiple times I have never had that happen. In fact, before gets past 1 1/2 turns my motor spins all the way around the other way to set up again. Below are photos of my DIY console. You can see I still have room to stand and fish.

I have a couple of Curado DC’s and have not experienced any issues with them. I like them because they are more forgiving when you’re fishing in the middle of the night and can’t always judge when the bait will hit the water.