Kayak Koz

So one of the concerns I had at my new home was launching my kayak from the high dock or sea wall. In the past I've launched from the shoreline or boat ramp, and that meant wading into the water to launch. That's fine most of the year, but not when the water gets cold. On my first launch off the dock, I put the pedal drive, electronics and battery (my transducer arm and head unit are all mounted to a YakAttack Cellblok), rods, and tackle box on the dock. I attached a tow line to the kayak, pushed it over the edge of the sea wall, then pulled it over to the dock ladder. It's a few steps down the ladder to the kayak, but I made it while holding on to the dock. Then I brought everything on board one at a time and mounted the CellBlok to the rail. Except I dropped one of my rail adapter plates and it went under the deck plate so my electronics assembly was a bit wobbly. When I finished my excursion I pulled up to the dock, unloaded everything, and then climbed out. Getting out of the kayak was a bit interesting as there are no hand holds on the dock. I'll install a cleat this coming weekend. For the next attempt I loaded the kayak first, but getting in and out with everything on the rail was a pain. It would be too easy to make a mistake and take a swim. So now I pulled everything off the CellBlok and will Velcro the battery unit behind the seat. On one side of the rail I'll mount the head unit and on the other the over-the-rail YakAttack Switchblade transducer arm. Anyway, the weather was nice but the fishing was lousy. I stayed close to home and from the looks of it there are some areas that will be productive in the warmer weather. I saw a few fish on my electronics, but nothing was biting. I fished just the rip rap and grassy shorelines, but there is a big hump out in deeper water that I will explore next. I'll also go hit some docks on the far side of the creek channel. So, overall it's not the pain I thought it would be. But it would be a lot easier if I was younger or at least dropped a few pounds. That's something to strive for. My only regret is the winter months coming up and the shorter daylight hours. But come spring I have a feeling that I'll be out there every day after work.

Thanks. The Quadbox is too tall unless I raise my seat, but I don't want to mess with the CoG. I like the stability of my kayak as is. But your suggestion led me to their DuoTray and that does fit my kayak. The TracPak looks interesting, but I have enough stuff on my rail as I prefer to sit and fish and not stand up. Between the pedal drive, head unit, and CellBlok I have enough stuff in my way!

I was actually looking at **maybe** buying a Lowe Stinger 175 this coming spring. I need an aluminum boat as I'm limited by my Bronco's towing capacity. I don't want to sell the Bronco because I just bought it over the summer.

A few years ago I set up brush piles in strategic locations off my hotels docks. I have looked at some DIY solutions to my launch and recover quandary, but I have run into a few problems. The first is that the water is too cold to be in there for any length of time. The second is that the water quickly drops to 6-7 feet deep and I'm only 5'7". Well, I was. I'm getting older and shrinking. If worse comes to worst there is a small marina just 1/4 mile down the road.

That's always a possibility, but currently I attach a soft cooler to the back of my seat. I have also put a few Plano boxes in there along with my snack and drinks. Still not great for short, old guys with T-Rex arms

We've been moving into our new home on the lake over the past week and I've been trying to fish off our dock most every day. I haven't launched my kayak yet, just fishing off the docks. At the seawall the water depth is 4-5 feet and at the end of the dock it's 9-10 feet (tested by dropping a line in the water). The maps show that beyond that it drops to 17 feet to over 30 feet deep in the immediate area. There is as mall cove off to my left where the water gets 1-6 feet deep and there are a lot of submerged, downed trees along one of the shorelines. I'm thinking that might be an interesting place to fish in the spring and summer. But around my docks it has been a desert as far as fish go. I haven't seen any bluegills or other fish around the dock. I was even throwing a little Beetle Spin and not even one bluegill or crappie took a shot at it. But I have seen bait balls just beyond casting distance. But late yesterday afternoon I went out their and tied on a black Zara Spook, chucked it off the end of the dock towards deep water, and it got hammered on the first cast. It was a nice 3 pounder that put up a good fight. A few minutes later I had another decent sized follower that missed the bait three times on a single retrieve. But at least I got my first fish off the dock. Now I just need to figure out how to launch and retrieves my kayak in my back yard. It's a 2-3 foot drop off both the seawall and the dock. My kayak alone weighs 98 pounds without any gear, electronics, or the pedal drive. Right now I have the Yak Attack CellBlok, Switchblade, and my head unit and mount on the rail but I think I'm going to velcro down the CellBlok behind my seat so I don't have so much weight on one side. That may make it easier to launch with the Switchblade and head unit mounted. I think most of my stuff will be laying on the dock when I launch, then I'll load it once I'm in the water and then break it all down before I haul the kayak out of the water.

I've thought about that, but things are already crowded on deck. First off, there's the pedal drive unit. Then I have a 7" Humminbird, the Yak Attack Switchblade transducer arm, the Yak Attack CellBlok for my battery, and the mount for the head unit. It's like an obstacle course trying to land fish! But I am thinking of attaching the CellBlok behind my seat with some Velcro to free up space, then mount the head unit and Switchblade separately on the rail. The area behind my seat had been reserved for my C-Tug cart, but now that I launch from my backyard or trailer my kayak I don't need it onboard anymore (I used to haul it in and out of my hotel for storage and launch).

I used to wear a hard vest on my kayak, but it was both too hot and uncomfortable trying to lean back in my seat. I switched to the self inflating vest which is also quicker to get off and on when I'm fishing on a boat.

I used to pack a lot, but haven't for the past year. But again, the biggest piece of this is access to tackle. Maybe if you're young and 6' 3" it's easy to twist and access gear. That's not the case when you're older or vertically challenged. On my kayak there's enough deck area for a hatch between my drive and my seat. And instead of having a flip up hatch, you could have a recessed handle and pull up a storage area. In other words, the boxes are laying flat and not on their side. So the unit would have a top, bottom, and three solid sides. The front would be open faced where you could slide in boxes. The entire unit lifts out, then you pop it back in.

No, the purpose is to be able to do away with carrying the crate as well as making tackle easier to access. My kayak doesn't have any forward or rear hatches which is the case with many fishing kayaks, especially pedal drives like mine.

I keep a couple of boxes of primary baits under my seat, but they tend to slide around and are not always easy to access. Another reason to rethink built in kayak storage is saving weight. Nowadays kayakers are adding more batteries, electronics, trolling motors, etc. and every pound matters in both displacement and simply lugging the kayak around.

I think that it's about time that kayak manufacturers rethink kayak storage options. I have a Flambeau Tuff Krate Premium that also has a small flip top storage as well as the main crate. I really like it, but as I get older it's not as easy to twist and turn, reach over my seat, and dig through the crate to find the storage box that I'm looking for. I'd like to see kayak companies utilize a flip up deck storage area right in front of the seat, even if it holds only two storage boxes. If the kayak is deep enough, maybe you could stack 2 boxes side by side giving you four to quickly access. They should also make use the interior side walls of the kayak with compartments to store tools or terminal tackle. Yes, this would take a little engineering to eliminate any flex, strength, and watertight issues. Buy I'm sure that it could be done.

Am I the only one to notice that the original post was from 2009? 😀

You're right - there is a huge risk. Maybe even a stupid risk. But I can't just walk away from someone in trouble. The 911 operator asked me if I could move the dog to the side of the road, but I told her that was too dangerous and that I needed a deputy to assist. If the dog had not been moving I would have just called it in. But that tail was wagging straight up in the air like a beacon calling for help and as I drove up slowly the dog looked right at me even though he could not lift his head. So while there was nothing I could have done to try and save the dog other than calling for help, I felt the need to try and comfort that dog that was obviously asking for help.

It had a collar and a tag. The dog was well groomed an manicured. I almost looked at the tag to see if it was just a rabies tag or contained owner ID, but that call would have been hard for me to make because losing a pet is like losing a member of the family. I did communicate with the police that the dog had a collar and a tag. I've had a dog most of my life and my current dog is a senior dog. Thankfully, he's in great shape and still runs and plays. He's also a "velcro dog" who just loves to hang out with me and follow me everywhere (he loves the new house and the dock) and I already know it will be really hard when he passes.

As I was driving back from a meeting I saw something in the road up ahead. As I got closer I saw that it was a dog that had been hit by a car, but his tail was wagging straight up in the air like a cry for help. As I slowed down he looked into my eyes and naturally I turned around, called 911, and ran to him in the road. As I got there his tail stopped wagging and he passed away. I hope he realized that someone was coming to help. What amazed my is that before I stopped I saw 5 cars drive right by that dog without even slowing down. I can't imagine doing that, nor can I imagine hitting a dog and not stopping. There truly are monsters in the world. I hope there's a special place in hell for people like that. This is going to stay with me for quite some time, especially since I pass this spot every day on the way to work.

The movers deliver the furniture tomorrow, but my son and I started bringing over small stuff tonight. Needless to say, we took a couple of casts (no bites) but we just sat out there on the dock and watched the sunset. I've had some very good days since I moved here, but they invariably revolved around work. And for the most part, I haven't really enjoyed living in this very rural part of the country. But driving back to the hotel tonight I realized I was truly happy for the first time in a while with something that did not involve work. This is a game changer for my mental health. I can't wait to get moved in tomorrow and get my kayak out there. I did not realize how much I needed this. I'm thankful beyond words.

At my age, I actually prefer smaller homes if there is a garage and storage space. I was actually about to sign a lease on a much smaller lakefront home, but there was evidence of pest control problems. That one had both a dock and a boathouse, but the house was set back about 60 yards from the lake. That meant still hauling my kayak. That house also needed some work. But we saw a few bugs in the house and when I looked under the kitchen sink the previous tenant had left 3 different cans of bug spray. I hate bugs.

It looks much bigger than it really is. The listing said 3,500 square feet but the property records show 2, 600 but I think that may be overstated by 200-300. It has some very oddly shaped bedrooms that will make furniture placement a challenge.

I had been renting a cottage out in farmland for a few years, but recently the owners quickly sold their main house and the cottage and I had to move. I was close to buying one home, but a last minute bid knocked me out of the running. I pegged the the value of the home $55k below their asking price and they agreed but they got a last minute offer before we put it on paper. I chose not to counter offer because I was confident of teh value and the home needed about $30k in upgrades. Meanwhile, interest rates climbed and there was very little inventory. Homes are now selling at nearly twice what they did just two years ago. My personal opinion is that the housing market is due for a major correction within 2 years, and I don't want to be upside down by a few hundred thousand so I decided to rent instead of purchase. In the meantime, my son and I have been living in my hotel which absolutely stinks. Home rentals are massively overpriced in my area and inventory is almost non-existent. I was prepared to move about 70 miles away when a home popped up for rent yesterday and I managed to snag it today. The good news - it's right on the lake with spectacular views. The not so good news - it needs some work on the inside. The owner is an older woman and bless her heart she was trying to fix it up herself after some fly by night handymen took advantage of her. I told her I would take over, have her approve the spending beforehand, and then deduct it from the rent so she doesn't go out of pocket. It's all cosmetic stuff, but there's a lot of it. But my son can help me out. But best of all, I wake up and come home to this every day:

Personally, I think the number changes depending upon the climate zone you're in and the size of the body of water.

It took him almost 3 hours to reel it in. That's some talented fishing to land it on 6 pound line. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/angler-catches-283-pound-alligator-gar-in-texas-potentially-setting-two-world-records-180982948/

In those cases my tactic has been to cover water with crankbaits, lipless cranks, underspins, and topwaters. Meanwhile, the boater id using a shaky head out in front as he moves towards the brush pile, reels in slack, and works the bait. Shaky heads do me no good there as mine just drags along the bottom. To try and combat that I would toss a Carolina rig with a heavy weight and a long leader off the front quarter of the boat. The idea was it would sink fast and with the long leader it gave the bait a little time to just sit there before it started dragging. Even then, a Carolina rig can be effective as it starts to drag. I did catch fish that way, but I'm still casting blind. And in that one case when I was finding fish that boater with the 360 would cast right on top of me when he saw a fish or he thought my bait was a fish. What I never understood was the one guy who would pull up to a brush pile, claim he saw 20-30 fish, take two or three casts and not get a bite, then run to another brush pile and claim the fish weren't biting. If it was me, I'd work my way around the brush pile and pick it apart instead of wasting valuable fishing time moving 2 or 3 miles to another spot that may or may not even be holding any fish. Maybe that's the kayak guy in me.

I fished in 5 or 6 events this year through GA and the Carolinas and I wrote a number of posts on the events this year. Sometime soon I'm going to write an in depth article on what I learned this year, but here's one thing I will tell you: if you're off shore fishing in deeper water with a boater who relies on forward facing sonar you're probably not going to have a good day. All but one of my boaters was a good guy, but they will run to a brush pile, check FFS, make 2-5 casts and then head to the next brush pile. You can ask them to set the console sonar to top or sidescan if they have it, but if they are constantly moving the transducer with FFS you won't learn much on the sidescan. If you're quick you'll get in some casts but you're usually casting blind. I had one guy that not only relied on FFS, but he also had 360 and kept casting over me when he saw something off the back half of the boat. If I do this again next year I'll fish the two lakes right here in my backyard, but no more overnight travel to these spotted bass lakes. Instead, I'll drive to Florida and fish some events there where we'll be targeting LMB and fishing grass, docks, banks, etc. That type of fishing gives me a chance to compete as opposed to run and gun deep water fishing.

The nose of the kayak is close enough to where I cannot open the tailgate until I unload the kayak. The tongue extender might be a good idea. I've got the bunks set very narrow because of the pontoon style hull. But I may try widening the bunks and have the kayak sit a bit lower. Nevertheless, it's stable when strapped down.