Kayak Koz

So, I realized I didn’t have any shaky heads so I went to Tackle Warehouse to order some as well as some Strike King Bottom Hoppers. That should be around $20 bucks, right? So how did I end up spending $360 on a new rod and reel as well? ? Thanks, buddy! ??

LOL!

I found a lot of schooling fish 20-30 feet off the docks that by eye and sonar looked to be mostly baitfish. It's a haven for bluegill and shad down at this shallow end of Oconee. I'll have to try a shaky head next time.

I've been busy with work and haven't had much time to fish after work lately and the lake is filled with pleasure boaters and jet skiers on the weekend and I haven't felt like contending with that. The water temperature on the shallow end of Oconee has been 89 degrees and the daytime fishing has been lousy. So I woke up at 3:30 this morning and thought I'd try some nighttime fishing from my kayak. So I rigged up my port, starboard, and stern lights, grabbed a couple of headlamps, and headed out on the water by 4 am. My hotel is in a narrow cove and most of the dock lights are lit, but there's a stretch exiting the cove heading to the main channel where it's a black out. It was quite disorienting at first, and when I got my bearings I noticed I had covered a lot more water than I thought. Next time I'll turn on my nav map instead of the sonar. There was no one else out on the water, and with the dead calm is was kind of creepy out there. I made my way to the causeway and fished for a bit, but the sonar was showing the usual baitfish and nothing else. I made my to the bridge and the other side of the causeway but once again it was just baitfish out there. There was one cove that I wanted to hit, but as I neared there were no dock lights in that area so I erred on the side of caution and passed up that area. I'd prefer to get more experience at night and feel more comfortable under those conditions before navigated an area of heavy docks in a narrow cove in the pitch black night. By the time I pedaled to my next spot it was first light. I fished a little while longer but still drew blanks. The one spot I wanted to fish was littered with floats and cutbait and that kind of ticked me off. I can see dropping a few floats, but this guy just carpet bombed one of my favorite areas to fish, making it nearly impossible for me to fish that area. I saw one of the floats go under and took off after it. When it surfaced I managed to grab it and hand line it. The next thing I know I'm going for a little ride. The fish tired a bit and I pulled it close to the surface - it was a decent 20lb or so catfish. I don't even consider what that guy did to be fishing. It's not very sporting at all. Even after sun up there was no one fishing in my end of the lake. I'm convinced that now that the stripers moved off for their spawn, it's pretty much catfish, carp, baitfish, and bluegill on this end of the lake until the water temps come down again. As for night fishing, that was weird to say the least. I'll probably try it again, but next time I think I'll head out at 10pm or 11pm. The first picture below is heading off into the dark where I didn't realize how much water I had covered. The second photo is just a small section where this guy carpet bombed the are with cutbait and floats.

I honestly haven't encountered that. Because I pedal in my bare feet, I keep my deck clear of any hooks that might accidentally pierce my foot and leave me writhing in agony. ? The one thing I don't understand is why kayak makers don't put a watertight hatch for Plano boxes in front of the seat or even a hatch with configurable tackle storage. Then on the sides have small pull out trays or drawers for soft plastics, hooks, etc. Use a simple twist lock to keep them closed. Those side trays don't have to be big at all. But it sure beats having to twist around and grab a Plano from your milk crate. Someone really needs to put some thought into cockpit design for fishing kayaks. It would be a game changer. Are you listening Feel Free / Seastream? My guess is at least one of you has come across this thread.

Anything can be changed with time, effort, and knowledge. But I think it would be a royal pain for most to do that. If I were you, I would email Seastream and ask. They are very responsive to any questions. The metal cross bars of the seat drop into molded slots. so you could not raise the seat by putting padding or something under there. I know there are seat risers you can buy for other kayaks, so maybe there is something out there that will work with teh Seastream. But again, that not only changes the center of gravity but it also changes your leg/foot angle for pedaling. That's not a bad thing, because my original impression was that I would prefer slightly more of a down stroke on the pedals. Mako was my first choice when looking at a pedal kayak, especially the price point. But the more I read and the more videos I watched I decided to stay far, far, away from them. It's a simple metal cable from the rudder controller to the rudder. Now that I think about it, if I loosen the nuts at the rudder and add more tension to the cable it should take care of that issue where the knob butts against the seat. It might be a two person job - one to hold the steering knob in place while adding tension to the cable and securing it. When the guy in the video talked about the steering knob being a bit flimsy, I think that's because with lower cable tension there is a little bit of play in the knob. I'll look into this in the next few days and report back here. Two other kayaks I seriously considered were the Brooklyn Kayak pedal drive and the Hoodoo Tempest. I really didn't like the look of the Brooklyn, there was no standing platform. and it didn't seem well organized for fishing. I would also have to install tracks on the Brooklyn for a fish finder, and the way the kayak was molded it would have been hard to find a spot that did not interfere with the pedal unit. The Hoodoo looked good, but I don't like the under the hull rudder. I would rather have the retractable rudder on the Seastream since it's less likely to get damaged in transport. Also, because fishing is the primary use of my kayak, deck organization is important. On the Hoodoo it did not look like I could fit both a milk crate and a cooler within easy reach of where I am sitting. Heck, I don't think you can fit both in the back of the Hoodoo. I was close on buying the Hoodoo, but it was always on backorder. The Seastream is also 2" wider and provides greater stability and that's important to me, especially since I fish on a big lake with lots of recreational boat traffic.

If you throw a baitcaster with right hand retrieve I bet at first you thought it was weird casting with the right hand and then transferring it to the left. But after a few days you didn't notice the transition anymore. That's what it's like with the occasional bump to the rudder while fishing. I don't even notice it anymore. I'd try it out for a while before you do any drilling and filling. Maybe those $3,000 pedal kayaks are better, but I've never tried one of those so I don't know. What I do know is the Seastream ticks all the boxes for me and there is nothing that makes me regret my purchase. I also seem to have bought at the right time. I paid only $1,399 and the price has gone up since then. I bought mine from WaterWays USA, and I have a suspicion they are actually owned by Seastream/Feel Free. They are located only 15 minutes from Feel Free, they use the same Shopify template, and they only sell FeelFree brands. But here's the strange part - their prices are lower than on the FeelFree, SeaStream, and other brands that they own.

This is the exact reason why I bought a pedal kayak. After a few outings it became second nature to bump the rudder and jog the pedals while fishing the entire time.

I still love this kayak. One thing I have noticed is that I can be out on the water 4 or 5 hours and I'm still comfortable in that seat. The rudder control is on the left and that works out just fine for me. However, when you move the rudder full starboard the seat strap can get in the way. It's annoying at first, but it quickly becomes second nature to lift it with a finger or to while maneuvering. There are a few other things that I wish were better: 1. I wish the seat was an inch or two higher. Not only would that solve the minor rudder control annoyance, but I they SOT kayaks I used to rent were a little higher and I like that. Of course, the trade off with the higher seat is the changed center of gravity that makes the kayak a bit more tippy. 2. It's heavy. The kayak weighs 94 pounds, the pedal drive 22, and I add to that with a milk crate of tackle, small cooler, fish finder, C-Tug, and whatever else I am carrying. Since I have to pull the kayak up a big hill from the lake to my hotel that can be a pain. But even stripped down, it's heavy to pick up and try and get water out through the single drain plug on the stern. 3. The hull is sealed so you can't readily put a through the hull transducer in it and the hull design isn't conducive for mounting a transducer with side scan. So I had to buy a YakAttack arm for my transducer mount. 4. I do wish it had a sealed dry storage hatch for my phone and wallet just in case something happened on the water. Speaking of the C-Tug, don't waste your time trying any other kayak carts. Get the C-Tug. I could not believe how much easier it made it to haul this thing around. None of the items above are even close to deal breakers. It handles wakes and waves really well. Not once have I ever felt unsafe out there on the big lake dealing with wakes and waves. The only time I get wet out there is stepping in the water to get in or get out. My average cruising speed is 3.0 - 3.3 mph going at an easy pace. I can cover a lot of water out there. It's very easy to fish from, especially if you traverse the bank or the docks. I can float out there and spend most of my time fishing instead of positioning the kayak. An occasional slight rudder adjustment or pedal forwards or backwards is all it takes. It's fantastic having instant reverse by just pedaling backwards and not have to reach somewhere to flip a switch to go into reverse. I like that I can store 2 Plano boxes under the seat instead of having to reach back into my milk crate over and over. I am still trying to find the best place to put my Lowrance unit. Remember, when fishing that big pedal drive is in front of you so you have to take that into account when reeling in and setting the hook. Then if you have a fish finder that's two obstacles you have to contend with when fighting a fish. I tried it on the right, the left, back on the right, but now I think I will move it back on the left again. I have the finder mounted on top of the battery box, so maybe I'll try moving the battery behind the seat so the fish finder is not up as high. I don't regret this purchase one bit. I love this kayak.

Hooray! All of my lights came in and it will be a cinch to set it up. But as luck would have it, not only is work busy but we're also in for a week of rain, rain, and more rain. I stay away from kayaking in the rain during the day. There's no way I'm going to do that at night.

I guess the Mirage Drive GT doesn't go in reverse. Can you upgrade to the 180? For me, having instant reverse on my Seastream Angler 120 PD is an absolute necessity. Having that allows me to jog in place as well as make small course corrections (along with the rudder) when I'm drifting and keeping the craft pointed in the right direction WHILE I am fishing. It also helps me maneuver easily when fishing docks. There are also times when I've got hung up on flooded timber and laydowns where reverse comes in handy. The reason I bought a pedal kayak was so that I could actually fish while in motion and not have to keep putting down the rod and grabbing the paddle to correct my positioning. For me, having instant reverse is a big part of that. A good example is let's say I'm fishing parallel to the bank and drifting along the bank. I will angle the bow of my kayak towards the bank and drift while making occasional micro corrections to the rudder position as well as jogging the pedals every now and then. If the wind or current is pushing me towards the bank I can just back pedal a little bit. But if I didn't have reverse I'd have to put down my fishing rod, paddle to adjust my positioning, lock the paddle down, then start fishing again. I imagine that in an inflatable kayak the wind would probably push you around a bit more than my heavy kayak. Maybe someone here has fished both an inflatable and a rigid and can state if the inflatable gets blown around a lot more. Your kayak fishing style might be completely different than mine so you may have no issues in not having reverse. But the way I fish docks, banks, and flooded timber it would drive me nuts because it would be like fishing a paddle kayak. Sure, I could get to where I was going faster, but the actual act of fishing would be a lot like a paddle kayak and that's what I wanted to avoid by purchasing a pedal kayak. I don't mean to slam paddle kayaks at all. But my experience with them is that when there was any kind of breeze I spent just as much if not more time positioning the kayak than I did fishing (I did not have an anchor). I hated that. I hope some others chime in with their opinion, and maybe they feel differently and can provide a great counterpoint. But I would be lost without instant reverse on my kayak.

I've always thought the great early morning fishing was an old wives' tale told by old guys looking to quickly get away from their old wives. As others have stated, my best fishing has always come between 10 or 11 am and 2 pm.

Your final choice may come down to what is available. There are still plenty of supply chain issues and you might have to wait months for your order to be fulfilled.

My favorite version of this song:

As an ex hockey player, I prefer the winter Olympics. But honestly, since pro athletes were allowed to participate it has lost its luster for me. Case in point, the 1980 Olympic hockey team. Just a bunch of no name college kids that took on the world. And to this day I can still name just about every player on that squad off the top of my head.

Yes, definitely. I'm an East Coast guy but one year the company I worked for bought a hotel in Cheyenne, Wyoming and they sent me out there to manage the transition and then try to turn the hotel around. The hotel had a terrible reputation, and part of my job was to "shake hands and kiss babies" and change the image of the hotel. So before I arrived I called up the Mayor to arrange a meeting and he suggested we go play golf. Great! I love golf! So the second day I'm in town I go meet the Mayor to play golf. Now Cheyenne is at 6,000 feet (we drove downhill to go to Denver) but I didn't think much of it. By the 15th hole between the altitude and the hot weather I was done. I drank at least a gallon of water while we played, but I couldn't make it through the last three holes. It was brutal. Within a few more days I adapted and didn't encounter any more problems with outdoor activities. But it definitely kicked my butt those first few days. I still hate Cheyenne.

All kidding aside, I caught my latest PB a few years ago when I was 54 or 55. But I had also not fished from age 16 until I was 48 or 49. I started fishing again when my son turned 7. When my son was 11 or 12, he caught his PB that was just under 6 pounds. It was a great moment, but I also reminded to really enjoy the moment because that might end up being the biggest bass that he ever catches.

The first bass I ever caught was my first PB. After all, I had never caught a bass before. You have to start somewhere.

Thankfully, there are no gators where I'm at. Truthfully, I would never kayak in the daytime with the aggressive gators I came across when I lived in SC. The area where I plan to fish is residential, close to my launch point, and everyone has dock lights. I do not plan to traverse open water and do plan to stay within casting distance of the shore. I actually don't use an anchor. Because my kayak has a pedal drive and a rudder I find it easier to jog the pedals when I want to stay in one place or just set the rudder and drift so I can keep my angle to the bank, docks, or wherever I am casting. There are plenty of docks where I fish, and all are lit. If I need to I can always tie off at someone's dock.

Um, I was talking about my pedal kayak. My bike is a Cannondale. Eleven and a half miles on a bike is a breeze. Not so much pedaling a kayak on a big lake.

There are still TONS AND TONS of baitfish in the area. It's a ridiculous amount of baitfish, in fact. Lots of smaller carp, too.Earlier in the year a decent amount of crappie and LMB could be found in the area. The striper and hybrid population was good as well. I heard catfish were plentiful, but I never fished for them. But the stripers are making their move to the creeks and I haven't found the hybrids and LMB for a while. Again, this area is shallow (3ft - 25 ft deep) compared to the rest of the lake (3 ft - 95 ft deep). I suspect the bass have just moved to deeper parts. It's just weird that on early Saturday mornings I don't see bass boats in my section of the lake. It will be interesting to see if I can locate LMB when I do some late night fishing. It could be that the LMB are just sitting in the deepest pockets of water in my area during the daytime hours. Those pockets are out in the channel where we get a ton of recreational boat traffic and I'm not going to sit out there motionless in my 12 ft kayak. I don't feel like getting run over.

Thanks - I did forget about a head lamp with the red light option. I was thinking about a light shining on the deck to go along with the head lamp just in case of the odd chance where it is difficult to get the hook out and trying to keep the head lamp in position when the kayak is bobbing around. Maybe I'll give it a go without that option. Bats and any other noises or motion will get my heart rate going, I fished my hotel docks at 2 am back in February when the hotel was slow and it was quite eerie out there. DOH! I did forget the bug repellent. I have plenty of sunscreen, but I don't that will be of any help at night.

I honestly don't enjoy fishing for catfish. I have no idea why. I like eating them, but not catching them.

I'm tired of fishing in the heat as well as dealing with recreational boat traffic so I think I'm going to give night time kayak fishing a try. I've ordered my bow lights for port, starboard, and stern identification. I have a couple of LED headlamps and I'm thinking of adding another track mount or suction cup mount light for additional broader lighting if and when it's needed. I also have my Lowrance Hook2 5 fishfinder with navigation to help guide me as needed. I already travel light on my kayak with only two rods and 3 plano boxes, multi-tool, fish gripper, pliers, a few bags of soft plastics, net, PFD, whistle, and water to hydrate. Am I missing anything that is essential to nighttime kayak fishing?

Thanks. I do want to fish that area, but it's an 11.5 mile pedal from my launch point. It would be a 10 hour round trip to get there and back if I didn't have a heart attack first! Once I get a vehicle to haul my kayak I'll give it a try. If I get desperate enough maybe I'll rent a UHaul for the day. Is there a public boat launch in that area?