schplurg

I actually cast the BC left handed. Right handed feels weird because that was my first BC and I just did it lefty. I can do both though. I cast weird though, often over my right shoulder, and the few times I've skipped I hold it lefty but swing it righty. Weird yep. But with spinners I cast rightie then switch, I just haven't gotten used to casting a spinner lefty, and I never bother to work on it. I can do it but the finger release is odd to me. Do you think that the rudder handle can be changed, shortened or altered so it doesn't hit the seat? Maybe pop the knob off? I read a review where the guy is 5' 11" and the rudder knob actually hits the metal frame of the seat. That worries me. And I wonder if there is a way to raise the seat. I can look into that, maybe there's an aftermarket bracket or seat. Small quibble and not a deal breaker. I have to drive a few hours to see any kayaks for sale so trying to learn all I can. Thank you for the help! I see this yak for $1500 on one site. I'm also looking at the Makos. Mako 10 might be okay but it seems low on storage even for ten feet. Thank you again! Edit: In this video review the guy I THINK says that the rudder handle can be adjusted. In other words, if the rudder isn't straight you can calibrate it. By purposely calibrating it too far to one side I wonder if the knob hitting the seat would be an issue? Looks easy to replace for someone handy enough to make a different one, or buy one. I'm liking this yak. Review from Headwater Kayaks. Very positive.

I finally used the yak. I could like it, buuuut.... I need pedals. For example, my Dad's cove is narrow as you go into it. Lot of houses with their own docks. Having to grab an 8 foot paddle all the time as I drift around is a pain. And for me, paddling is a literal pain in my arms. I have a very small oar that I made but forgot to bring. I can whip it out one-handed and make quick corrections. But the hands free approach of pedals is the way for me to go. No doubt. It's worth the expense. I'm gonna use my yak a few more times and make sure, but I'm thinking I will probably give it another chance with a pedal kayak. In the right setting it is frickin awesome. Quiet cove, not far to some prime fishing areas. It was great just relaxing as the sun went down, hearing chatter from families hanging out on the docks, sippin drinks, enjoying the cooler evening after a 100 degree day. Little kid asked me if I caught anything and told me what he'd caught. Right on. This is nice! A motor for me will be overkill. Won't really need it. If I do one day then I will get the boat. Right now I can't store one, and I can borrow a 14 footer if I want to. So looks like round 2 with the kayak thing

Thanks for the great response. I think I remember a thread where you couldn't decide where to put your screen. I still want to mount mine on the seat to my side, at least on my Ride 115. But it isn't in the way really. I think I'd want the rudder on the right because I use my left hand to hold the rod. I do it for tendinitis but I'm normally right handed. I can fish either way though. Have to think about that. It's one of the cheapest pedal yaks I've found, and I can't find anything on Craigslist except Hobies right now. Seriously, it's weird. Thank you for the detailed reviews, I actually found this on Google searching about this yak. For all the negatives - no through-transducer etc, for the price it sounds very good. And ya it's heavy!

Right on! I love dinks! They are a million times better than nothing! I creek fish a lot so I see a lot of em LOL

Okay I caught a "bunch", as in 3 the first night, two the second. Was after 12 am every time just fishing off the dock.

How do you like the kayak now? I ran across this model today while looking up lower priced pedal yaks. How do you turn the rudder and which side is it on? Both maybe?

Good to see!!! I caught a bunch a few days ago too.

I introduced myself to bass fishing. I was fishing for stripers when I started. I went to my Dads once and decided to try for bass with a popper. Caught my first one after a few visits and was hooked. That bass introduced me I guess. It was an exciting catch!

I'm gonna find me a life-size rubber bass and stick a brick in it. See if I can lure some people to my bad spots, then leave them for the good ones. All I have is a kayak though. "Whoa BABY! It's a PIG!!! Hey everyone look over here!!! Look at my rod bending!!!" Might be fun BTW, casting a lure over someone's bow - you better be very sure of who you are messin' with (read the mind-numbing "Do you carry in your boat?" thread in the gun forum). Seriously stupid thing to do, guns or not. Try talking to people, bro.

Unless it's a wake boat! Random fact: My step-brother has the rare and envious distinction of being able to say that he ran over a jet-skier. Not deliberately, so the story goes...he's actually not very mechanically inclined so I couldn't say whose fault it was, though the jet skier got the blame. No seriouos injuries.

Was a great few days. Nice full lake (to the brim). Way too hot during the day. I yakked the night I got there. Just cruised around the cove, talked to a few people sipping drinks on their docks. Fished a little, cruised around lazily mostly. Was nice. I now know that if I keep yakking that pedals are a must. This cove is narrow and I was constantly needing to grab my paddle. I do have a tiny one-handed oar I made but I forgot it. It's great for making small corrections. Eight foot paddles and fishing in tighter quarters is not fun. I caught all my fish from Dad's dock between 12:00 and 3:30 am. I barely even went outside during the hot days. Largemouth all less than 3 pounds. Was fun and had a great visit with Dad. Did anybody see that crazy meteor early Friday morning around 12:40? It was so amazing I'm getting goosebumps typing this. Was like 4 seconds long, watched this low (or just huge) and extremely bright meteor go across the sky. The tail was yellow and so bright I could see details. This was no distant and faint instantaneous shooting star. This thing was BRIGHT and the tail was fat. After a few seconds a whole bunch of pieces broke off like it exploded, but the main rock kept going. The smaller pieces followed the same path as the rock, and each had their own bright yellow tail before going out after maybe a second. I thought someone lit a big firework because it was so clear and brilliant. Crazy. The main rock continued on and I thought, "hope it doesn't hit the ground and cause a fire" before it finally went out. There were a few people partying late on their docks across the cove and they started cheering WHOOOOOO!!!!!! So did I! I was super excited. It was like nothing I'd ever seen. Spectacular!

Ya not sure what I'm gonna do. Going to yak fish tonight and a few days at Tulloch. Hotter than heck but I'll hit mornings and nights. I'm not too keen on casting too close to docks yet, I've never actually done it from a boat haha. And since my Dad lives on the water, I understand both sides of the issue. He's pretty chill about people fishing around the dock but his neighbor not so much. I figure be nice to me and I'll be nice to you.

Why would anyone compete against the USA in shooting? Don't they watch the news? Yer gonna lose! Not a fan of the olympics. Would be interesting to be there though, but nah. I don't have cable TV anyways. They're all from the Universe though

I looked up boat light regs in Calif and I was surprised by them: I thought kayaks needed more than this. I'm taking my kayak to my Dads and will fish evenings due to the heat. Maybe night. It's a quiet cove, all no wake, plenty of homes and docks. No gators! I actually think I'll be safer at night because I will be the only one out there. It's other boaters that worry me.

They say 1/4 of all men are colorblind. May go for fish too!

I will go during the week most likely. Mossdale is super slow, as you said, which might be nice for a first launch. I'm pretty efficient launching the yak though at the lakes, it's just been quite awhile. It's be nice not to be in a hurry. I think I will probably do Disco Bay though. Just seems fun, especially if I have bad luck fishing. I've seen Greg Blanchard launch from lazy M many times in his vids, but he has pedals and a Torquedo, so he can travel much farther than I can. Thanks!

I was thinking Disco because I've never been there, and it just looks like it would be a fun place to float around. Lots of activity, maybe find some stripers. Tons of docks. Maybe upstream from Mossdale towards Trurle Beach. I've seen Blanchard vids with him out there killin em. Not sure how much farther upstream you can go from there, I think there's a "lock" of some kind, gate whatever that you can't boat through. Not sure though. used to bank fish stripers in Lathrop.

I want to take my yak out onto the Delta, preferably the southern area near Tracy, Disco Bay. I'm just nervous to go out my first time alone. I don't need to paddle far from the ramp or wherever we launch. just thought it'd be a good idea for me to have someone around. I don't know anyone who yak fishes, and I haven't even done it myself for over a year, and only a few times total. I've been on the water my whole life though, know the rules of the water and all that. If nobody wants to go, maybe someone can point me to safe areas to yak near Tracy Oasis, Lazy M, Disco Bay, Turtle Beach maybe, and other options. I could launch Mossdale easily and I can't really get lost from there. Not sure about Tracy. I'm available weekends and weekdays.

San Jose area is very tough. Especially now that the creeks are dry (Coyote Creek was my fav for numbers). Uvas, Chesbro, Calero, all very tough and very very low. I haven't even bothered since the creeks dried. I've caught at a few of them, but it's like playing roulette. Odds are bad and you can't find a pattern when the water is so low, especially from shore. Guadalupe and Almaden Reservoir (not lake) are probably good but you can't park near them. No parking anywhere on that road. Figures right? Stupid Bay Area BS. My idea one day is to get dropped off by an Uber and do those lakes. Delta is pretty close and a great fishery. It's likely to be my new go to spot. I used to be able to drive ten minutes and catch bass at the creek. Oh well. Can also try surf fishing the coast. If you are a serious angler move away from the Bay Area. I'm going to.

I barely use a hookset with cranks anymore. I usually keep cranking and "lean into it" a little maybe.

Something that ugly should be cheap! Looks like a 4 year old made it!

Oh I thought you meant graaaassss maaaan cuz I could use the extra work!

I ended up getting a Master cable lock. I know they are easy to break, but I'm gonna have a cheap cover on the yak too, so I can cinch down this lock tite and put it in the boat so it is out of sight. And it will be tight against the boat discouraging a hammer strike. Best I can do for now. Hopefully a burglar will see the cable and wonder what kind of lock it is attached to and "gee that kayak isn't that great" and move on. Kayak theft from a boat seems like an awful risk anyways haha. You'd need a definite plan. Probably more common to steal what's IN the boat...rods, fishfinders.... The only way to steal it is by water. Gated community too. An on-the-water burglar risks his hull ID being seen on video. These are nice big homes, though many can be empty off-season. Lot of gun owners too I would guess. My Dad says theft is super low, in fact you see empty kayaks floating out in the lake sometimes that have blown off docks. I helped rescue one once. The owner eventually claimed it from our neighbor. Weeks later haha. I thought about getting a square link chain but they won't fit through my scuppers. I finally said screw it and got what was on the shelf at Lowes. Thanks again!

The dock. Neighbor's dock to the left has the cams and light. I could throw a solar powered motion light up too maybe. Probably won't bother. I used to have one that was very reliable. Photo is from a video of me fishing. He parks a pontoon boat on the lift thing. I can park the boat where I'm standing. I'm going to get a cable with a good quality lock (for rust more than thieves) and wrap it around the best place I can find. To blab a little more, this cove is awesome for bass. I won't need to paddle far. I could push off the dock and be right there. The weekly tourney shootout guys blow right through it, quickly casting and moving on. I catch the bass right behind them. Theres a mini point out of view to the left next to the other dock that sticks out slightly farther than my Dad's dock. Great fishing! Should be easy on my tendinitis. Maybe if I start liking the kayak (I always say I don't much) I will upgrade to a pedal system. Very excited! Thanks for the help guys. I do like the idea of a plate I could lock it directly too. May be possible here.

Good responses, thank you all. The neighbor's dock has a motion light and a couple of cameras. I have old cameras I don't use and could put one up as a dummy. They have yaks too that aren't locked. Cheap ones. Mine is a bit old as well so not a huge target. This dock is not wood, and the walking surface is concrete. My Dad designed and built these for some people up at the lake. They do not move or bounce around at all, which is nice. There are a lot of expensive homes side by side in some areas on the lake. There are metal poles holding up the canopy/roof and plenty of good areas to wrap a cable around. So I do have a very solid structure to attach it to. His house is practically sound proof. He built it and he didn't wanna hear the weekend crowds with the windows shut. So I don't know if I'd hear any saw. I'm sure he wouldn't! I'd like to stow it near or under the house when I'm not there. If I can. I think the scuppers are probably an inch, maybe slightly less. My idea was to run a cable through a few holes and wrap it around part of the dock. AND put a cover on it. I want to discourage a non-professional thief, and stop a random drunk dude who may or may not try and take it. It's a public lake, but kind of semi-private. Not many boaters visit there anymore, so I think it's mainly locals. Maybe a cable with a separate lock. Any recommendations of cable material? Some must be more difficult to cut than others for an average Joe thief. Maybe I would hear it if it takes them awhile. Thanks again! Maybe I will put up a sign next to it: "The Guy Across The Cove Has Two Hobie Pedal Kayaks!' (my Dad's friend) Hmmm interesting!