Fishing from a sea kayak

[erinbastian]

Hi there.

I am wanting to try my hand at catching a few fish while im out in and about paddling, however I do not have a scoobie how I would go about doing this.

Id image I need some kind of line to drag behind my boat, I woud be very greatful if any one has some handy tips on the basic things like, tackle, rig, depth of line, anything which might give me a fighting chance of catching my 1st fish.

many thanks

Erin

[Stuart Yendle]

Me too...I fancy the idea of going on an overnighter catching some lunch and cooking it over a drift wood fire on the beach. Mind you even if I managed to catch something I wouldn't have a clue what to do with it.

If your near Pembrokeshire http://www.seakayakguides.co.uk/content/kayaking-events are doing a 'Kayak Catch & Cook' in July which sounds good.

[Mikebelluk]

I've had the best catches with a hand line [attached to BA with a carabiner] and feather lures trailed about 20m behind the boat.
One time on Loch Fyne I thought I had caught the hooks in seaweed, turned out I had 7 mackerel on at once!
Im sure the guys on the kayak angling section of UKRG will have loads of much better advice.

[Bards]

With regard to rigs, speed, depth etc there's plenty of info out there; less so worryingly on the safety aspect. I would always carry an accesible knife (a good policy in any circumstance...) and have a 'weak link' of lower breaking strain near the hook, so if you snag the line will break rather than cause total chaos. Usually when snagged the line will stretch to give some warning when trolling, but that depends if you're using monofil or braid...

To keep things easy when dipping a toe in to fishing, personally I would only use a single lure or if trolling for mackerel then maybe 3 feathers on as a max (poss with a big Dexter wedge rather than lead by way of an end weight) and make sure you have a towel on deck with which to handle fish (to protect them if released, allow better grip and keep spines at bay) and somewhere to stash the booty all to hand. To do the poorly deceased justice, try to keep them fresh in an ice bag or similar. Make sure that in the chosen boat and conditions you'll be happy to drop your paddle (paddle park?) and wrestle around with something too, in terms of stability... I tried it in a tippy toothpick in moderate water last year, and as soon as I got my first string of fish my cries of "effing well raft up with me NOW!!!" are what I try not to expose my paddle partners to. Ooops..!
Personally I would never have any line attached to my BA... and keep all snag hazards to an absolute minimum (something over the deck to prevent hooks snagging neoprene when line is retrieved is worth considering...)

Bards

[mick m]

I fish most of the time on trips, the best line iv found , which is yoused by a lot of us down hear is about 15m of vanetian blind cord, then a good big swivel, and then about two to three metrs of mono fishing line , get a McDonalds drinking strore , cut it in half and thread both pices on the line , then the hook , the hole rig is then wound around a scrap of closed sell foam . The cord is easy on your hands when you drag your catch in , and dosent tangel as easily as just yousing fishing line .

[Douglas Wilcox]

Yum.

Douglas

[Gages]

Might not be the same fish but here in OZ I use an old flip flop (We call them thongs) and I wrap 30 mtrs of blind cord or just some fishing line (but that gets tangled easily )this onto the thong with the last 5 mtrs is 10/15 lb fishing line and for a lure I use 10/15mm of a McDonalds straw and there is heaps of these just lying around (Thanks McDonalds) and just run this down to a single hook

Cheap and it works and cleans a little of the rubbish left lying around !!


Damm I just read Micks post !!

[carpyken]

A few of us fish rather frequently from SOT's, the principal on sea kayaks is much the same, just a bit less stability and less places to store fishing gear at hand. Fishing off sea kayaks is a handy skill to have for when expeditioning or simply for when the fun of a challenging sea just isn't available.

Here is a silly video I put together last year up on the Yorkshire coast while bass fishing. It was a very calm day which made fishing off the Nordcapp possible. We are simply trolling with shallow diving lures (just wedge your rod in your BA) and then once the fish have been located you can simply cast and retrieve. This kind of tackle can also be used for Pollock although you have to use deeper diving lures. I'm experimenting using a paddle float at the moment for more challenging conditions. A 9ft spinning rod is useful, if a fish does dive under your hull (or you get snagged) you can pass the line around the front of your bow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3malvjtCa8

I'm running a couple of days on how to fish from sea kayaks at this up and coming symposium, hope to see a few of you there.

http://seakayakexpeditionsymposium.wordpress.com/

Ken

[cj]

Something simple. One of those cheap pine shelves small. Placed across your spray deck. Fit a couple of wooded chunks of wood on the pine shelf to wrap your line around. Feathers or spinner. If it all goes wrong the board hooks and whatever floats away. You recover with a he man roll and pick your gear up and start over.
Have a rag and plastic bag handy.
Stay safe dont get caught up with lines and hooks. Carry a small safety knife

[The Shiner]

I recently bought a rubber bucket to place in between my legs (under the deck), to put my catch, bait or some tackle, but it will mean popping the deck to access it.
I'm hoping to land some Smooth Hounds this year in my Sea Kayak, why? Why not, it'll be fun if nothing else, but I will probably buddy up with someone otherwise it'll just end up really messy.

I'm hoping to take some fishing gear on an upcoming IOW trip and cook something over an open fire, but I probably won't catch anything now I've mentioned it! (lol)

I'm running a couple of days on how to fish from sea kayaks at this up and coming symposium, hope to see a few of you there.

See you there : )

Rich

[DaveSt]

I was under the impression that the Australian contingent would've been after bigger fish...

Fresh Mackerel are fabulous, though I've yet to catch any from my kayak.

Good luck!

[atakd]

Here is a silly video I put together last year up on the Yorkshire coast while bass fishing. It was a very calm day which made fishing off the Nordcapp possible. We are simply trolling with shallow diving lures (just wedge your rod in your BA) and then once the fish have been located you can simply cast and retrieve.

Great video. I'm hoping to catch my 1st bass this year. Do you recommend any particular lure? Whatever you were using did the job well. I've bought
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tronix-Bass-Wedges-Various-Sizes-Sea-Fishing-Mackerel-/280858945389?pt=UK_SportingGoods_FishingAcces_RL&var=&hash=item870fc33253#ht_1597wt_902
which were mentioned on a sea fishing forum.

[puddled]

I’m no fisherman by any means (many would say that of my sea kayak skills too) but I’ve had success with mackerel and pollock when trolling from a boat using a hand line. To get the gear to a reasonable depth I use a diving paravane which, if it's set up right, will flip when something takes a hook and then bring it to the surface. Trouble with this method is that I once hooked a hungry gull that dived for the fish I had on the line.

Not a great experience!

pud

[outdoorbloke]

Hi there.

I am wanting to try my hand at catching a few fish while im out in and about paddling, however I do not have a scoobie how I would go about doing this.

Id image I need some kind of line to drag behind my boat, I woud be very greatful if any one has some handy tips on the basic things like, tackle, rig, depth of line, anything which might give me a fighting chance of catching my 1st fish.

many thanks

Erin

Hi Erin,
I'm useless at all this sort of stuff but I have a SOT Perception Angler (bought not for fishing but it was a good price and a big old boat for me and my daughter to mess around in on the Solent) and when I'm out on the Solent, just off the beach at Lee, I paddle out with one of those instant fisherman rods and hokkai? feathers on the end and just hang it off the back of my boat, follow the gulls and an hour or so later, I've got a string of mackerel!

I personally hate fish but my mate who is normally around and about with us has them for tea. He fishes from his Prowler kayak down at Hillhead. He puts peeler crabs on a hook and catches smooth hound which is apparently a toothless shark. They are reasonably easy to catch but they take you for a good run. He is 18 stone and 6ft 4 and he has nearly been out the boat!

Anyway, as with most things, it is probably easier than you think. Have fun :0) Denni

[jazzalbart]

I'm used of using Mirage for fishing. The Mirage Drive is simply superb and highly effective. Having the ability to propel yourself along virtually hands free is quite something. For the lure fisherman in particular this really has to be experienced to fully appreciate it. The stability of the Mirage is simply superb.