Kayak maiden voyage - good, bad ugly

[68camaro]

Finally got a kayak and got off shore. Today was first time fishing from water and on a yak. Overall loved it. However did have major ugly incident, it was very hot and humid in central VA today. As I was peddling to new spot to fish and crossing big open water I decided to stop and throw a crank. Took rod, give big cast and watched in horror as rod slipped from my sweaty hands and land in lake and sink. I thought about jumping in to get it but wasn't sure if that would tip the kayak and risk losing everything else. Spent hour with treble hook trying to scrap it off bottom, but no luck - lessoned learned.

 

The good was fishing from a yak is great, fishing from on a standup kayak and one you can peddle was double great. Can't wait to get out tomorrow.

 

Only caught one fish in 3 hrs but it is first time on lake so thats my excuse and I am sticking with it. Oh the bad, none really.

[Leftymuk]

The more you go out the better it gets

[Darren.]

On the bright side, you didn't get skunked!  

 

Other than the rod, glad you enjoyed the maiden voyage.

[68camaro]

Not getting skunked was good, took stink out of lost rod. Reel was just serviced and had ball bearings upgraded a couple years ago so that stunk, Rod was older one I was debating to replace or not.

 

Do you guys use rod floats or leashes in case of tip over of dropping one in water?

[DogBone_384]

Congratulations on getting out on your yak and catching fish.  You're "free" now.  

 

Bummer that you lost a rig, unfortunately it happens.  I've lost two rigs since picking up kayak fishing, both my fault for rushing and not paying attention to my surroundings.  

 

My Lure 11.5 rod holders have rod retainers on them.  They're nothing more than a length of bungee cord with a clip on the end.  I'm adding them to my Ascend 128T and try to be prudent about using them.

 

 

Best of luck, and enjoy your new freedom!

[Turtle135]

3 hours ago, 68camaro said:

Do you guys use rod floats or leashes in case of tip over of dropping one in water?

 

Welcome to the kayak bass fishing addiction!

 

I lost a rod in a ridiculously shallow spot. Spent 30 minutes trying to hook it but was unable. The water was off color and I could not see it but I was astounded that I could not retrieve that combo that had to be right below me. I would have jumped in but the water was in the low 40's.

 

Here are a couple of options on rod floats.

[adrenalnjunky]

2 hours ago, Turtle135 said:

 

Welcome to the kayak bass fishing addiction!

 

I lost a rod in a ridiculously shallow spot. Spent 30 minutes trying to hook it but was unable. The water was off color and I could not see it but I was astounded that I could not retrieve that combo that had to be right below me. I would have jumped in but the water was in the low 40's.

 

Here are a couple of options on rod floats.

 

I had a flouro failure result in a broken off chatterbait the other week in less than 7' of water.  After giving up on trying to snag the line I went home bummed. (especially because I had just caught 2 on that particular bait)  I couldn't imagine if I lost a whole rod/reel setup.  On a whim, I just got one of those android-compatible borescopes with 9' of cable to plug into my phone.  Supposed to be waterproof, and has leds around the lens tip. Works pretty well in a dark room, as long as you're within a few inches of the bottom. Going to ziptie it to the end of a rod next time I go out and see what it looks like underwater.  For $16, I save a couple of lures and it about pays for itself.   

[68camaro]

I like the rod floats for rods I am working and lashes for when stored. Will look to pick some up. The big resevoir by me is only 8-10 feet max depth with very no structure I could find, that borescopes with 9' of cable would have probably worked good.

 

Thanks

[scatterbrains]

rod leashes are a def in all situations, everything on my boat is leashed to the boat. I dont run into many situations where my rods are slippery i only have cork handles i prefer them over the foam handles by a long shot. Not sure if thats the reason though.

 

 

[moguy1973]

I made my own rod leashes for just a couple bucks a piece.  I used the same materials that are on this website other than I didn't use the S-biner.  I just made a loop on one end and my kayak seat clips hold them on.

 

http://palmettokayakfishing.blogspot.com/2011/09/build-rod-leash-for-kayak-fishing.html

[GetBent]

That sucks but could have happened in a boat. Keep after them. 

[jim49]

Don't feel bad my first trip I flipped it , lost some stuff and was soaking wet luckily no one was around to see this unfortunate mistake. It was a narrow body kayak not so good for fishing.

[J Francho]

The cork on my Avids is usually enough to float most reels under 9 oz.