Rigging Ideas?

[1 Reel Polack]

Hello All,
I am new to the site and sport. Is there any place on this site where people post pics of their boats? I am looking to get set up ideas.
After extensive research I am well aware that my boat is not considered a "fishing kayak," however, I recently purchased a Malibu 2 XL and wanted to get some rigging ideas. This boat was a great price, and fits more of my family needs (and budget). I am interested to know what basics are needed to get into the sport (rods and tackle is covered). I have already equipped it with 2 flush mount rod holder in the stern, and purchased 4 Scotty flush mounts to be installed soon. This boat will be primarily used with one of my children, and occasionally solo. We will be fishing the rivers and Bay Area near Annapolis.

Any help / ideas will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[silasvirus82]

Search around the forum, but the first things that come to mind are adding an anchor trolley, crate system, and maybe a fish finder. Go fishing and you'll quickly discover what is needed and where to put it.

[EMSer]

Youtube is full of people's kayak modifications. Search there and you can get a ton of ideas. The best place to get what you need is from:

http://www.austinkayak.com

[kuljc]

I would suggest looking into yakattack gear tracs. I did that to my Hobie Odyssey (similar to your 2xl), so I can move my rod holders and fish finder when going solo or tandem. I didn't find much help when rigging mine, because most people don't buy a tandem when they want a fishing yak.

The 4" tracks are too small for scotty mounts so use the 8"-12" yakattack tracs and put them in a few places. I used the tracks because I never found a perfect spot for a tandem and solo setup where I could paddle comfortably.

[baitball]

Tandem Kayak Rigging

1 Reel,

Like you, when I first was entertaining the idea of fishing from a kayak, I modified my Wilderness Systems 130T to enable me to fish for largemouth bass in the Potomac and its associated creeks.

The 130T comes with two standard seats, plus a depression in between the seats in case you were considering of bringing along a third, non-paddler. I imagine the designers intended this depression to be used for the kid (or possibly the family pet) if mom and dad were paddling.

As a tandem, this boat is like a SUV – it is well suited to get the family out on the water, or when rigged properly, it is quite fun for dad to pursue his hobby.

The picture I’ve attached will help you see what I did:

1. I purchased a Surf to Summit GTS Expedition seat that sits right over the depression. This places a lone paddler closer to the center of gravity of the boat and provides ample storage space to carry your gear either forward or behind you. BTW, I highly recommend this seat. It is pricey, but the gel padding is amazing and super comfortable. I liked it so much, I use it on my current boat, a Hobie Revolution, in place of the stock Hobie seat.
2. I installed an anchor trolley (from CaptDick.net). I found this gadget invaluable while trying to hold a precise position in either deep water (with a traditional anchor made for kayaks), or if I was tucked in near shore or near docks, I would use a brush anchor to clip onto overhanging branches or dock pilings. The anchor trolley allows you to set your anchor position either towards the bow or the stern, or anywhere in between. Because of this feature, the boat will pivot around your anchor point depending on which direction the current is flowing (think of a flag on a flag pole during a windy day).
3. I installed two flush-mount rod holders behind the seat as well as a Scotty Rod Holder Extender directly in front of and angled away from me so that it would not interfere with my paddle stroke. This seemed to work well for me. Obviously, this arrangement will need customizing based on your own physical dimensions and paddle stroke.
4. I played around with where I wanted to keep my tackle. Sometimes I would carry it behind the seat, sometimes I would carry it in front of me (for ease of accessibility) as the picture shows.
5. The one item I did not invest in for this boat, was a fish finder (FF). I spent many nights weighing the pros and cons of cutting further holes in the boat and creating a silicone-infused box inside the boat to set the FF sounder in. I found lots of YouTube videos describing how to do this. These videos also cautioned that signal degradation could possibly occur when shooting the signal through the hull. In the end, I found that I didn’t miss having a FF. Casting 15-20yds away to shallow water, weed-choked shorelines for bass didn’t require a FF if you knew what conditions LM bass like to hang out in.

I hope this helps.

Tight Lines
-manny

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[1 Reel Polack]

Thank you for your responses. All the info was really helpful. Looking forward to setting up and trying out my Aquatic Minivan!