I picked up my new Ride yesterday....and what a sweeeeeet boat! Let me take a second to thank Chad and KayakBassFishing.com for everything they do and to thank Wilderness Systems for donating this great prize!

Now on to the rigging! On my last 3 boats, I had a tendency to "over engineer" everything! My thought on this boat is that I will apply the "KISS" technique: KEEP IT STUPID SIMPLE! Some of my mods/add-ons will include:

-STS system
-VisiCarbon Pro
-homemade anchor trolley
-Yak Attack Park-n-Pole
-a few Yak Attack camera mounts for a GoPro Hero 2
-random mighty mounts for different configurations
-custom made transducer mount for my Humminbird 798hd SI/DI
-large cratepak max for storage
-additional rod holders (because I have tendencies to take a million rods)
-and of course a few stickers

Here it is yesterday as soon as it got home



My very first mod was to add a few stickers





And of course I needed this logo somewhere




A few misc shots






Overall I'm very impressed with the design and built of this boat. It looks good, it's very rigid and the rigging possibilities are endless. I paddled the Ride 115 just a few weeks ago and I fell in love....so I can't wait to get this 135 out and get it wet. Stay tuned and I will update this thread as the rigging continues over the next few days.

Very Nice! Is that green crate/cooler what they sell at Academy with additional rod holders?


And you have one helluva organized garage. Nice tv!

Love it, have an 09 Ride 135. I love the color, very nice!

This is my kayak AND angling strategy. Pure and simple.

Honestly, with an advanced platform such as the new WS Ride, what more could you possibly need?

In the world of kayak angling, at some point, your gear starts working against you. I want my equipment to work for me, not the other way around.

Looks like a serious Fish finder there.

That is the CratePak Max in the large size. Hook-1 sells them. They also have a similar version that slips over your milk crate giving you additional storage and pockets.

You can view them here: http://kayakfishinggear.com/gearorganization.aspx

Looks great

Congrats! Neumie was nice enough to let us paddle his this past weekend. Seems WS has made some nice upgrades on the 2012 Ride 135. Yours looks wicked stealthy & nice sonar!

Lookin' good Arai! I'll bet you're itchin to baptize it on Falcon or Ivie... No doubt some swamp donkeys will soon get to see the inside of it... Congrats! The challenge series over at KBF really is one of the coolest things in the sport...

How about Tawakoni this weekend?

I second that! Chad and KBF have a great thing going! I'm so thankful to have won such a great boat during the Sept tourny! I might break this boat in at Falcon in Jan. when we go again. We haven't decided if we are taking the yaks or the Ranger!

Chris,

Where did you get the decal on the front?

From Chad when we fished Fayette together. He had a big box of decals and I stole a few

Started installing the STS today.......I have a ways to go as I can see several areas where this stuff is value added!

Thats cool stuff, where'd you pick it up.

Hook 1

click the logo in my signature.

What Rob said....Hook 1 has it in stock and ships quick!

Looks like she's starting to came together Arai. I'm liking what you are doing do far.

Made a small video tonight showing the sound deadening properties of the STS.


STS Install on my Ride 135

That's cool stuff right there. I can't tell you how many times I'm trying to sneak in to a area and be quite. Only to bang something against the side if the kayak and tell every fish in the area I'm there.

I should have mine today and all of my Yak Attack gear this week as well. Looks as if Christmas came early for myself

Thanks for sharing that with us.

Cool looking setup! I've been thinking about getting my first kayak, and was looking heavily at that yak at Mariner Sails.

Very nice like how you set it up

Has anyone had this for a while, how does it hold up and how easy is it to tear and snag?

I fished from a 2012 Ride 115 a few weeks ago that it had been installed in for months. I loved it. It was stuck down as tight as the day it had been put on. The secret is to clean the boat with alcohol prior to installation and then to roll it on tight.

Started designing a bracket tonight to hold my transducer. It will attach under the rudder mount and under the skidplate. This should keep it nice and secure.

Worked on the mount for just a few minutes tonight. The ducer is just hanging loosely as I hadn't tighened it down....this is why the gap looks a bit large in between the aluminum and yak. It sits just above the skid plate which should protect it. You can see in the second pictute that when folded up, it will be well outta the way for dragging the kayak through the thickest stuff and should be well protected. Tomorrow I hope to perm attach the ducer bracket and paint the entire assembly.

Looking good man. Can't wait to get my di/si unit. How do u like the 798. That's the one I'm looking at.

I like it A LOT! Overkill for a kayak, but a very nice unit. It takes a few hours to get it set up properly and tweaked....but worth the time investment.

Looks good Chris. Its killing me watching you and Mike (Glockguy) rigging your kayaks out. I'll be posting as soon as I get my stuff in.

added a few goodies last night and added some more STS. I also modified my cratepak to accomodate 2 more rod holders.

Looks great!

Looking at you depth finder and the cables coming out running in the track back aft you have a hole cover. Where did you get that. I have been looking for something like that.

Nice job laying all that out btw.

West Marine:

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/sto...;classNum=50192

A few more last minute mods. I think I am getting close to being almost done :roll:

I still need to put together my dry box and attach it and make a battery box and epoxy it inside the hatch.

Here is a pic of my solution to having my pliars handy on deck. They sit out of the way and are attached with a bungee.




I also added some STS up front where the paddle rests when I am standing. This makes for a quiet stow-away and retrieve.



I also picked up a small rod holder attached to a RAM mount and mounted it in the slidetrax.



Secured my hawg trough on the side so it's quick and easy to grab on the fly incase I need to measure a lunker!



and last but not least, my GoPro2 is mounted and ready for business



also added a little flair to my boring 'ol life jacket!

thats sweet!

Very Nice, looks like a fun winter time project!

Very sweet ride! I thought hard about doing the same mount with the transducer on my yak, but went with the water bath instead. I just know with the creeks and rivers I play in I would probably snap that off backing into stuff. I still may do the rear mount if I can design something to protect it from backing into a rock or stumps. I like what you have done with your yak and you now gave me more to think on. Thank you for sharing!