Hi there. Not knew to fishing or even kayaking, but haven't used my yak for fishing much. I'm also new to TX by way of NY where I mostly surf fished the ocean. Had to travel for freshwater which I did often, but not too much with the yak.

Looking for suggestions on what I really need to outfit it. I'm talking basics. Not into electronics. Just looking for advice on how to choose rod holders and what kind of installations are more or less of a hassle, and maybe even how to avoid those hassles. Any gear I must have and advice on light fixtures for night usage. Or anything else that you may know that I don't and should.

Thanx in advance.

to TFF!

for safety strap a knife to your jacket or leg. Scotty rod holders work well for me. here are some items you might consider to make the experience more enjoyable.

retractable nail clippers
landing net with float
collapsible anchor on 50' floating anchor rope with caribiner
additional knife - tethered
pliers- tethered with caribiner
mark your yak for keepers at 10", 14", 16", 18"
install an anchor trolley on your yak
use basket, milk crate or box to keep your gear together

You should get into electronics if you want to catch fish consistantly. Even a cheapie handheld depth finder that will show you the basic contour of the bottom and give you the depth will be of great use to you for finding humps and creek channels on TX lakes. Knowing where this kind of structure is located is invaluable particularly if you haven't been fishing here your whole life like many of us.
The other thing I would suggest that The Zombie didn't mention is a means of transporting your keeper fish. A lot of people use stringers but I don't like to. I have a cooler that fits on my yak perfectly and I deposit my keepers straight to the ice.

I don't keep very often, so i've become something of a tackle-$LU+. Consider buying lots of floating, glow-in-the-dark, and waterproof/anti-corrosion doo-dads. A dry box devoted to the off chance you take a dump in cold weather, and fill this box with a blast match/fire starter cubes_solar blanket_compass_extra wistle_extra knife_extra led lights_small handgun_Bic Lighter_etc. Any thing you might want in than moment you realize your about spend the night outside, unexpectedly. I carry on my person a big heavy blade knife, a cell phone, a whistle, my wallet, my keys. Grab a lotsa differant anchors...if you plan on fishing year-round/differant places. OOOooooo, and I might consider investing in the brightest LED head light and a legal 360 light for your bright colored mast. Keep a pair of Dykes IN REACH,helps cut off the part of the hook that is hard to get back through that tiny blood hole! I have a box batteries too, just in case.


On a side note: If you make a small pile of wet twigs, cover them with Liquid Nails you stashed in your hull(the big tube), and cover with soaking wet sticks and branches(forget the dead stuff and burn the ones that look like christmas trees ), you can light the Liquid Nails and enjoy near-instant-giant-hot-fire. I have done this in some unbeliveable bad weather.

My kayak is marked 10", 14", 16", 18" and 20" as I do fish for Redfish occasionally.
The limit on Channel cats and blues is 12". But I never keep one that small.

My lists:

Legal requirements:
PFD
Whistle
360� Light when necessary

Need to have most trips:
Seat Pad
Batteries for Bait tank and Fish finder
5 gallon bait tank
Minnow dip net to get the bait out of the bait tank
Cast net or 2
Fish finder
Rods (at least 2 most often 4 or 5)
Snacks and water.
Camera
Hemostats and pliers
Knife
Extra rigging and lures, depending on the trip.
Hat
SunBlock
Neosporin lip protection.
red flag for the tail hanging out

Then for the return:
Seat coverage for the return trip (trash bags)
Towel
Dry socks

Thanks everybody. Lots of good stuff here. Especially the legal requirements that I didn't even know about.



I'm a real minimalist when it comes to my fishing tactics. Surfcasting in NY requires going out at low tide during the day and learning the structure/terrain. Then heading back in the dark of a new moon night to fish the structure (that changes with every tide :D) from memory. Point being that I have no problem putting in my time to learn the area or using a good old fashioned map.

I also rarely keep fish.

But who knows. Both of these things could change.

I have a Hummingbird PiranhaMax 180. This unit has 90� coverage, which is much better than any other unit anywhere near its class. It has 16 levels of Gray, and 240X160 resolution, which is adequate most of the time. It cost 150 bucks and is about the best buy in fish finders under 200 bucks. Gel Cell Battery was only 25 bucks with charger. I bought both through Amazon but their "free shipping" policy is not very fast. Takes them longer to get it shipped than it takes to actual get to your door once they do.
For a little more money you can get a color display and for around 500 bucks you can get color and GPS. Of course for about 1K bucks you can get side looking but then where would you put that big of a monitor?
I use my FF to find the structure and contours that I want to fish. I can work a contour fairly well keeping mostly within 2 feet of where I want to be. Which is close enough to improve the number of fish I catch.

I have a Garmin 140. Bought off another TFFer for $50. Got a battery and charger at Academy for another $26. Tube of goop and other stuff I needed to install it, the whole shooting match cost me less than $90. It is very accurate at marking structure. I have tested against spots where I have the GPS cords and SI pictures of the structure below. Also it never hurts to know what depth the fish are at when you are doing something like bridge fishing for crappie. I only have so much time to fish so I'd rather spend my time I do have catching.

Good point, especially since I'll doing lots of quick morning runs before work since I'm 10 min from the water and work from home.

At least I hope I will.....

How waterproof are yalls FF. If you take a dip in the drink are they done?

Things I bring, a paddle lanyard, food & drinks, dry bag for cell phone/wallet, extra caribiners, depending on what I'm doing, I sometimes bring some jugs for catfish. Most everything else has been covered. Find a way to keep everything tied down but still easily accessible.

As for rod holders, I put 2 of these on the back of mine.
http://www.academy.com/index.php?page=co...0145-40467-2208

and 1 similar to this on the front, my yak wasn't made for fishing but it is now.
http://www.academy.com/index.php?page=co...0145-40167-2804

I have dripped water all over mine but I haven't dunked it yet.
They are supposed to be waterproof but I don't feel the need to found out how waterproof just yet.

Anchor
Float for Anchor Line
Paddle Leash
Rod Floats
Tie Down Material (String, Clips, Carabiners, etc...)
Knife
Good PFD

These are all essential. I need to get some electronics. I had them on my previous boat, and I need to get them on the kayak. The question is do I put a graph on a Pelican, or wait until I get a new kayak?

Same here. Supposed to be waterproof but I've never put it to the ultimate test.

I've had a Humminbird wide120 in heavy rain/hail atleast 50 times and it doesn't miss a beat. Heard of a branch falling from a tree and cracking a screen though, happened as some DB paddled under the branch to get his 3 dollar Rat-l-Trap loose.

If you're fishing for bass you'll probably be working visible structure in ten feet or less. I really believe that to do this properly if there is any wind at all you need some kind of anchor/trolley system, otherwise you end up blowing up an area when the wind pushes you through it. You can rig up a trolley system without drilling. I prefer a 3 lb dumbell to a claw anchor as it's only a few bucks at Walmart, holds fine for me and doesn't get hung up as much IMO. Either type works fine though. I have not felt the need for a rudder on my MR12 as the trolley system works fine once you figure it out and that's too many holes near the waterline for my comfort.

As for holders, I have two flush mounts behind me and now one scotty holder with extender between my feet. I went with scotty over RAM because I felt that they were a little more durable even though they're not quite as versatile. The holder up front is more convenient for sure, but not absolutely necessary. Everybody drills into their yak at some point, just think long and hard about placement before you do it, go with stainless hardware and cut backing out of a plastic cutting board if it's at all possible. Not saying it's necessary, but it does add a little structural integrity over the long haul.

I bought a Garmin 300c in August and I have yet to install it! I decided that I wanted to use liquid seal wire nuts for the cable hole and it's taken me a while to find the right size. I've had my yak for two years and haven't had so much as a drop of water in the hull yet, and though leakage is probably inevitable and not that big a deal, I'm trying to minimize it as much as possible. I plan to install it this weekend. Basswise, you can definitely have great success without a fishfinder during the spring, early summer and fall by focussing on shallow structure, but during the dog days of summer and wintertime the larger bass tend to hold on deeper structure, so even though I have yet to use one in a yak I'm confident the FF will help a lot under those conditions.

Things I've bought and think are really worth it:

Brush gripper (attached to the anchor trolley instead of anchor)

Floating plastic pliers

Braid scissors (I'm always losing these and I use braid and superlines almost exclusively!)

Waders (Fishing out of a yak in the winter is not for the faint of heart for sure, but even when the air temps are mild this fall with water temps in the 60s, it can still be a little uncomfortable without them. The breathable ones are a lot more comfortable, but more expensive and much more susceptible to holes/leaks than the neoprene ones. I have both.)

Good, quick-drying fishing shirt/pants with lots of pockets and water shoes. (Others are plenty happy with shorts, tank top and flip flops. I burn easy and want a little protection on my feet when I step out/wade.)

Good safety/rescue knife (With anchors/trolleys come more lines on deck. Never had to use the gerber river shorty on my pfd, but it's always there just in case)

Things I really don't use that much:

Foldable kayak net (If they're too big to swing, playing them out a little at the yak and then lipping them with my hand works better than scrambling for the net and getting it open imo)

Milk Crate (Used to use one, but now I strap a backpack to the tank well and believe it's better as you won't lose anything out of it if you turtle. Plus, you can leave the yak with all your tackle and walk the shallows with hands-free fishing)