kayak modifications

Question
QUESTION: i have been looking at the new things but i was wondering if you got any favorites that you would recomend on modifications  that can be made on a fishing kayak
ANSWER: To give you a little background, I fish almost exclusively from long, narrow sea kayaks. I do own a 搒it-on-top?that I use once a year out on the west coast, but for the most part I fish here in the windy mid-west. For my sea kayaks, my first mod would always be the installation of a rudder. Foot controlled rudders are the biggest improvement to the fish ability of a kayak. They allow you to maintain or change course at any time without taking both hands off of your rod. To put it plainly, fishing from a kayak without a rudder can be miserable.

After that, I would probably lean toward an on deck rod storage system. Open ocean guys usually have a system where the rods stand straight up behind the cockpit for easy access. I prefer to keep my rods laying flat on the deck so I can get into tight spots like river banks and flooded trees with overhead obstructions. Also of note, I prefer rod holders for trolling that can be adjusted to have the rod lay on the deck and out of the way too.

Then I would probably put my money into a good locator (sonar) with GPS. I am currently going to a Lowrance 搈68c s/map? The biggest benefit of the GPS is that it will tell you your speed, which is useful for trolling. Your power system for the locator will wind up being the thing you have to put the most thought into. At least it was for me, as having the weight in the center and bottom of the hull is extremely important in a narrow boat. This problem is not so much of an issue in a wide sit-on-top.

Other modifications that I have on my sea kayaks:
A coast guard approved 2mile visibility light that stands higher than your head (for night fishing)
A wheel system for transporting your kayak long distances over land to your fishing spot (carrying a kayak over 50 yards is no fun)
A tackle storage system (I use bags, not the soft sided ones with the hard boxes insides, but actuall 搝ip-loc?bags to save space)
A cable fish stringer system for large fish (15lbs+)

And for a sit-on-top:
A bait tank
And buy a gaff-hook for landing big fish (cable fish stringer system is really not needed in a wide boat)


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: k when you say the cable fish stringer what do you mean. Oh by the way im from the land of ten thousand lakes so i am also from the mid-west

Answer
The following is a previous reply to someone else who wrote the same question. Remember, with the description here, the system only works for a sit-in-kayak:


揃ig (over 15lbs) and aggressive fish (pike, tigermuskie, muskie, wiper, grass carp) do not come out of the water. I either release them after getting a picture of them in the water or use my homemade stringers to strap them to the boat and drag them to shore for cleaning.

My stringers consist of #10 THHN stranded copper electrical wire with a loop at one end and a point at the other end. I make the loop by doubling the wire over and wrapping it with stainless steel wire to tie it off. I then cover the stainless steel wire with Hot Glue to conceal all the sharp and snaggy edges of the stainless wire. The point is much more simple as I just cut back the insulation about 3/4" from the other end and solder the strands together. I then file the soldered copper to a point and round off this point so it won't snag when going through the fish's gills but I still leave it sharp enough to penetrate the thin skin at the lower jaw.

The real trick to it is to have a piece of this same wire that will wrap around the bottom of the kayak ahead of the cockpit. This loop is what keeps a large fish from capsizing me if they make a run off to the right or left. The stringer that the fish is attached to is attached to this loop and slides freely back and fourth under the boat. This eliminates the hazard of directly attaching a fish stringer to the deck, which would give the fish leverage to capsize you.

I know my explanation may be hard to follow but I can send you pictures if you would like. Also, though this system has worked flawlessly with me and I have never capsized while engaged in fishing (the one time at the boat dock does not count), I will say that you do know that you have a 20lb Striper under your boat and I don't think I would ever continue to fish using my system with a large fish attached.

Another advantage to my system is that I get scrap wire from work for nothing.