Erik's fishing rants

Finally took some time for myself to do some fishing on the lake here....been cleaning out a small 2800 sq ft warehouse my brother and me recently bought.
Was a good time this early this morning. Caught 3 small kokanee, and nearly 20 trout, all small under 15''...a combination of browns, bookies, and rainbows on my home made weighted dodger rigs with panther martin 1/4 oz spinners tied to aa 8 lb. fluorocarbon leader. Once a few boats saw me catch some fish it was game on. Must of had a minimum of 3 shadows following me the entire time out there.

 

That brings out the beast in me! Happens to us shore fishermen too.


We were all alone at 2:30 am on the Mon- nothing to write home about, couple babies and soft shell. We were using liver and cut up trout.

 

Found a nice peaceful spot just down the road from me. Its crystal clear, lots of green sunfish in there, but also a bunch of goldfish. I really want to pick up a few smaller bass and pike from my normal fishing lake and drop them in this little pond. They would get pretty big eating all the sunfish and goldfish.

The pond is only about half a mile from my house, so as soon as my bike fishing rod holder shows up I am going to be biking down there.

 

Looks like a good largemouth bass pond. Caught a nice 2 lb. smallmouth yesterday while fishing...you'd think the way it put up such a fight it was a 5 lb. fish.

 

Tried out a few ponds tonight to try to find someplace to take my wife. First pond was a bust, got a tiny bass in there and a sunfish. Second lake I got this monster!




Thats a size 12 shoe. I need to get a scale and a tape measure so I can track these things in more than just compared to my shoe.

 

Nice fish. did you weigh it?

 

I too use the shoe method!

 

Thanks! No I don't have a scale. Going to get one this weekend though.

If it works it works.

 

I've had a few scales in the past with all of them craping out, except this old normark digital scale i still use....just gotta remember to remove the 9v battery when not in use...this sucker will eat them so fast you'll wonder if something is wrong with the scale.

 

So I have gotten the bug again to put a trolling motor onto my kayak. I made a mount for it last year, but I never finished it or mounted it to the kayak.

Going to order a cheap minnkota endura c2, I will run it off the little battery I have in the kayak for now, but I am thinking about swapping out the kayaks battery for a custom made 12v battery that is lighter, fits better and lasts longer.

The new lake that I started fishing allows boats, but only electric powered. So it will be perfect for that lake.

I have a idea on how I am going to make the steering and everything. I plan to remove the control head from the motor, and mount it next to my seat. Then build a pair of wheels on it that will hold cables. Those cables will then go back to the motor where it will have the same wheels on the shaft. All the cables will be inside bike cable covers with grease in there. But this should allow me to turn the control head and have the motor mimic the movement.

The other simple idea is to just make a push rod that links the control head to the motors shaft, I may start with this idea since its easy and quick while I build the other system.

 

Trolling is a whole new game, and productive. You can shut the motor off, and still drift, and cast if you want. I've picked up a smaller 13' gls boston whaler that i've been using lately on the lake i live on with an offset center console, with rails that my articulating rod holders secure to. This allows me to drive the boat while still being free to manage the rods. Its perfect when this lake starts getting white caps.

 

Here is the mount that I had started making last year. I just need to put the vertical part on, then I am going to seal it with bed liner and bolt it down.


This was a very early picture, I have since smoothed it out and rounded the edges.

 

Sure looks like it should work. That looks like a real stable kayak not at all like my brothers that you'd be really pressed to fit in. One wrong maneuver in that thing any your going for a swim. Took me a number of times just to stay afloat without rolling it while hanging on the dock. No way i'd ever try fishing out his.

 

Stable enough to sit, but standing is not a option in it. Its a budget kayak, so for $400 I didnt expect to stand in it.

 

Truth is i wouldn't dream of standing while fishing out of any kayak. Thats begging to go swimming.

 

Yeah, I dont want to lose all my stuff to a roll over, so I stay firmly seated. Though it would be nice to stand for sight fishing. When I go on my kayak, I only bring my ugly stick gx2 rods. No way am I losing my expensive st croix rods to the lake.

I have tried putting floats and leashes on my rods, but they are just so annoying and hinder the rod use.

 

Kayak transom all finished. I covered it in bedliner (not the rattle can stuff, the real stuff) Its held down with carriage bolts.

Now I just need to wait for my trolling motor, and see how long that motor can run off a 10ah battery.... im guessing not very long.

 

I think your going to lucky if that battery will drive the motor if at all. Must electric trolling motors need at least twice that just to operate. If you want at least 3-4 hrs use a 100ah might be just enough.

 

Yeah, Im going to have to get creative here. The weight limit on the kayak is listed at 275 lbs. Im 200 lbs, and all my gear is another 15 lbs. The manual lists the trolling motor at 40lbs, but I find that hard to believe it weighs that much (its a 30lb thrust motor, so im not confusing thrust with physical weight). But if that number is right, I have about 20lbs to work with for my battery.

Might have to get the wallet out and buy a battery that costs more than the kayak itself.

 

Ouch! As far as those boat weight capacities, i think the engineers left some leeway that it doesn't need to be exact.