Fishing out of a kayak?

When I was there they were still protected. No fear of man whatsoever. We had to chase them of the roads at times. Couldn’t harm them so we sprayed them with water. But they’d come back sooner or later.

 

I watched a lady where she hooked a gator and dragged it in. Then POP goes the bang-stick. Gator tacos. Florida folks live an adventurous sporting life if they wanted. She did this all off a fishing jet ski. (YouTube)

 

tomorrow: i am gonna try to sneak out to the kayak shop in Ukiah..about an hours drive. i hope to modify my kayak. i want to take that (borderline) useless round hatch between my knees out, and convert it to the Hobie rectangular hatch that houses, TWO Plano boxes. somewhere to put my overly abundant soft plastics. then move the round hatch to the nose of the boat to house only the battery and maybe a dry sack full of tools, and parts.

i do have business to attend to in Ukiah, but i cannot put my kayak in my work truck. damn..i will drive my personal truck.

 

@JEEPNIK
I moved from Long Island to SC about 5 years ago. I had to get used to fishing among the gators. I don't like it, but I gotta fish! I think one day the gators might figure out, they can pull me off the yak and then its game over. I'm sure we'll all hear about it on the news if it should ever happen. We all hear about the folks that get grabbed near the edge of a pond, once or twice a year around here. In most cases the human was doing something stupid. There is one reservoir near my house that I have not fished yet, due to the large amount of big gators that live there. I'd prefer to try that place with at least one other person with me. I have a pond in my backyard that holds a few gators. I've had to chase them off the lawn with firecrackers on 2 occasions, so I can cut the grass. LOL

 

That is awesome! I bet launching a kayak is nerve racking. You probe the water with a paddle first? Or you send in a friend first.

 

Can you trap or kill them out of season if they endanger you and yours?

 

You better have a good story for the DNR if you kill them out of season. Any nuisance gators can be dealt with by calling the authorities. They took one off our golf course 2 years ago because he was aggressive. He chased the landscapers while they were trying to eat their lunch. That gator was likely fed by a human at some point and lost its fear of people. We love having them in the ponds on the golf course, we just need to keep an eye on the dogs. Back to fishing- I caught a couple of these today. Sea Trout are good eating, but I just catch and release.

 

We had a gator in a park lake adjacent to a golf course a few years ago. It was a pet some guy let loose.

They closed the lake to humans. The park to for a bit, but never the golf course. Go figure.

The couldn’t catch it. The croc guy Irwin tried and failed. Finally they gave up but kept the lake fenced off.

The gator finally got comfortable and would haul out on the golf course. That wasn’t acceptable so, for the health of the gator they finally caught it napping in the sun.

They were so worried about the gator’s health, it had only grown a foot or two and was quite well fed, they took it to a zoo where it died.

The zoo folks did a fair job of covering it up and even substituted another so visitors wouldn’t know.

 

Picked up a Bonafide SS107 last weekend. Can't wait for spring to get here. Not real sure I will. Just need that water to warm a bit.

 

Looks awesome. Love the color.

 

I am the biggest goof-ball.

I made this today while my wife napped. About $20 worth of stuff to try to get two more rods on board for the spring time. I just started cutting and drilling, -plus some bending. The important step of measuring? Not so much.
I was feeling pretty good about myself right until I thought - “wait! Will this even fit my kayak?!

the short answer? NO! The bottom aluminum straps were about half inch too wide on either side. !@#%!!)9! I took it apart and did some trimming. It’s perfect now. For my kayak. I have about 1/8” clear on either side. Tight fit for the rods but it will work. I need to conjure up an easy rod retention system now.

Pretty funny.

 

I streamlined my tackle! I took out all duplicate plastics and put all the extras in a plastic storage bin.

I bagged what’s left under: dropshot, trailers, chatter-tails, Senkos, etc. it all fit!! No more “yard-sale” approach to fishing.

I even have an empty plastic tray for more hard baits and jigs. I’m ready for spring.

 

Beautiful!

I have to do this periodically as well. I now run 2 tackle boxes and a tote for plastics. I load what I need for the day in 3500 series boxes and put them in a small tackle box that I take on the kayak. Everything else stays in the truck. I'm looking forward to spring as well!



I'm actually planning on picking up a new kayak while visiting family in Florida next month. I can't wait to sneak into the places we can't get to with the boat in the mangrove jungle! Should be a great trip!

 

Who has some long term reviews of the Native pedal drive system? Even though this entire thread seems to be dominated by Hobie boys.....

 

plenty of tears shed for the hobie drive as well.

 

Correct, though not by me! Hobie invented the mirage drive and now other manufacturers are using it. You pay for a Hobie but they are the best. I looked in to the Pelican with mirage drive but they didn’t make the cut, not even close.

 

This thread is gonna cost me some money fer sure.

 

Well I agree. Mine has been flawless. Had to adjust the tension a bit once, that’s it. My friends: his front fin kept snapping. He had a bad pivot or something. It was odd.

 

Well, I ordered one of these to pick up while I'm down in Florida visiting my Mom! I also ordered some rod holders, a cup holder, and a transducer mount for my depth finder. I can't wait to do some canal fishing and explore the mangrove jungle in this thing!