I thought I would start a thread about kayak fishing - since I have recently bought a dedicated fishing kayak.
It is a Cobra 'Fish n Dive' and is designed to allow you to SCUBA dive from the kayak - I have only done this once, but we caught quite a few nice scallops down at Mcrae in PPB. I have fished from the kayak quite a lot in Port Philip Bay, at Chelsea, Dromana, and majority at Black Rock where we target snapper on soft plastics, squid, and troll lures for snook and salmon. We found an awesome school of salmon a few weeks ago (see photo below), and have been hoping for a kingfish after hearing reports of fish to 4kg in this area. A friend had 3 kings of 70cm hanging underneath his kayak looking at his fsh bag last week, but they weren't hungry, despite him throwing every lure in his tackle box at them. I have also used the kayak to fish off Shoreham in Westernport Bay, and got a nice bag of 11 leatherjackets two weekends ago. It's a great feeling to paddle to where you're fishing, and we reckon the absence of motor noise helps us land more fish than motor boats (aka stink boats). I'm extra lucky beacuse my girlfriend also bought a kayak, so I don't have to bug her to let me go fishing - she actually bugs me to go fishing sometimes!
Hope you guys enjoy the photos.
And a few more photos - the scallops and flathead are from a SCUBA dive I did from the kayak. The odd looking fish is a silver dory I caught on a soft plastic while chasing snapper off black rock.
i saw a dedicated fishing kayak on the boat show yesterday. interesting was that it was run by peddling like a bike, rather than paddling like a kayak.
living in seaford, i reckon it would be a great idea, unfortunately i dont have the money for it ATM.
looks like your getting some good fish there Jazman, good luck with it all.
great photos!
well done catching that silver dory!!!...
i have never seen one of those before! <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':th' />
cheers, glen
another fish i didnt know we go many of in the bay! dories.... have you seen many of them? they are obviosly related to john dories, but i have never seen any of those either! good work!
pj
Steeny, those pedal powered kayaks are made by hobie - they're much faster than paddle powered kayaks, but are also just about the most expensive fishing yaks you can buy. You should be able to pick up a good second hand fishing kayak for well under $1000.
That silver dory was a big surprise, I had never even seen one before. They are related to John Dory, but don't grow as big, and are predominantly a deep water fish - so it was even more suprising to catch it over a shallow (5m) reef off Black Rock.
hey jazman, how much was your kayak if you dont mind me asking?
thanks,
pj
Brand new Fish n Dive basic model (ie no extras) will set you back around $900-1000, I bought mine second hand for $1350 with depth sounder installed, plus crate, rod holders, seat, trolley, grab lines, tank straps, rod leashes.
A very popular fishing kayak in Victoria is the Viking Espri, a few mates have picked them up on ebay for around $500.
alrite thanks for the info jazman, they may be a bit out side my price range at the moment <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':th' />
but anyways i can still drool over pictures of urs <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />
when you go diving off the kayak, does it just float around or do you anchor it??
thanks,
pj
When diving from the yak I run a long line from the bow of the kayak and clip it to my vest - so the kayak is anchored to me. Another friend anchors his kayak to the bottom, then runs a line out to himself from the anchor so he doesn't get too far away.
oh i c, thats very smart. lol $1350 my friend is gonna buy a dinghy for $950, but i would probably prefer the kayak with all its features.
thanks again,
pj
hey jaz, i might be going on a friends kayak tomorow around aspendale. have you fished around there? any rig tips and/or spots that i can go? could you please try and reply before i go? <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol' />
thanks heaps,
pj <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsup2.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol' />
Doh! Sorry dude I only just logged on today, I hope you did ok. There are a heap of undersized pinkies about at the moment (with a few legals mixed in), and lots of flathead too, we also got a dozen or so garfish last week. About 1km out is a good depth, I fish almost exclusively with soft plastics these days, so the rig is pretty simple - just a weighted jighead with a plastic threaded on. I use a float with 1.5m of leader and a #10 hook baited with flathead flesh for the garfish. If you're bait fishing, just about anything will catch the flatties and pinkies, I like squid beacuse it's tough.
The key to kayak fishing is to keep your gear organised, and don't be tempted to take out too much gear, beacause space is limited.
thanks jaz, i didnt end up going so its ok. with regards to you saying you use soft plastics, would you be able to guide me towards a basic one that would do me well for the fishing i do.... mainly (patterson river or in the bay) i have tried soft plastics many times before but never even gotten a bite. im pretty sure i know how to use them because ive read countless fishing mags that explain it so im pretty sure it must be the lures that i use.
thanks,
pj
My all time favorite SP for Port Philip Bay is a Berkely 3" dropshot minnow in Bloodworm colour. Other good colours are pearl watermelon, pumpkinseed, pearl blue, rainbow, or anything in the berkely GULP! range about 3" or so long. Match with a 1/8 ounce jighead with #1-1/0 hook and you should get amongst them. Something else that will help with your SP fishing is using gelspun or braided line (I use fireline), and a graphite rod - you will feel 10X more bites than with mono line on a normal rod. And some of the hits on SP are very subtle, so you need all the help you can get. You will be suprised what you can catch on an SP in Port Philip: flathead, snapper, goatfish, squid, garfish, leatherjackets, silver dory, barracouta, snook, pike, banjo sharks, trevally, the list goes on.
ok thanks jaz, ill have a look next time im out. also with the berkley lures arent they the weightless ones with the treble hooks? because i have tried them before and they were a waste of time. oh and i have a graphite rod that i have just put heaps more line in. i think it just nylon line though. will it make much difference?
thanks, pj
Hmm, not sure what Berkley lures you are talking about. I am referring to the packets of soft plastics - just the 'tails' (no hooks) - and you buy weighted jigheads seperately. The 3" minnows come in packs of 15 for about $8-$10.
As for the line, I reckon having braided or gelspun line makes a huge difference - that's not to say you won't catch fish on nylon, but you'll do much better on Fireline - it doesn't have any stretch (unlike nylon monofilament which has heaps of stretch), so any tiny tap on the soft plastic is transmitted straight to the rod, rather than having to take up the slack in the mono before you feel anything.
If you were looking to get a couple of packs of soft plastics for general PPB fishing for flathead and snapper, this is what I would get:
1 pack of 1/8th ounce jigheads with #1 hooks - I use Gamakatsu and TT Jigheads, but there are heaps of decent brands out there.
I pack of Berkley 3" dropshot or power minnows in Bloodworm (clear red colour with glitter)
1 pack of Berkely 3" dropshot or power minnows in Pearl/Watermelon (opaque blue/green colour with glitter)
This should set you back less than $30, and although I have now accumulated hundreds of dollars worth of soft plastic/jighead combos, these are the items I keep coming back to, and which keep producing the goods. On some days the fish prefer the red (Bloodworm), on some days they prefer the blue/green (Pearl/Watermelon), and on some days they hammer anything you throw at them. I remember one recent trip, I was using the Pearl/Watermelon with no success whatsoever, I changed to the Bloodworm and got hammered repeatedly until I ran out of tails.....and ended up with 6 lovely pinkies from 30-35cm in the kayak. So do change tails if you're not getting any hits.
Also, here's a pic of a nice bag of scallops I got SCUBA diving from the kayak on Saturday.
thanks again jaz, your being really helpful! <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol' /> would it be worth redoing the line reel with the gelspun as i think i have some lying around... is this line good for general fishing aswell? would these lure be good for shore fishing at patto? sorry bout all the questions but im just trying to get all the info i need before i go and spend the money ( which is well worth it from what ive heard )
thanks, <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsup2.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol' />
pj
jazman,
i have had a look on the berkley website and found some of the things you say... do these look like what your talking about?
thanks,
pj