nolan

She's swerving to avoid yakkity yak...

If anyone's thinking of buying from sportfish, then have a look around first. Some of their prices can only be described as "inflated" especially as its all now owned by Farlows. Its very often possible to get the same product a lot cheaper elsewhere. I'm not having a pop at them, they sell some great stuff, and I've fished with the founder of the company and his son in Mongolia (they sold to Farlows a while back.) I think for Kayak fishing you'd be better off with a kayaking specific Cag under your PFD. After all they're designed with freedom of movement in mind, so they wont impair your casting. Palm make some very good ones. And their ocean PFD is the business.

Whats the best way of getting hold of Live sandeels? What methods do you guys use to collect them etc...

A good sensible list of safety stuff there Simon, with stuff I hadn't thought about. One or two things i'd add to that list would be a safety 'space' blanket, which is basically a tightly folded silver foil blanket that does wonders at insulating should you or one of your party get into trouble and not be able to paddle to shore. Also because of there highly reflective nature they're really easy for any coastguard / rescue personel to spot. A travel towel similar to the back-packing ones is useful, if kept in your dry bag as it's a means of getting dry should you accidently end up in the water. On the subject of head torches, I've got a good lightweight LED one thats really bright, and is good for working when the light fails, and you need both hands. Doesn't have much long range use, but can be seen from a long way away, especially as it has a flashing mode. You can always turn it around back wards on your head and put it on flashing, so that people can see you, yet you dont ruin your night vision sensitivity. You could also get a clip on flashing red light like they have on the back on bikes. The thing to bear in mind is that you need to work out a system so that everthing is close to hand, it no use having all the stuff and not being able to get to it.

Cool and the gang Marvin... Would be interested to hear your reports. I'll probably be doing the same. I was thinking about buying the Magellan Marine hand hed GPs but its too much money. I can get a handsome deal on the Garmin watch type 'Foretrex' and it has a handy handle bar mount, that i'll put on my paddle then i can access gps info very easily and it wont get in the way. I'll look up on the charts where i want to fish the night before then input the info into the device, then let it guide me to the spot. Deffo getting a fishfinder though, probably one of these as its cheap reliable and comes recommended from the american sites: http://www.piplers.co.uk/product_details.a...d%20Electronics

talking of gps etc, after looking into it im gonna get the garmin Foretrex wrist one, except im gonna buy the optional handle bar mount for it. This should go around the shaft of my paddle snugly and provide an out of the way , reliable set up, thats always at hand when its needed. Just the fishfinder to get the fly line wrapped around then.

Porgies from the Yak.... Been thinking about it after reading about guys in the US landing 200lb+ Thresher and Mako!!! in the Yak, but would seem that the only safe way to handle the fish is to baseball bat it over the head. As they take their sharks to eat, thats ok. But i'd rather release an amazing creature like that back into the ocean. Deffo want to target tope though, and can't wait to get out when the yak arrives. Would be great if we could get a group of us from all over the country who regularly fished together, then we could share info and look out for one another whilst out on the water. Without doubt this is a sport with quite a few inherent risks, and fishing in a small spread out group is a lot better than being in trouble a mile out and on your own.

Lots of the a,erican anglers have installed their own live bait tanks, I'm gonna have a go at trying this as i already have some of the stuff, (pump etc) from an old fish tank. Heres a link to some of the american guys's set ups: http://kayakfishingstuff.com/ hope this helps/ gives you some ideas. I wouldn't advise towing anything behind your yak underwater. Not only would it slow you down, i believe i wouldn't be safe.

Cool, get our ARMADA featured in a mag...

If you want to practice getting back onto your yak in a safe environment then contact your local canoe club through the BCU, all regionalclubs run canoe safety training in local authority swimming pools. You might not even have to join the club, although the advice and training you'll get will be well worth the few quid it'll cost you for the first year.

Very easy to tie snatcher mate. Have tied up ear plug poppers before and used them with some success for big rainbows in Canada, in fast water and tied to look a bit like a large stonefly fluttering in the surface trying to take off. As for salty stuff they're pretty easy to tie. I use a bolck of close cell foam and heat up a section of copper pipe. Then i push the heated end of the pipe through the foam and get perfect tubes of foam that i can shorten as i wish. The bobs banger pattern above is a great fly to tie in this manner. Use a heated needle to push a hole through the foam. Tie some thread along the hook shank and give it a coating of epoxy. then slide your popper head over the eye of the hook and leave to dry. You can then coat it with prizmatic tape like the fly above. You can experiment with shape of head by carving the foam into different shapes or by pushing heated implements into the foam. For instance a small mellon baller spoon heated and pushed into the front of the head makes a great cavity, which causes the fly to cause more disturbance and have a more effective 'pop'. I've even tied huge mouse and lemming patterns using this technique, by coating brown foam in epoxy then trimming fur onto it. With long rabbit fur tails and rabbit fur wound behind the popper. These were incredibly effective for Taimen, and caused some explosive takes fished across pools in the evening. Popper fishing rocks and they're really easy to tie. [ 09. February 2005, 12:11 PM: Message edited by: nolan ]

I've eaten it, and its a bit like beef. Very tasty.

I found this on the net so i thought i'd nick it an post it up here for your info. Its from a US based kayak dealer who knows his stuff, so thought some of you looking to get a kayak might find it usefull: A fishing kayak does not need to be large but if it's too short, narrow or unstable, you won't have as much fun. I don't take a lot of tackle with me but I like to have a few comforts, like a rod holder and a place to keep bug spray, sunscreen and that hated cell phone, so the folks back at the shop can ask me where I stashed the pink and lavender paddles! A good kayak also has a place to put the fish that you catch, and you will catch fish. You need a wide enough gunwale to sink a flush mount rod holder or two. Flat surfaces on the top and sides make adding after market accessories much easier. Some things will need to be bolted on and wiring may need to be run internally, that means you may need to get a socket wrench on the inside or at least have access to the interior. You can add a hatch or inspection port but only if the manufacturer provided enough flat surfaces on the kayak. The perfect kayak for me may not be right for you. Your weight, age, leg length, physical condition, and the water you plan on paddling, all have to be considered. The point being, don't ask a 160 pound, 5'6 guy for advice on what to buy if you weigh 240 lbs, and are 6'4. Try to find people similar to your body specs and see what they feel works best for them. The right kayak should be around 11 to 15 feet long depending on its width and your weight. It should be fairly wide and be very stable. Stability is important when you have a fish on and it's running from one side of the kayak to the other. Although it does not need blinding speed, a slow kayak is usually a wet kayak and a slow wet kayak is not fun. The old way of thinking was that narrow kayaks are fast and unstable, while wide kayaks are slower and more stable. This may be true when looking at two kayaks of similar design, but there are so many different shapes out there and more on the way. The only true way to tell is to paddle different boats that you are interested in buying. The point is, wide kayaks are not always slow and some can be fast enough for fishing and extremely stable. Look for a sharp bow with a nice deep V, a bit of flare on the sides will keep it drier in the chop. COCKPIT BOATS We do not recommend you get a cockpit type boat for fishing anywhere near rough water. These are the kind you crawl into and your legs are inside the boat. There is a trend right now for experienced paddlers to use these boats in cold weather. However, if you are just getting started and don't know what to expect from this sport then stick with the SIT-ON-TOP KAYAK. They are safer because you can get back on it if something ever happened to make you fall off and they do not fill up with water. Now don't get scared that you are going to fall off all the time, it just doesn't happen very often. I have been kayak fishing for a few years now and have never fallen off my boat on flat water, but it's comforting to know that if it happened I could quickly climb back on, so get a sit on top. The best thing you can do is try some different kayaks out first and look for a kayak that is both stable and roomy with plenty of flat surfaces for mounting accessories. Talk to people that own the kayak you are thinking of buying and if your still not sure, try them all out again. THE SEAT Now is not the time to save money! You are going to be confined to this seat for many hours, so get whatever seat is the most comfortable for you. It will be worth every penny you spend on it (especially if you have a bad back like me...). Make sure you sit in every one the store has to offer so you can see and feel the differences. We recommend you never buy a seat you haven't tried, ... Adjust the seat slightly forward of vertical when paddling, this is the position your back will take when trolling. For drift fishing, you can loosen the front straps and lean back and relax...

da dum tish... Thank you folks , you've been a wonderfull audience.