Drift socks

What size and brand do you use I was thinking about getting a 18" dift sock for slowing my roll

If you are fishing at random over a large area, and don’t care exactly where you go, a drift sock can reduce the speed that the wind drifts you through that area. I have a drift sock, but find it to be a pain in the butt to deploy on my anchor trolley and take in when I’m through drifting.  More importantly, I prefer to focus on specific underwater features and schools of fish when fishing, rather than just drifting at random.  So when I find a feature or a school of fish which I want to work, I turn my nose into the wind and/or current and pedal to hold myself stationary, with the help of the GPS features of my fish finder.

But it’s often difficult to tell what direction the wind is coming from, and the wind often shifts.  As a result, you may get pushed away from the spot you are fishing over because you don’t know what direction the wind is coming from.

Here is a simple wind direction indicator which I made from a telescoping pick-up magnet which is available for about five bucks at hardware stores, a piece of PVC tubing and a PVC end cap, a strip of light orange nylon left over from a safety flag I made, a duo-lock snap, and half of a lead sinker.  I drilled a hole in the end cap for the pick-up magnet, wrapped the base of the pick-up magnet with duct tape so it fits firmly inside the PVC tubing, attached the duo-lock snap to the strip of nylon with monofilament and tape, and I pounded the lead sinker onto the top of the shaft of the telescoping pick-up magnet to keep the snap at the top of the telescoping rod.  It’s a fifteen minute project once you have the parts.  And it works well and helps me jig more effectively.  It shows me exactly the direction the wind is coming from, and registers even very light breezes.  If it gets in the way, I can just push it down and telescope it.





 

Get a larger sock, nylon type 3'-4' size(they are light and stow easier).Run it from a bow line, throw it out, then paddle up to it to retrieve. Unless you have a Hobie(or anchor up) its the way to save a windy day.

I've got the small Hobie brand drift sock, but I don't use it anymore now that I actually have a Hobie.

It worked pretty well, but I agree a bigger one would have worked better.

Be really careful about how you attach it to your boat. It can really yank your boat around when there's a little swell or chop...


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So your saying if I'm in the Delta and I use a sick I won't stay straight down river I was planing on using my anchor trolly to place it at the back and fish strait down river

Drift socks are usually used to keep from getting blown around by wind. They won't do you a whole lot of good in the current unless the wind happens to be blowing the opposite direction.


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If you are anchoring in a river or current make sure you can do a quick release of your anchor line.
 A drifting log or stump will pull you under in seconds!

Drift sock could work for what you want, or if you're fishing a bottom that wont snag you can drag a short length of chain, I've had good success with that.

I believe my drift sock is 18" and it worked pretty well, main thing is it's easy to deploy, retrieve and store on the kayak, but I believe a larger one would work better.

If you are anchoring in a river or current make sure you can do a quick release of your anchor line.
 A drifting log or stump will pull you under in seconds!

Using a drift sock in current on a river is risky, because if you snag the sock on something, bad things could happen very quickly.

Get a larger sock, nylon type 3'-4' size(they are light and stow easier).Run it from a bow line, throw it out, then paddle up to it to retrieve. Unless you have a Hobie(or anchor up) its the way to save a windy day.

Yes, there's a really excellent YouTube channel called something like "Cornish kayak and shore fisherman," and he has a vid or 2 that cover drift chutes.  Although his vids are longish at ~25 mins/ea, they are very well done and he's got a great personality.

From him I learned some good chute points: 

1)  36"-48" is the right size for a yak.

2)  Rig the chute w/ a retrieval line + float for fast and safe retrievable, and this will aid deployment too.

3)  Use it ONLY w/ a trolley at the stern or bow. It acts just like an anchor, so setting it to the side will surely lead to a roll in any kind of chop or swell.

4)  Anchoring w/ the wind to one's back makes for easier fishing line control.

5)  the anchor is typically only a short distance from the boat and just below the surface, but more advanced techniques can be helpful in controlling the boat in following seas.


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Thanks guys for you input