Haha! No. I'm not scared... BRING IT ON! haha!

Congratulation on your Arima Boat, Alex

I have been following your post "I want your Sea Chaser (17 or 19 - in California)" at ArimaOwners.com
Love to check out your boat once it is all set up.
My wife and I are considering a boat once we are retired in a couple of years.
Our current choices are either Arima or C-Dory.

Paul

Thank, man. I think you'll appreciate the copious amount of deck space you get with an Arima versus a C-Dory. Both are excellent boats, but in my opinion (and based on my own research) the Arima is a superior fishing machine. Mr. Arima was really on to something with this lightweight and seaworthy hull design... 

Like several avid kayak anglers before me, I’ve descended slowly into the “Dark Side”.

Paddle kayak to pedal kayak to Arima!!!

I’m so F*ing excited. Just can’t believe the boat I’ve been dreaming about for years is sitting in my driveway!

I will still fish from my Hobie, sometimes… I swear.

See you all out there soon!

Cheers,

~Alex

If I were you (or if I were me...) I would skip the downrigger and just use a Double Deep Six diver. ItÂ’s a whole lot simpler, and works great for the depths most salmon are caught here in the Bay Area.

I have a Scotty downrigger that is nicely set up (see video below) but I just prefer the simplicity of the DD6.

I like to check my bait about every 10-15 minutes, and that can be a real pain in the ass (and arms) on long days if you’re using a downrigger.




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If you like to troll, I recommend you consider something like a Scotty Orca or a Folbe rod holder oriented so the rod crosses over your feet. This keeps the line a little closer to your kayak, which means less pull in one direction and easier to maintain a straight course. 

When I switched from Scotty to Folbe, I was happy to find that the Folbe base had the same screw pattern as the Scotty it replaced.

Folbe FTW, in my opinion...

This video shows how mine is set up. Years later I'm still happy with it.

Yup. That’s the idea. If you squeeze the two sides together a little to release the tension on the screw, you can usually twist it with a fingernail. Good for quick “on the fly” adjustments...


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I found its best to use a simple swimbait on a light (1 oz or less) head when fishing heavy kelp - no teaser up the line.

Poke holes through the kelp with your paddle, then do quick drops down to the bottom, couple cranks, little wiggle/twitch, then pull it back up. When you leave your rig down there for a while, the currents tend to take it places you might not want it to go. And, if fish are there they will likely smack it right on the first drop anyway.


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If you’re looking to spend some $$$, check out the Kamodo Joe line of grills/smokers. Drool....

That said, if you don’t have $1,500+ to drop on a grill, you could look into one of the nicer Weber kettle grills. I really like cooking on my Weber “Premium”. It’s not fancy or “sexy” but it cooks really good food when you get the hang of it.

I also much prefer charcoal fired food over gas fired. In my opinion you just can’t beat the flavor of food cooked over hardwood lump.


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