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Topics - Squidder K

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 18
1
Stealth / I upgraded the seat
« on: July 15, 2021, 11:24:10 AM »
I originally got the back band thing for my yack.  To be honest for me it did not work.  So I finally broke down and got a Surf to Summit seat through my local West Marine. I also got 4 SS Pad eyes.  For those of you who haven't drill on your Stealth, here is my advice.  Avoid screws if you can't put a washer/nut on the back side. My experience is well nuts are much better for anything that is going to get used with a lot of pressure against it.   I have been switching to Water poof kayak rivets (look for the ones that have a small rubber or silicone washer under the head)  Sure they cost slightly more, but it is worth it.  Pad Eye's I went with SS for two reasons: 1. I can see exactly where those seat straps need to be . 2. The seat position is going to be under more stress so put something with it that reflects it.  and 3, that is all they had. 

So figure where you want the 4 Pad Eyes, mark and drill the first hole.  I went with keeping the pad eyes inline with the hull, as I notcied on some yaks they are set this way for the seats (hey I did some homework). I wanted the straps set back further, nothing worse as those straps are and stretch you will notice you can't get the seat any tighter, so make them longer than what you think you need.    Set the rivet in the pad eye, and swivel the pad eye to where you want your second hole.  The pad eye will act as you guide for hole #2.  Now rivet them in place. Do this for all 4 pad eyes.

Seat set up:  Place your seat as far rearward as possible, and set your rear straps. Pull in slack but don't over tighten.  Now do the same thing with the front straps.  Keep the seat as rearward as possible. And begin to tighten them  a little at a time. Depending on the seat, you may get get some side support, and you may need to adjust it so the two sides are equal.  Sit in it, see if works for you.  Your seat should be slightly forward, this aids you paddling.  I don't cut seat straps, I zip tie them, but tape or velcro would work as well.    Are you happy with it?  do you need to adjust your rudder peddles?

I haven't been on the water yet, but I can already tell it is an improvement. 

2
General Talk / Point Wilson Dart and or Anchovy question
« on: July 15, 2021, 10:44:44 AM »
Point Wilson Darts & Anchovy jigs (similar to a Candlefish)  are popular up here in the Sound. I can't recall anyone using them in the bay area.  Do any of you fish a Point Wilson Dart or other jig for salmon?  If so can you share your techniques.  Thanks!

3
My neighbor and his girlfriend were going on a Charter out of Westport.  I had wanted to go but could never find anyone to go with. So I booked a couple of nights in a hotel, and got a seat on the Swifty with them.  5 am came early, a Southwind greeted me as we headed out.  Roughest ride I have been on.  I almost lost breakfast it was that rough.  Crossing the bar there is no joke.  Once we got out in open water the sea slowly settled down.  The plan was to jig/mooch herring.  His girlfriend brought the first Salmon in, a fat 22 inch keeper.  Shortly there after I got an 18 inch shaker, followed by a nice keep Coho.  I would get two more keeper (19" & 20" respectively) but only one more keeper Coho was brought up.  I lost on a couple others, one of which followed me up to the boat and missed the stinger and ate the body and left the head (like he knew where the hooks were).  We were trying different locations, when we ended up over some rocks, and bam!  The biggest Blackie I have ever caught come up, everywhere I hear "Fish on!"  One guy brings up 2 lings a 12 & 13 pounder (38 & 40 incher maybe), I hook into another fish and loose him, then drop down again and hook into a pig of ling! I am guessing 36" around 10 pounds. Fought like a M1 Tank , now mind you the boat has to change positions as we are getting to close to some exposed rocks. I have to hold on to my beast. 

My old Newell 220 is getting it done today!  We move and I am still trying to bring this guy up, I can feel head shake after head shake, still with me.  I am worried those barbless hooks are going to come free , but they held!  I am bringing this guy up, the rod is tripled over as Mr. Pig Ling is under the boat. If you can imagine your rod almost completing a circle that is kind of what it looked like.  That Shimano did not give, it held in there.  Boat is lurching  around, I am using my elbow to hook on to the railing so I don't get thrown around.  All I can keep thinking is "Hooks don't fail me now!"

I finally get him to the surface and the Captain scoops with the net!  He gets tossed on the deck with a bunch of other lings.  The crew is busy, so I whack with the Billy and put my number tag on him.   I get some pics, I am back to fishing.  Next thing I know my pig is now a bunch of filets (they work fast!). 

Total for the day for me:
1 Coho Keeper (PB)
3 Shakers
2 Starry Flounder
1 Black Bass (PB)
1 Ling (PB)

4
Late report. July 2, I met up with what seemed to be the Portland chapter of NWKA. This was my first fish and chill with them.  Cody from the Portland area organized.  He fish this area as it is easy to get to, little boat traffic, has a restroom near by, and there are a lot of flatfish in the area, and no surf launching, good for newbs.  I am lucky in that is a about an hour from Bremerton. The launch is next to the Ferry Building in Steilacoom.  About 10-12 guys showed up.  3 of which were from Kitsap County (Where I live), and the rest Portland area.  The Portland guys are an active group. They like to text, from 5PM to 10 PM I was getting various text messages for a few days.  Launching was like "buttah,"  paddle a few hundred meters and you are in the zone.  Nightcrawlers were the ticket, and all of us started bring up little Sandab flatties.  Most limited out, or decided to target dogfish on light tackle.  I brought home 10 of the little guys, threw a bunch back, caught a few rockies and greenling (can't keep them in the sound).  All in all a good time by all!

5
Stealth / New Fisha Duo coming out
« on: January 28, 2021, 01:27:34 PM »
For those of you who need a big fast two person yak, I just saw a post on FB from Stealth about a new redesigned Fisha Duo coming out soon.  https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/duo

6
Stealth / Big Orange Crush, one year later.
« on: January 15, 2021, 12:18:59 PM »
It has been a year since I had the Fisha 555 delivered up here in Washington.  I want  to share some of the good as well as some of the, what I refer to as the not so good. 

The yak is long, I don't I truly grasped how long it was. It is about 18 feet 2 inches long.  When you load it, you pay attention to what you are doing. Don't rest the yak on the non retractable rudder . The rudder is my one and only major gripe. I hate it! There I said it(Ruddy says it doesn't bother him, and he got used to it) .  Does it make the boat handle better? I am sure it does. But here is the negative, You can't retract it. I got stuck out on a mud flat, not fun at all. the water was passible if I could of retracted but I could not. This, and finding that you tend to want to rest your yak on the rudder when you are loading and unloading, doesn't help the rudder at all.  This has led me to purchase a conventional stern mounted rudder and I will retro that in and tie into the wires already in place for the rudder.

Okay paddling, you will smoke pretty much everyone else who is in a fishing kayak paddle or peddle.  Provided you have a good stroke.  Only type of yaks smokes me, and that is those Sit Inside Sea Kayaks and true surf skis yaks. Even on my best day, eating my Wheaties, they will smoke me hard and fast. It is like being at a stock car track and being king of the hill in your division, till the main event cars come out. This last year I have done maybe a half dozen open water trips between 8-12 miles. That is something I never would of done with that barge of a Hoby Quest. 

Stealth's CF Angler Paddle, I bought one, and I like it, it is light, and does make paddling easier, but I think it could be longer. I am not a Surf Skier, and at 6'2"  I would like a longer paddle than what it comes in.

Seating, IMHO you need a seat with this yak. I just haven't dialed in the right one yet for me. Keep in mind I am 6'2" and around 205lbs right now (lost a lot of pounds when home for covid, but half of it came back once I went back to work). 

Storage: Yes you can put an 8 foot rod in and its cousin the 8'6" and a 240 cm paddle without issue (I may have had that in 2 pieces, and then again may not have).  Foot pegs...the absolutely tightest foot rest/pegs on the planet. If they ever pop out it is because you did something wrong.

How is it in the swell?  Well I confess I don't have a lot of swell time. But I can tell you of an experience I had one Friday evening. Not far from Bremerton is Illahee state park. I launch there, about a mile across the sound is Bainbridge Island. The tip of Bainbridge Island is known to be a good place for salmon, but you never see to many reports from there. So I decided to check it out. It is about a mile from Illahee. Getting there was easy, but that is when the fun started. The tides were changing, and real quickly I was in a  bad spot, I was about 300 yards off the tip and the water started  boiling, I had to work to stay upright, and paddle my dumb ass out of there.   It was a challenge, as I was now paddling into a tidal current.  What took me 15-20 minutes to get there, took me closer to 1 hour 45 minutes to get back. Had I been in my Hoby, I think I would of been in a Coast Guard/Harbor Patrol boat for the ride back, or ended up paddling to shore.  This adventure gave me a lot of confidence in the yak and its stability under pressure, I never felt like I was going to roll or lose it.  It tracks well and got the job done. 

So my final thoughts: If you are thinking of getting one, I would skip the Carbon fiber option.  I cry every time I hear a scrape on a rock, and up here, there is a lot of rocks, shells, concrete boat ramps, and anything else that can make you cringe.  If you are one of those guys who wants every single thing possible, including 27 selfie cams, a BBQ grill, boom box and an Espresso machine, this is not the yak for you. If you like a minimalist approach, you will enjoy this yak.  I made sure to contact Loleta Eric to get his way of trolling, as you may think you need to have peddle drive (I have nothing against a peddle drive, I just think some of the makers are forgetting that kayaks are lean, not Bismarck sized battle cruisers).  Hook up with someone and try one out, and see if a Stealth will work for you. If you find yourself near Seattle, give me a holler, I am a ferry ride away. Good luck and tight lines!

7
General Talk / Wahoo found some deep buried reloading gold!
« on: August 21, 2020, 08:18:27 AM »
Since moving up here to the PNW, time has not been on my side to get back into reloading. Everything is still in a box waiting to be set up. Well recently one of GF's cousins called us who had moved from Petaluma to Vancouver, WA.  Seems both her and her daughter  bought firearms recently.  The cousin bought a Sig pistol in 9mm (don't ask me the model), and the daughter bought a SIG M17/320 pistol, and an AR-15. I was kind of shocked as you would have to know her daughter, 3.5 years ago she would scream in your face that DT was "Not my president!" Now she has gone full bore RED on me (She is a nurse and works in downtown Portland, she gets to see the protestors fairly regularly.  Well she asked for some suggestions to get ammo. I game them some online dealers I knew of.  I also checked my own supply, and I am in a good place, but could use some more target ammo.   

Nice thing about living here is you can over to National Forestry land and go shooting, and as wet as this end of WA tends to be, little fear of setting the state on fire.  Anyway, I got to digging last night and found some spent cases in a BIN of stuff, but I dug deeper and found another hundred that were nice shiny and new, waiting to be set up!  This should give me another 500+ for shooting.   Now I won't say reloading is the answer to everything, because that side goes through shortages as well.  But if you keep stocked on the stuff need when it is available, you can weather the storm.

8
General Talk / CA Mag ban overturned...but for how long?
« on: August 17, 2020, 10:31:42 AM »
I read this yesterday, and was surprised to hear the ninth circuit court would do this, they are not known for being friendly to gun owners.  I am not going to be surprised to see if Baccera takes it to the full court or appeals to SCOTUS.

9
General Talk / Speed Check
« on: August 17, 2020, 09:13:43 AM »
Last Monday GF and I were at Lake Tahoe. We went paddling from the Left Parking Lot (West Side if I believe) to Emerald bay and paddled around in there, stopped, ate lunch then paddled back. We stoped at the mouth at Eagle Point for her to take some pictures.  We got lucky and caught the wind to our backs and a few waves we could...semi surf?. When we landed at Baldwin Beach she took another picture. Time between the two pictures...36 minutes. Considering we are both over 50 (one of us over 55), and paddling at 6100 feet elevation (we live at roughly 200 feet elevation), I think we did the roughly 3 mile return trek at a decent pace. Or roughly 10-12 minute a mile pace.

GF's stats: Eddyline Fathom LV weight 42 pounds, length 15 feet roughly
Mine: Stealth Fisha 555 weight 60 pounds, length 18'2"

I know some of you peddle boys can smoke that with your ultra mega fins, but I think that pace at that altitude is pretty decent. And neither of us is known for being speed racers by any stretch.

10
Recipes / Grilling fish skins
« on: August 04, 2020, 11:45:32 AM »
Okay my salmon fishing up here has been pretty much in the toilet. It happens, it will change when I get some more on the water time.  This has led me to having to bring home store bought salmon. Any ways, GF likes the skins when they are nice and crispy, kind of like a salmon chip.  As the meal we are cooking salmon for calls for the salmon to be seasoned with salt and pepper, rubbed with EVOO.

I place the fish portion skin side down, grill 2 minutes, rotate them 90 degrees for another two minutes. Now I flip them (for 2 minutes, turn 2 minutes then done), so the skin side is up, I peel the skins off the fish pieces and place them fatty side down to grill them up. 

I normally have to pull the fish portions long before the skin is crispy enough.  this may take upwards of another 6-8 minutes.

Grill is a Weber Q-100 (the small one).

Does anyone else do this, and if so any tips or advice for improvements?

11
From my very first day being affliated with NCKA, going back tot he day I met Mooch in Aquan Sport (and this a long time ago). Everything has been safety first. 

Long story short, been watching my fill of Youtube fishing videos during Washington states lock down. So I watched this one guy's video on trolling for bass. He is in a lake in Tennessee.  The video was okay, but the guy is not wearing a PFD. I posted "Good video except the placement of the PFD." The PFD is located on the stern hatch, not on him if he rolls.

His response " safety Sally alert safety sally alert,"  IMHO this is childish BS.  What are your thoughts? Was I out of line?

Here is the Video Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO0ElqIMIVA&lc=UgwkuivDmKv4E20yx0l4AaABAg.96F0xJ1ywK298sjv92zEV7

I would really like to know your thoughts. I know as former Medic I have seen more than my fair share of deaths caused by accidents that could of been avoided.  So I see stuff like this and know it can happen and will happen to someone on that body of water, sooner than later.

Apparently this lake has a reputation: 152 People have drowned in this lake, of them 149 were not wearing a PFD.  https://www.lrn.usace.army.mil/Locations/Lakes/J-Percy-Priest-Lake/Water-Safety/
 

12
General Talk / Sad Day for Pats Fans
« on: March 17, 2020, 03:48:42 PM »
It is with heavy heart I learned today that Tom Brady has announced he won't be going back to New England.  I know their a lot of people who are happy about this, but as much as I love the guy, the day he dons another Jersey he is now the foe.  I am a Pats fan (for that matter I am an all Boston Fan) true to my roots. Sorry Tom you and Bill brought one of the worst teams in League to greatness, and for that I will be forever grateful. I wish you much success with your future team, unless you are playing NE. Then I hope you get mauled.

I hope he retires and goes to a booth, but he wants to play some more.

13
Stealth / Orange Crush getting loaded for another journey...too my house
« on: February 08, 2020, 08:03:39 PM »
Well the shipper picked up the Orange Crush today at Ruben's for hopefully the final leg.  Attached are the pics Ruben sent me. You can tell both he and shipper (A small Hot shot company not far from me up here).  I am hoping to see it on Monday or Tuesday at the latest.

14
Stealth / Introducing the Orange Crush!
« on: October 23, 2019, 06:49:42 AM »
Okay, first things first, it has not arrived yet, but Brett from Stealth sent me some images today. So let me introduce my Fisha 555 aka the "Orange Crush,"  or as GF likes to point out that as a Rhode Isander, I have a tendency to drop the "o" in orange, sound it sounds more like "rrange. " (It is a Rhody thing).


15
Stealth / Joining the Tribe
« on: April 16, 2019, 08:04:47 AM »
After a long time, and a lot of going back and fourth, I broke down and sent the deposit for a 2019 "Triple Nickle," aka Fisha 555, in Orange. I also after conferring with Ruben decided to go all out on this one, as I wanted a boat that was light, fast stable and could be used for fishing, crabbing, recreation, and light touring.  I wanted something that I wasn't going to have to worry about lugging or getting on top of a roof rack as I get older.  One other boat really had me interested  as well but the only Kaskazi dealer is in Florida, and the shipping would of been almost as much as the boat.   I wish more US kayak makers would offer more options over rotomold tanks 100+ pound kayaks are becoming more the norm, but it is what it is.  Plastic is king, and with Kayaks practically being sold in 7-11 stores now, price dictates that rotomold is going to be around for a long time to come.

With the resurgence of Queen songs lately, everytime I hear "Fat Bottom Girls"  I can't help but think of Hobie Pro Anglers




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