advice for kayak fishing gear

Hi, Everyone,

My name is Oliver. I live in Pleasanton but really love to try Kayak fishing. I am buying gear and wish to have advice on the following items:

Kayak wheel: my kayak is Trident 13
paddle: I am 6'
fishing rod and reel: Penn silver max left hand reel good for beginner like me?
landing net: no sure which one is good. price varies too much
storage rack: looking for an outdoor one that I can easily move the kayak to wheel all by myself

Many thanks, folks.

Oliver

Welcome !

Welcome to NCKA Oliver.  The T13's is a fine kayak as many here own them.  As for rod and reel it depends on what type of fishing you'll be engaged in mot often (fresh or salt water) and what species are you after (Bass, Rockfish, Salmon, etc...).  A 6.5 - 7.5ft long rod is common used by us yakkers.  I'm sure more people ill chime in.

You can pick up nets pretty cheap at your local sporting goods store. Just make sure it has at least an 18" opening if you want to fish for rockfish.

Hi, Krusty and Sailfish,

Thanks for your help. I am more interested in salt water fishing. Are your guys using fish finder/gps/3D soner every time you go out?

Half Moon Bay or Santa Cruz may be good for me as I live in East Bay. What other places you would recommend for a day trip or two days trip?

Many thanks!

Oliver

I always have my GPS fish finder with me. Fishing blind sucks. I primarily fish the San Mateo coast, which is often foggy. Having a GPS helps to find marked structures and the way back to the launch.

Welcome!! I'm just starting out and learning the yak angling myself, in a new area of the country. Have fun!

HI, Krusty,

What GPS/fish finder do you like-I am selecting it now. Thanks.

Oliver

Oliver,

   If you have any questions on the Lowrance lineup of Fishfinder or FF/GPS units, there are a few of us on here who are part of their Pro-Staff.  More than happy to answer any questions you come up with!

   I'm hosing a GPS seminar Oct. 22 in Santa Cruz and combo General/GPS Seminar in Sacramento sometime in early November with another NCKA Pro-Staff'er.

Bill

If your wanting to go rockfishing and buying gear for it, first take a look at what you have and see if it will work.  Like a heavy bass rod, or a stiffer spinning setup is great for getting out for your first few times.  Wanna buy something a little better, go with an ugly stick, tiger lite or big water combo, and a reel that will at least stand up to rust.  A abu silver max isn't a good choice, unless you need a cheap bass reel.  But a shimano cardiff will stand up to salt and is less than 100$.  For a FF, go with an entry level model from a good company, Lowrance has some great FF's and getting one with a GPS will not only help you find and mark new spots, but give you direction and confidence in the fog or other situations.  A compass is a must as well, for safety. And fishing without a FF for rockfish is hard, unless your targeting well known reefs, or with someone else that has a FF they can be hard to find at times. 

I use an older Humminbird 385ci. It is a color GPS enabled fish finder. The reason I went with Humminbird for my Trident 13 is that Humminbird makes a transducer that fits right in the scupper in the right foot well. That means no gluing of transducer to the inside of your hull, and you can get accurate water temperature readings. The color feature might seem like a luxury you can do without, but I find that it helps me identify bait easier. Overall I like my fish finder. But if my fish finder ever dies, I would buy a model with a larger 5" screen vs my 3.5" screen.

I drive by Pleasanton almost every weekend to fish HMB. If you ever want to fish HMB or just check out my setup, let me know.