Cockpit organization

Hey all, how do you keep your cockpit organized? I have shortish leashes on stuff like pliers and lip grabbers, tackle boxes slide under the seat, rods go in holders, and the net lays on top of the bow ahead of my pedal drive. One rail mounted rod holder, rail mounted FF, with battery in dry bag tied to front bungees. Fish bag between my seat and milk crate - might need to change that when targeting larger fish. Paddle clipped and strapped to side of hull.

With all of that, I'm pretty much out of space, and it feels like everything is scattered and disorganized, especially so after a few hours on the water.

How do y'all keep your stuff organized and accessible on the water, while also keeping it somewhat safe from loss because waves/clumsy/capsize? 

It sounds like you have yours set up exactly how I have mine set up. If you come up with a better idea let me know! All my mounts are on the right side of the kayak. Left side is clear for netting and landing fish.

I keep smaller odds and ends in the center hatch or the front hatch. Other than that I don’t have any suggestions.

While this isn't exactly your question, I think it’s related and perhaps helpful.

My biggest mess/concern on the water is the lures and tackle. When I’m cycling through gear/lures, sometimes I am anxious to get back to fishing and just set a leader with hooks on the bottom of the boat or in the gunwales. This obviously gets messy and presents some risks of entanglement or worse getting a hook buried in myself, my clothes, or my seat. I’ve been using large pool noodles as a fast way to store my lures and leaders which has helped to keep things a bit tidier. Plus side, they float if you dump.

MooMoo does something similar but reuses plastic tomato sauce jars to store his hooks sinkers and leaders.

I carry the following tools in the cockpit of my kayaks: A fish bonker, a lip grabber, pliers for hook removal and assorted other chores, a pair of shears and a folding knife for cutting gills and bait and gutting fish, and a UV light for activating glow lures. Each of these tools is attached to a small retractor, or in the case of the lip grabber a larger retractor, so I won't lose them overboard, and so there will be minimal entanglement hazard if my kayak gets tipped over. Then I tie half of the retractors to a loop of cord about 2 inches in diameter, and the other half of the retractors to a similar loop. This makes it easy to attach all the tools to whatever kayak I'm using, or to detach them from the kayak at the end of the day.  I don't need to deal with a bunch of separate tools and leashes. See the first picture below.

In my 13' Hobie Revolution, I put one of the loops of cord over the mount for my rod holder, and the other loop of cord over the mount for my fish finder.  Then I put the tools into the mesh pocket next to that mount.  If I tip over, the tools will almost certainly stay in the mesh pockets.  The tools are readily available, and if I need to drop a tool when dealing with a large and irritated fish, I won't lose it because it's leashed.

I also have a 12' Hobie Pro Angler 360.  Hobie sells some hideously expensive boxes which mount on the H Rails next to the cockpit.  I bought two "Mainstays" ice cube bins from Walmart for two bucks each, and drilled holes in the bottom of each tray to let water drain out.  They fit perfectly next to the kayak's seat.  I tie a loop of cord around the base of each of the steering controls, I put the tools (attached together in groups to retractors as described above) in the ice cube bins, and then I clip each group of tools to the loop of cord around the steering controls with a Walmart mini-carabiner.

I also carry a big fish clip, which I attach to the kayak with a length of cord and a mini-carabiner.  I use this to get fish secured when they're in my net, and then to bleed them before putting them in my cooler.

I leash my fishing rods and net with the smallest size of retractable dog leashes.  If the cord for the retractor is attached to a rod and the kayak in an appropriate place, you won't even notice that it's there, but if the cord is attached to the rod and the kayak in inconvenient places, you can get the cord tangled up in the handle of your reel when casting or retrieving.  I attach the dog leash retractor for my active rod to the rod holder for that rod. For jigging or trolling rods, I tie a small loop of spectra or dyneema cord around the shaft of each rod and tape in in place about 10" in front of the reel.  This keeps the cord well away from the handle of the reel.  For casting rods, I drill a hole in the tip of the handle for the rod, put a loop of spectra or dyneema cord through the hole, and seal it in place with Marine Goop or Aquaseal. The loop has to be long enough to hang outside of whatever rod holder you are using for the rod.  When the retractor's cord is attached to the end of a casting rod's handle, it won't get tangled up in the handle of your reel when casting or retrieving.   

I attach retractable dog leashes for my spare rod and net to my kayak seat with cable ties, and put the spare rod and net in the molded-in rod holders behind the seat of my kayak.

I attach my tackle boxes to the bottom of my kayak seat, suspended an inch above the bottom of the cockpit to keep them dry.

The most important tool I carry in my kayak is a hardware store gas funnel with a foot or so of plastic hose stuck on its tip, which I use to pee while sitting comfortably in my kayak seat.  I run the hose into the drive hole of my kayak, or down a cockpit scupper hole in my Ocean Kayak Trident paddle kayak.  I attach the funnel to the back of my kayak seat with a small retractor, where I can grab it easily when the spirit (or the need to pee) moves me.

Another important tool I attach to my kayak is a simple wind direction indicator, which I put in the mast mount at the front of the cockpit of my Revolution and my Pro Angler.  See my post at https://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=18212.msg195603#msg195603. This tells me exactly the direction the wind is coming from, which is invaluable when you are trying to maintain your position over the bottom when jigging.

I attach my water bottles to my kayak seat with mini-carabiners and leashes which are less than a foot long, so they won't create any entanglement hazard.

I put a bilge pump and a selfie stick inside the hull of my kayak, under the hatch in front of the seat of my kayak, with a dry bag which contains my lunch and various other items.  In my Revolution, I clip the pump and selfie stick to the dry bag so they won't slide forward or backward inside the hull and become unavailable.  In my Pro Angler, they are corralled in place by the foam blocks which surround the area under the center hatch.

This sounds like a lot of gear, but I use it all, except for the bilge pump which I've fortunately never needed.  And the way I attach the gear to my kayaks keeps it readily available on the water, safe from loss, and easy to put in and take out of my kayaks.

It sounds like you have yours set up exactly how I have mine set up. If you come up with a better idea let me know! All my mounts are on the right side of the kayak. Left side is clear for netting and landing fish.

I keep smaller odds and ends in the center hatch or the front hatch. Other than that I don’t have any suggestions.

Yes!  I keep the right side clear of attachments to make landing fish easier and safer.  I'm not on a Hobie, so I don't have a center hatch - I have a front and rear hatch, both are pretty small, and neither are accessible while on the water.

While this isn't exactly your question, I think it’s related and perhaps helpful.

My biggest mess/concern on the water is the lures and tackle. When I’m cycling through gear/lures, sometimes I am anxious to get back to fishing and just set a leader with hooks on the bottom of the boat or in the gunwales. This obviously gets messy and presents some risks of entanglement or worse getting a hook buried in myself, my clothes, or my seat. I’ve been using large pool noodles as a fast way to store my lures and leaders which has helped to keep things a bit tidier. Plus side, they float if you dump.

MooMoo does something similar but reuses plastic tomato sauce jars to store his hooks sinkers and leaders.

Keeping the end tackle organized and accessible is definitely a challenge for me too.  Weights, leaders, lures, everything eventually makes it way to the deck, and then slides around and snags on other stuff.  It can be a mess if I don't stay on top of it.  Pool noodles are helpful, but I'm clumsy and get leaders tangled on those too sometimes.  How do you store them?  I just toss them in a small bucket because they don't fit in the Plano boxes. 

I carry the following tools in the cockpit of my kayaks: A fish bonker, a lip grabber, pliers for hook removal and assorted other chores, a pair of shears and a folding knife for cutting gills and bait and gutting fish, and a UV light for activating glow lures. Each of these tools is attached to a small retractor, or in the case of the lip grabber a larger retractor, so I won't lose them overboard, and so there will be minimal entanglement hazard if my kayak gets tipped over. Then I tie half of the retractors to a loop of cord about 2 inches in diameter, and the other half of the retractors to a similar loop. This makes it easy to attach all the tools to whatever kayak I'm using, or to detach them from the kayak at the end of the day.  I don't need to deal with a bunch of separate tools and leashes. See the first picture below.

In my 13' Hobie Revolution, I put one of the loops of cord over the mount for my rod holder, and the other loop of cord over the mount for my fish finder.  Then I put the tools into the mesh pocket next to that mount.  If I tip over, the tools will almost certainly stay in the mesh pockets.  The tools are readily available, and if I need to drop a tool when dealing with a large and irritated fish, I won't lose it because it's leashed.

I also have a 12' Hobie Pro Angler 360.  Hobie sells some hideously expensive boxes which mount on the H Rails next to the cockpit.  I bought two "Mainstays" ice cube bins from Walmart for two bucks each, and drilled holes in the bottom of each tray to let water drain out.  They fit perfectly next to the kayak's seat.  I tie a loop of cord around the base of each of the steering controls, I put the tools (attached together in groups to retractors as described above) in the ice cube bins, and then I clip each group of tools to the loop of cord around the steering controls with a Walmart mini-carabiner.

I also carry a big fish clip, which I attach to the kayak with a length of cord and a mini-carabiner.  I use this to get fish secured when they're in my net, and then to bleed them before putting them in my cooler.

I leash my fishing rods and net with the smallest size of retractable dog leashes.  If the cord for the retractor is attached to a rod and the kayak in an appropriate place, you won't even notice that it's there, but if the cord is attached to the rod and the kayak in inconvenient places, you can get the cord tangled up in the handle of your reel when casting or retrieving.  I attach the dog leash retractor for my active rod to the rod holder for that rod. For jigging or trolling rods, I tie a small loop of spectra or dyneema cord around the shaft of each rod and tape in in place about 10" in front of the reel.  This keeps the cord well away from the handle of the reel.  For casting rods, I drill a hole in the tip of the handle for the rod, put a loop of spectra or dyneema cord through the hole, and seal it in place with Marine Goop or Aquaseal. The loop has to be long enough to hang outside of whatever rod holder you are using for the rod.  When the retractor's cord is attached to the end of a casting rod's handle, it won't get tangled up in the handle of your reel when casting or retrieving.   

I attach retractable dog leashes for my spare rod and net to my kayak seat with cable ties, and put the spare rod and net in the molded-in rod holders behind the seat of my kayak.

I attach my tackle boxes to the bottom of my kayak seat, suspended an inch above the bottom of the cockpit to keep them dry.

The most important tool I carry in my kayak is a hardware store gas funnel with a foot or so of plastic hose stuck on its tip, which I use to pee while sitting comfortably in my kayak seat.  I run the hose into the drive hole of my kayak, or down a cockpit scupper hole in my Ocean Kayak Trident paddle kayak.  I attach the funnel to the back of my kayak seat with a small retractor, where I can grab it easily when the spirit (or the need to pee) moves me.

Another important tool I attach to my kayak is a simple wind direction indicator, which I put in the mast mount at the front of the cockpit of my Revolution and my Pro Angler.  See my post at https://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=18212.msg195603#msg195603. This tells me exactly the direction the wind is coming from, which is invaluable when you are trying to maintain your position over the bottom when jigging.

I attach my water bottles to my kayak seat with mini-carabiners and leashes which are less than a foot long, so they won't create any entanglement hazard.

I put a bilge pump and a selfie stick inside the hull of my kayak, under the hatch in front of the seat of my kayak, with a dry bag which contains my lunch and various other items.  In my Revolution, I clip the pump and selfie stick to the dry bag so they won't slide forward or backward inside the hull and become unavailable.  In my Pro Angler, they are corralled in place by the foam blocks which surround the area under the center hatch.

This sounds like a lot of gear, but I use it all, except for the bilge pump which I've fortunately never needed.  And the way I attach the gear to my kayaks keeps it readily available on the water, safe from loss, and easy to put in and take out of my kayaks.

Nice!  Thanks for the tips - I wouldn't have thought about using a dog leash.  I need to get some retractable leashes - most of my stuff is leashed in place with bungee or paracord.  The tray is also a good idea - I might find something like that to mount to a rail.  I also carry a funnel, for the same purpose. 

I pre-tied my leaders and wrapped them on pool noodles then stored them below the center hatch for easy access and out of the deck space.

the easiest way I have found while surf casting is I make up all my leaders in advance, then loop them and put them in plastic zip bags that way i can label them, I then put them in a large zip lock bag and seal it. Put it in my small backpack and walk the shore in comfort. I'm sure it will work in my Kayak, sort of the same as a binder leader bag but much more comfortable, I keep my weights in a small drawstring bag which could be attached anywhere. Freezer bags work best as they are thicker, i've never had a hook poke through them.

Nice!  Thanks for the tips - I wouldn't have thought about using a dog leash.  I need to get some retractable leashes - most of my stuff is leashed in place with bungee or paracord.

Retractable dog leashes are a lot cheaper at Walmart and other big box stores than they are a pet stores.  And you can get fishing retractors at Walmart a lot cheaper than you can at outdoor and fishing stores.

It sounds like you have yours set up exactly how I have mine set up. If you come up with a better idea let me know! All my mounts are on the right side of the kayak. Left side is clear for netting and landing fish.

I keep smaller odds and ends in the center hatch or the front hatch. Other than that I don’t have any suggestions.

Yes!  I keep the right side clear of attachments to make landing fish easier and safer.  I'm not on a Hobie, so I don't have a center hatch - I have a front and rear hatch, both are pretty small, and neither are accessible while on the water.

While this isn't exactly your question, I think it’s related and perhaps helpful.

My biggest mess/concern on the water is the lures and tackle. When I’m cycling through gear/lures, sometimes I am anxious to get back to fishing and just set a leader with hooks on the bottom of the boat or in the gunwales. This obviously gets messy and presents some risks of entanglement or worse getting a hook buried in myself, my clothes, or my seat. I’ve been using large pool noodles as a fast way to store my lures and leaders which has helped to keep things a bit tidier. Plus side, they float if you dump.

MooMoo does something similar but reuses plastic tomato sauce jars to store his hooks sinkers and leaders.

Keeping the end tackle organized and accessible is definitely a challenge for me too.  Weights, leaders, lures, everything eventually makes it way to the deck, and then slides around and snags on other stuff.  It can be a mess if I don't stay on top of it.  Pool noodles are helpful, but I'm clumsy and get leaders tangled on those too sometimes.  How do you store them?  I just toss them in a small bucket because they don't fit in the Plano boxes.

I’ll take some better photos when I get home from work, but I found this shot in my photo reel on the phone. Gives a basic idea of where I stick the pool noodles while OTW

Right on, my cup holders are a little different so that prob won't work for my situation, but I could add one or two to the track.  Plenty of track mount cup holders available too, or could make something.

I'm also thinking about adding a tray or container with some sort of hinged lid to the track too, something maybe 10"x5" or so and deep enough to secure a pool noodle. Plano makes some options that look about right. Gonna think about it some more on my next outing for sure. 

Thanks for all the ideas!

I’m on a Revo 16, so very limited in space.
What I learned from experience and members on this forum is to keep things simple.
This season I managed to get all of my salmon tackle into one ziplock bag. It contains smaller ziplock bags. This tiny packet has everything  from cut plugs to spoons to blades and hoochies, KA, flashers, you name it. All ready to fish (hooks and line). For sinkers, spares, and other stuff I have a skinny, small Plano tackle box. This and the rest of my gear (downrigger, mounts, etc.) goes into one dry bag (so I can surf launch/land in sketchy conditions).

I’m on a Revo 16, so very limited in space.
What I learned from experience and members on this forum is to keep things simple.
This season I managed to get all of my salmon tackle into one ziplock bag. It contains smaller ziplock bags. This tiny packet has everything  from cut plugs to spoons to blades and hoochies, KA, flashers, you name it. All ready to fish (hooks and line). For sinkers, spares, and other stuff I have a skinny, small Plano tackle box. This and the rest of my gear (downrigger, mounts, etc.) goes into one dry bag (so I can surf launch/land in sketchy conditions).

Right on, ziplocks are a good idea.  One large dry bag is a good idea too - keep everything in one place in case of capsize. 

Hey all, how do you keep your cockpit organized? I have shortish leashes on stuff like pliers and lip grabbers, tackle boxes slide under the seat, rods go in holders, and the net lays on top of the bow ahead of my pedal drive. One rail mounted rod holder, rail mounted FF, with battery in dry bag tied to front bungees. Fish bag between my seat and milk crate - might need to change that when targeting larger fish. Paddle clipped and strapped to side of hull.

With all of that, I'm pretty much out of space, and it feels like everything is scattered and disorganized, especially so after a few hours on the water.

How do y'all keep your stuff organized and accessible on the water, while also keeping it somewhat safe from loss because waves/clumsy/capsize?

I don’t bring a lot of tackle , just enough to fit in a small tote. Plastics I keep in a ziplock bag. But I mainly jig small flat fall, and bring 2-3 pre tied leaders. 1 rod for jigging , 1 rod Carolina rigged… for big lings. Fish gripper and gaff

I don’t bring a lot of tackle , just enough to fit in a small tote. Plastics I keep in a ziplock bag. But I mainly jig small flat fall, and bring 2-3 pre tied leaders. 1 rod for jigging , 1 rod Carolina rigged… for big lings. Fish gripper and gaff

I am trying to limit what I bring too - trouble is I haven't found what works best for me or what I like using most yet.  I've fished a lot more this year than in the past, and am getting a better idea of what that is starting to look like though.

I am down to one Plano 3700, one tub of random stuff (spare parts, batteries, sunblock, etc), and my fish bag, along with tools and equipment. I never take more than two rods, and usually only one.