Fishing Kayak Cockpit Pics

Hello,

New member here.   I have an Old Town Predator 13.  It's my first kayak and I've not yet set it up for fishing. 

I'm interested in seeing some pics of how you guys (and gals) are setting up your cockpits for fishing.  What works and what to avoid.

I've looked around and did not see a thread that relates this (although I can be blind and impatient  ).

Thanks in advance,

Saw




(mods if this is the incorrect forum feel free to move)

With the Predator 13 (I have it too) I don't think it matters terribly much. With the six plates you can relocate or redesign anything.

Here's the modifications I made to mine.

IMG_5062
I changed the scupper plugs with these. The two-way valves don't work well for me. Much drier ride.

IMG_5061
I installed this hatch. Love it, it provides a place to keep stuff like wallets, keys, and so on. It also gave me access to that area for other modifications. I could have used wellnuts or pop rivets, but I came to dislike pop rivets quickly after a poorly decided attachment decision I made and had to remove them. Wellnuts are okay, but I figure this hatch would give more storage space + let me use bolt+nuts on the back.

IMG_5060
Right now, all my wiring for the FF goes through the mod pod. It is not water-tight anymore as a result but I didn't want to make a thru-hull hole for the wiring until after taking it out a few times and deciding where I want it to be. But I'm pretty happy with the current location, and the RAM mount is worth it.

IMG_5059
I added an anchor trolley. I'm happy with it's location, but I'm thinking of adding an eye lower down to keep the line from creeping into the paddle holder. Otherwise I love the pulley system. I'm adding a zig-zag cleat and after one outing, I think I'll put it in the middle (on the hull) of the removable mount that holds my fishing rod.It'd be to secure the anchor line.

IMG_5057
I think I'm going to get a 9" extender for the fishing rod holder on the mono pod, bring it closer to me, and move the other fishing rod holder on the mounting plate to the rear. I find even that far out, it still gets in the way of paddling once in a while. I haven't quite decided yet, but that's the great thing about the mounting plates! Perfect for newbies like me.

IMG_5055
Here is my one regret so far, on so many levels. First, I mounted the Yak-Attack Mighty Mount (the square pad that is holding the flag, on the hull. Which would have been fine except... the flag keeps whipping me when I'm paddling down-wind. It wouldn't have been an issue if the flag was 1' taller. It may not be an issue if I change the flag to something shorter and more square. I haven't decided what to do with it yet. To make insult to injury, it is seriously hard to get the pop rivets out without risking damage. I should have just went with well nuts, at least if you made amistake it'd be easy to remove.

IMG_5054
Rudder is a must, IMO. For the NorCal area at least. Paddling without it was not fun, especially when paddling down-wind. The yak kept weathercocking without it. My only issue with it is loading it on and off the top of my truck. I damaged the rudder on my first day out, bent the rudder and scratched up the metal. What I didn't realize is that it would now be the point holding all the weight of the kayak while I'm loading it in and bringing it out.

I'm designing something to remedy this. My first idea was a PVC platform to stick in the holes, but that was too large and unwieldy. Now I'm thinking I'll use a 4x4 block, with galv pipe attached that goes through. Drill holes through the pipe and insert a rod to hold it there. Going to be building it this week and seeing how it turns out.

IMG_5056
I went with a Lowrance Elite-4 HDI fishfinder, and I'm not terribly happy with it. There is no way that I can tell to flush-mount this transducer in the scupper hole. It is simply too big. I am exploring other options but it was a major disappointment to see that it can't be flush, which poses the danger of scratching it up when launching or beaching at shore.

That's everything I can think of.

Oh, one more thing. They make Slide-Trax plate mounts for the Predator. http://www.austinkayak.com/products/15071/YakAttack-Mounting-Plate-with-Gear-Trac-for-Predator-and-Big-Game-II.html

I'd suggest using those. Mounting on the plates can be a pain because anything that needs a hole with bolt/nut on the side of the plate won't work, it'd sit on top of the hull. So you need  mounts where you can mount them using holes that'd line up with the center. But the YakAttack mounting plates bypasses that problem entirely, and lets you remove/add mounts easily. In hindsight, I'd have gone that route to begin with.

Don't take anything I say as gospel, the Predator 13 is my first kayak too. So I'm still figuring things out, but thought I'd share my experience (good and bad) with some of my decisions.

EDIT: One last piece of advice. Try to mount things on one side of the  kayak. As stable as this thing is, you will eventually flip the yak. Having one side of the cockpit clear for re-entry is a sound plan. But also take into account casting your fishing rod, and what might be in the way of that. And what's in the way of your paddling.

Perfect!  Thousand thanks-yous for that write up!  Exactly what I'm looking for.

I'm somewhat of a minimalist but still want to have everything I need, especially for the ocean.  I intend to mount at least a couple rod holders, a FF (I'm looking hard at the Humminbird 346c DI), maybe a GoPro mount, and a milk crate with all the fixin's.

I love the rear hatch idea!  The flat area in the rear seems made for it.  Seems it would make bilge pumping very easy too should the need arise.

Great tips on mounting everything to 1 side and no pop rivets, sounds very smart.  I cast with my left hand so I'll consider that too.

I'll have to look into a rudder, I felt like a weather vane on Lake Siskiyou with a 10 to 20 mph wind last weekend (had my 6 year daughter with me so that didn't help).

Again, thank you! 

I'd love to hear from other veterans before I go buy stuff

Perfect!  Thousand thanks-yous for that write up!  Exactly what I'm looking for.

I'm somewhat of a minimalist but still want to have everything I need, especially for the ocean.  I intend to mount at least a couple rod holders, a FF (I'm looking hard at the Humminbird 346c DI), maybe a GoPro mount, and a milk crate with all the fixin's.

I love the rear hatch idea!  The flat area in the rear seems made for it.  Seems it would make bilge pumping very easy too should the need arise.

Great tips on mounting everything to 1 side and no pop rivets, sounds very smart.  I cast with my left hand so I'll consider that too.

I'll have to look into a rudder, I felt like a weather vane on Lake Siskiyou with a 10 to 20 mph wind last weekend (had my 6 year daughter with me so that didn't help).

Again, thank you! 

I'd love to hear from other veterans before I go buy stuff

I highly recommend using rails (eg yakattack rails).  It allows you to quickly modify your setup depending on where/what you are fishing for.

You can flush mount your transducer with the lowrance scupper mount in that kayak. I did it to codzilla's kayak a few weeks ago and another one with the 83/200 transducer. The 83/200 is a bit harder to do than the bigger one. I'll see if I can get the pics up.

I have the lowrance scupper mount and was not able to get it flush, even with trimming some of the transducer. I'd be interested in hearing how you did it.

If you have the big transducer you don't need to do any cutting. Take off the mount that slides on the transducer and slide on the lowrance mount. No bolts and it holds from the center of the puck and keeps everything high and tight.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=54983.0

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=54983.0

That model's transducer is 1/3 the size of the Elite 4 HDI one. So it wouldn't really work for my situation.

I'll try skipping the mount and sliding it on directly.

Well, I finally got it done.  I went for the simple and uncluttered look.

Thanks everyone for the ideas and jbaker for convincing me to drill holes