Five Tips to save your Kayak Fishing Gear

Sorry it's been awhile since i've last done a blog post. Been busy with making youTube videos, work, and life's business, but i'm getting back to writing. Here is a recent article i wrote.

Five tips to save your kayak fishing gear



Introduction

There was a time when I was losing a lot of gear to the ocean. I simply reasoned it was the cost of doing business with the fish gods. As long as they didn’t send the taxman to collect, I was willing to donate a small fraction of my gear as the cost of doing business.

Over time those unnecessary expenses started to add up -- as lost gear does.
How to I pay homage to the gods while keeping my sh#t.  I’ve come to realize they only punish the greedy.

For example my recent pillaging of halibut along the marine coast was prime example of the gods expecting a “sacrifice” to be made. I inevitably found myself on the bad side of a breaking wave with my gear floating on top of breaking waves. – I was greedy and the gods needed to make me an example.

Besides the occasional “sacrifice” and offerings for good fishing. Here are five ways to save your gear and save some money!

Let’s get started!!

Summary:
Strap everything down
Floatation on your gear
Rinse with freshwater
303 UV protectant spray
Keel Guards

Full article here:
https://thelostanchovy.com/five-tips-to-save-your-kayak-fishing-gear/

Funny I see this posted today. On a day when I suffered my first loss. Buddy right next to me hooked a good halibut today and was unprepared with a tiny net. Fish came right up so I grabbed my net really quick and netted the fish. During the ordeal I knocked a brand new spiral wrap jigging rod and Abu Garcia c4 combo off the yak. Hard lesson learned but trust me everything will be leashed from now on

To leash or not to leash, that is the question...

I used to leash my rods. But a lot of people here are anti-leash, since it could be an entanglement hazard. That makes sense, and the rod leash always seems to get in my way, so I got rid of rod leashes. Unfortunately, one of the first days without rod leashes, the sail on my AI knocked a cheapo rod overboard. It wouldn't have been a big deal except that it happened to be attached to a beloved Shimano Tekota reel. It's funny how that never happened when it was leashed... 

All good points. Thanks for the reminders.

To leash or not to leash, that is the question...

I used to leash my rods. But a lot of people here are anti-leash, since it could be an entanglement hazard. That makes sense, and the rod leash always seems to get in my way, so I got rid of rod leashes. Unfortunately, one of the first days without rod leashes, the sail on my AI knocked a cheapo rod overboard. It wouldn't have been a big deal except that it happened to be attached to a beloved Shimano Tekota reel. It's funny how that never happened when it was leashed... 

I'm not a big fan of the leashes because i think it can get dangerous when we get flipped, but to each their own. I prefer the pool noodles on my
rod and reel. Moo and I would have lost both our fishing pole, and fish had we not had floatation on them. It was a hard lesson to learn when you lose a really nice set up. Hopefully people can learn and use these tips to save themselves some grief.

I use pipe insulation.  Ace Hardware carries a thick one.  It works and saved 2 rods.  First situation was trolling with a 10 oz sinker and hoochie and got snagged on kelp.  My rod came out the rod holder and floated up like a flag pole.  Second time was when I taking a pee and left my gear out.  I had my rod in between my legs then a big Olive RF hit and pulled it over board.  It floated and I got both fish and my gear back.

  Second time was when I taking a pee and left my gear out.  I had my rod in between my legs then a big Olive RF hit and pulled it over board.  It floated and I got both fish and my gear back.

.......this leaves so many questions.   

  Second time was when I taking a pee and left my gear out.  I had my rod in between my legs then a big Olive RF hit and pulled it over board.  It floated and I got both fish and my gear back.

.......this leaves so many questions.   

Here's a couple of those questions:

Why do they call you Wormguy? 

"Had my rod in between my legs????"

And,

"Left my gear out?"

Is this some kind of code?

Remember


No Pix= Never Happened!


Bouché

Less than a question of to leash or not - more of preparing for specific activities and possible outcomes. I’ve been schooled by the ocean on several occasions, not just shading.

Make those adjustments, try not to repeat! I leash my paddle offshore, not on surf landings. Everything stowed or strapped down in same. I leash borrowed pricey rod-reels 

This is a great article. I need to start using 303 to keep my kayak safe from harmful UV. I do use leashes but I'm not a fan of them. I leash my game clip and fish gripper so I can hang the fish (briefly) to bleed them and sometimes those resurrected lings like to jump back in to the ocean 😂, and I leash my mirage drive (I sure don't want to lose $800 part). For the rod, I use pipe insulation as a float.

I leash in transit, but not when the rod is in my hand.  also leash for my expensive pliers. Camera, gaff get a float. Net floats on it's own.

Bushy

You know that scene at the end of Titanic where the woman is floating on the piece of wood and Leonardo DiCaprio slips from her grasp and slowly sinks into the depths as she struggles to reach him? That's a lot like the feeling of dropping a $300 rod and reel off a kayak, except you care more, because it's a fishing rod and not Leonardo DiCaprio.

I've become a leash fan, with a handy rescue knife on my vest if needed.

You know that scene at the end of Titanic where the woman is floating on the piece of wood and Leonardo DiCaprio slips from her grasp and slowly sinks into the depths as she struggles to reach him? That's a lot like the feeling of dropping a $300 rod and reel off a kayak, except you care more, because it's a fishing rod and not Leonardo DiCaprio.

I've become a leash fan, with a handy rescue knife on my vest if needed.

Well describe my friend..

You know that scene at the end of Titanic where the woman is floating on the piece of wood and Leonardo DiCaprio slips from her grasp and slowly sinks into the depths as she struggles to reach him? That's a lot like the feeling of dropping a $300 rod and reel off a kayak, except you care more, because it's a fishing rod and not Leonardo DiCaprio.

I've become a leash fan, with a handy rescue knife on my vest if needed.

It's so funny because it's so true.

I leash my fishing gear to avoid losing it overboard.  However, long leashes can create a serious entanglement risk if you flip your kayak, and all your gear ends up hanging underneath your kayak by those long leashes.  If you get tangled in gear leashes with your head underwater, you may only have a couple of seconds to grab your safety knife and cut yourself loose.  Here are a couple of suggestions for making your leashes safer:

1.  Short leashes.  Keep your leases as short as possible.  For example, I used to attach my water bottle to my kayak with a two foot long leash, so I could drink from the bottle while it was on the leash.  Now I attach my water bottle to my kayak with a carabiner on a six inch leash, and I take the bottle off the carabiner when I want to take a drink.  I can't get tangled in a six inch leash.

2. Retractors. Use retractors rather than cord leashes to attach items of fishing gear to your kayak. For example, I attach my lip gripper, fish bonker, pliers, shears, and folding knife to my kayak with small fishing or scuba diving retractors.  If I flip my kayak, each of these tools will stay right against its retractor, and are unlikely to create any entanglement hazard.  I attach each of my rods and my net to my kayak with a small retractable dog leash. But if you use retractable dog leashes, be sure that the spring on the dog leash is strong enough to hold your rod or net against the retractor. If you flip, you don't want your rods and your net to end up hanging ten or fifteen feet below your kayak on a fully extended retractable leash.

3. Attach your gear to your kayak.  When you aren't using an item of leashed fishing gear, attach it to your kayak, so even if you flip, the item won't end up hanging below your kayak.  For example, strap your leashed fishing rod and/or net into its rod holder.  I tuck my lip gripper, fish bonker, pliers, shears, and folding knife into the mesh pockets in the cockpit of my revolution, although they are also each on a retractor.

Certainly another way to avoid losing fishing gear is to attach flotation to it.  However, there are way too many times when I discovered that an item of fishing gear had fallen overboard a long time earlier, and was getting dragged along behind my kayak by its leash.  If the item had flotation on it, but wasn't leashed, I might have been unable to find the gear floating on the water, even if I retraced my GPS track.