PIMP YOUR KAYAK 1

I believe all of us still remember the joy and excitment upon collection of your kayak, gathering information even before you had it on topics like building rod holders, bait tubes and where and how to mould your rods and equpiments etc.

I'm no different from you guys, I believe the next best thing I enjoy on my kayaks other than yakfish off it is the planning, setting and modding them up. I call it PIMP MY KAYAK in short.

Attached are pictures I'll like to share on one of my kayaks being pimped years ago. Modding stuffs were bought online.

Wife was equally excited until she notice the receipt. First lesson learn on kayak modding, always best to either:
a) hide the recepit
b) develop a compelling argument about how the extra GPS/ rod holder/ radio/light etc is a safety item
c) say you won it
d) just install it and see if they notice
e) trickiest of all - get them as interested in yakfishing

LOL =) :ha....:

[img]http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh371/gofishwa/img_1157_copy_765.jpg[/img]
Drilling and cutting was the most nerve wracking, I'm preparing

So I'll let the pictures do more talking.

[img]http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh371/gofishwa/img_1176_968.jpg[/img]
Fishing Console

[img]http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh371/gofishwa/img_1177_111.jpg[/img]
Safety Light

Modding was done on a Hobie Outfitter which I shared with my wife.

Its a pretty OVERKILL setup I believe, can't blame me as its our first yak, well it has tone down over the years.

Cheers.

Jigs: Japanese?

Busy, busy, busy... I'll go straight into my reports. I've been lagging behind on my blog for a while.

On the XXth of May, Matts invited me onboard his outboard looking forward to more cepatport action in Cockburns Sound. White came along, hoping to nail one as well. Weather was perfect with the sound looking like a millpond, our hopes were high.

We hitted the weed patch and started drifting. Matts was showing me some $3+ squid jigs he got from BCF and wanted to try them out. Previously he had good success on my japanese jigs and was determine to outfish me this time with his own jigs. So the competition between the japanese and the $3 jigs begin.

White had a head, bagging a decent squid on the first drift. Matts followed with a better squid which pull the tele to a draw. I got mine straight after Matts.

Next drft saw many more squids coming which made score keeping really hard. Overall we were close to bagging the boat limit by the third or fourth drift and I have to insist that my japanese jigs perform beatifully, attracted plenty of squids and have a better catch rate... however it seems like Matts jigs resulted in some of the bigger catches that day.

Nextup we headed to the promissing spot, spot X near the channel marker, which previously resulted in some really good catches. Again this spot never fail with schools teaming up onces Matts chug in his secert berley mixs. Heaps of bread and butter fish were pulled from the location. Day ended with a health mix bag of seafood.

WA Calamari Tournament 2009

Boohoo…

It was a week filled with mind blowing, never ending assignments. When was the last time I hide in my little study corner, over firing the neurons in my brains trying to tackle one assignment after another? Seems like a long time ago…



Alright on the 17th of May 7.30am, the day I’ve been looking forward to, the first WA Calamari Tournamentc 2009 held by Cockburn Powerboat Association kicked off. There were 3 categories; landbased, kayak and boat. Of course without a doubt, I was in the kayak category as I can't afford a boat and landbased sucks... LOL.

The day started really well for me, with me bagging out within an hour into the tournament. With an hour and a half more to go, I had the choice of letting the smaller squids go to upgrade the size of my catch. I would have gotten around 30+ squids easily within the 3 hours time frame.

Final result during the weigh-in for the heaviest weight of 5 squids…

I was 100 grams short of a top 3 placing. Can anyone imagine losing out by a mere 100 grams, the weight of probably a third of a small apple? Ouch, that was very painful for me. Arrggghhh!!!! I wouldn’t be complaining if I miss out say >500 grams.

There goes the Singapore flag on a foreign land. Haizzz…. Too bad they didn’t have a prize for bagging the most squids; otherwise I swear I would have gotten the first place.



Lesson learnt; always” discreetly” fill your catch container with some of water before weigh-in. That extra weight is bonus… LOL just joking.

A Day in the Workshop

So autumn has finally set in and along with it, a week of horrendous weather. It’s time to dig deep into my books.

Indeed I have but as always, I like to spice things up during my studies. A few days ago, my research on the internet had drifted off to an article on kayak modification – How to make your own livewell.



A drive down to Bunning to get the necessary parts, and I’m off to my workshop (backyard) to get things started. Have to admit my surpass attention in D&T during high school paid off. Everything was put together perfectly.



It wasn’t a direct copy as I’ve added my own signature touches, substituted some add-on with cheapies and removing unnecessary parts, all catering to my specific needs. One thing I’ve learnt while staying oversea is that DIY is part and parcel of life.

Now just grant me a fine weather to test it out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alrite latest update on the livewell I’ve build. It performed beyond my expectation.



Went out squiding on the 16th May, Sat. Kept the pump on for 4 hours straight, it worked like a dream with all 14 squids and 1 cuttlefish (at the top right of the picture) pretty much alive at the end of the trip. Without a doubt, it’s worth every bit of effort doing it up, not to mention it’s a whole lot cheaper compared to the commercial ones.

Anyone reckon I can make money from mass producing a livewell like that?

Surprise Surprise..

Start off this post by mentioning that my blog has inspired another reader into a world of outdoor adventures. He has taken the plunge to get his first kayak sometime this month and has plan to fish off the kayak. Isn’t friends supposed to influence one another?!

Guess what, he’s non other than my superlative mate, James Accelus.

He’s looking at an inflatable expedition kayak, which is suitable for lugging around Singapore. It has the mobility and it’s collapsible as compared to a typical sit-on-top hard-body kayak that I’m using. So sharks and crocodiles, please keep away from the inflatables. I see great potential there, James.

Oh, he also manages to psycho Robert, his cousin, to take the plunge with him. With Robert around, kayaking will be doubly the fun (he cracks good but often nonsensical jokes). From James latest update, Marcus and Denzil (very ON person) are still considering but are very likely to join the kayaking clan. I’ll have to wait and see. Common Marcus, MAY THE ORIGINAL KAKIS REUNITE!!!



That’s one more reason I’m looking forward to get back HOME.

It's a Beauty

Got my mate, Matt, out doing some kayak fishing. It’s his first time fishing from a kayak and I believe more will come in the future.



Took him out to one of my squiding spot, chucked him my favourite jig, point him in the right direction and he got one instantly on his first cast. Mission accomplished.



Before we came out, I promised him he will get a squid which he promptly replied me never to promise anyone of a catch on a fishing trip.

“Nan… you will definitely get something, not to mention I’m bring you to my most covert spot”, I said and I took it as an undeclared challenge to put him onto something.



His first squid was a beginning of plenty more to come. Having caught roughly a dozen within half an hour, with a few getting an unintentionally released, we headed out wide to get something different.



Matt bought along his secret burley premixed at home with a toss of Ultrabite (containing fish feeding pheromone). It worked extra time, attracting a school of KAMAKAZI undersize snappers which were dying to hammer at our rigs. They provided great fun and were released upon capture.



All in all we got what we came for, lots of bread and butter fishes not worth mentioning and a dozen lovely squid. What's most important is I get another dude interested in fishing from a kayak.=P

Cheers,
Josh Tan

Fishfull Weekend

Hey matez,

May 10th. I rocked up at the Sound on a Sunday morning full of hope only to be greeted by a threatening weather. Having fished this particular stretch of water just a days earlier with my mate, Matt, and caught some lovely squids and roughly a dozen undersized snappers, skippys and herrings, I was hopping to land a legal snapper today.



After peddling a fair distance and almost making it half way down the last waypoint, 3rd time of the day, I figured the fish weren’t going to play. Still a great day, though. All the while keeping in mind of a Great White Shark attack at Rockingham (it attacked a dingy and throw a man overboard), didn’t want to stay out here alone for too long, decided to call it a day (wasn’t surprise to see no one was out).

Spirits peaked I headed back all the while trolling the drop-off toward the launching site. And then it happened…

Just as I was trolling around a bend where I had previously seen big arches on my sounder, my lightest setup got absolutely smashed. There’s no other way to describe it. The rod was bent to breaking point, even with the drag screaming out in agony. I quickly grabbed the rod and started to get a real feeling for the weight and power of this fish. Two things were immediately apparent to me: it was not a very big fish which I thought it was, and whatever it was, it wasn’t happy. It might pay to mention at this point in time the line I was using was only 10lb braid.

Every time I managed to get some line wound in this fish just took it back with consummate ease; I blaming myself for my liking toward light setup. After a couple of minutes I got it up to the surface and close enough to the kayak to have a look at it. A Pink Snapper... I don’t know how long I played the fish near the yak but eventually he tired himself out and sat on the surface of the water beside me. Nervously, tentatively, I comfort lifted the fella out of the water and placed him gently on the floor of the kayak. What a nice fish to end a day. Another 60+cm snapper added to my growing list. Cheers.



Ps. do check the trebles after every fish, mine was bend and could be the reason for a failed hook-up today.