New to Kayak Fishing
 

Picked up a Future Beach Angler 160 SOT last season, and did just a bit of fishing from it (mostly freshwater).

Looking for suggestion for outfitting it for some lake and inshore striper fishing ...

Also, the biggest obsticle is getting the yak off and (mostly) on my car (a Honda Civic ... I use foam blocks) by myself. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Well the first thing you may want to do to outfit it is put some rod holders in front of you in the cockpit area, this is critical if you want to do any trolling, but is also just really useful in general. Make sure you are 100% sure of the placement of the rod holder before drilling any holes, take into account your paddle stroke when deciding as well.

That's all you really need to have fun out there (you don't even really need that if you aren't trolling to tell you the truth)

All the other gizmos and gadgets are just taking things to another level and I would hold off until you have spent a lot of time fishing in the kayak.

Don't underestimate safety, you MUST have a good, comfortable PFD, and then consider getting a VHF radio. I have a handheld floating one and it's just a great thing to have.

On the loading/unloading, there are a ton of solutions out there that help in loading, Thule makes few things that allow you to roll the kayak on the car, they even have a mat that you can put on the car itself to slide the thing on.

Thanks for the reply.

The challenge is getting a 75#, 13 foot object up to roof level by myself ... I have already scrached and dented the roof of my Civic (which has a moonroof aad a rear plastic spoiler so I have those things to deal with ...). Any ideas or suggestions?

mount a couple of these on the top of your yak. then you can grab and lift it right to the top of your car...

Kayak Side Mount Carry Handles with End Buckles (PR) - austinkayak.com - Product Details


and then pop it on top of these and tie it down. They don't need to go on roof racks. they can rest right on the roof of you car.

http://www.#^&#^&#^&#^&ssportinggoods.com/pr...ductId=3997688

Well I know the civic is really low to the ground compared to most cars, so it shouldn't be too bad to lift it up if you have handles like TDF suggeted in his post.

If lifting is an issue, you could get something like this:
Thule-847 Outrigger II

or this:
Thule-854 Waterslide

I use a trailer roller mounted on a foam pad on the rear of my car roof, strapped through the car. You can put one of your remaining foam blocks on the front, put a blanket over your trunk, and just push the 'yak over the roller and plop the front on the block. Much easier than side loading; avoids mirror banging, scraping etc. Can put together trailer roller, strap, and pad for less than $50; well worth it to save your back!

Kind of like this, 'cept you can make one yourself for about half the price!

Oak Orchard SUV Kayak Roller Loader - Load your kayak with Ease

A couple of great ideas ... thanks. I really like the Thule extension ... we have a Thule rack on my wife's Prius, and thinking about getting the rack for my car.

Oh, one other thing I noticed about your 'yak. You have space behind your seat for a rod. I have a similar situation on mine, and I mounted a surf tube on a T shaped wooden frame, with a 2 x 4 cross bar on the top of the 'yak secured to the tie downs with long shoe laces. If you mount the tube on the bottom of the T so it turns side to side, you can tie a rope through an eye on the top of of the T so you can pull the tube up for trolling or let it flop to the side for baiting and pulling in fish. That way, you don't have to reach behind your back for your rod (a real pain!). Good luck! Used this arrangement last year and it worked great!

Definitely get the rack, the foam block thing is good, but you are more prone to scratch your car taking it off and on... with the rack, you just hoist it right on there and don't have to worry about it.