Fishing Kayaks and Gear I Look Forward to Using in 2010

I closed out 2009 much as I started it, paddling a no longer made Liquid Logic Manta Ray, with a decent paddle, and having ALMOST learned to stand up in my fishing kayak. With the Liquid Logic, it’s a question of understanding, and then trusting, the two rocking points on each side of the boat. Like most sit on top fishing kayaks, the 2007 Manta Ray has a first point when you think you’re going to dump, and then a second, much further down, where you actually will.

Try to tell yourself not to make a sudden correction when you feel the first jolt though. Easier said than done.

Well, when the ice breaks in 60 days or so here, I will have at least 2 new pieces of kayak fishing gear to try out, and hopefully will get a run or two with a few others. The second two will go a long way towards helping me stand in the kayak, which will make fly fishing a whole lot easier.

In no particular order:

The StandNFish Kayak Fishing System

I started eying a solution like this right when I bought my fishing kayak in 2007. I knew the very first time

that I got out on some flats on Black Creek in Churchville that I wanted to stand up and have a look. Whether it was to see if there were pike and bass cruising the shallows, or to look for big shell crackers routing around in the mud, I wanted to see more than I could from 3 feet off the water.

But, I was scared to death to stand. Being a neophyte, and not quite as young as I used to be, my butt was glued to that seat like no one’s business. However, if I had a StandNFish, with it’s two pontoons, and with or without the leaning post, stability would not have been an issue. I would have been firing flies with ease because of the additional height of the rod tip off the water, as well as the stability. Not to mention the sight fishing.

With any luck, I’ll have one of these rigged up this spring, and will be spot casting to pre spawn bass with the fly rod at a pond near me. Catch, and immediate release of course.

The Gullwing Fishing Kayak Paddle

This thing excites me too. I was lucky enough to be given one for review late last year. Unfortunately, the Ice Age came the next day, and I’ll have to wait until march to check it out.

What I like about it is that it looks VERY easy to use, and rounded/arched construction will provide power, as well as NOT ROLL AROUND when i set it down to cast. This is a huge bonus to the shallow water kayak fisherman, as there’s NOTHING worse than banging a straight battle off of your boat when you set it down. You scare every fish for 200 square miles around you.

It feels really nice to hold too. I can’t wait to try it out. Thanks Gullwing!

From their website:

So beginning with the blade design, I built one benefit-laden feature onto another to develop the Gullwing kayak paddle. To list a few: angled blades that cut just below the water surface for glide rather than heavy dipping … changeable blades … bowed handle contoured like a kayak’s prow made of powder-coated aluminum for lightweight paddling and improved grip … And above all, an ergonomic design for hours of fatigue-free paddling.

The Gullwing has been warmly welcomed by would-be paddlers with a variety of physical challenges, but it is being enthusiastically received, as well, by young families and weekend kayakers, by salt water and freshwater kayak enthusiasts of all ages and physical abilities. And me? I’m out on the water for hours at a time with no pain. Count me as one who’d rather glide than dig.

Yeah, I’d rather glide than dig, too. We cover a lot of distance sometimes, especially if we float a river and have to paddle back. It’s amazing how far downstream you can float without noticing…

The Eagle CUDA 350 Fish-finder and GPS

Got this little bad boy for Christmas. Very reasonable in price (usually around $200.00), and loaded with

features. I’m not sure you can get a better fishfinder/GPS for your kayak for that kind of money.

With my recent love affair with Lake Ontario, I VERY much look forward to going out and marking smallmouth hotspots that otherwise I may never find again. After all, there’s a lot of water out there.

Here’s your feature list:

Product Description
Cuda® 350 S/MAP
Compact Fishfinder/Mapping GPS

An incredible value in a sonar/GPS chartplotter combo with built-in mapping. Find fish, yourself, and your way, even in rain or fog, while marking spots and recording trails for return trips. All in this one easy-to-use and affordable sonar/mapping GPS package!

* High-detail, 240Vx160H pixel, 4″ diag. Film SuperTwist LCD display
* 16-level gray scale with GRAYLINE® for impressive target detail
* 800 watts peak-to-peak/100 watts RMS with depths to 600 ft.*
* Compact 200 kHz Skimmer® transducer with built-in temp sensor and up to 60° of fish detection coverage
* Space-saving case design with internal 12-parallel channel GPS+WAAS antenna
* Built-in high-detail mapping of lakes, rivers, Great Lakes, and U.S. coastal waters with enhanced shoreline detail and nav aids
* Saves up to 1,000 waypoints and event markers each
* Up to 100 savable plot trails
* 10 international languages
* Back-up memory
* Sealed and waterproof
* Full one-year warranty

Maybe I won’t get lost this year. Again.

The Diablo Adios Fishing Kayak

Sounds mean, doesn’t it?

Not sure if I’ll get my hands on one this year, but I’m going to try. Currently, there isn’t a dealer in the Western New York area, but I’m trying to work out a deal where I can at least try it out, as this would make an AWESOME fly fishing kayak for smaller waters and streams where I don’t want to fool around with the StandNFish. And I do a lot of that in smaller section of Black Creek, and some farm ponds.

Checking in at a scant 12.5 feet long, it’s going to be maneuverable in tight spots, and very easy to stand on. The flat area ahead of the seat is also interesting, as it might prevent fly line from getting tangled up while I am casting. A 10.5 foot model, the Chupacabra, is coming soon. That will really kick butt in the streams.

From their website:

At 12-and-a-half-foot-long, The Adios is designed to let you do pretty much whatever you like

Diablo Paddle Sports

out on the water. Its wider 36 inches body and tri-hull design offers the stability to fish while standing, and its streamlined design makes it an easy-to-handle watercraft. The 2 foot wide cockpit also makes it ideal for big guys, there’s room to sit or kneel comfortably, and a handle with a custom designed pull-up strap in the front of the cockpit makes standing up easy. This serves several functions: Number one, comfort for our bigger buddies. Nobody wants to be cramped or uncomfortable on the water, it ruins the experience.

Two, it provides of room to spread your feet and get a good base for Stand-up Paddling.

And last, whether you had a rough night before and need to catch some ZZZZ’s, or your air mattress has a hole in it and you prefer not to sleep on rocks, our cockpit is wide enough for most to lay down in comfortably.
So whether you are floating your local river with poppin’ bugs, or out for a sunset paddle, we’ve got the boat for you.

So Much Kayak Fishing to look Forward to in 2010

Whether I get to try all this great stuff or not, the 40 or so trips I made out in 2009 have really whet my appetite to double that this spring, summer, and fall. Now, if we can just get this ice to go away….

Related posts:

1. Malibu Kayaks Stealth 14 Review
2. Fishing Kayaks and Kayak Gear On Sale
3. The World Fishing Network

Tagged as: Eagle CUDA 350, gullwing paddles, StandNFish, The Diablo Adios Fishing Kayak