Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge - View Single Post

dsafety · 09-09-2010, 09:19 PM

Fishing has been a little slow so to help keep the juices going, I went to the shop and started tinkering.

One of the biggest issues associated with fishing from a kayak is where to stow the gear. We have hatches in the bow and stern but most of the time these storage areas are hard to get to while on the water. The center hatch is golden but usually crammed full of the most essential gear. Where do you keep the important, but not mission critical gear?

Some of the really big kayaks have lots of easily accessible storage areas in the "cockpit". I ride a Revo which, while a great kayak, does not offer much in the way of accessible storage. Somehow we still manage to make do but I know things could be better. I started thinking about ways to augment the stock setup and came up with the idea of a Utility Belt which I would attach to my bait tank.

Utility belts are cool. Batman had one. So did Tim the Toolman Taylor, (and Heidi). The idea was to find a way to strap some small items to the bait tank making them easily accessible and not all jumbled up with the other stuff that I store in the center hatch.

I started with a piece of shoulder strap webbing from one of the many pieces of luggage or trade show giveaways that I have collected over the years. I chose one with all plastic components. I purchased some snap buckles and assembled the belt attaching one end permanently to the handle of my Hobie tank and clipping the other to a ring attached to the other end of the tank.

There are dozens of ways to do this. Another option would be to attach some pad eyes and clip to those. Use your imagination. Once you have figured out a way to attach the belt to the tank, the next step is putting your gear on the belt. For this demonstration I have attached a holster for my needle nose plyers, a fillet knife and an ABS tube that will eventually hold the net for my bait tank.

When I get around to making the belt for the other side of the tank, I might attach a water bottle holder, another tube to hold my gaff, first aid kit, bilge pump or one of the other important pieces of gear that we would like to have in an easy accessible location.

Here is the basic belt setup.

Belt.jpg

Here is where the belt attaches to the tank at the handle.

Clip.jpg

This is the installed belt before I add some of my other gear.

Belt-on-tank.jpg

This photo shows the belt installed after I have installed my rod holder assembly. (Revo owners, if you have not checked out this rod holder device, you should. It is displayed earlier in this post.)

Belt-with-Rod-Holder.jpg

This is still a work in progress but I think it may make my days on the water a little better.

Bob

09-09-2010, 09:19 PM	#90
dsafety Olivenhain Bob Join Date: May 2008 Location: Olivenhain, CA Posts: 1,121	Utility Belt for your Bait Tank Fishing has been a little slow so to help keep the juices going, I went to the shop and started tinkering. One of the biggest issues associated with fishing from a kayak is where to stow the gear. We have hatches in the bow and stern but most of the time these storage areas are hard to get to while on the water. The center hatch is golden but usually crammed full of the most essential gear. Where do you keep the important, but not mission critical gear? Some of the really big kayaks have lots of easily accessible storage areas in the "cockpit". I ride a Revo which, while a great kayak, does not offer much in the way of accessible storage. Somehow we still manage to make do but I know things could be better. I started thinking about ways to augment the stock setup and came up with the idea of a Utility Belt which I would attach to my bait tank. Utility belts are cool. Batman had one. So did Tim the Toolman Taylor, (and Heidi). The idea was to find a way to strap some small items to the bait tank making them easily accessible and not all jumbled up with the other stuff that I store in the center hatch. I started with a piece of shoulder strap webbing from one of the many pieces of luggage or trade show giveaways that I have collected over the years. I chose one with all plastic components. I purchased some snap buckles and assembled the belt attaching one end permanently to the handle of my Hobie tank and clipping the other to a ring attached to the other end of the tank. There are dozens of ways to do this. Another option would be to attach some pad eyes and clip to those. Use your imagination. Once you have figured out a way to attach the belt to the tank, the next step is putting your gear on the belt. For this demonstration I have attached a holster for my needle nose plyers, a fillet knife and an ABS tube that will eventually hold the net for my bait tank. When I get around to making the belt for the other side of the tank, I might attach a water bottle holder, another tube to hold my gaff, first aid kit, bilge pump or one of the other important pieces of gear that we would like to have in an easy accessible location. Here is the basic belt setup. Belt.jpg Here is where the belt attaches to the tank at the handle. Clip.jpg This is the installed belt before I add some of my other gear. Belt-on-tank.jpg This photo shows the belt installed after I have installed my rod holder assembly. (Revo owners, if you have not checked out this rod holder device, you should. It is displayed earlier in this post.) Belt-with-Rod-Holder.jpg This is still a work in progress but I think it may make my days on the water a little better. Bob Last edited by dsafety; 09-10-2010 at 05:51 AM.