How to Rig a Sea Kayak for Fishing Inshore and Off

By Dave Williams (Adam Bolonsky) published Sep 16, 2008
AC Associated

Here's how to rig a sea kayak for saltwater fishing -- ideas, suggestions and lessons useful for any saltwater fish from yellowfin tuna to halibut to bluefish and grouper.

Fast, silent, and easy to maneuver, a sea kayak's speed and seaworthiness also make it a good choice for chasing inshore saltwater pelagics ranging from striped bass to red drum and sea run trout.

Gear is as much a part of kayak fishing as a good put-in is, which means some gear is better than others.

A good choice is the number of small spincast rods, made by Shakespeare, with their soft tips. Ugly Stiks are durable, a decided plus, given how rods in kayaks tend to get knocked around a lot. A good choice is to buy a rod short enough to grasp the reel with one hand, the other to reach the tip, which makes clearing fouled line easier.

Short rods also make housekeeping tasks such as changing lures and leaders and clearing weeds from hooks easier, especially if yoiu've also got snags or line twist to deal with. A rod short enough to hold the butt with one hand and grasp the leader with the other is a good size to consider.

For me, since I'm six foot with a six-foot wingspan, these specs balance out to a 5'10 rod'. I can troll it and keep the rod out of the way while I troll or chase feeding fish. I espeicaly enjoy a short, bendy rod's light action --- very "snappy" and quick. Plus, come time to paddle in, a short rod stores easily on deck or in the aft hatch, which makes landings in dumping surf a lot easier: no gear falling out of the boat.

Chunking offshore and working groundfish in a kayak is a highly productive option and two pieces of gear --- stabilizing sponsons and an anchor --- greatly simplify the job.

The beauty of sponsons and anchors is how easily you can throw them together from a few odds and ends. A handy anchor and rode-bag soft and small enough to store in the lap can be fashioned from a couple of lobsterman's bait bags. Stuffed with rocks and cinched shut, one bag is heavy enough dropped overboard to set anchor with and, once stored, has no sharp edges. It's inexpensive.

For rode use 50'' to 100' of 1/4" stretchy-braid stored in a second bag stashed beneath a bungie on the foredeck. Tie the rode to the anchor bag with a bowline and a slip knot, and fill the anchor bag with rocks before you set off.

When you want to anchor, fasten the anchor line's bitter end and chuck the anchor overboard. Pay out rode roughly twice times the water's depth. Come to paddle home at day's end, haul up the bag and dump out the rocks. Lobstermen's nylon mesh baitbags can be found on any beach after a strong Nor'easter. One feature worth adding is a rode-retrieve line strung back to the cockpit, quite handy should you need to cut your anchor line in an instant.

To read more about kayaking and kayak fishing skills, see my media-rich blogs North American Kayak Fishing and Sea Kayaking Dot Net.