Today the Striped Bass are spawning and will continue the ritual on and off till sometime in April. The Mama Bass are swimming like carp finning the surface with four or five bucks darting in her wake waiting for the moment. I have a rod rigged and ready in the rod holder but nothing but a camera in my hand.

The females look to be in the 36" to 40" range and the bucks half that. I thought Bass needed to be 24"-28" to be sexually mature, Maybe I am undersizing the Bucks. I won't put a hook in the water here...I just don't want to crash the party. I hope I see a 60 + incher. I will be hunting her after the spawn.

Use a Safety Leash for Kayak Fishing

An unmanned Kayak can blow across a lake or bay like a wayward beach ball. Whether the kids didn't beach it properly or it blew off a dock, a Kayak is light on the water and hard to catch once it gets out on the water alone.

As a kayak fisherman I am most concerned about unintentionally becoming separated from my ride. I often find myself fishing areas where the wind an currents are in opposition. The rips hold a lot of gamefish. However should I ever get bucked into swimming mode my chances to get back to my Hobie would be near zero. A straight up Google search for “Missing Kayaker” confirmed my concerns with dozens of hits where Kayaks and gear were found without their unfortunate riders.

My solution is a Big Dog 25' Retractable leash. Initially I tied the leash to the seat back and snapped the dog end to my belt. I enjoyed the freedom the leash gave me while clamming and a feeling of being prepared should the unexpected happen. A couple surf entries and exits later sand became a problem jamming up the retractable part. After disassembling and cleaning I realized why the leash had a $40 PetSmart price tag. Even though the mechanism had been submerged in salt water repeatedly for most of the season and put away wet, there was no trace of corrosion on the spring. The spring looks like a stainless steel alloy. By accident I bought a quality product.

With the sand removed from my leash I decided to tie wrap the handle inside the Hobie to the scupper tube and feed the leash strap through a slot at my seat back. (picture 1) I replaced the dog snap with a quick release clip from an old life vest and I have used it without trouble since. (picture 2) I used a 9/64” drill bit to poke 4 holes side by side and then cleared the remaining material with the side of the bit to make the slot.

If you decide to include a leash on your ride there are a couple practical issues I have come across. Don't forget to unsnap when you go back to the truck or walk around your kayak with fishing rods in the holders. Forming a routine of entering and exiting from the same side of your kayak is important to me because my electronics and spare rigs are on one side and I prefer not to climb over my gear.

We buy engineered life vests, carry cell phones,VHF radios,flare guns,signal mirrors,flags, and whistles. We leave the house with float plans posted and the weather report memorized and yet each year some of us do not return. The rewards of fishing from a kayak far out weigh the risks but if the unexpected happens to me, Being leashed will give me ablity to get back to my ride without question. At worst I might be remembered for saving the search party many dangerous hours of searching for my cold wet carcass.

Here are a couple links from my search. In these cases a leash might have made a difference for the rider. What do you think? Comments are welcome.


http://www.upnorthlive.com/news/story.aspx?id=494193

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/05/11/blotter/doc4be9f0d8c9e2d267511218.txt

http://www.wcax.com/global/story.asp?s=12208673

http://www.indy.com/posts/kayaker-missing-near-south-bend

http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/536148.html

Capt. A.R. Neuweiler, SpinfisherBob
Hobie Local Fishing Team
1-3-11

Use a Safety Leash for Kayak Fishing

An unmanned Kayak can blow across a lake or bay like a wayward beach ball. Whether the kids didn't beach it properly or it blew off a dock a Kayak is light on the water and hard to catch once it gets out on the water alone. A 5 mile an hour breeze can turn a sunny day retrieval into an Olympic swim.

As a kayak fisherman I am most concerned about unintentionally becoming separated from my ride. I often find myself fishing areas where the wind an currents are in opposition. The rips hold a lot of gamefish. However should I ever get bucked into swimming mode my chances to get back to my Hobie would be near zero. A straight up Google search for “Missing Kayaker” confirmed my concerns with dozens of hits where Kayaks and gear were found without their unfortunate riders.

My solution is a Big Dog 25' Retractable leash. Initially I tied the leash to the seat back and snapped the dog end to my belt. I enjoyed the freedom the leash gave me while clamming and a feeling of being prepared should the unexpected happen. A couple surf entries and exits later sand became a problem jamming up the retractable part. After disassembling and cleaning I discovered why the leash had a $40 PetSmart price tag. The mechanism had been submerged in salt water repeatedly for most of the season but there was no trace of corrosion on the spring. The spring looks like a stainless steel alloy. By accident I bought a quality product.

With the sand removed from my leash I decided to tie wrap the handle inside the Hobie to the scupper tube and feed the leash strap through a slot at my seat back. (picture 1) I replaced the dog snap with a quick release clip from an old life vest and I have used it without trouble since. (picture 2) I used a 9/64” drill bit to poke 4 holes side by side and then cleared the remaining material with the side of the bit to make the slot.

If you decide to include a leash on your ride there are a couple practical issues I have come across. Don't forget to unsnap when you go back to the truck or walk around your kayak with fishing rods in the holders. And form a routine of entering and exiting from the same side of your kayak. The routine is important to me because my electronics and spare rigs are on one side only and I prefer not to climb over my gear.

We have all heard admonitions, and cautions for safety at every seminar, at each store where we make an equipment purchase and pretty much every time we leave the house. We buy engineered life vests, carry cell phones,VHF radios,flare guns,signal mirrors,flags, and whistles. We leave the house with float plans posted and the weather report memorized and yet each year some of us do not return. The rewards of fishing from a kayak far out weigh the risks but if the unexpected happens to me, I will be be able to get back to my ride without question. At worst I might be remembered for saving the search party many dangerous hours of searching for my cold wet carcass.

Here are a couple links from my search. In these cases a leash might have made a difference for the rider. What do you think ?? Comments are welcome.


http://www.upnorthlive.com/news/story.aspx?id=494193

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/05/11/blotter/doc4be9f0d8c9e2d267511218.txt

http://www.wcax.com/global/story.asp?s=12208673

http://www.indy.com/posts/kayaker-missing-near-south-bend

http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/536148.html

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/outdoors/bs-sp-striped-bass-poaching-20101204,0,6096135.story


A great report from the Baltimore Sun...It's hard for me to believe the Kayak guys in the Chesapeake didn't know what the Commercial Poachers were doing...I know there is a lot of water out there...but local knowledge covers the most of it...

I could used to count on a strong run of Chesapeake Bass in my home waters Brigantine to Barnegat...but after 1975 they only were here for a couple of days and many fish had signs of mycobacteriosis. The Baltimore Sun artcle tells a little more of the story by showing the dent put in the spawn by poachers. I will bet the YOY index goes up for the next few years.

Birthday Bass--3 hours,5 hits,3 bass,one throwback

My traditional fishing days i always fish Jan 1,March 21,and November 27