Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3715 July 6-20 2018 | Page 9

July 6 - 20, 2018
VOL.37 • ISS. 15
Spotlight On Kayak Fishing...
Sponsored by
Kayak City
Citrus Heights, CA
Kayak City.Com
916.565.1400
Kayak Fishing: The First 90 Days
By Cal Kellogg
Well, it’s official, I’ve been a kayak angler for three full
months! As you can imagine I have some insights to share
with all the aspiring kayak anglers out there.
First and foremost, I’m blown away by the amount of
interest in kayaks and kayak fishing. It seems like every
time I cross paths Fish Sniffer readers these days I get
questions about kayak fishing in general and my Hobie
Pro Angler specifically. I’m addicted to the simplicity and
excitement of kayak fishing and if you give it a try, you’ll
get the addiction too. Let’s dive in!
The Hobie Pro Angler 14
When I decided to get a Hobie Pro Angler, my first
challenge was deciding on a 12 or 14 foot model. I went
with the 14 because the large rear deck and 600 pound
weight capacity provides ample space for my fishing part-
ner, a 65 pound Labrador retriever named Lucy.
The Pro Angler 14 is the ultimate fishing machine with
great stability, six horizontal rod locker tubes, a huge front
storage compartment and a super comfortable seat.
The H-Rail that surrounds the kayak’s cockpit has
proven to be a great platform for mounting rod holders,
camera mounts, downriggers and my Lowrance sonar unit.
MirageDrive 180
The HobieMirage Drive 180 is the propulsion
system at the heart of the Pro Angler.
Weighing in at under eight pounds, the Mi-
rageDrive 180 peddle system produces full
power in both directions and offers unprec-
edented maneuverability.
With this system, I can pull one of
two shift cables to pivot the drive’s
fins 180 degrees, switching in-
stantly from forward to reverse
and back again. The dual
fins provide shallow water
access and easy shore land-
ings by simply pushing one pedal
forward.
The drive is fully adjustable with the
push of a button. It doesn’t matter if your 6’3” like me or 5’ tall like my
wife, you can tailor the peddle stroke to your body size.
When I’m bass fishing I’ll inch up on the structure, make a cast with a
Carolina rig or jig and then use my MirageDrive to slowly back away from
the structure in reverse, dragging the rig through the strike zone. All the
while, the action is out in front of me and my hands are free to work the
rod.
Getting Down: A Man Doesn’t Live On Bass Alone!
Bass fishing is fun, but at the
end of the day I’m a trout an-
gler. Early this spring when the
water was cold I nailed a lot of
trout while toplining from my Pro
Angler. When the trout dropped
down, I used a high tech lead-
core rig to target fish holding
from 10 to 25 feet deep.
These days most of the
trout and kokanee residing in
the foothill reservoirs in my area
have dropped down below the
30 foot mark. This is downrig-
ger country and thanks to the folks at Scotty I’m able to work these deep
holding fish with ease.
I’m running a simple yet highly efficient Scotty No. 1073 Laketroller
crank downrigger. The unit mounts right on the Hobie’s H-Rail. The rigger
features 100 feet of 150 pound cable. Every revolution of the downrig-
ger’s “spool” released 1 foot of cable for precise controlled depth trolling.
The unit is rated for weights up to 4 pounds. I’ve been running with a
3 pound salmon fishing weight and it works perfectly.
Tools, Tools & More Tools!
Fishermen make use of a lot of gad-
gets and gizmos and this is doubly true
when it comes to kayak fishing. A lot of
companies turn out tools that will work
for kayakers.
When it came time for me to outfit
my Hobie with tools I reached out to
the folks at EGO Products. I ultimately
picked up an EGO S2 Compact Slider
net.
The handle on the net rockets from
18 to 36 inches with the press of a but-
ton. The model I chose has a 17 by 19
inch hoop and boasts rubber netting to
minimize hook tangles. The net is also
available with nylon netting and PVC
netting.
Despite having had the net for
only a short time, I’ve used it to bring
several fish aboard my kayak. The net
has performed as expected and it has
been very tangle resistant even when dealing with trout hooked on Rapalas
bristling with tiny hooks.
In addition to the net I also got an EGO Kryptek Ultra Grip fish gripper
with a 40 pound integrated scale.
The gripper allows me to quickly and easily reach out and lip a fish, lift
it into the kayak and get an accurate weight on the fish before releasing it.
The Ultra Grip tool features the high-tech and super cool Kryptek camo.
EGO Kryptek Measuring Board
In addition to the grip-
pers and net, I also tossed
in an EGO Kryptek 24 inch
measuring board to quickly
and efficiently determine the
length of anything I might
land. With lots of stripers
and halibut in my future,
my EGO measuring board
will be a key piece of gear
for determining which fish
go back into the water and
which ones come home for
dinner!
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