What's the problem with a man modifying a rod to suit his style of fishing? I thought that the whole premise of a custom rod was to match it to the angler and it's intended use.

That's just it, when you cut the handle short you're not modifying it to fit the fishing technique, like swimbait, crankbait. worm, etc., you are modifying it to you can supposedly not get it hung on your clothes. So all your rods now have to have the same short handle no matter what the actual fishing technique is.

Okay, I have a really dumb question. I can see how a kayak would be nice for shallow inshore waters. But what about big lakes and open ocean? I would think the wind would push you around a lot.

The really big question I wonder about is.....how to you handle a decent sized fish with serious teeth? I'm thinking it would be really tough to gaff a fish and get him into a cooler. I'm talking about fish like king mackeral.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

The wind doesn't have much to push against when you're talking about a kayak. Mackeral, barracudda, even sharks, etc. are routinely caught and landed from kayaks.

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I have been kayak fishing for over 3 years now. I have a Wilderness ride 135 and my feet are in the same plane as my butt. Try going outside and sitting in your driveway with you legs straight out in front of you and see how the rod fits. I try and size the butt to my forearm anything beyond that is of no use anyway. Sorry Tom but in my opinion I think the shorter but is better for kayak fishing than a long butt.

I would rather see a means of being able to secure the rod to the yak for the time when someone turtles.

Corky
Corky's Custom Rods
Savannah, Georgia

"I try to size the butt to my forearm anything beyond that is no use anyway"

And that's exactly how you'd size the rod for any other use, with perhaps the exception of surf rods. There is no push for long butt rods in kayaks - just normal length butts the same as you'd use for the same type fishing in any other type of fishing craft. Cutting them down shorter than what the prescribed rod use calls for still doesn't make any sense to me. Once again, the rod isn't pushed up against your body nor can you get your elbow any closer to your body when sitting in a kayak than you can when sitting in anything else.

The rod security issue, and recovery if a rod is lost overboard, is undoubtedly a potential sales vehicle for custom rod builders.

By the way - the accessory track and "plug and play" system in your Wilderness Ride? I designed that for Wilderness Systems back when they were still here in Trinity, NC.

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So now your taking credit for all the track systems molded or bolted onto fishing kayaks in the world??? LOL!

As a matter of fact, I stood next to a WS Tarpon 120 and drew out the system on paper while the owner and founder of Wilderness Systems (Confluence Paddlesports) Andy Zimmerman, took notes. I even used the computer interface term “Plug and Play” to describe the marketing for how the accessory bases would mount in the track. A year later, nearly all the kayaks and canoes in the Confluence family had my system on them. The following year, other kayak manufacturers followed suit with either the same or very similar track systems.

The only change Andy made to my original design was to incorporate an aluminum channel within a molded-in recess, rather than molding the T-slot channel in the plastic itself. It turned out to be less expensive in terms of the rotomolding process involved.

I’m not taking credit for somebody else’s innovation - it was mine from the start and all the manufacturers that have subsequently added similar systems, along with some accessory track makers, based their version/product on my original design. It's not the only thing out there that I've come up with that has been incorporated in many fishing kayaks. Both Confluence and Legacy/Native have more than a few of my ideas and designs on their boats.

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I've been kayak fishing since 2008. It's no trend far as I'm concerned. Lots of people are discovering it. Simplicity is the key thing fishing from a kayak. Mine is a NuCanoe Frontier. Has a comfy swivel seat or I can stand all day if I want. I fish for bass using regular rods and started using fly rods last summer. It really is a good time. Lakes, rivers, ponds or the ocean. Depending on the kayak you buy all of those are possible. Can't think of a better way to spend a day.

I believe Native/Legacy is doing the rotomolding for NuCanoe these days.

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Last I knew they were made in Ohio by Nucanoe. Either way they are a solid kayak/hybrid fishing machine!

NuCanoe is in Ohio, but they do not have any rotomolding equipment of their own. They farm that out to another firm, most recently Legacy. At least to my knowledge. The NuCanoe hulls were there in the plant in Jamestown, NC just before Legacy moved to the western portion of the state here.

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I'm no expert on kayak fishing, but I know that I also get the butt caught on my clothes more from a kayak than a bass boat. For me, it's simply a matter of trying to cast in a non optimal direction, like quartering behind. Sometimes the wind plays tricks on you. It's tough to flip from a kayak, too. Bottom line here is that it's technique dictated by circumstances rather than an inherent issue with kayaks. If I was always positioned correctly and could turn toward my target, it wouldn't be an issue. Still, it's a fun way to fish.