rigging

Question
I am beginner fishermen with allot of passion for the sport.  I recently started kayak fishing and would love to get totally involved.  I guess my real question is about tackle set up and rigging.  I'm from central California and catch mostly halibut, perch, cod and stripers.  I'm looking for a few basic set ups to help me get more experience and that are well versed for any type of these species of fish.  Lastly, what do you recommend reel and pole wise?  Thanks so much for your insight.

Answer
Hi Chad,

Thanks for your question.

Kayak Fishing, as with any other type of fishing could be as complicated or as simple as you want it to be, so as far as rigging your kayak is concerned, there are special riggings for mounting rod holders in your kayak, this is very useful for trolling and bottom fishing/drifting with multiple rods.

Rigging tackle depends on what type of fishing you would do (bottom fishing, drifting or trolling). The URL below should help you get started.

http://www.kayaksportfishing.com/tackle.htm

My favorite for bottom fishing on a kayak would be a sliding egg sinker rig. Rigs using extension wire booms are also good. for trolling, scaled down trolling rigs work well (since you really can't get the speed that would really make the standard sized lures work well) an example would be the rapala magnum plug. i found that in my small frame, i cant get enough speed to make a CD14 swim well, so i switched to a CD9 and a CD7 and it worked wonders for me!

When drifting, a worthwhile investment is a drift chute; bottom fishing rigs can be used while drifting.

Rods, one of the rods that I like are the kencor panga line they have kayak rods in that line; stick with the shorter ones, as these are safer to use with a kayak.

http://www.kencorrods.com/index.asp?page=sub07

As for reels, I love Penn jig masters. They are tough as nails and as strong as tractors.

If you have any m ore questions, please don抰 hesitate to contact me again.

Be careful out there, kayak fishing can be a bit sketchy!

Tight lines,

Kit