AdvancedElements.com

[Pearly]

Hi! The transducer inside the yak didn't work too well and was a bit troublesome to try and set up each time, so I now fasten the transducer to the back of the yak. I have a line fastened to the D ring on one side, through the transducer mount, looped over the stern, back through and up to the D ring on the other side. I keep meaning to make a post on how I mount it!

[Snook]

Thank you.

You experience with this is very helpful ... and overall, How your fish finder performs? I am looking for one, but I do not want to get one with a lot of attributes which never use.

[Pearly]

The Garmin 140 is doing well. It has a better resolution (128 x 240 pixels) than the Garmin 90 (64 x 128 pixels) and is in greyscale so you get more information about the sea bed.

Merv has a Humminbird with side imaging and his view is amazing, but for normal fish finding, you are mainly looking at the sea bed for depth, drop offs, corals or other fish attracting areas. The finder often shows fish, but what fish they are is up to you to discover. Often a shoal of small fish will pass and the finder goes nuts, but these are often small fish grouped together. We generally use a combination of Navionics on the iPhone to show the contours, wrecks and depths and then use the finder to fine tune the location. Once you find a promising spot, it is worth going back to the same spot at different states of tide - high or low, rising or falling. The fish will sometimes only feed at a certain place at a certain time or a certain temperature!

Get the best that is in the price bracket. Must have a good resolution. Colour is better than b&w, but only with a good resolution.

Put "choosing a fish finder" into Google and have a read.
This one came up and is good http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CFPageC?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&mode=article&objectID=29701&objectType=article

This one too - http://www.fishfindersdirect.com/page/363456203


Cheers,

Ian

[Pearly]

Sincere apologies..


To all the Advanced Elements fan club - I sincerely apologize! As we met up this morning, the rain started. The forecast looked horrible with more rain to come. We had breakfast and moved off to review the situation from closer to the water.

As we got closer to the water, we convinced ourselves that the rain might not be too bad and we should at least go out for a while.

"Why don't you take my hard-shell?" Merv inquired. "At least you won't have to dry your AE!"

I thought about it for a while and, as the rain continued to pour, it did seem appealing. Go out, get wet, fish or no fish, wash the yak down and put it back in Merv's car. Deal!

So I set up on Merv's yak! Something just felt wrong. I shouldn't be doing this - it s like a betrayal for my own faithful yak! Once on, I felt a wobble - Mmmmm - this takes a little more concentration to stay upright than I am used to! The yak handled well tho and we were off hunting in the rain. The rain was lighter now though, with a brightening sky! Within another few minutes, the rain had stopped and we were at a risk of sunshine appearing! A risk - what risk? NO SUNBLOCK!! My legs were not used to being out in the sun! They were used to being cosy and sheltered in my AE!

As we moved from spot to spot, with barely a nibble, I came across a tail paddling in the water. Another nearby, but what could this be? Not a Kim, not a Grouper - maybe a few pussies? Must be! Now I'm not normally a fan of these pussies, but with the absence of any rod bending action, I decided to give it a go.

I rigged up a prawn onto a circle hook and cast over the top of the tails. As I brought the little fella into the zone, I had a take. Circle hook - let it take line and slowly tighten.................there she goes...........wait............wait........tighten........FISH ON!!!! On the first splash, I saw it!!!!!!! WOOHOOOOOO!!!!! My first of this species - and I'm not on my own kayak!!! OH NOOOOOO!!!!!!!

The fish made a fight for freedom and passes under a branch - BAD!!! I followed the line and tried to allow the fish to come back, but it was out the other side and heading out further. I released some line and paddled over to the branch, passed the rod under and tightened back up. It was still there!! So now I could fight in open water!! I checked the drag constantly and played the fish. It turned and headed back for the branch, so I applied a little more pressure and pulled its head away. It came back out and passed me again. All this time I kept looking over to Merv, but he was intently fishing a different spot. Slowly it tired and came to my side. I looked down and realized I didn't have my grip, my net, my pliers - nothing! So I played it a little more and when it was really ready, brought it along side and gently grabbed it under the gill. YAAAAHOOOOOO!!!!!!! I called Merv - "Come here, come here, come here, come here!!!"

As he paddled over, he asked "Got fish?"

"Got!" I replied

"Kim?" ..."Nope!"..."Grouper?"..."Nope!"..."Chermin?"...."Nope!" I reached down and pulled up the fish on the fish-keeper.


"TAIWAN NGOR!!!" (Red Drum)





"Want one I said?"
"Can I?" Asked Merv
"Follow me!" So off we went, back to where I had seen them. As we watched, another tail showed on the surface. Merv cast...waited....FISH ON!!!

Doink! Out flew the hook!

Back in again.......FISH ON!! This time the fish did the same trick as my earlier one and went under the branch! Merv was not so lucky and his line went slack.

"Mind if I try again?" I asked....and cast in.

FISH ON!!! This time it was a joint effort to keep the fish away from the obstacles, with Merv pushing my kayak clear.

The fish eventually subdued and I was able to make my move..



So, my apologies to Merv - after this, the fish dispersed and he wasn't able to find them again.

My apologies to the people who release the fish for their prayers. These fish are not native to our waters, but are released, once a year by the temple to "give life". The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away - I just helped a little)

My apologies to the fish.

My apologies to my kayak - which had to stay in the car while I was having my hard-shell affair!

My apologies to my loving wife - who now has to put up with my glowing red legs (which are REALLY sore!)





Hehehe!!!


Would I change my AE for the hard-shell - no! I love the stability of the AE. I'm normally sitting right on the water's surface and can feel the water through the base. I love the comfort, the tracking, the covered legs. Almost 2 years now since I bought the yak and I still love everything about it!

[Pearly]

A trip to the South - 19 March 2011





Those lumps on the horizon are actually ships, anchored off the coast. Many of them have been there for a loooooong time - it seems to be cheaper to anchor them off Singapore than to have them in harbour or roaming the high seas empty!

Despite a few hours of searching, the only fish to come my way were Selar. These are normally used for bait, but taste delicious when deep fried until quite crispy. I caught around 25 in about 10 minutes!






A trip to the East - 26 March 2011





Merv was first in, trolling a lure produced this nice Mangrove Jack




I tried and tried, but no fish was coming my way. After seeing some bait fish rise to the surface, I paddled over in their direction and put on a small metal jig. I cast out and allowed the jig to sink down - looing for Diamond Trevally or what ever fish was hunting below. BANG! A good hit and "FISH ON" was the cry. Merv was quite a distance away and and this was a good fight. No idea what was on the other end, until, to my surprise, a Grouper came to the surface. They don't normally fight all the way up, but this one did!






Time was up, so back to the ranch.


A trip to the West - 27 March 2011

No sunrise pic today - we were on the West, but were late anyway!

As we arrived at the launch site and setting up, a stinkboat arrived and proceded to fish just off from the shore. As we got into the water, a few predatory fish were bursting out, chasing bait. I went off in search of the quarry and ended up drifting toward the boat. As I neared, one of the guys was into a good fish and up came a lovely Grouper - 2KG+ by the look of it.

This looked promising, but luck was not on our side. Merv and I caught and released a couple of Johnsons about the same size..





And just on the last cast, I managed to hook into a nice Grunter which came home for dinner!

[Pearly]

Merv's secret EXPOSED!!!



He has a really ugly PUSSY!!






He does seem happy with it tho - not a bit embarrassed!

[Snook]

Ugly fish , but even a NICE catch.

Ian, I have a question for you. I am about to start building a road holders and I am thinking on copying your design. Do you have any extra suggestion?

BTW What is the diameter of the pipes?

thanks in advance

[Pearly]

The tubes are 40mm diameter 400mm long, but you can have them whatever length you like. Here's the new, improved, folding design...

[Snook]

Thanks Ian,

I have all the supplies here at home, as soon as I finish the project, I will post a photo.

[Snook]

Let me share a couple of pics of my rod holder. All the credit to Ian (Pearly), who was the one who shared their experiences in order to reach this design.

Thanks, Ian.

Let me tell you guys that I spent less than $10 US Dollars and I did not use a single drop of glue.

[Pearly]

Cool!

I modified mine a couple of times to make sure the rods were clear of my elbows while paddling, but this stuff is quite cheap, so it is easy to play around.

Good luck with the fish!!

[Pearly]

Mixed bag - Saturday & Sunday 2nd/3rd April 2011


3 of us went out on Saturday, but only two of THEM caught fish! I just wasn't on my game and failed miserably! Merv was champion of the day, firstly with a nice Queenie at a place we normally catch Giant Herring followed by a Giant Herring at a place we catch all sorts of things!





Sunday was to be a little different!

We set off from the East Coast nice and early and paddled over to a few likely spots. There was a good current today, which is normally a good sign. It did mean a lot of to and fro paddling though as we quickly drifted from our spots. 80+ feet of water meant that any anchor was going to be very tiring to pull back up - I found that out quick enough. It is OK on a boat as you can just pull the rope into a hole, but on a kayak, you have to be neat and pull it back onto a spool.

Anyway, I was to take the lead with a small Gelama - so small it was nearly the same size as the hook!





I then went through a quiet spell as I watched Merv pull in a nice Mangrove jack, followed by a few small Grouper.





Little did we know, Merv's trophy was about to be taken away from him.

As we moved over to a new spot, I thought I would hook on my old favourite - a Yo-Zuri Crystal Vibe. This little lure resembles a bait fish and has a nice action in the water.

The little lure was cast out and I hat a couple of hits on the first cast, but no hook-up. Next cast and BANG! Big hit and........ FISH ON!!!!!


At first I thought it was a Herring, but the fight was different. I could feel the fish rapidly shaking its head and it was staying deep with line peeling off fast! I'm only on a 14lb main line, so I let the reel's drag take the strain with a nice deep bend in the rod. The fight lasted quite a while, but as the fish came into view, I couldn't believe my eyes. My first Giant Trevally!! I nervously brought the fish up and close to the yak. I grabbed the tail - quickly to find these fish have very sharp scales near the tail which sliced my thumb, but never mind that - up she came into the yak!










WOOOHOOOOO!!!!


Quickly got her back into the water and revived her until she kicked. Off she swam, fast as lightening!

Back in and on my next cast - BANG!!!!!....... FISH ON!!!!

Another good fighter and I knew what it was this time....ANOTHER GT!






OH BOY!!!! Merv was now looking a little envious, so I made a deal. If I get another one, I'll lend him my lure. So I cast out again. Pause, let it drop down in the water, reel, twitch, twitch, pause, reel, twitch, twi.......BANG!!!!........FISH ON!!!!








Released her back and true to my word, I gave my lucky lure to Merv. Maybe the fish just liked me, or maybe Merv's technique was a little different, whatever it was, the GT weren't going to entertain.

He did hook into a few nice Herring though, so still had some fun with fish jumping all around his yak.





After a while, he gave me back the lure and I was straight into another Herring - a relief for Merv as I don't think he could take it if I caught another GT!!

[snappy987]

Ian,

Like everyone else I would like to thank you for sharing all of your adventures with us. I spent a good few hours reading through your fishing adventures and it has gotten me really excited to outfit my new Expedition with gear. I've been surf fishing for the past year but kayak fishing looks like so much more fun! Plus I can actually go where the fish are as opposed to sitting and waiting for the tides to come in.

I am currently working on a deck lift and rod holder. I initially considered a rod holder design similar to Snook's using all PVC fittings but I really like your new (and very simple) folding design as it would be perfect for packing in my bag along with the rest of my gear. I am curious how you attached the actual rod holder to the PVC base though. It looks like it must be glue/cement with the rod holder placed over a smaller diameter tee? I have played with some PVC cements and haven't had much luck getting anything that I think would actually hold up...so I just wanted to see what you had done.

Thanks!

[Pearly]

The 40mm rod tube is pushed onto a 25mm 45 degree joint which is pushed onto the 20mm T piece all glued together! I wanted a certain angle to make it easy to grab the rod, be suitable for trolling and be out of the way of my elbows when paddling. Ideal would be a 30 degree bend with a reducer, but I couldn't find one. So, I had a fiddle around with the pieces available at the hardware store.

The 25mm bend is just slightly too small on the internal diameter to fit over the 20mm T, so I cut a slot in the part of the T to be joined so that it would compress enough to push on the bend.

I guess I should post some pics to make it clearer! I'll see if I have the pieces at home and post up later.

[snappy987]