# Basic "allrounder" rig



## DarrenR (May 20, 2008)

Hi,

I'm new here (so be nice). Have fished on and off for a while, off beaches, etc, but have been predominantly fly-fishing for the last couple of years. Time to combine kayaks and fishing and get out where the bigger fish are.

Now I've built a kayak (17' Chesapeake 17 from CLC, sea kayak) which I'm keen to "partly" rig for fishing - it's currently my main paddling boat for bays and lakes, so I won't be going over the top - I plan to build a dedicated fishing kayak soon though. This one will be one or two rod holders, room for tackle (not live bait) and fish storage (ever the optimist), net, and personal/safety gear. No fish-finders, complex rigs, etc.

But (finally to the question) - I'm no expert when it comes to fishing tackle and don't want to spend a fortune. So what should I be looking for in a basic setup. Criteria will be bay (Melbourne), some lake and maybe ocean fishing, nothing too serious, just chasing bream, whiting, salmon, etc - the usual stuff I guess.

I imagine a shorter rod is best? No need to cast long distances, but with a reel that can hold a bit of line for deep fishing and playing fish? What sort of rod length/weight do people go for? Any other "essential items" apart from priest, landing net, cool box, maybe a stringer.

Thanks in advance, hope to be a regular forumite and yak fisher now that Melbourne is finally warming up.

Also any recommendations in Melbourne for buying rod holders, etc.

Regards,
Darren


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## Astro (Nov 27, 2006)

Lazybugger said:


> Sedona 2500 and berkley dropshot with 8lb fireline plus 10-15lb flurocarbon leader. Will handle anything from whiting to nice size snapper (60cm+) and cover most species, bar pelagics.


yep....


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## homemade (Jan 24, 2008)

Lazybugger said:


> Sedona 2500 and berkley dropshot with 8lb fireline plus 10-15lb flurocarbon leader. Will handle anything from whiting to nice size snapper (60cm+) and cover most species, bar pelagics.


I just bought a Sedona 2500 the more I read about this reel on the forum the more I'm glad I bought it 8)

Sorry for jumping in on your post Darren  Good luck you will find answers to all your questions here

Welcome aboard.


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## Donutslayer (Jun 9, 2007)

I wont disagree with what the others have said but i will add, with a 17foot boat you need to make sure you reach the tip over the bow from your seat.


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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## yankatthebay (Dec 14, 2007)

Donutslayer said:


> I wont disagree with what the others have said but i will add, with a 17foot boat you need to make sure you reach the tip over the bow from your seat.


yes, this is VERY important. I get stuck sometimes with large fish (or maybe they are rock monsters) with my 5'6" rods I use. They do not reach over the front or back all that well and cause problems of getting the line caught up under the boat.


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## Breambo (Apr 19, 2006)

Donutslayer said:


> I wont disagree with what the others have said but i will add, with a 17foot boat you need to make sure you reach the tip over the bow from your seat.


Thats a valid point but I prefer short rods, 5'6" - 6' max and cannot reach around the nose of my ski unless I shuffle forward. The way to overcome the problem of the line crossing the bow is to actively control the kayak, with the rudder, or in my case with no rudder by using a one handed paddle and back paddle technique.


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## ArWeTherYet (Mar 25, 2007)

G'day Darren 
I would be intrested in seeing any pics of your sea kayak, I too have a sea kayak and would like to see your set up.

I agree with Breambo (people with hobies dont know how to go in reverse and to turn on a dime ;-) ), short rods are great for controlling bigger fish, still prefer a longer rod for casting and fishing for bream and stuff.


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## DarrenR (May 20, 2008)

Hi,

Thanks for the initial replies. I picked up the 2500 is the reel. Similar to the 4000 so will look at them. The Berkley dropshot I've never seen, so will have to have a look at them. I'd probably go for a 7' rod, based on the comments of having to play the fish around the front of the kayak (next build will be shorter so less of an issue).

Sounds like a good combo, will definitely give it a serious look. TIming is right with the COmpleat Angler sale about to start, will go down at Friday lunchtime to check out if they have them on offer.

Interested in other rigs and ideas.

Where do Melbournites go for rod holders, etc?

Thanks,
Darren


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

Compleat angler also have the Nitro Magnum butt and the Daiwa Crossfire... ive posted the price a few posts down... the Magnum Butt is an awesome weapon... salmon - kings - flatties - snapper - bream..... have a look when your there..


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## Donutslayer (Jun 9, 2007)

Breambo said:


> Donutslayer said:
> 
> 
> > I wont disagree with what the others have said but i will add, with a 17foot boat you need to make sure you reach the tip over the bow from your seat.
> ...


I only made the point because is a friggin long boat. I sorta forgot that long rods can be a total pain in the bum when your rigs get rapt around the end.

I find that long rods in yaks tend to get shorter as time goes on anyway.
Go with what the other guys said


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## zipper (Feb 27, 2008)

speeking of the complete angler sale. has anyone had experience with the daiwa sweepfire? i'm thinking of getting it as a new plastics reel for snapper.
also they have this on sale for 30 bucks so if its any good this could be a good pickup for you darren. also complete angler have berkley dropshots and they seem to have a pretty good rep around here

cheers


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## Breambo (Apr 19, 2006)

A lot of guys like rods in the 7' range when fishing light for that very reason, passing the bow of the yak, its personal preference really. I get snagged a lot and find the longer rods hard to re rig in my tippy yak, especially when looking to the sky, I almost fall in :lol: 
The Daiwa crossfire is a great little reel for the money, ive flogged mine, its held up well even though its almost seized at the moment, nothing a quick cleanout wont fix.


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

I like the longer rod round the 7 foot mark or a little less... what I do find though is that having some length on the butt end enables you to get it under your fore arm or armpit and this can be very handy when fighting the bigger fish - kings / snapper / salmon.... if your thinking of more these kind of fish... then the dropshot has a shorter butt..(not so good). where the Magnum Butt has a longer one..

I actually have the dropshot and the magnum butt....... I would use the dropshot more in an estuary environment for finesse fishing... and the Magnum Butt would be more coastal offshore work - whereby you could encounter anything.... anyhow either are bloody good rods... and the Berkley is damn good value for money...

Good luck - dont get too carried away in the SAle :lol: :lol:


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## DarrenR (May 20, 2008)

Hi,

Armed with my new-found knowledge in this post, I'm off to the Compleat Angler sale tomorrow (and today just happened to be payday  - good timing CA!).

Will look at the rods mentioned and see what advice they give me. I have an older estuary rod at home but it's 8' so I'm looking for something shorter (mind you, the fly rods are 8'6" - still trying to picture re-rigging one in the middle of a lake).

I'm finishing up the deck rigging on my kayak this weekend hopefully - just putting bungees, etc on, and will be putting in a couple of tubes as rod holders. Decided to go the PVC pipe route for holders, recessed into deck, so they don't get in the way/have to be removed for non-fishing trips. Still working on a solution like a rubber ring as a 'holder' so the rods don't slip out...sort of covering the end of the tube and slots cut, just to provide some resistance if they want to come out.

Promise to post some pics shortly of the setup.

Thanks for the advice so far 

Darren


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