Upgrades for the Kraken

An extremely versatile boat as is, there are some upgrades I like to do that better suits my fishing style. Thankfully, there are a lot of online resources where others have had the same ideas, and have posted step-by-step guides to help modify to your liking. I've put together a list of my top recommended changes to bring your Kraken to the next level.

1. KKrate Livewell Pump

For those of us that fish with live bait, or in need of a livewell, this is my first upgrade that I do. Though, not exactly an upgrade to the Kraken kayak itself, you'll need to modify the Kraken to complete this upgrade. What makes it even easier, is that the Kraken and the KKrate was made for this. Additionally, there is a great online article out from Kayak Fishing Supplies that tells you exactly how to do it.

2. Remove Battery Holder

The Kraken's inner hull is nice and open. Perfect for placing a dry bag of stuff, or your days catch. However, I've found that the internal battery holder just under and above the center hatch can sometimes hinder the openness. What I like to do is remove this box, which gives much more space to place larger game fish. Its as easy as unscrewing the bolts that hold it in place, removing the holder, and putting the screws back in place.

3. RAM Tough Tube Base Rotation

Probably a minor change, but it helps when I want to move my rod holders into different positions. The Kraken comes with 2 RAM Tough Tube bases, however, they are rotated differently from each other. I usually rotate one of them such that the plunger faces the seat. Simply unscrew in place, rotate, and screw back in.

4. Rudder Ready Kit

The Kraken may not come with a rudder stock, but definitely pick one up as this is a must have if you're in areas with fast currents and/or high winds. Check out Jackson Kayaks Store for installation instructions.

5. Fish Finder Installation

Though not necessarily needed, a fish finder is a great tool for every kayak fisherman to have. It'll help you identify structure, and if your plotter has the functionality, record your tracks. What's great about the Kraken is that it has a dedicated transducer scupper, to snuggly fit even the biggest transducers on the market.

Hopefully this gives folks an idea of some of the modifications that I've found most helpful to my style of fishing. The Kraken comes with some awesome features, but also still open for your own upgrades.

4 Tips for Fighting and Landing Large Gamefish

Your bait is getting nervous, as your slowly trolling around some live bait, and then it happens. "ZZZZZzzZZZZzzzz" - as your clicker sings that beautiful tune! What now?!

Hopefully, before the most exciting part of fishing happens, you've set yourself up for greater chances of success. Pre-setting your drag the night before, re-tying all knots and inspecting your line for any knicks or abrasions are all things you should do before fishing. But what happens once you've actually gotten a bite?

Below, are 5 tips that has helped me in fighting and landing many large gamefish out in the ocean!

1. Do not swing to set the hook!

This isn't bass fishing so no need for that Bill Dance hookset! Instead, and this is one of the most crucial parts of fishing live bait, is to wait at least 5 seconds before flipping your reel into gear. And that's it, no swinging to set the hook, rather allow the fish to hook itself while its running away. I know 5 seconds will feel like forever, but allow the bigger gamefish to eat the entire bait before setting the hook.

2. Mark your GPS

Most of my successes has come from understanding why the fish I'm chasing for bites. When you get bit, mark that spot on your GPS, and take mental notes as to the time of day, currents, presence of baitfish, any tidbit of information. All this will help you in seeing patterns for future bites. Additionally, circle around back and drag another bait right through the same area. You may be in for another surprise!

3. Clear the deck

Give your self some space and clear that clutter off your kayak. I like to place my paddle under the bungees on my Kraken, so I won't have to worry about it getting in the way or floating off into the distance. Clearing the deck will also help to prevent any tangles with other rods from happening.

4. Keep constant pressure

Often times, you don't even notice that you're doing it but you're rod tip is just too high and your line goes slack, and now you've lost your possible once-in-a-lifetime fish. Don't make that mistake, and keep that rod tip low and maintain constant pressure! This is where trusting your preset drags and knots come into play.

Hopefully, these 4 tips will help you in fighting and landing that next trophy gamefish!

Mission Bay Classic in the Kraken

The 2nd annual Mission Bay Classic, a Heroes on the Water fundraising event, was a huge success! With over 70 signed entries, the saltwater bass division was full of competition. Fellow Jackson Kayak Team Members Jarrod McGehee and Richard Penny were also in attendance.

Though the fishing was great, it was extremely tough being able to weigh fish, with having regulations set at 14" minimum. No matter the case, it was a great event helping out a great cause.

I took out my Jackson Kayak Kraken, for some easy Bay fishing. Having my Kraken plumbed with the KKrate as a livewell, made for easy catch and release with no fishes harmed (besides being hooked!).

Here's a quick video showcasing the Kraken out in San Diego's Mission Bay!

Early summer in Southern California!

With early indications pointing to an El Nino season, conditions were impeccable for this time of year. Sunny weather, 80+ degree weather, and near 70 degree water temps made for some awesome fishing! Here's a video of some yellowtail fishing down here in sunny Southern California! Enjoy!

Photo featured on San Diego Reader

Well, what do you know! The Jackson Kayak Kraken getting some well deserved publication in the San Diego Reader!

Presidents day weekend (actually valentines day) yellow

So for the past few weeks i've been hearing that the yellows have been chewin' hard. red crabs, warm weather, clear viz, lots of yo-yo catches, all that. haven't really had the time to get out as much as I wanted to, but I got the chance on valentines day. now usually during this time of year, i'm packing light and only bringing my yo-yo setup. tho night before I figured with all the warm water, surface actions bound to be happen. so i tie together a light sliding egg rig, bring along my sabiki and bait tank with the yo-yo setup. arrive at the launch to 1ft "waves", and head out to make some quick bait. put together maybe a handful a nice candy bar greenies with one spanish. nose hook a greenie and we start to make our way out to some pots. stop at a few places to drop the yo-yo on some marks but nada for quite some time. flat calm water with no wind and seals abound. water temp slowly crept up to 66 degrees, fricken warm for this time of year. seals kept snatching my bait and I was down to my spanish. tied that on and let it down deep. made the slow troll back to some friends and hooked up to a beast! went straight down to 185' and fought it back up to meet my gaff.

30+lbs bled. nice fish for my 1st yellow of 2015!

SD Bay - 8/11 - Interesting Catch(es)!

Been doing some kayak fishing in SD Bay over the weekend. Saturday wasn't too bad, but today I had a very interesting catch!

Launched out of SI around 6:30 AM, incoming tide, little to no wind at first,  Temp was about mid 60s. Right off the bat, stuck a nice sandie long lining a 3" BH 1/2oz leadhead. To note, while fishing 30'-50' water, I noticed long lining the plastics or drifting with it catches more fish.

Pulled out my sabiki rig to make some bait. Got a nice lizard fish and pinned him on, and let him drift on my big pole while i threw the bh. About 15 minutes into my drift, the lizard gets slammed! Quickly reeled in my other line and started fighting the other fish. This thing was pulling hard on my sealine 20, spooled with 20lb mono, and my pole was full bendo! Next thing I know, *POP*. Gaahhh...Reeled in and found no hooks at the other end. Bad knot? Sawed through? Whatever it was, I was heartbroken.

Caught more lizards to drift while I picked away at the spotties.

Was using white or chartreuse colored swimbaits in the deeper areas, and those seemed to work really well. Then my big pole screams again! But then stops. Reeled in my line only to find a half eaten lizard fish. Blast...

Paddled to my bait spot and dropped in my sabiki. Let that drift as I picked away again at the spotties. Then my sabiki rig doubles over! The heck? Started reeling it in and found quite the resistance. Once I brought it to color, I saw an interesting sight!

Haha, couple bass on the same rig? Pulled it all the way up and found actually 5 bass!

What an crazy catch! Also to note, I caught quite a few bass on the sabiki as well before this. But 5? Too funny.

Ended the day around 12:30 PM with 20+ bass (stopped counting as that wasn't my primary target), more than I could count lizard fish, and 2 missed strikes. I'll get 'em next time!

Hanapa'a!

MB/SD Bay - Weekend Report

It may not seem like it, as the amount of posts I write up does not reflect all the times I've gone out. But I've been fishing a good amount. I'm just too lazy to write reports. Or perhaps, too busy fishing! Mostly the bays, in my new kayak, but I've hit the surf a few times as well. I've stalked the beans out in S. Mission Beach two weekends ago, taking me down 50 yards and back "crouch-walking" following a couple beans spotted in the skinny, all for nada...got a lot of weird looks that day. 

I think its the crowds that really pull me towards NOT fishing the surf during summer. Just way too many people either standing/swimming/splashing/playing right in some nice holes. It's not like the bays are any better, too. Considering all the jet skiers/weekend-warrior-boaters constantly pushing wakes everywhere in quote-unquote "Non-wake Areas".  Oh well, I digress...

So I took a break from fishing all week last week. Taking a break gives me some time to really think about new tactics or new things I want to try. I realized that as a new owner of a kayak, I really wanted a bait-drifting outfit. So, all of that week was used for researching new gear. 

It just so happened that Turners was having a special on the Daiwa Sealine X reels! They're selling for $74.98, originally priced at $124.99 (sale goes until the 8th, I believe). I've heard nothing but good things about this reel, and it seems most kayakers use this reel as an entry level reel. Its rugged, gets the job done, and is fairly cheap in that if you take a dunk and lose it, it doesn't hurt your wallet (as much). Sold it for me! I actually bought 2 of the Sealines. X-20 SHA and the X-40 HA, geared 6.1:1 and 4.9:1 respectively. That 40's gonna be used in the future, for the bigger fellas! I also picked up a Sabre Classic 7' rated 12-30lbs, which was mis-priced at Big 5, so I got it for less than $40! Sweet!  Spooled my X-20 with 50lb spectra backing and 20lb Big Game mono, I set out to try my new outfit.

I hit SD Bay early morning Saturday, launching out of Tidelands. I had picked up some smelt to use for live bait the night before at the Korean market, and rigged it up on a reverse dropper loop. I knew where I could potentially pick off on bass, but my thoughts were on bigger fish. So, I drifted around the bridge pilings closer to the deep channels, while casting out a grunion big hammer. 

A look at my new outfit in action!

I'm immediately into some action. With the clicker on, "zzZZZzzzZ", I'm getting hits on my new rig! Too bad they were all bass, and not that big either. With that new rig, it felt like pulling in nothing! Too funny.  Had my steady pickings for a bit, and had some bigger strikes that didn't stay connected. Ended the day around lunch time with about 15 spotties, 2 mackerel (looking for live bait on my sabiki), and a lizard. Not bad, but not overly great.

Your usual bass out in SD Bay.

Couldn't sleep that night, so it was another early morning start. But this time decided to hit Mission Bay. Was out on the water by 6:00 AM and headed out to the bait barge for some live bait. Saw some top water action so threw the big hammer (grunion) to see what was chasing. Got smashed early on, and what do you know, a new species for me! Juvenile White Sea Bass! Sweet. I let her go, in hopes of it growing up one day, so that I may pull in a big one from my kayak!

Nice colors!

Made my way to the bait barge and picked up a kayak scoop. That early in the morning, all they had were LARGE baits. I mean, 8-inch-plus. I knew I wasn't going to get anything with these baits in the bay, but what the hell. Used up all my smelt the day before, and wanted to use my drift rig again. Shelled out the $10 for a kayak scoop and I was on my way.

Made a few stops here and there, and my clicker kept going off. Not in a good way though, damn these weeds in MBay!! Made bottom drifting extremely hard that day, as it would catch on the lead almost every time. Oh well, lesson learned, might try a new type of bottom rig in MBay. Caught most of my fish on the big hammer again. The average Spottie's were about 1.5 lbs, and a small calico in the mix. Ended the day with about 10 spotties, 1 calico, and 1 halibut. Caught that halibut on the big hammer as well. Well, hopefully next time I can put my new outfit to the test on some bigger fish!

Until next time, we'll just have to wait. Looks like the weather is cooling down into the weekend. Might be taking another break, hopefully I won't be needing any more gear....

got me a kayak!

I do 90% of my fishing from shore. I've walked miles and miles of sand and rock, just to get to my spots and do some fishing. It's always a treat to fish from someones boat, or rent a skiff to do some "new" fishing, and hitting new spots that are just not possible to reach while shore fishing. That's why I've been in the market for a boat for quite a while. However, without a true "garage" or storage space, it's been extremely difficult to justify buying a boat at this time. So, I've been tossing around the idea of owning a kayak or a tube.

Both a kayak and a tube have their pros and cons. While one may take less effort in getting somewhere, another may allow for tighter space fishing. It wasn't until I saw a deal on craiglist for a kayak selling for less than $300 that I took the plunge and purchased my first kayak!

I spent a great deal of time (and some extra money), to outfit my new kayak with a few upgrades. (Will update with photos) I've added an anchor trolley, to help with boat positioning on windy or strong current days, I've built and added a crate rode holder, I've also bought a new seat, with higher back support, and I've also put in a fancy fish finder. I've got to say, this is probably the most complete fishing tool, aside from an actual fishing boat, that I've used! Comfortable, with all the storage you'd need, it gets me to the fish, and allows me to catch those fish! Here are some of my catches of my recent outings with my new kayak.

Some LMB in our local lakes!

SD Bay and Mission Bay! Hali/Corvina/grumps!

I'm extremely happy with my purchase! I've read some poor reviews on the Pelican Castway 116 DLX, but with all the upgrades I've done (homemade btw), I couldn't be any happier. So far I've logged more than 30+ SBB, a couple halis (I think I caught a legal as well, reminder bring put a tape measure sticker on the yak), a couple corvina, mackerel, and few LMB in just a few outings.

Owning a kayak has opened a whole new world of fishing possibilities for me, and I can't wait to explore further!