I know my outback is no Ai , but I use to keep my fish in a keeper bag until a dirty great big seal decided he wanted to eat them lol and nearly pulled the outback over lol.

shane wrote:

cobby wrote:Slimeys are a prick to keep alive at the best of times let alone in a net. Yakkas and Salmon will probably be fine. Even better would be to sew in some rigid hoops so the net can't collapse on itself and gives the fish room to move

Slimies are very fragile and are comparatively energetic when kept in a live-well. I expect the coarse net mesh and limited room to move will damage their scales and gills and end up killing them quickly. A bait tube is the most fool proof way of keeping them alive. In a live well slimies need a lot of oxygen so good aeration and frequent water additions are needed to keep them healthy and you typically need to limit their numbers. By comparison yakkas will stay alive all day in much worse conditions. But having good slimies at SWR is often the difference between a good day and a doughnut.

Bait tubes still need a fair amount of water continually through them usually a dedicated 500gph pump and even then they still sometimes go belly up within an hour. That's where chin weights, or even small ball sinkers stuffed in the gills comes in handy to rig as a dead bait to troll. Or even bridling on capture and letting them free swim until ready to use. It's probably not so practical on a yak without major tangles even though they stay alive when trolled up to 10 knots.

inshorebrawler wrote:Has anyone changed there rivets ?
Does any one secure there front aka to stop random ejection

I removed the original s/steel rivets from my aka knuckles a while back. I then glued the aka poles back into the knuckles using Sika (I think) 291 - the black stuff.

I used it for 18 months without ANY rivets in there at all - just held together by the Sika and it didn't budge a single mm in all that time. I eventually put some all-aluminium rivets in, just to fill the old rivet holes.

I received the free A.I. upgrades from Hobie a few weeks ago (the furler guide and the aka clip replacements). Strangely the aka clip replacement seems to be exactly the same as the ones I already have installed.

I've never had any issues with the akas popping out (and I've been out in some pretty lumpy conditions). There are a few solutions, one of the best is probably ama 'keep-out' lines, which not only prevent the akas from coming out, but also prevent the amas from folding up in the event of a shear-pin failure.

Mike.

I changed my rivets up at SWR last year. S/S rivets from a chandlier with a good amount of epoxyin the joint and on the rivets while inserting. You will need a good strong rivet gun for them too.

I've occasionally tied rope across the front akas to prevent separation, mainly in surf or rough conditions. However mine are pretty secure and I usually don't do it for standard trips.

cobby wrote:
Bait tubes still need a fair amount of water continually through them usually a dedicated 500gph pump and even then they still sometimes go belly up within an hour. That's where chin weights, or even small ball sinkers stuffed in the gills comes in handy to rig as a dead bait to troll. Or even bridling on capture and letting them free swim until ready to use.

Bait tube for a kayak doesn't use a pump as it is in the water being towed - normally made from some poly tube my own is a piece of 50 mm poly tube ( about 90 cm long ) with drilled holes in it with slide off ends held together with bungy cord and a float in each end that holds the tube just near the surface
yakkas or better slimies load in from the back and are taken out the front
last year at AKS Coffs comp mine keep all my slimies alive no problems - and of cause the first couple bridle straight on your trolling rod setups

as for dead baits a few of us use a wire dead bait rigs that seam to swim the dead slimy quite well
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aYThhzhWyQ

I popped a couple of Ama's in the rough water at the Flinders entrance, fortunately it was the upwind side. Not pleasant. I now have retaining clips in place with 7mm bungee, so I can remove the Aka's when I need to, but they can't pop out unexpectedly. I have replaced the rivets in the knuckle as well, a a couple were very loose. There was also an issue with the screws inside the joint corroding. I replaced those. http://www.vyak.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=23503

Reversing the Vantage seat springs topic http://www.vyak.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=23462