Hey Everyone

Currently I'm just a landbased fisho, but looking to invest in a kayak soon.

I was wondering how many rods and what sizes you generally take out with you? Is it dependant on what species you intend on targeting? Or do you take a variety to be prepared for anything?

For myself, I'll mainly be fishing Western Port and imagine I'll be targeting your bread and butter species (whiting, flathead, squid etc), but I'd also like to go after some bigger fish like gummies and snapper. I've only ever fished from land, so not really sure what works best, out on the water.

Any advice on your general fishing set up and method would be much appreciated.

Cheers all and hope you're all doing alright during lock down

Hi Tom, First, I'd like to welcome you to Vyak Second, Kayaking is considered a dangerous sport, so firstly make sure you practice safety then when you think you've done enough do it again, Listen to what these guys say as they have learnt from experience both good and bad, don't buy just any kayak, buy one that suits your intended use but think about future use possibilities like open water, offshore, surf launches and so on.

Now on to your first question you intend to fish for bread and butter species, that's easy 1-3kg rod with reel to suit, snapper 3-6kg reel to suit im sure you know all this anyway but the gummy 6-10 or bigger and reel to suit, however this all depends on how you like to fish (play or scull drag) what rods to take well everyone is different on a kayak you are limited by the vessel you have, myself I like to be prepared and always carry far more than I need mainly in my tackle box and choose from my selection of rods which will be coming as I load my gear, if going for whiting I load 2 or 3 1-3kg setups these also fish for squid on my way out while anchored 2 remain in the water for the whiting/flathead while one always stays rigged for squid, once the whiting come on the bite I usually just use one rod for them as it can get to difficult using 2 but this depends on how they are biting. I always take 1 or 2 3-6kg rods as well as you never know when there is a hot snapper bite until they come, these can also be setup for gummies and other species depending on your setup (amount and types of rods) I like to now carry a casting rod, this is a rod always setup to attach a lure or soft plastic to the end and cast at bust ups.

If im going for gummies then I take the heavier rods as these can be heavy fish, I also take the medium rods for the same reason I take them when fishing for whiting.
Lastly kayaking is a very addictive sport, be careful, I started this hoping to catch a good feed in the bay and now I fish everywhere and just cant get enough

BigT wrote: ↑11 Aug 2021, 15:19 I was wondering how many rods and what sizes you generally take out with you? Is it dependant on what species you intend on targeting? Or do you take a variety to be prepared for anything?

For myself, I'll mainly be fishing Western Port and imagine I'll be targeting your bread and butter species (whiting, flathead, squid etc), but I'd also like to go after some bigger fish like gummies and snapper. I've only ever fished from land, so not really sure what works best, out on the water.

peatop wrote: ↑11 Aug 2021, 16:11 Kayaking is considered a dangerous sport, so firstly make sure you practice safety then when you think you've done enough do it again, Listen to what these guys say as they have learnt from experience both good and bad, don't buy just any kayak, buy one that suits your intended use

I'll echo Petes advise first pick a kayak that suits the purpose fishing Westernport ( my back yard ) you will at time find a bit of tide flow so if you are a bit adventurous having a faster kayak will make life easier if you have to push into it --- I normally advise around a 4 meter or longer fishing kayak for Westernport
safety wise practice remounting your kayak in deep water before you start taking rods out many of us have taken that unplanned dip can tell you thats not the time to start thinking about it
also practice anchoring in light tide flows and work out the best way to use your anchor trolley and lift the anchor without going side on to the tide flow -- getting side on to a tide flow can get hairy even more so for new guys

ok now what rods to take of cause that is both species and tide dependant most of my whiting gear is 2-5 or 3-6 kg these with handle larger sinkers tide flow and a bit of weed a little better than a 1 - 3 kg

my gummy gear is normally 8 - 10 kg gear with 20 lb line in low tide flow areas and 10 - 15 kg with 30 lb line if playing deeper with a bit of tide flow

now what to take bread and butter days I normally take 6 rods - 2 set up for whiting ( 2 hook paternoster ) 1 set up for squid 1 set up to troll a lure and 2 gummy rods ---
if fishing for snapper or gummies I take 3 gummy/snapper rods and 2 whiting rods
dont forget to take a range of sinkers 1/2 oz to 3 oz will cover most areas take some leader and a small range of hooks most of the time a 5/0 circle will cover gummies and snapper and a small whiting circle hook

I hope that is some help

Pete and Cheater have covered the safety/boat choice pretty well the only thing I'd add is no prefect one for everything you want to do so chose the one that suits how you see yourself fishing 90% of the time and you'll put up with it for the other 10%.
As far as rods go I keep it simple. Western Port fishing is usually at least an hour drive for me so I don't want to spend another hour setting up gear i just want to get on the the water when I arrive and hit the road quickly when I'm done.
I bring three rods in total usually two heavy and one light. I'm mostly focused on the top end when I'm over that way so my heavy rods are gummy setups in the 8-10kg range that sit in the rod holders baited up. The light rod is usually in my hand and depending on where I am will either have a squid jig, a whiting rig or be a smaller bait setup up find fresh bait for the two heavier rods. I find something in the 2-4kg range can cover most bases with changes of leader/rig to suit and this can easily be done on the water.

Thanks for all the replys. Much appreciated.
For me, safety will be paramount. I plan on putting in plenty of practice before I even concider putting a rod in.
I'm keeping my eyes open for a second hand Hobie in the 4m range. I'm 6'3 and 100+kgs, so I think the larger models would also suit me better.
I guess it will be a matter of working out how much gear/rods I can carry, once I get the yak. And once it's time, I might be better off targeting a species and then working my way up from there.
I can see this becoming somewhat of an addiction!

BigT wrote: ↑13 Aug 2021, 22:30 I can see this becoming somewhat of an addiction!

no it gets boring pretty quickly just looking back through my posts I found my first kayak fishing trip with my first kayak that was Aug 2010 and funny 2 of the rods I had that day I still use between them they probably count for over 500 gummy catches in that time

BigT wrote: ↑13 Aug 2021, 22:30 Thanks for all the replys. Much appreciated.
For me, safety will be paramount. I plan on putting in plenty of practice before I even concider putting a rod in.
I'm keeping my eyes open for a second hand Hobie in the 4m range. I'm 6'3 and 100+kgs, so I think the larger models would also suit me better.
I guess it will be a matter of working out how much gear/rods I can carry, once I get the yak. And once it's time, I might be better off targeting a species and then working my way up from there.
I can see this becoming somewhat of an addiction!

I have had 3 yaks and now I use my P.A 14 almost all the time and find it great in Port phillip and Corio bays but I do a lot of offshore as well and going traveling somewhere towards the end of the year and have decided the P.A is not really suited to my new venture so I was looking at the revo or outback but I'm thinking the outback might be a better all rounder for rivers, bays and offshore since its both P.A and revo in one more or less and a lot lighter to lift onto my camper trailer

cheaterparts wrote: ↑14 Aug 2021, 09:17

BigT wrote: ↑13 Aug 2021, 22:30 I can see this becoming somewhat of an addiction!

no it gets boring pretty quickly just looking back through my posts I found my first kayak fishing trip with my first kayak that was Aug 2010 and funny 2 of the rods I had that day I still use between them they probably count for over 500 gummy catches in that time

Wow 10 years out of 2 rods that's unheard of these days although I have 2 from my early years but in need of repair one nearly 40yo the other maybe 35yo but before kayak fishing I hadn't fished in nearly 20 years lol

peatop wrote: ↑15 Aug 2021, 00:45

Wow 10 years out of 2 rods that's unheard of these days although I have 2 from my early years but in need of repair one nearly 40yo the other maybe 35yo but before kayak fishing I hadn't fished in nearly 20 years lol
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yes Pete and one cost $ 9 the other $18 both off Ebay and the reels were SH over head penn reels

and in fact the 501 Penn jigmasters have to be the best Kayak Gummy reel you will find and have been out of production many years
I need to make some parts for mine I have 3 of these -- spools they are getting hard to find and 2 of mine had plastic spools which are damaged

As many as I can fit on, which is about half of what Shane takes.

maverick wrote: ↑19 Aug 2021, 20:23 As many as I can fit on, which is about half of what Shane takes.

Hey, I usually only take 6.