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THE (EVEN MORE) COMPLETE KAYAK ANGLER / / 20 SKILLS EVERY KAYAK FISHERMAN SHOULD KNOW


» MAKE FRIENDS: Most pros are ac- quaintances or employees of regional sales reps or dealers. “If somebody were to email me directly, I would have them contact their regional sales rep,” Sanford says. » SHOP AROUND: With 50 pros already in the Ocean Kayak fold, “right now we’re not really looking for new guys,” Sanford adds.


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12» Survive a Shark Attack In 2007, a suspected great white shark mauled the bow of California angler Dan Prather’s kayak off a beach near San Francisco. Prather was thrown from the boat and the shark retreated. Shaken but unscathed, Prather paddled his dam- aged boat back to shore. Comforting as the statistics may be—of the 108 shark attacks docu- mented on North America’s Pacific coast in the 1900s, only five involved kayaks—it’s a fact that kayak anglers are attracted to the same areas as sharks. River mouths, coral reefs, murky areas, surf and sea lion haul- outs are all shark hotspots. Te best defense against predatory sharks is to keep your boat’s deck and surround- ing water free of blood and bait. If a shark approaches your kayak, use your paddle as a weapon. Aim for the snout before the shark bites; if it persists, swing and claw at its eyes and gills.—Conor Mihell


Stay Straight in Wind and Current


15» Save Gas Use a lightweight trailer to tow your kayak instead of roof racks. Roof racks increase the coefficient of drag by presenting a greater surface area to the wind, whereas a trailer (or pickup bed extender) keeps the load within the slipstream of your vehicle. One Texas kayaker reports that his SportsRig MicroTrailer ($1,549; sportsrig.com) saves 1.7 mpg compared to a roof rack. Or try the Rack and Roll KD65 ($2,149; rackandroll.com) or Malone Micro- Sport (maloneautoracks.com).


13» Repair a Hole in Your Kayak Duct tape works in the short term, but when you get home repair cracks and holes in your polyethylene kay- ak with a plastic weld patch. Most boat manufacturers sell plastic weld rods and patches; you’ll also need a heat gun and a rasp or scraper. Fire up your heat gun and melt the tip of the weld rod and attach it at a 45-degree angle to the boat a quar- ter-inch ahead of the crack. Hold the heat gun an inch or two from the boat and rod. Slowly push the melting rod into the crack. Remove the heat gun and cut the weld rod when you’re about a quarter-inch beyond the end of the crack. Use the rasp to flatten and smooth the weld. To repair a larger hole, do the same thing using a patch of solid plastic that’s cut slightly larger than the hole.—Conor Mihell


17» Make Six Inches Look Like 12


STEP 1: Hold the fish at arm’s length.


STEP 2: Set the camera to wide-angle.


STEP 3: Hold the camera close to the fish. STEP 4: Snap the picture


SPECIAL EFFECTS: Use a wide aperture to create a shallow depth field and focus on the fish, making the angler’s face blur into the background.


14» Install a Motor Free up your hands while trolling and save your shoulders for fighting fish. Te most common do-it-yourself, easily removable setup involves a milk crate positioned amidships with a two-by-four wooden arm lag-bolted to the top and extending outboard to hold an electric motor. Choose a trolling motor with a relatively short shaft—30 inches is ideal. Secure your battery (look for a marine trolling model with a capacity of 75 to 110 amp-hours) inside the milk crate, which counterbalances the weight of the motor. Add a 10-amp charger and you’re set. Just don’t be caught upstream without a paddle.—Conor Mihell


STEP 1: Point your boat in the direction that you want to go.


STEP 2: Pick two distant objects that are roughly in line with each other.


STEP 3: Make sure the objects


are some distance apart (one nearer, and one farther).


STEP 4: Paddle in a direction that keeps the two objects in line.


—Alex Matthews 40 … KAYAK ANGLER spring 2009


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PHOTO: JIM SHANK


PHOTO: CHAD HOOVER


PHOTO: DOMINICK GRECO


PHOTO: JERRY WHITE


ILLUSTRATION: PAUL MASON


PHOTO: DOMINICK GRECO


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