How to set up a kayak for spearfishing
Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Diving
Forum Name: Spearo's Corner
Forum Description: Free-divers & spearos chat about their sport
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=24027
Printed Date: 09 Jun 2026 at 5:29am
Topic: How to set up a kayak for spearfishing
Posted By: ThomasW
Subject: How to set up a kayak for spearfishing
Date Posted: 25 Oct 2007 at 10:17pm
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Just been out in my new prowler elite 4.5 Kayak for a dive in port underwood. While out there I notice a few problems and issues.
Was wondering how do you guys rig your kakays up for spearfishing. Mainly have you discovered a easy way to transport equipment like Spearguns, fins, floats ect.... |
Replies:
Posted By: Snoop
Date Posted: 25 Oct 2007 at 10:48pm
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Mate, well done. Welcome to the Mighty Yakmen Spearfishing Club, members include Bounty Hunter, The Snapper Whisperer, Cod Piece and Snoop. I use a Perception Swing Kayak. I stow my fins in the front of the yak along with a floatline which I have rigged a 1m chain and 0.75kg grapnel anchor. The floatline is attached by a D lock so I can snap it on or off ot the bow rope loop. I purchased a pod which sits at the back of the yak which I store my mask/snorkel, gloves and floatline. If it is calm I tow the entire kayak using the floatline to speargun. If I anchor I take the pod with me and use it as my dive plat (bonus, no fish in the water). I clip off my speargun to some bungy cord which I have rigged around the yak (cost about $15 from Canoes and Kayaks). I loop my weight belt through the bungy cord just behind where I sit, so I can put the belt on straight away. Everything on a yak needs to be secured, because you will flip at some stage launching or beaching.. trust me. I also tie off my paddle using bungy line (about 1m) and loop it under the tied off bungy on the yak when I am diving so it is secure. When yaking to the dive spot I wear my long johns and a surf steamer to keep the chill of. I stow my jacket in the front hatch. You can't kayak long distances with the jacket on as it cuts your circulation. Make sure you eat good food before you go and liquids are really important as you are the fuel tank and engine. TSW would also recommend coffee on the trip to the beach, I concur.
Bounty Hunter runs a fibreglass enclosed kayak and kits up in the water. TSW runs an Ocean Kayak so sit on top. Ron "Cod Piece" and I both use sit on top Perception Swing kayaks...
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Posted By: Bounty Hunter
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2007 at 12:56am
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plenty of elastic cord... in the winterless north, fish storage/refrigeration is also an important consideration i believe ------------- No disintegrations! |
Posted By: DUTCHIE
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2007 at 8:02am
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"You can't kayak long distances with the jacket on as it cuts your circulation." What's it like putting your top on or taking it off when on the boat? Tippy, difficult? I find it hard enough taking my jacket off on land? "fish storage/refrigeration is also an important consideration i believe" I have seen these insulated cooling fish bags on trademe that clip in the rear well of a fishing kayak. I was thinking about getting one of those and clipping it to a boogie board and using that when making shore dives? |
Posted By: Eric de Vries
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2007 at 8:30am
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I'm running the odd along the coast trip, mainly short paddles in my Scrambler XT. Nothing flash but have found that plenty of bungey cord will keep most things secured. A long D-clip + stretch coard from Fergs Kayak here in Wellington keeps my paddle secured even if it falls overboard. Try and stow as much below as you can, however make sure they're in easy reach cause you're not on land when you're ready for getting into the water. And......as all say PLENTY of water. good luck ------------- http://www.southernbluefins.co.nz/ |
Posted By: Snoop
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2007 at 9:14am
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[QUOTE=DUTCHIE] "You can't kayak long distances with the jacket on as it cuts your circulation." What's it like putting your top on or taking it off when on the boat? Tippy, difficult? I find it hard enough taking my jacket off on land? DUTCHIE, my kayak is 4m long which is about right, but they key is the width of the beam which is close to a metre. It is slower than an Ocean Kayak, but I prefer the greater stability (personal preference). Putting the jacket on and of is a piece of cake. After anchoring I wet the jacket at the side then make sure my balance is fine then put it on! Piece of cake. The weight belt is looped behind me, so very carefully I unbuckle it, then put it straight on. When in the water you have to make a couple of adjustments, but it is sweet. You should see Bounty Hunter, he has an enclosed fibreglass yak and actually kits up in the water (his gear is inside the kayak)... now that is tough.
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Posted By: TheSnapperWhisperer
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2007 at 9:16am
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Much of what Snoop says is good. My anchor - with a shark clip at the boat end, stowed foward in my Scupper pro initially, then when I suit up I clip it onto anything handy, then when I swim off I clip it up front of the boat. Point is, a clip is worthwhile. The very small folding grapnels are available $15 from most chandleries and are excellent. I bought some hooks and things from Johnson Outdoors (They make Ocean Kayaks locally just down the road) which I use to clip my pole spear to the side of the hull beside the seat.
You need a goood paddle strap. Sold at all kayak stores. Mine velcroe's on and off and seems very good.
I put all my other gear in a PVC bag strapped to the rear gear well. The fins stick out the end, but teh bag is fairly secure and strapped down. I take items out one by one when gearing up, ensuring things are strappped on and zipped up between each item. One day I'll roll while gearing up, but so far it has not happened. Everything must be continually connected somewhere. Clip float and gun together in case one falls off, etc etc.
I put my long johns on first, paddle out with a wind breaker on, then put my suit on whilst sitting on the yak. This is not so hard, just take it easy and slowly. The hardest thing is actually putting on your fins on the boat, you get quite unbalanced.
I also bought a flag from Johnson Outdooes, and a large 600x600 dive flag froma dive shop which I fly when I am in the water. It really makes me feel safer.
I'm pretty happpy with my setup really. ------------- http://www.facebook.com/TheSnapperWhisperer |
Posted By: Snoop
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2007 at 9:19am
| Oh, and as for refridgeration, I just chuck a salt ice bottle in the pod. In summer I will use a wet (sea water) sack to cover fish as well inside the pod. |
Posted By: TheSnapperWhisperer
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2007 at 9:24am
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Oh, and fish storage is only important foor Bounty Hunter because he leaves at 4 am, drives 4 hours to sunny Northland, paddles one hour, dives 8 hours, paddles one hour, drives 4 hours home, and gets home at 10 pm.
I can't imagine it ever gets hot enough in the South Island for fish to ever be at risk of going off, Militaris! ------------- http://www.facebook.com/TheSnapperWhisperer |
Posted By: Eric de Vries
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2007 at 9:36am
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TSW. Try diving and paddling around the Able Tasman or the Marlborought Sounds. I must agree tho the the water is a lot cooler than you guys experience up north. Maybe thats not such a ba  d thing then
------------- http://www.southernbluefins.co.nz/ |
Posted By: Andrew
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2007 at 10:55am
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done plenty of kayak missons out of totranui before we had a boat normally get a decent feed etc
got this nice kingi at cable during a kayak mish also got some nice terakihi and crays 
(man i had long hair back then) ------------- www.projectlocal.co.nz Everything fishing,scuba diving and spearfishing in New Zealand. |
Posted By: ThomasW
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2007 at 12:18pm
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Interesting reading. I was quite lucky and brought a 2nd hand kayak which was already rigged for fishing. Which meant things like anchors were already in place and the paddle has a bungy cord clip.
I brought a 1m by 1m dive flag from the warehouse. Had rigged it on the end of a fishing rod then put the rod into a rod holder. Often I could see the flag while my kayak was out of sight. It is probably hotter in the South Island during summer then it is in the north island. The water is already nice and warm locally. from Niwa Northern North Island Typical summer daytime maximum air temperatures range from 22�C to 26�C, but seldom exceed 30�C. Northern South Island Typical summer daytime maximum air temperatures range from 20�C to 26�C, but occasionally rise above 30�C It takes me ages to get into my jacket on shore, and even longer to take the tight thing off. I believe it is slightly to small, I have also gotten slightly larger sense buying it. For long trips, I think I would paddle to near my dive area then land to put on my jacket before paddling the rest of the way. Would have trouble doing that in a few spots. |
Posted By: Snoop
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2007 at 1:17pm
Dude I dived for 6 years in Wellington and did the Sounds a few times. Major difference is about 3 degrees, we bottom out at about 13-14 degreees whereas down your way it is around 11degrees.
I am surprised Bounty Hunter has done a day trip down there on his kayak. He has handy to have around as he is sporting twin 250 Mercs which he carries around attached to his shoulders... Gen Y boys...
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Eric de Vries wrote:Posted By: Snoop
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2007 at 1:19pm
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[QUOTE=TheSnapperWhisperer]
Much of what Snoop says is good. Correction, all of what I say is good.
[QUOTE=TheSnapperWhisperer]
I put all my other gear in a PVC bag strapped to the rear gear well. The fins stick out the end, but teh bag is fairly secure and strapped down. I take items out one by one when gearing up, ensuring things are strappped on and zipped up between each item. One day I'll roll while gearing up, but so far it has not happened. Everything must be continually connected somewhere. Clip float and gun together in case one falls off, etc etc.
TSW, what if you drop one item, won't it all fall in together...
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Posted By: Eric de Vries
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2007 at 1:54pm
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too many pies Militaris.....ooops who said that? As I suffer from the same problems. Nothing wrong with a tight fit  Snoop Dog.... Andrew can confirm that the water does warm up nicely to a hot 19C  ------------- http://www.southernbluefins.co.nz/ |
Posted By: Andrew
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2007 at 3:10pm
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i know it's been up to 25 on the boulder bank before.............. ------------- www.projectlocal.co.nz Everything fishing,scuba diving and spearfishing in New Zealand. |
Posted By: ThomasW
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2007 at 4:10pm
I can confirm that pies are not to blame. I can eat any food without any risk of putting on weight, atleast not anywhere useful. I just been doing more exercise and my job has involved quite a workout which resulted in my muscles becoming slightly larger which in many ways is a pain. |
Posted By: TheSnapperWhisperer
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2007 at 8:49pm
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Nice fish, Frodo.
I was just kidding about the temperature/South Island thing. Bounty Hunter is right, be careful with your fish 'cos it's a shame to waste any of it. Just finished my last kayak-based snapper out of the freezer. It was soooo good! Yum!!!! If out for a few hours on your yak, ice/frozen drink bottles are a very good idea in the summer sun.
Mili, sounds like you need a new wettie. Snoop - to be fair, you DO talk some bollacks sometimes. Mid you, it would be quite boring if we were all as perfect as me.
"Bounty Hunter has done a day trip down there on his kayak"
The last I heard, he was torn between a West Coast bluefin day trip with his yak and the Coral Sea. Either way he has opted for the short cut - launching at Muriwai or Piha depending on the Auckland traffic on the way there. He says he may need to tow another yak full of ice for the fish, though, so he's going to bulk up a bit for the trip. Must say he's looking a bit waif-like lately. ------------- http://www.facebook.com/TheSnapperWhisperer |
Posted By: ThomasW
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2007 at 10:34pm
| Yeah you are probably right. But it is tough retiring a expensive piece of equipment after one year of use. But during that one year it has been treated quite roughly mainly because I have a habit of being washed against rocks. The long johns have two good tears in them but the jacket is 99% complete. |
Posted By: Bounty Hunter
Date Posted: 28 Oct 2007 at 10:23am
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girlie-men
------------- No disintegrations! |
Posted By: Snoop
Date Posted: 28 Oct 2007 at 3:54pm
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Bounty harden up. What's with leaving for Northland at 7.30am? What happpened to the good old 4am days? To be fair that would have given you 2 hours sleep after finishing work.. |
Posted By: DUTCHIE
Date Posted: 02 Nov 2007 at 8:26am
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this Saturday on "The Great Outdoors" at 5:30, spearfishing from a kayak. |
Posted By: Paul G
Date Posted: 02 Nov 2007 at 3:10pm
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[QUOTE=Militaris]
"It takes me ages to get into my jacket on shore, and even longer to take the tight thing off. " Try using heaps of aqueous cream on you and in the jacket. Wet the jacket too. That stuff is awesome. Probably won't help you get out of it though. |
Posted By: Besty.
Date Posted: 05 Nov 2007 at 2:20pm
| Could anyone suggest a few links to sites that sell good quality kayaks, i'm liking the idea of hunting from one. |
Posted By: ThomasW
Date Posted: 05 Nov 2007 at 4:11pm
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I am going to start with the three main Manufacturer sites just in case you do not know about them.
http://www.oceankayak.co.nz/ - Ocean Kayak http://www.cobrakayaks.co.nz/ - Cobra Kayak http://www.vikingkayaks.co.nz/store/kayaks.aspx - Viking Kayak These three sites should have links to Dealers on them. Now onto a few stores which I know about http://www.fergskayaks.co.nz/ - Fergs Kayak Has a few different brands of boats including Q-Kayak, Bic, and Ocean Kayak. I beleive they have several stores around the North Island. http://www.canoeandkayak.co.nz/ - Canoe & Kayak They have cobra, perception and a few others I beleive. Another North Island chain store. http://www.paddlerzone.co.nz/ - PaddlerZone Christchurch based store, they have Perception, Cobra and Ocean Kayaks. |
Posted By: Snoop
Date Posted: 05 Nov 2007 at 7:47pm
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Perhaps we should mention http://www.trademe.co.nz - www.trademe.co.nz this is where I picked up my brand new Perception Swing kayak for half price... solid gold. ------------- Axemen Spearfishing... "Putting the crap back into elite" www.axemenspearfishing.co.nz |
Posted By: ThomasW
Date Posted: 05 Nov 2007 at 8:14pm
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I got my near new elite from a user on Fishing.net.nz for 30% less then new price. He also included a $300 GTS Elite seat, Anchor system, Sccoty rod holder and a C-Tug Trolley. Plus free delivery down from the North Island.
Was a excellent deal in the end. |
Posted By: Snoop
Date Posted: 05 Nov 2007 at 9:30pm
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Yeah its all the peripheral equipment that pushes the pricing up... best you hunt across vendors for different kit, there are deals to be had. I made a an anchor system out of a spearfishing float line feeder, attached a two metre section of galvanised chain from Bunnings and small grapnel anchor from the bro-in-law... that's gold.
I got my roof rack from a Viking dealer, you can get Kiwi racks that retail for $150 (two x rubber pads that fit through the car windows which are sweet if you don't want to pay $500 and use your yak 2-3 times per month... pod from Perception Kayaks for $120 and I have a dive float (makes you more shark proof) and a fish cooler built into the yak. Nice. All good fun fitting out your yak! ------------- Axemen Spearfishing... "Putting the crap back into elite" www.axemenspearfishing.co.nz |
Posted By: Besty.
Date Posted: 07 Nov 2007 at 3:39pm
| what do you guys find is the ideal length? |