# Kayak fishing gear for offshore?



## TheLongshanks88 (Jan 20, 2013)

Any reccommendations of what kind of gear for kayak fishing offshore. Never been before hoping to go soon.


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## themance (Oct 29, 2014)

#1. Portable marine handheld vhf radio, and flag pole for increased visibility.


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## wallace1 (Dec 8, 2010)

Both above are good suggestions. I like my rod leashes. Haven't needed them get but you never know


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## TheLongshanks88 (Jan 20, 2013)

What size reels and what kind of lures ?????


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## onespeedpaul (Jul 9, 2015)

I usually go with the less is more approach offshore kayak fishing, and pretty much only take: 

PFD w/ a handheld marine VHF in case of emergency

sunscreen

water and a snack

little frabill or similar trolling bait bucket

fish bag w/ice

small gaff hook

two rods: a smallish spinning reel for catching bait and a 6601 Abu on a 7ft MH rod for trolling. 

A couple few sabiki rigs and weights to take them to the bottom, and about 6 kingfish leaders.

Maybe that's more than some? it's all I need to fish from about sunrise til I can't take the heat.

**late edit** leash for the bait bucket, leash on paddle, leash on gaff, and about 20ft of para cord rope cause you know...rope. I also in lieu of rod leashes I zip tie some insulation foam to my rods in case of the worst. 

**also important, I'd say it's pretty advisable to stow your rods flat on deck for surf entry and exit, sometimes even the best of us can turtle in the smallest of breakers, and rods in the upright holders can get snapped really easy :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## markbxr400 (Jul 23, 2013)

I realize you're asking for offshore, but for inshore I use 2500-3000 series spinning reels on 7' medium weight fast rods for going after trout. They will also handle the occasional bull reds. If I'm going specifically after bull reds, I move up to 4000 series and a medium-heavy rod, moderate or fast action.

One key thing I've learned - don't spend any more on a rig than you're willing to lose when you drop it or capsize. Use rod leashes if you have better rigs on board.

A decent combo rig for bulls is the Penn Battle 4000 series (around $120). Lighter stuff I'll usually use something like a Shimano Sahara ($79 or $59 on sale) or even Sedona ($59 or $39 on sale) reel on a 30-ton medium/fast rod, like a Abu Garcia Vendetta ($79) or Veritas (normally $99 but I buy them when on sale for $79). 

I leave my better gear for fishing off my boat.

Get a decent short-handled redfish net with mesh that is hook-proof. Nothing worse than trying to dig 2 treble hooks out of a cheap net.

I can put the 35 qt Engel cooler with 3 rod holders behind me in my PA's. I throw ice in there to get my fish home. I use the cheap plastic ammo dry boxes for my tackle box. I've capsized with these and the stuff inside stays dry (and the whole thing floats). 

I keep a glove, pliers and Swiss Army knife available on deck for handling fish and rigging. I learned the hard way to always use pliers when handling large reds when using hard plastics with 2 or 3 trebles.

I always have a night running light on a mast (Yak Attack) stored in case I stay out after dark, and a spot light and head lamp.

For offshore, I add a VHF radio, a flare, a self-inflating life vest (that I wear) and a series of leashes (seat, peddles, rods, etc).

Good luck! It's a kick.


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## TheLongshanks88 (Jan 20, 2013)

Thanks guys i appreciate it. This gives me a better idea of what to use. How often would you hook into bigger fish that your gear cant handle??


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## iJabo (Jul 6, 2013)

Jason, aka JD, an ex-kayak pro on the forum advocates a setup which I have adopted.

Shimano Speedmaster with 20lbs mono on an Ugly Stick for trolling and a Penn SSV 6500-7500 with 65lbs braid on a jigging rod for bottom fishing. After that, any small saltwater combo will do alright as a sabiki setup.

I'm rocking the Speedmaster setup, but I ended up getting a Penn Battle instead of a SSV for the price difference. I wish I had gotten an SSV because they put out more drag and are tighter sealed against water.

Break-offs and failed hookups are going to happen, but besides that, I have never hooked into a fish that was overrated for my gear.


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## Jgatorman (Jun 8, 2013)

also check out the ssv 4500-5500 per JD7.62


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## Salt Lines (Apr 4, 2013)

iJabo nailed it. The speedmaster is a great reel, the ugly stick gives you everything you need at a good price.
For tackle on that speedmaster, you want little tiny swivels, 30-40 lb wire leader (I've come to like the surflon 7 strand braided wire b/c you can tie it in a figure 8 knot), maybe a duster, then a circle hook with a treble stinger. Snell the hooks to the leader. Easy king rig. Troll frozen cigar minnows or use a sabiki rig to catch live bait you can troll or just drift with. The trick to trolling is not having the minnow spin. 

For bottom fishing you need a gps, fishfinder, and coordinates so you can actually locate the structure the fish are on. Snell a large circle hook to 40 - 60 lb clear leader, tie it to a swivel, then above the swivel add a large weight (how large depends on current and depth, it must be heavy enough to reach the structure before the currents pushes it away, several ounces ought to do it)

Life Vest
and another that maybe isn't mentioned enough: tell someone where you are going, when you will be back


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## Yaksquatch (Mar 23, 2009)

3 rules of kayak fishing offshore:
1) Wear your PFD!
2) Wear your PFD!
3) Wear your PFD!!!

There are only 2 kinds of offshore kayak fishermen/women: those who've been dumped in the surf and those who WILL be dumped by the surf. It doesn't matter how good a swimmer you are if you get turned sideways, you'll get dumped towards shore and the very next wave will throw your kayak right at you so be prepared to duck and cover.

I've only been flipped going out once and that was when I was pretty green going out in conditions I really should not have been out in. Where you will likely be flipped is coming back in after you're tired from fishing and paddling around. The tendency of the waves is to grab the back end of your kayak and turn you sideways to shore so be prepared to backpaddle hard to straighten out. I also will set one foot in the water to give me some drag to keep myself straight coming back in.

Good luck!
Alex


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## bimini (Apr 14, 2011)

*Offshore Checklist*

Attached is a list of what I take. Yeah, it's a lot, but you can't walk back to the dock and grab any of it from your car when you need it. As for the #1 item, Yaksquatch nailed it. PFD PFD PFD! I had to convert the file from Excel to PDF, but it's set up to print four copies on each sheet. Feel free to put it back into Excel. If you want the Excel file, just PM me. I didn't go into detail about tackle because other than lead and hooks, there's too many items to mention.


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## Yaksquatch (Mar 23, 2009)

Nice! That's a heck of a list! Are you a chopper pilot by any chance?


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