# 9-29-13 trolling motors for KINGS!!!



## Disco (Aug 21, 2013)

Yup thats right I said "trolling motors" not just trolling lol. Most of you know by now that I outfitted my Ocean Kayak Trident 15 with a super old super slow Min Kota 17 lb thrust trolling motor. The whole project cost me less than $100 and works amazingly. I have a regular car battery in mine out of my jeep that im trying to sell, and it lasted the entire trip with little to no loss of power. My fishing buddy Joey and I both have the same little motor on our kayaks.

This morning was the first voyage out into the gulf using the trolling motors. And of course we were looking to land some kings and some spanish!!!! And that is exactly what we did.

Sitting in the parking lot of the FWB pier waiting for the sun to come up was the worst part of the day. The wind was blowing purty good out of the ENE and the current looked like it was ripping towards Navarre. On top of that there was a small wind swell breaking on the beach at about 1-2 feet. So joey and I waited till full daylight and decided that it looked doable but with the slightest feeling of uneasyness from either one of us and we would abort the mission. Here comes the not so fun part of having a trolling motor kayak...hauling that beast down the beach!!!! Ugggg im seriously considering a smaller yak now that I dont have to paddle anymore lol. We dragged our gear which consisted of 3-4 rods each, a cooler in each yak, kayak carts, batteries, Kayaks, trolling motors etc. Well after two trips we were ready to rig up and "Ride the Wild Surf"!!!!

The surf entry really wasnt bad at all. Having rod pods really takes all the worry out of the situation. We are basically sitting in bare kayaks on the way in and out. We keep the trolling motors in the up position till we are clear of the breakers to keep from ruining our motor set ups. Once we get out to calmer water Joey and I drop one anothers motors and off we go into the wild blue yonder.

Here is a link to a video a buddy of mine shot that we just happened to run into. 
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=671556392856636

We got the motors fired up and we were really making time across the water at a blistering speed of around 2.5 mph. The swells were pretty big out there so our speed was being inhibited seriously. But the speed seemed to be working because we hooked up pretty quickly on the spanish. We were trolling frozen naked cigs on regular store bought king rigs. It seemed like the biggest fish and all the kings were hooked up while heading down current which picked up our speed to around 4mph. 

I hooked up a couple good sized spanish but what I was looking for hadn't hit the boat until about an hour into the troll. My brand new Penn 4500 started singing and letting out drag by the yard. So I reeled in my other rod and starting fighting the good fight. He took and I took he gave and I gave but in the end he was in my lap with a one way ticket into the cooler to be put on ice. I was super stoked since this was the biggest fish id ever caught. When I got it home it measured 31 inches to the fork. Boy was it a great fight!!!! After a few more spanish I got another hige it and it was hooked up deep. This time the fight was different with longer drag taking runs and when it rested it kinda swam straight down. There were numerous time my rod got pinned to the kayak just due to me moving my second rod or kicking the motor into neutral and having to one hand the fighting rod. After a good long fight I got a look at the biggest fish id ever hooked up on. It was another king but this time it looked much bigger. Maybe 5-10 inches bigger. My buddy Joey motored over to assist in boating the fish. By the time he got there I had the fish on top swimming in smallish circles hoping it would wear him out. Just as Joey reached in and got a grip on the tail the fish shook one last time and spit the hook at the same time as loosing itself from Joeys grasp.:thumbdown: Before I even knew it was gone Joey was apologizing all over himself ha ha ha. It really didnt bother me because there is nothing that could be done and I got to see the fish up close. The fight alone was worth the entire trip!!!:thumbsup: 

Joey also hooked into some nice spanish and had two really hard screamers run with his bait and break off. One of which broke 50lb braid after smoking the heck out of his reel and putting up a heck of a fight. He also hooked into and brought up a shark that he said looked like a small tiger shark. He said that it had very distinct stripes and some color on its sides. 

All in all we both caught 6 spanish each and I got one nice king!!! Not bad for a morning in the gulf two miles from the house!:thumbup: I really think that my home made king rigs hooked more fish than the traditional store bought king rigs I used on and off in the day. My rig has one J hook and two trebles. I think the extra treble helped a bunch!!! Also letting tons of line out kept the bait deeper in the water.

Here are some pics. Enjoy!!!!

Thats me on the left.






The King


All Cleaned up. Thanks Joey!!!! He cleans the fish and I keep busy cleaning gear, hosing off cars, and disposing of the carcasses. 



All this will make for a great family fish fry tonight at Joeys house!:thumbup:


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## Cant.Git.Enuf (Jan 21, 2013)

Every time I'm out paddling I wish I had a set up like that! Nice fish and good eating tonight!


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## Disco (Aug 21, 2013)

Cant.Git.Enuf said:


> Every time I'm out paddling I wish I had a set up like that! Nice fish and good eating tonight!




It really wasnt hard and it was super cheap. I did it with basic hand tools and a cheapo lincoln welder from home depot. Everyone should have a welder at the house.:thumbsup:

Yep the fish was good!!!


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## PAWGhunter (Feb 3, 2010)

nice. setup looks great!


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## grey ghost (Jul 24, 2011)

nice rig/fish/report! Thats exactly what i would do if i had a yak!! nice!


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## Hobart (Nov 27, 2012)

That's awesome nice fish and thanks for the report and pics!


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## caim (Apr 22, 2012)

Nice disco! Like the set up


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## Disco (Aug 21, 2013)

caim said:


> Nice disco! Like the set up



The real beauty of it is that you hardly have to stop trolling. You stop to reel in fish then as soon as the fish is boated I would kick the motor back on. Im sure it added a ton of troll time. There were many times that I was unhooking a fish while slow trolling and got hits. Lots of double hook ups!


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## fishnhuntguy (Feb 8, 2012)

Wow that a cool setup. I've always wondered about doing that. But the weight of the battery has scarred me off.


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## Disco (Aug 21, 2013)

fishnhuntguy said:


> Wow that a cool setup. I've always wondered about doing that. But the weight of the battery has scarred me off.


I really wasnt worried about the weight too much. The trolling motors themselves weigh maybe 15lbs and the battery I am using is a regular car battery that probably weighs 30lbs. So the added 50 or so lbs isnt that big a deal when I only weigh 180lbs. The kayak still handles great and it really fishes so much better. 
Its the best of both worlds getting to catch fish from a kayak right down on the water and being able to conserve energy and get from spot to spot much faster. Also fishing places like dock lights at night is so much easier especially if there is a current or wind. Staying on the spot is just a matter of operating the switch and working the foot pedals and continuing to fish. A regular paddle yak requires you to stop fishing and pick up the paddle to stay in place to be able to catch fish.:thumbsup:


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## Disco (Aug 21, 2013)

benjardouche would you care to elaborate? Or is a two word sentence the best you can muster?


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## caim (Apr 22, 2012)

LOL.... ^ love the good ol days.


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