Wirral and Nefyn

[hillfigger]

My wife and i have just ordered kayaks. A prowler 13 for me and caper for her (both angling specs obviously).

I have a little kayak experience from my youth (i don't think sit-on-tops existed back then). Once i have familiarised myself with the basics i would like to hook up with other kayakers for some serious fishing.

Though we live in the Wirral ( New Brighton) we go to Nefyn most weekends during the summer as we have a caravan there.

I hope to see some of you soon.

[zebra]

hi hillfigger
welcome to the forum . most of us guys fish in the wales area and i am sure we could have a session together just let us know when you have got your yaks and are ready to have a go and we will see what we can do .it is surprising how much you can learn in a few hours with a regular kayaker .
terry

[stitch]

Hi Hillfigger
Excellent choice of kayaks, it wont take you long before you find your sea legs. Tribble and i are both from Liverpool and 90% of the time we fish that part of Wales but we are fishing Harrison Drive this Sunday. Not sure what time we will be their but pop along and you might catch us.

John ;D ;D ;D

[hillfigger]

Cheers terry/John. Would be great to use other peoples experience to help build our skills. I just hope the kayaks come soon as i feel like the summer will soon be over ( and the weather is so nice at the moment!).

John - will be passing harrison drive tomorrow as have planned bike ride to Hoylake with my wife. Harrison drive is less than 5 mins walk from my house. What will you be fishing for? If you are about in the morning hopefully i'll catch sight of you both. Hope the fishing is good and look forward to fishing with you in the not to distant future.

Nick

[martinw]

Hi hilfigger, welcome to the forum, hopefully you will both get some quality fishing in with us. everything you will need to know about kayak fishing and set ups will be on a thread on here somewhere. Have a look at my kayak re-entry thread on page 2, i was hoping it would stay near the top and not fizzle away but hey!! theres plenty of tips on how to rig up an anchor, plumb in a fishfinder and anything else weird and wonderful you may want to stick on there!!

Here comes the boring bit!! make sure you have the right safety kit, flotation devices, flares, vhf radio, the list is endless!! again on here somewhere is a thread with a list of kit you may need to get you going.

I'm planning a kayak meet in august up at moelfre on anglsey all the details so far are at kayak meet august thread, will be good if you and your wife can make it, join in, catch fish and get wet!!

All the best catch up with you soon, martin

[stitch]

Hi Martin
Good advice there, perhaps you could put a list together for Nick as what he should prioritise for his buy list. This is something i have often wondered about as what is more important, Flares, VHF, Compass and satnav. The amount of electronic wizardry that can be bought these days is limitless but can cost as much as a kayak. After buying a kayak and clothing most people start to cut back on essential item which can save your life and the lives of others. I will be honest i still haven't got flares yet.

Having a list will make it easier on your pocket


John ;D ;D ;D

[martinw]

will do, there is a list on here somewhere but like you say theres the essentials and theres the gadgets that look good and you don't actually need!!

1. paddle leash, lose that and its panic time!!
2. wetsuit or dry cag and pants. to keep the cost down wetsuits are cheap enough i got mine from asda £30 for a full length, neoprene boots and gloves, waterproof cag (jacket) to keep the wind chill off if needed, preferably something with sealable cuffs and neck and a good flotation device (life jacket) its worth spending a bit on this, needs to be a good fit, not too loose, try and get something with plenty of little pockets in! a hat is always good too! Dry cags and pants are the way ahead but can be expensive when your starting out especially when you've just forked out for two yaks!, basically you can wear them over your clothes and you stay dry due to the rubber ankle, cuff and neck seals, my cag and pants cost me just over £300
3, set of inshore flares about £30 don't trust the tub they come in to be watertight, stick them in something better.
4.Vhf radio, a must have, about £100 will get you one that does the job, also get a waterproof case for it, even if it says the radio's waterproof!
5. pay a quid for a whistle to go in one of the pockets of your flotation device
6, Compass and gps. some have a compass mounted on the yak but Ive got a small handheld Silva compass tied to me with a piece of string, then at least if i fall out my compass isn't floating away on my yak! A gps isn't essential, i got one off e-bay and never used it, ok if you want to plot a fishing ground but it just more expense when your getting started.
7, first aid kit, cheap as you want it to be, make it yourself or buy a ready made one but its good to have one to hand.

Thats just a small list of things you will need to get on the water with safety in mind, just make sure that you are wrapped up well against the elements, it can all be done on a budget or you can go out and spend thousands you will get most of the kit you need on e-bay a lot cheaper, i did. Once you've got all that you can then spend even more on fish finders anchors, trolleys and god knows what else.

also get in the water and practice falling out and getting back in to your yak, that will be a life saving drill should you ever need to do it for real.

I hope this helps and if Ive missed anything I'm sure someone will let us know, Martin

[martinw]

ive just had a fish through and found this thread i did ages ago, see if this is of any help to you

Re: Caught the bug
« Reply #12 on Feb 22, 2006, 10:05pm »

linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelineline--
Hi learner, Ive not long started kayak angling and heres a breakdown of what its cost me,

p13 kayak £479 With free paddle
pfd £50 off e-bay
full length wetsuit £30 asda
spray and windproof smock £40 reduced from £60 from nuties in bangor
neoprene boots £20
neoprene gloves £10
Paddle leash about £4 (made it myself!)
vhf £99
Flares ap £30
compass handheld silva tucked away in my pfd about £10
not got a trolley yet, i carry my yak!!
picked up an anchor for £5 but not rigged it yet.

All thats just short of about £800, but some of that stuff i already had from the boat i had ie the vhf and the flares. As long as you are warm happy and got the most important safety gear, you can pick up the rest of your creature comfort gear as you go along. You can pick up lots of bargains on e-bay, i have and its all good stuff. shop about you'll be surprised

i hope some of that helped, without frightening you with the cost, just dont add it up, Martin


I knew that thread was there somewhere!! ;D

[hillfigger]

Great advice from you all. when you tot up all the extra gear it does get a bit frightening!! I will have to prioritise. Bouyancy aids and paddle leashes formed part of my original Brookbank order. I think VHF is probably the next most important item.

We will probably take the kayaks for their first few dips in West Kirby marine lake. This will ensure learning the basics in a very safe environment. I will not be attempting to fish until i feel at one with my prowler.

Martinw - We have just come back from a holiday in Paxos. Whilst there we rented two Rippers (Wilderness Systems). Due to the lovely warm/calm water we had a crack at deep water re-entry. Though possibly a little ungainly we both were able to do it with relative ease. I'll check out your kayak re-entry thread to see how it should be done. I bet it feels a bit different in the cold water of north wales!!!

If we feel competent enough we would love to join in the August meet.

Nick

[martinw]

Hi Nick,

Glad it all helped, A vhf is a must have, mainly for emergency's but also to find out whats catching on the other kayaks your with.

I didn't fish off my prowler for quite a while after i got it, like you i wanted to get the feel of it first, i was in the water plenty getting to grips with the deep water re-entry, got it off to a t now, but its amazing how quickly it drains the life out of you after practicing a few times! It does get cold, well the initial falling in does but then your wet suit kicks in and its just like being in paxos ;D ;D we did o lot of kayak meets during the winter and it wasn't that cold surprisingly!

Get practicing and it would be brilliant to see you both at the meet in august

Martin

[rink123]

Thx Martin I no alot more now great thread.