Sea Kayaking How To: Rigging a Sea Kayak for Saltwater Fishing

Tips and Pointers for Fishing from a Full-Length Sea Kayak

Here's how to set up a sea kayak for kayak fishing -- suggestions useful for saltwater fishing on species ranging from yellowfin tuna to halibut to bluefish to striped bass to grouper.

Adapted to sea kayaks of any type, from the widest roto-molded sea kayak to the narrowest fiberglass or kevlar sea kayak, the suggestions will get you into the fish and home safely.

First consider a sea kayak's size and shallow draft, both which make sea kayaks good boats for trolling 'alongshore shallows, structure, rocky coasts, and shallow flats where larger boats can't tread, and where fish, especially stripers, are often plentiful and pressure non-existent. Easy to car-top, easy to launch, sea kayaks are also good boats for venturing offshore to fish more distant areas.

Here's a few ways to rig a sea kayak for saltwater fishing inshore and off; how to rig to stay in one place in current and swell and wind when you want to still fish, and a few gear considerations.

Gear is as much a part of kayak fishing as a good put-in is, which means some gear is better than others.

First off, you might want to consider a spinning rod and reel. Boat rods don't cast, surf rods are long and cumbersome, and fly rods require a lot more equipment and expense, including tippets, blended floating and sinking lines.

One good inexpensive but durable rod to consider is a Shakespeare Ugly Stik --- this line of rods are known for their low price and decent construction. A fishing rod in a sea kayak tends to get knocked around a lot.

And since a fishing reel tends to spend a lot of time in the water, choose models that are either inexpensive and disposable or better made, and more expensive but easier to service. Also consider buying a rod short enough that you can grasp the reel with one hand, the other to free fouls from the tip.

Short rods also make housekeeping tasks like changing lures and leaders and clearing weeds from hooks easier, especially if you also have snags and line twist to deal with. A rod short enough to hold the butt with one hand, grasp the leader with the other is a good length to consider.