Getting in to kayak fishing

[phylodog]

If you are lake bound mostly you can hang a bunch of stuff off the yak and get used to it pretty easy. I can get obsessive with things at times.

I like the more spartan approach of whatever fits in a a milk crate and two rods. Quick in and around. Get to where I think the fish are at and spend time with rods in the water. I can fit a lot in a canoe or kayak but most of the kayaks I have are more river runners than fishing yak’s.

don’t let the lack of having something keep you off the water. Safe and simple often works well. I seem to get lots of bites trolling to a spot and a wacky worm rig early in the year in the warmer water areas.

Oh trust me, as soon as the weather permits and I have this trailer (bought a new one today that needs work) ready to roll I'll be on the water. I've got what I need, just things that I want left on the list. I've got cabin fever like nobody's business.

 

[phylodog]

Here is the trailer I picked up yesterday. The tongue is made of two pieces of heavy gas pipe and slides in and out so you can adjust the length which is what I was initially drawn to. It'll be nice to shrink it down for storage in the off season. All welded steel frame and solid steel deck (under the particle board which I'll be removing) and I was very happy to lear it also has a torsion axle which wasn't mentioned in the for sale ad. Gotta find a set of fenders for it and if all goes well I may have a nice aluminum storage box to mount on top of it tomorrow. Then I plan to get a frame above the box to hold the kayak(s) as well as a rod storage tube or two. It pulled great on the hour drive home yesterday.

The only thing I'm unsure about at this point is the wheels/lugs. The previous owner said they were old Ford wheels and have lug bolts rather than nuts. The wheels appear to be fine but I'd prefer nuts to bolts so I'm going to have to determine the thread size and buy a set of conversion studs to put on.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Here is the trailer I picked up yesterday. The tongue is made of two pieces of heavy gas pipe and slides in and out so you can adjust the length which is what I was initially drawn to. It'll be nice to shrink it down for storage in the off season. All welded steel frame and solid steel deck (under the particle board which I'll be removing) and I was very happy to lear it also has a torsion axle which wasn't mentioned in the for sale ad. Gotta find a set of fenders for it and if all goes well I may have a nice aluminum storage box to mount on top of it tomorrow. Then I plan to get a frame above the box to hold the kayak(s) as well as a rod storage tube or two. It pulled great on the hour drive home yesterday.

The only thing I'm unsure about at this point is the wheels/lugs. The previous owner said they were old Ford wheels and have lug bolts rather than nuts. The wheels appear to be fine but I'd prefer nuts to bolts so I'm going to have to determine the thread size and buy a set of conversion studs to put on.

That's pretty nifty.

As to the lug bolt on wheels
The easiest way is to just get new hubs with lug studs, that eliminates the lug bolt. Just measure the wheels bolt pattern.

The cheapest way is to get knurled lug studs in 1/2x20, then drill out those hubs and press/pull the new studs in.

If it was me I would be putting new hubs on.

 

[phylodog]

That's pretty nifty.

As to the lug bolt on wheels
The easiest way is to just get new hubs with lug studs, that eliminates the lug bolt. Just measure the wheels bolt pattern.

The cheapest way is to get knurled lug studs in 1/2x20, then drill out those hubs and press/pull the new studs in.

If it was me I would be putting new hubs on.

Are the hubs pretty well universal as far as fit or should I pull one and measure anything to make sure I'm getting what I need the first time around if I decide to go that route? I measured to the best of my ability and the pattern is 5 x 4.5 or danger close to it.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Are the hubs pretty well universal as far as fit or should I pull one and measure anything to make sure I'm getting what I need the first time around if I decide to go that route? I measured to the best of my ability and the pattern is 5 x 4.5 or danger close to it.

5 x 4.5 is a very common bolt pattern, so I would say you're correct.

You could always just pull one off and take it with if you're buying local.

 

[snapping turtle]

Oh trust me, as soon as the weather permits and I have this trailer (bought a new one today that needs work) ready to roll I'll be on the water. I've got what I need, just things that I want left on the list. I've got cabin fever like nobody's business.

You are going to like the long distance on the hitch the wheels.
I see all types of possibilities in that setup. A blank slate to paint on.
My thoughts with that look might involve surplus ammo cans.

 

[phylodog]

Got to work on the trailer a bit this afternoon. I had new tires put on it and picked up a used ladder rack yesterday. Spent a few hours cutting the rack down to width today, planning to cut the length down tomorrow. I bought two kits to turn 6" PVC into rod holders I'll be attaching along the sides of the rack. Planning to paint the trailer and rack setup with bed liner at some point once I figure out fenders for this thing.

 

[gregkl]

5 x 4.5 is a very common bolt pattern, so I would say you're correct.

You could always just pull one off and take it with if you're buying local.

I wish my utility trailer was 5x4.5. Then I could use a couple of my Jeep wheels and match my XJ!

But I have 5X5 which appear to be as if not more common for trailers.

 

[Jaybird1980]

I wish my utility trailer was 5x4.5. Then I could use a couple of my Jeep wheels and match my XJ!

But I have 5X5 which appear to be as if not more common for trailers.

Just a hub change away from having what you want, maybe some wheel spacer/adapters if you are wanting to run the same tire size. I don't remember if you had bigger tires or not. I'm generally not a fan of spacers, but on a light duty trailer they would be fine.

 

[gregkl]

Just a hub change away from having what you want, maybe some wheel spacer/adapters if you are wanting to run the same tire size. I don't remember if you had bigger tires or not. I'm generally not a fan of spacers, but on a light duty trailer they would be fine.

Thanks! I just looked them up. I'll have to do some backspace measuring and make sure the offset works but it would be nice to use some of my wheels I have laying around. The hubs are less than the baby moons I was looking at to put on the steel wheels that are currently on the trailer.

I would probably still run a pair of trailer tires though vs. my AT's I have.

 

[phylodog]

Made some progress today. Had a few required changes to my original idea but I'm happy with how it's turning out. I couldn't drill down through the steel deck so I opted to take advantage of the stake pockets and utilize a couple of 4x4's I had laying around. The added height was helpful so it worked out well. The side mount tool boxes were going to get attached to the deck but they kayak is a hair too wide so I'm going to mount them along the top rail of the rack above the PVC rod holders when the bolts come in.

The bunks under the kayak aren't attached to anything yet, hopefully I'll get that knocked out tomorrow. I'm going shorted the tongue a bit, cut the trailer jack off and install a couple of small trailer leveling jacks just forward of the deck. The existing jack is welded on and sits too high when it's deployed. Once we get another kayak I'll install two more PVC bunks along the top of the rack for the wife's boat.

 

[Mounty09]

I saw one of these extendable tongue military trailers in Noblesville the other day. First time I have seen one. Pretty cool concept.

While I have no interest in kayak fishing, I enjoy watching your build.

 

[phylodog]

Got the toolboxes mounted up today. Definitely a bit redneck but it suits me fine.

I'm considering pricing out having 4"x4" steel tubes welded on in place of the wood. I'd prefer to bedline everything once the weather breaks and don't want to have issues with rot. Could possibly have a set of fenders welded up also.

 

[phylodog]

Got the bunks mounted up today so it's functional though far from finished. I needed a little height to keep the hull off of the unistrut betwen the PVC bunks so I coped out short sections of PVC, seated them in end caps and used those as risers. Gave me the height I needed and added some support to the tubes.

 

[Dave A]

Elkton Steelhead inflatable. My daughter and I put 2 of these plus camping and fishing equipment in the back of my Subaru Forester for a drive to Voyageurs National Park. Easy to leave inflated and lift into the back of the truck for short trips.

 

[printcraft]

Got the toolboxes mounted up today. Definitely a bit redneck but it suits me fine.

I'm considering pricing out having 4"x4" steel tubes welded on in place of the wood. I'd prefer to bedline everything once the weather breaks and don't want to have issues with rot. Could possibly have a set of fenders welded up also.

Hear me out... Swap the position of the tool boxed and pole holders,
Tool boxes serve as your fenders.

 

[phylodog]

Hear me out... Swap the position of the tool boxed and pole holders,
Tool boxes serve as your fenders.

That was the plan when I bought them but the dimensions didn't work out for it.

 

[gregkl]

Elkton Steelhead inflatable. My daughter and I put 2 of these plus camping and fishing equipment in the back of my Subaru Forester for a drive to Voyageurs National Park. Easy to leave inflated and lift into the back of the truck for short trips. View attachment 270466

Beautiful part of the country to be on water!