Customizing your kayak

[This piece is one of a series, and first appeared in Texas Sporting Journal.]

If you’re a woman, you might think of it as accessorizing. “Gear guys” will think in terms of customizing. Most of us just call it “rigging.”

Half the fun of having a new boat is rigging it the way you want it – making it truly yours in terms of form and functionality. And let me tell you, the paddle sports industry is here to help you.

A number of manufacturers offer “angler” models of their boats – kayaks already outfitted with rod holders, anchor systems and the like.

My advice? Do it yourself or let the dealer do it for you.

“We can outfit a boat with whatever a buyer wants for the same price or cheaper,” says Steve Messana, owner of Austin Canoe & Kayak. “We try to do what we think makes the most sense for the new paddler.”

The options? Rod holders lead the list, Messana says, either flush-mount “rocket launcher” holders or, increasingly, adjustable post mount holders like the popular Scotty line.

Messana prefers the post mount system because the same mount can be used for a number of different accessories, and, he said, it does a better job of keeping gear on the boat.

“If you’ve got an adjustable mount, you can keep rods down lower to avoid trees,” he pointed out. “What people also realize is that the flush mount is no good for fly fishing.”

Scotty’s post mount system also accepts a purpose-built 360-degree light on a pole – a USCG-required safety item if paddling before daylight or in reduced visibility. Scotty’s basic rod holders run from about $20 to $23, depending on the model. The lights: $37-$44.

The only other state or federal requirements for canoes and kayaks are “an efficient sound-signaling device” (think “whistle”) and Personal Flotation Device.

Oddly enough, anchors aren’t on the list. Messana offers two models – a 3-pound, folding grapnel for $14 and a 1.5-pound plow-type anchor for $16. He recommends the plow for coastal applications, and the grapnel for rocky and brushy rivers and lakes.

“We have a lot of repeat customers on anchors,” he says, with a wry grin.

Open-water anglers may want to invest $27 in a drift anchor, sometimes also called a sea anchor, drift sock or chute.

“A person buying a drift chute has been fishing for a while,” Messana says. “It’s typically not a newbie item.”

Of course, aside from the required safety gear and a paddle, nothing more is needed to enjoy paddling. Paddling and kayak fishing, after all, are essentially minimalist activities.

“If you’re just throwing a rod on the boat and going – and I did that for years – that’s fine,” says Capt. Filip Spencer, a Corpus Christi fishing guide who won Texas and National Kayak Angler of the Year honors in 2005.

After a quarter century of kayak fishing, Spencer started using what is perhaps the most expensive kayak accessory – a rudder – just this year.

“When it comes to turning, when it comes to drift fishing, they’re great,” he says. “It’s a great feature to have, but they do run about $250.”

Spencer says he wouldn’t bother putting a rudder on a short boat.

“A 13-, 15-, 16-foot boat, yeah,” he says.

As Texas kayak anglers follow their California cousins into deeper waters, more and more offshore paddlers are adding fish finders to their boats. Scotty makes a bracket for that, too.

"Last year I installed one fish finder,” says Messana. “This year I’ve done five. I think a lot of people are doing it themselves.”

Other DIY projects feature an amazing variety of milk crates, coolers and the like that have taken-up residence in kayak tank wells.

“You name it,” Messana says. “People will go to Office Depot, the Container Store, or behind their neighborhood 7-11; they’ll get a crate. Then they’ll add rod holders. Or maybe they won’t.”

The point being, of course, that it’s up to the individual.

“The possibilities are endless,” Messana says, but warns that new paddlers should strive to contain their accessorizing exuberance – at least for a while.

“If you’re new to the sport or you just bought a new kayak, don’t rig it out until you’ve paddled it a few times,” he says. “See how much gear you really bring, where you want your rod holders. Don’t spend $300 rigging out your boat if you’re only going to use $100 worth of that rigging.”

[The first and final two photos courtesy of Team Ocean Kayak.]