plumbob wrote:
Hey fishyaker speaking of the line getting hung up in the rudder, what have you found to lessen that chance?
This year I attached a 6" buoy to my line and clipped it to the seat to release if it gets hung up so I can go back and get it.
Curious to what you and others do now that it has been mentioned.
If I anticipate modestly sized fish I tend to always run 2 active lines when trolling. Long rods (10 foot or so) help keep the line pretty far away from the boat while meandering and making "S" curves without any issues. I use my narrow (24" wide) 18'-6" sea kayak most often, so I have quite a bit of boat behind me to be careful about tangles. When my rudder is out, I also have another 1'-6" of extension to deal with so I get nervous when I accidentally make a tight turn...like if I am looking at the fish finder screen too long!
When I plan to make a 180 degree turn and radically change direction, I always reel in the line that will be on the outside of the turn and then re-deploy it once straightened out. I think I "mis-stated" this in one of my above comments and said I reel the inside line in. That would be wrong to do!
If I hook up on a fish during the troll, I take a chance that it will stay hooked well and then I quickly reel in the other line so I can get back to the fish and not worry about a line tangle with the active rod. Then...I lift my rudder out of the water so it lessens the chance for a fish to catch it. I also try to get my kayak sideways to the fish, which further keeps it away from the back end of the boat. The only other thing I have below water is the transducer, and it is pretty shallow. I leave it alone and work the fish close and just do my best to keep it from wrapping the line around it. Sometimes I use a net to scoop up fish, and other times just the jaw grabbers.
When I anticipate catching large fish, especially pike, salmon, carp and lake trout, I only run one line. I do not want to risk getting a second line tangled up by fish that are much harder to control. Large fish tend to pull the kayak towards them...giving a subtle "tow" of the kayak in the process. I just try to steer at the fish when they run. Once I connect with a fish...again...the rudder comes up ASAP so that there is virtually nothing but a smooth hull for a fish to run under. Since I always have an empty rod holder available on the opposite side of the troll, when I change directions significantly I just move the rod into a favoring position to make the turn ahead of time. That way the line is never going to get caught in the rudder...hopefully!
"If" I do catch the rudder somehow, with a fish on (could happen on a leap near the back of the boat), or by my own carelessness without a fish on, I typically paddle to shore and get out to deal with it. If I am way too far from shore to bother with a return trip, I will decide to cut the line where convenient and tie on a new lure...leaving it up to chance to retrieve anything later on. Lucky for me, after many decades of kayak fishing (and I should knock on wood), I have not yet lost a single lure to getting caught in the rudder with the above methods. Sooner or later it will happen, but hopefully not too often.
In my new kayak with the Minn-Kota motor, my routine has slightly changed when I hook a fish. I shut off the motor, raise the rudder, and then start fighting the fish. I can just envision a fish (or line) beneath the kayak getting caught in a spinning prop! If it starts to become an issue, I will probably also raise the motor...but for now I think it will be OK to keep it deployed downward. It is only about a foot under the boat....