Been away from INGO for some time now working on getting my head straight. I'll probably never be finished in that regard but part of the process has been reprioritizing things in my life and recognizing what is healthy and what is not. My wife and I went down to Austin, TX back in October to visit my son. He was raised down there while I was up here so I was never able to really be a father to him like I would have preferred but one thing I was able to instill in him is a passion for fishing. While we were there he and I spent two days on the water, me in his kayak and he on is paddle board. I've owned kayaks before but never fished from one and I really enjoyed the experience so I decided then and there that I was going to buy one and start spending more time doing something that is good for my soul, something I haven't done with regularity in a few decades.
I picked up a 2022 Nucanoe Pursuit last week off of FB marketplace. Since I've had a shoulder replaced, paddling for any length of time doesn't work well for me and I had decided that I wanted a peddle kayak. Nucanoe offers the only models (that I know of) with the ability to attach a pedal system to without having a hole in the bottom of the boat. The peddle system (Pivot Drive they call it) runs off of a cable to the back of the boat so propulsion is from the rear which offers a great deal of maneuverability. After weeks and weeks of research I decided this was the system I wanted and got a pretty good deal on this one already well decked out. I ordered the Pivot Drive system for it yesterday and can't wait to get this thing on the water.
The one thing I wasn't prepared for was how heavy this thing is. I rigged up a system I though was going to work to haul it around in the bed of my truck but between the weight of the boat and the height of my truck it was a no go. We got it up there for the trip home but there's no way I'd be able to do it by myself so I started thinking about a trailer.
I have a small little trailer I paid $50 for a couple of years ago that's just been sitting so I pulled it out and started looking it over. The frame is pretty lightweight but I think it'll work out fine for this purpose. I'm going to have to extend the tongue by several feet so I'm in the process of trying to locate some square tubing to have it welded in place. Once I have that I'll buy a boat winch frame to bolt on to it, a new wiring harness and lights and I plan to build a plywood 4'x8' box with a big slide out drawer to sit on top of it. The drawer will hold my rods, PFD, paddle, etc and I'll use PVC and Unistrut channel on top of the box to hold the kayak in place. Eventually we'll have another kayak for my wife so I plan to set it up for that eventuality from the get go.
Figured I'd pop in, say hello and maybe get some pointers from the experienced kayak fishermen. I've got a public access ramp to the White River less than 10 minutes from the house and I'm told it's a fantastic smallmouth fishery so I figure I'll spend a good bit of time there. Morse is only 10 minutes away and Geist less than 30 so I plan to hit those regularly as well. Hopefully once we have a second boat I'll be able to entice my son up here more often.
I picked up a 2022 Nucanoe Pursuit last week off of FB marketplace. Since I've had a shoulder replaced, paddling for any length of time doesn't work well for me and I had decided that I wanted a peddle kayak. Nucanoe offers the only models (that I know of) with the ability to attach a pedal system to without having a hole in the bottom of the boat. The peddle system (Pivot Drive they call it) runs off of a cable to the back of the boat so propulsion is from the rear which offers a great deal of maneuverability. After weeks and weeks of research I decided this was the system I wanted and got a pretty good deal on this one already well decked out. I ordered the Pivot Drive system for it yesterday and can't wait to get this thing on the water.
The one thing I wasn't prepared for was how heavy this thing is. I rigged up a system I though was going to work to haul it around in the bed of my truck but between the weight of the boat and the height of my truck it was a no go. We got it up there for the trip home but there's no way I'd be able to do it by myself so I started thinking about a trailer.
I have a small little trailer I paid $50 for a couple of years ago that's just been sitting so I pulled it out and started looking it over. The frame is pretty lightweight but I think it'll work out fine for this purpose. I'm going to have to extend the tongue by several feet so I'm in the process of trying to locate some square tubing to have it welded in place. Once I have that I'll buy a boat winch frame to bolt on to it, a new wiring harness and lights and I plan to build a plywood 4'x8' box with a big slide out drawer to sit on top of it. The drawer will hold my rods, PFD, paddle, etc and I'll use PVC and Unistrut channel on top of the box to hold the kayak in place. Eventually we'll have another kayak for my wife so I plan to set it up for that eventuality from the get go.
Figured I'd pop in, say hello and maybe get some pointers from the experienced kayak fishermen. I've got a public access ramp to the White River less than 10 minutes from the house and I'm told it's a fantastic smallmouth fishery so I figure I'll spend a good bit of time there. Morse is only 10 minutes away and Geist less than 30 so I plan to hit those regularly as well. Hopefully once we have a second boat I'll be able to entice my son up here more often.
