So, I recently had a whole 11 days off work and do you know how many times I went out on the kayak or managed to wet a line at all? Yep, not once! I spent 5 days literally decking out the back of the house and then we had family from the San Francisco staying with us for a few days so it wasn’t to be but it was an enjoyable time nonetheless.
It’s extremely useful having relatives in the US and they are very understanding with me ordering kit for them to bring every time they are over! It can be a lot cheaper Stateside than it is here in the UK plus I would say, in general, the US is ahead of the game than we are here in the UK when it comes to kayak fishing kit so there’s quite often new and interesting kit to tempt you.
I’d ordered a couple of bits for them to bring over on this latest trip one of which was a Waaycool hand line. It was ordered on a bit of a whim during the Winter months on the basis I’d caught a fair few mackerel last Summer on a cheap hand line. It’s a relatively small piece of kit that you can store easily and if you’re just out for a paddle without the rest of your fishing kit you can easily deploy if the opportunity presents itself to catch mackerel or such like.
I was keen to give it a whirl again this year but with plans to be a bit more adventurous with a better piece of kit. Potentially could be used for trolling a lure when paddling, vertical jigging and maybe live baiting. Here is the Waaycool hand line I purchased…
As you can see, I went for one of the cord plus mono leader options – the mono leader might be a bit heavy for UK waters but that can easily be changed. The advantage as I see it with a cord rather than an all mono hand line is it shouldn’t give so much grief to your hands where mono could cause cuts to your hands – especially if you have a fish to pull up! I would suggest gloves might be required either way though just as a precaution.
The cord is 3mm but as suggested earlier the mono is a bit over kill for UK waters so I will probably change that to a lighter leader. The construction of the hand line itself is purely plastic with a couple of notches which act as a cleat for tying off the cord and also as a point for attaching the bungee that secures the line when not in use. There’s also a small handle which I will use to secure the hand line to the kayak. In this respect I have used the suggested setup and created a simple link with a couple of carabiners and a piece of bungee as a shock absorber as shown below.
Below is the full set up with the large carabiner simply attaching to the kayak wherever is suitable.
So there you have it, bought on a bit of a whim during the Winter months but I am keen to give it a go soon – hopefully this weekend at some point if I can finish work quick enough!! Initially, I will try it with some feathers or maybe some hokkais but as already pointed out I think it has potential in other areas too. Will post a report on how effective it proves to be in due course.
Until next time…
Hooks, Lines & Sinkers 