Hey Gents,
First time poster here and noobie Kayak fisherman/overall noobie fisherman in general just looking for some advice. I attached a few pics of my current set up.
Some background, I did a ton of trout fishing from the lakeshores growing up using power bait/worms and marshmallows, with a little bit of trolling sprinkled in over the years. Most recently I’ve taken up bass fishing using rooster tails, casting and reeling in over-and-over again. I’ve really enjoyed that, as it’s much more active than just casting and waiting forever for a bite. Over the last few years I’ve done several guided salmon trips on the rivers in the PNW and have had a blast doing so.
The reason I got into Kayaking is 1) my wife has a paddle board and has always wanted me to get something to get out on the water, 2) my buddy had a cheap-o inflatable paddle kayak that we fished from at a yearly camping trip we do and had a lot of fun, and 3) the fact that being out on the water is incredibly peaceful.
That said, I bought this iTrek 9 a few months ago in hopes to accomplish all those things. So far it’s worked amazingly well and it’s a blast to use! I caught my first small mouth the other day on the first actual fishing trip with it. It was extremely stable the entire time, standing up and sitting down (with a little bit of balance). I am easily able to reach behind me to grab my net, or put my rod away, and I’ve got a small tackle box under my seat if I need to cut line/tie new lures etc… (which I did have to end up doing that trip).
My main question is; I would like to try going for salmon down on the Lewis River, but I’m unsure of whether or not that would be overkill on a small inflatable kayak like this. I don’t want to get dragged around all over the river and into boats direction of travel, and I also don’t want to get capsized if/when a hog folds my pole over. Sub questions are, 1) I don’t know where to begin when it comes to line weight, flasher set up, lead weights, lures, etc… I do know I’ll need a new pole with a line counter reel. And 2) I don’t know the requirements for Kayaks or where to find that info, like do we need a flare gun on board? Flag? Lights? Whistle? Etc…
Thoughts, questions, concerns? Any help is appreciated.
Posted by MasterJacO