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Night kayaking + giggin' = good ol' fun!
I lived in the Carolina low country for a while and heard of gig fishing. Fishers go out at night in flat bottom boats and cruise the salt water marshes looking for flounder lying along the river banks. Using a lantern, you can see the fish on nights with clear water. Flounder initially rely on their camouflage, presenting an opportunity to spear with a gig spear, effectively a trident-tipped pole.
I am always looking for new ways to push my kayaking. Gigging was great fun and an awesome excuse to go out at night. After chartering a few trips, I was ready to try giggin' from my kayak and needed a gig spear of my own. Rather than the typical 12-foot pole, I made the following 4-foot pole that can attach to my 2 piece paddle, by switching out one paddle blade.
Out on a trip, I slowly stalked the shore looking for fish. The shoreward side was usually too shallow to paddle. Poling would stir up the sediment and obscure the hunt. So I'd paddle only on one side and the gig trident was ready to spear flounders. When not hunting, the gig could be detached and stowed the kayak deck, out of the way.
I lived in the Carolina low country for a while and heard of gig fishing. Fishers go out at night in flat bottom boats and cruise the salt water marshes looking for flounder lying along the river banks. Using a lantern, you can see the fish on nights with clear water. Flounder initially rely on their camouflage, presenting an opportunity to spear with a gig spear, effectively a trident-tipped pole.
I am always looking for new ways to push my kayaking. Gigging was great fun and an awesome excuse to go out at night. After chartering a few trips, I was ready to try giggin' from my kayak and needed a gig spear of my own. Rather than the typical 12-foot pole, I made the following 4-foot pole that can attach to my 2 piece paddle, by switching out one paddle blade.
Out on a trip, I slowly stalked the shore looking for fish. The shoreward side was usually too shallow to paddle. Poling would stir up the sediment and obscure the hunt. So I'd paddle only on one side and the gig trident was ready to spear flounders. When not hunting, the gig could be detached and stowed the kayak deck, out of the way.
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Signing UpStep 1Materials and Tools
Materials
1. Paddle: a fairly standard Aqua-Bound Fiberglass 2-piece paddle. This paddle's shaft diameter fit the cuff very well. My other fiberglass touring paddles also accommodated the cuff, so the inner shaft diameter must be fairly standard.
2. Spear Head: I used a B & M 55PK Spear. I preferred this to the flat tine spears, seeming to work better while sitting in my kayak.
3. Connection Cuff: the outer half of a 3/4" PVC expansion fitting, found in the electrical conduit aisle of Lowes]. Paddle shafts of different diameters may not fit this well. One aluminum shaft paddle I tried had a smaller diameter and did not lock snugly.
4. Pole: I used a hickory replacement shovel handle. The shaft diameter was a bit larger than the cuff's inside diameter.
5. Two squat wood screws, spear-head and cuff attachments to pole.
Tools
-Saw
-Rotary tool with plastic cutting and wood shaping tips
-Screwdriver
1. Paddle: a fairly standard Aqua-Bound Fiberglass 2-piece paddle. This paddle's shaft diameter fit the cuff very well. My other fiberglass touring paddles also accommodated the cuff, so the inner shaft diameter must be fairly standard.
2. Spear Head: I used a B & M 55PK Spear. I preferred this to the flat tine spears, seeming to work better while sitting in my kayak.
3. Connection Cuff: the outer half of a 3/4" PVC expansion fitting, found in the electrical conduit aisle of Lowes]. Paddle shafts of different diameters may not fit this well. One aluminum shaft paddle I tried had a smaller diameter and did not lock snugly.
- http://www.cantexinc.com/cantexinc/Products/Utility_Duct/Utility_Duct_Couplings/Expansion_Couplings_2_Piece.php
- Cantex Part# 5144032
4. Pole: I used a hickory replacement shovel handle. The shaft diameter was a bit larger than the cuff's inside diameter.
5. Two squat wood screws, spear-head and cuff attachments to pole.
Tools
-Saw
-Rotary tool with plastic cutting and wood shaping tips
-Screwdriver
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If you went through Collage (sic) without learning to spell College correctly I am somewhat worried about the American education system. But then your's is the country that had a president who pronounced Nucular for Nuclear... ;-)
Enjoy your kayaking,
Leanne
Australia
Talk about an esoteric subject to "level" the playing field for standardized testing!
The flounder down along the SE Atlantic coast is real good. My wife liked it so much, she had no problem with my antics hunting some up! You get four nice fillets from each fish, not hard to dress with a good knife.