There once was a ZOT boatsman...
Posted on 07/07/2006 6:00:42 PM PDT by Cap'n Crunch
Hopefully at the end of this month I will no longer be working 2 full time jobs. I have been daydreaming about what I'm going to do with all this free time I'm going to have once I only have 1 full time job.
I've discovered SOT Kayak fishing and it looks like a hoot. Was wondering if any FReepers out there have given it a try and have some advice for someone who is going to give it a try.
SOT?
Sit On Top
There once was a ZOT boatsman...
Thanks, looks like a great site. I'm looking at getting a Ocean Kayaks Malibu XL II. It's a tandem, gonna take the kids out with me.
I work with a bunch of guys who SInK. They mostly hit the rivers around here, I'm looking to head out onto Lake Erie. Lots of Walleye and Yellow Perch out there.
Senor tuna.com, or bloodydecks.com. Good info, some hard core line wetters.
Some monster fish, I see these guys on kayaks hauling up halibut, barricuda, even small sharks.
Looks like fun.
That guy looks like a corpse.
Walleyes and Perch - very tasty! Lake Erie should have some hugh smallies too, big enough to tow you around some. Don't forget the PFD.
One nutjob pulled in a rather large thresher 6 weeks ago, I prefer a little more deck under me.;)
Oh yeah, I'm in the 'central basin' walleye and perch galore and they are tasty. Took the kids out fishing the last two days from the pier. Didn't even get a nibble. In the meantime I hear that guys are catching their limit of perch in 40 feet of water, which isn't that far off shore.
It looks like great fun. My kids want to give it a try too. The nice thing about Lake Erie is, it's shallow enough that we can get some experience without being in deep water.
Kayaks seem to be very affordable too. Along the shore in some spots there are alot of bass.
Get the kids off the X-Box and have some fun and excersize.
I want to get my feet wet on Lake Erie and some of the smaller bays/rivers in the area and maybe try some ocean fishing once I get experienced.
I've got some pictures of my great grandfather out on Lake Erie in a rowboat with stringers full of fish.
No sharks in the lake, just the US Coast Guard... hahahaha..
In before the Sot!!
Are they good to eat?
L
You will get a lot of info from those 2 sites, very helpful yakers.
hahaha... if you broil them in Italian dressing I hear it's tasty.
Thanks, been looking into them, lots of good info there. Can't believe the fish these guys are landing.
For me and Lurker Jr it's going to be a canoe. We can sneak up on the walleyes and smallies better. If we get a square stern I can mount a small electric on it and get some largemouth.
Have fun and don't forget your PFD. 3 people drowned here two weeks ago within sight of the boat launch. It seems the wind got ahold of them, somehow they fell in and all three drowned. Not one of them was wearing a PFD.
Divers went after the bodies and looked for two days. They came up empty. Thinking about what those bodies will look like when they eventually float up gives me the willies.
Take care and have fun.
L
I very seldom fish for kayak anymore...
I don't think the SOT kayaks have enough space for the requisite beer that all my fishing entails.
Floaters, I hate floaters. Went to a floater autopsy.
time for a war story. Had a guy a few years ago, paddled out onto the lake in a canoe, blew his head off with a shotgun. He fell overboard, washed up about 9 months later, all through the winter he was in the lake, which made it not so bad but he was a wreck.
He washed up on some guys property. Poor guy nearly tripped over the body when he found it, really freaked him out.
Only thing above the neck was his lower jaw.
Anyway, now back to normal.
Definetely gonna have the PFD's, especially with the little ones possibly along with me. Gonna try to talk a PD buddy into buying one and going along.
hahaha... that's why they make little kayak trailers...I myself can just paddle up the Cuyahoga River (if it's not on fire) and pull up to the Great Lakes Brewery.
Their new beer, Lake Erie Monster, is 12% alcohol.
GLB makes some pretty good stuff, too.
12% is a monster brew alright. I can't get any of my homebrews over about 6-1/2%. But I did make a mead last year that made it to 12%.
I made it sparkle like champagne. Boy did that stuff go down easy but talk about packing a whallop.
Do yourself a favor and get real familiar with the location of all the dams along your routes. Those things can sneak right up on you. We routinely have a couple of idiots on jet skis get sucked into the swirls underneath them every summer.
The divers won't even try to recover them from there. Waaaay too dangerous.
Have fun. Let me know if the smallies are running.
L
Ah, Brau Master. My father-in-law has a buddy that makes his own beer, he's the only one I know of. A few that make wine.
Far as I know there are no dams around here but I will keep that in mind. Today the lake was like glass in the morning then got a bit choppy in the afternoon.
Kills me seeing guys out there about a mile out, I know they are catching their limit.
So, you remember the Great Fire eh? I was in California when that happened, didn't move here till the 80's. Cleveland has made quite a turn around downtown but it's still a rat hole. To many democrats.
Oh, right now everybody is waiting for the white bass to come in. Guess they're late.
As far as the dams go, you can usually get charts from the COE office. They'll be marked clearly. Do avoid them as they are quite dangerous and you can be in the danger zone almost before you realize you're in serious trouble.
I don't mean to be presumptuous, but a Coast Guard safety class wouldn't be a waste of time IMO. Make sure you carry some of those pen flares with on the water. We had some guy run out of gas on a jet ski on Lake Michigan a couple of years ago and he floated around for 3 days before the CG found him. Nasty sunburn and some serious dehydration.
I remember when they were saying that Lake Erie was 'dead' and would be 'dead' for a hundred years. Now it's just about the premier walleye and smallmouth fishery in the nation. I envy you your proximity. Walleyes are fine eating fish and smallmouth bass are just about the best freshwater fighting fish there is.
I'm not a 'master' brewer by any means, but I do cook up a pretty mean Heffe Weisen and the mead will kick your behind without being cruel about it.
I'm going to try to hit the Camp Perry matches next year. Maybe we'll hook up for a pizza and some frosty ones.
L
I know from my childhood you will get soggy of you are in liquid for longer than a few minutes.
Thanks for the advice, I believe I will take it. We have a Coast Guard station in town. The Zebra Mussels really cleaned up the lake, it has been quite a transformation.
Before I got on the PD I worked downtown Cleveland for an Armored Car Company. I mostly worked downtown and the east side of Cleveland. What a zoo. This was before the big fix up/clean up.
Cities got alot of potential... but...
We went to the fish hatchery near Sandusky a few years ago, I could not believe the amount of fish that were being released into the lake, they were many and they were huge.
Being near the lake is nice. If I walk to the end of my street and look north I can see the lake.
I've always wanted to go to Perry for the big shoot, it's only about an hour drive from here. Getting together for beer and pizza would be great. I'll start stocking up now.. hahahaha.
From what I've been reading there is clothing one can wear to eleviate that problem. Most of the articles I have read say it's not a big deal.
Soggy buns doesn't sound like much fun though does it?
I'm bedding the action on my rifle Monday. The 600 yard matches are in August. I'd love to make it this year but Mrs. L has a trip to wine country in mind. I'll see if there's any way I can do both.
The CG safety class is excellent. You get a sticker upon completion and it'll save you some hassles if you get stopped for a 'safety inspection' For some reason I don't remember it costing much at all. One other thing you might want to invest in is one of those handheld Marine Band radios. They've got the Weather Bands built in and they sure can come in handy. A decent one will run less than $150.00 or so. Make sure you get a floating case. Just trust me on that. LOL. Pretty cheap insurance if you ask me.
I grew up outside of Akron in the 60s and early 70s so I remember some pretty wild times myself. I was in CF when the NG shot those kids in Kent. I remember Dad sleeping on the couch with a shotgun because the peace loving SDS types had threatened to 'burn the burgueois in their beds'.
Nice folks those peace loving hippies.
L
Good beer and Western PA, now there's a concept. When I was there in the 70's it was IC and Genny Cream.
I bought a canoe but can't find anyone else to go down the river with me.
Pontoon boat;)
What kinda rifle you bedding? I'd love to get out there at Camp Perry, almost did with the PD, got cancelled.
I'll definetely take that CG class, I almost did a few years ago when I was thinking of buying a regular boat. The radio makes sense too, especially if I have one the kids with me.
The waves on Lake Erie can kick up real fast.
Death to the burgeouis eh? Yeah, those liberal zealots are real nice folk. Funny thing is most of THEM are the ones with the money.
Well, hope you can make it up this way.
I think Genny went out of business, or got bought out. No Duke?? Old Dutch?? Steel City Ale?? Brew and Browns Vs. Steelers... don't get much better.
:-)
What's this? Aren't you from the great State of Tennessee?? And no one to go down the river with? That just ain't right.
I was a Redskins fan at the time... talk about tough to do in that part of the world. :)
Springfiend Armory M1A National Match. It's an older model, so it didn't come from the factory bedded. I bought one of those tiger striped birch stocks from Freds, spent a week or so sanding and hand rubbing it with Tung oil. It's beautiful.
So Monday we bed it and then I'll go see how well she shoots.
I hope I can make it as well.
Watch your back out there.
L
Ah, Joe Gibbs and the Hogs. They were a great team. I still remember Riggins running around the end for that touchdown.
HA.. I got a Springfield Armory M1A myself. I also got a stock from Fred's. Even joined that shooting club he advertised.
I picked up one of the fiberglass presentation stocks, brown. I don't know how to glass bed, I did get some info from AGI, mostly reference material.
The short version is you just have to hog out a bit of material around where the receiver fits into the stock and fill that with something like Acraglas. It keeps the receiver from shifting in the stock from shot to shot so you have a consistent platform launching your rounds.
The Acraglas keeps it from shifting from side to side, and up and down in between shots. This leads to a more solid and consistent platform, hence smaller group sizes. That's the short version of the theory anyway.
I'll ping you to a source for the video and a couple of books on the subject if you'd like.
Nice choice on the M1A. Great minds do indeed think alike. It doesn't look like it takes much in the way of tools other than a drill press and a couple of router bits. The trick seems to be not permanently bonding your receiver to the stock yet getting a good, tight fit at the same time.
One of my buddies has already done his, and he's got the drill press. I had enough foresight to let him do his first and it tightened his groups considerably.
I've also got the original fiberglass stock that came with the rifle in a green camo pattern. I think I'm going to pick up some Krylon and do it over in a nice desert pattern.
I topped my rig off with one of those Springfield rangefinding scopes. It shoots pretty well now, but I'm anxious to try it at some extreme ranges, say 600 yards or so.
Old Fred certainly is a character. He's got about a thousand copies of Travis McGees book. If you haven't read it, pick up a copy. It's a darn good read.
I'll let you know how the work comes out. The guy in the video makes it look easy. That's usually my downfall regarding do it myself projects. I'll put some pics up on my homepage when it's done so you can check it out for yourself.
L
I almost had someone glass bed the stock for me. I couldn't decide if I wanted to get one of those fancy Fred camo stocks, the stock with the pistol grip etc. Too many choices hahahaha.
I also had one of Springfields range finding scopes, I couldn't get their mount to hold a consistent zero though so I took it off. I was looking for one of those Army mounts.. I think they call it an ART? Anyway, they were way too expensive for me.
Have you checked out Fulton Armory's tricked out M1A stock? Looks a little to much for me. Guess I'm a traditionalist.
I'd like to get my hands on a nice '03 Springfield, always wanted one of those.
Yeah, Fred's a hoot, haven't been to his sight in quite a while though.
I used the SA first generation mount. It seems to hold up pretty well from shot to shot but I don't think I'd take it to war or anything.
Sadlak Ind. makes an aluminum one that's not too awful pricey and is supposed to be the best design there is.
The CMP still has some '03 Sprinfields for sale if I'm not mistaken. Get thee to a club, qualify, and then you can purchase one direct from Uncle Sugar.
Fulton Armory does some nice work but I'm like you. Some of it is just a bit over the top for my taste. I'm kind of digging on the wood one I worked on. The grain in the birch came up really nice. One coat of Min-Wax Walnut stain and about 10 coats of hand rubbed Tung oil really made it look nice.
I'm not much of a woodworker, but I think it came out alright. Like I said when it's finished I'll put a pic or two up on my FR homepage.
L
I'll check out that site. I considered joining the CMP, wanted to get an '03 bad. Still do. I figure I'm just going to have my M1A for the iron sights.
I also have a Remington 700 with a Leupold 3.5 X 10 scope. I sent the scope back to Leupold and have them put the Mil Dot sights in it.
When I was on SWAT they issued me a Remington 700 with a Leupold scope, mine shoots better than the department gun.
Do you re-load? If you do I may have some once fired Remington brass for you. I used to be able to shoot as much .168 grain BTHP as I cared to.
Not on SWAT anymore but I still have some empty brass.
Does your Dept. use the .40 cal? I've got a couple of thousand empty cases I've got no use for. If your armorer reloads for practice rounds I'll be happy to send 'em your way. I've got no use for them.
In fact it'd be better to get them out of the house before I'm tempted to go buy a .40. If I did that it'd just delay the day I get the .50 rifle I'm lusting after.
My buddy has a Leupold on his M1A. He likes it a lot. I got a deal on the SA scope as they were d/c'ing them so I picked it up. I'm pretty happy with it. From what I've heard the manufacturing QC was spotty. Maybe I got lucky.
We carry Glock .45's. Not bad. A bit big for my hand but overall I like them.
I got my SA scope when I bought the rifle, I think they called it their "loaded" package. I ended up selling it to a buddy of mine who put it on a bolt gun.
I'll check and see how much brass I got at home and get back with you. I'm at the shop now and I'm trying to cook pizzas and chat. Momma Crunch is gonna kick my skinny butt.
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