Stringer Warning to Southern Beginners Posted by: lunkerkevo on Apr-20-12 1:05 PM (EST)
Great article. I'm a beginner to kayak fishing and this article provided some constructive ideas to think about; but I wanted to make sure I noted something here. If fishing in areas known to have alligators do not use a stringer off the side of your kayak. Our northern lake and river kayak fishermen need not worry about this, but here in the South East U.S. a stringer in such an environment WILL result in a close encounter of the unwanted kind with our reptilian friends. If you plan to keep your fresh water catch in the south there's a couple of options. A buddy of mine freezes several freezer zip-lock bags and actually stores his catch in his front dry hatch. I store my catch in my beverage cooler. So to all of the beginners out there in the South, DO NOT STRING FISH ALONG THE SIDE OF YOUR KAYAK. That said, something else to consider about rod size is where you are going. Most of us store our rods vertically on our kayaks; so it's good to be familiar with your fishing environment and plan effectively. If I know I'll be on certain sections of a river where there's going to be a lot of tree growth over the river, I'll take a 4' and 6' rod and angle both of them in my crate to keep the profile low.