CAMERA MOUNTS FOR YOUR FISHING TRIPS

As I am getting started in Kayak Fishing, I am checking out the various options and gears I could use to shoot and record my trips. The Kayak Angler Mag recently published a short video presenting the interesting Railblaza mounts.

Railblaza is a name you may know already if you are an experienced angler. When I saw the set up Rex DeGuzman and Robert Field have on their canoe, I got interested by the unlimited option you can get from this camera mount kit. I could get equivalent results with other mounts but I kind of like the Railblaza concept.

To summarize what's said in the video, here is the list of what you could need to get the ideal camera set ups for your yak.

Of course, you don't need to buy all these elements. Think first what you want to shoot, how you want to do it, and where would be the best spot to put your camera and the recording options you need.

Then just make your decision based on these points.

Railblaza Boom Pro 150 and 600 Series

The RailBlaza Camera Boom 150 or 600 Pro Series (longer version) are really cool camera mounts with a great number of pivot options and camera platforms. You can fix it on your side rails if you don’t want to drill holes while getting started. The pivot system at both ends of the pole is a really interesting feature when you want to change shooting angles on the fly.

Camera Mount Boom 150 Pro Series. © Photo by Railblaza.

Camera Mount adaptor

The Railblaza Camera Mount Adaptor allows you to mount directly all kind of cameras directly on top of the poles. The pack includes a GoPro style tripod adaptor and it can hold SLR, Contour, Garmin, Sony, Panasonic, HedCam, and most action cameras you could think of.

Railblaza Camera Mount Adaptor. © Photo by Railblaza

Rotating platform

The rotating platform is a cool kit to add to your camera mount. It is actually included in the Boom
150 package I described above. It offers a full 360˚rotation to shoot in all kind of directions.

Railblaza Rotating Platform. © Photo by Railblaza.

Think about it, you are close to your buddy who hooked a monster and you can record the action by just turning the cam around.

StarPort and Trac mount (for those who don't want to drill their yak)

The combined StarPort Base and Tracmount kit is the way to go if you’re not too confident drillingholes in your yak. Those sidetracks still allow you to get multiple choices of shooting angles to try before deciding later or not to to go for a permanent fix at the rear of front of your boat.

StarPort fixed on a Wilderness Systems Kayak with the TracMount © Photo by Railblaza.

I'll be getting these gears soon, so I will be able to show you the set up and how I use them.

The team is also using other types of mounts and I am sure they will be eager to share their experience and review of these mounts in further posts.

For more information check out Railblaza.com website.

What kind of mounts do you use for your cameras? Share it with us in the comments below.

PERCH FISHING JUNE 5th 2016, SORT OF A DISASTER

Have decided to fly fish for perch this season a bit more than I have done before and felt it was time to do something about that.

Weather was better than forecasts promised and I went out in a light breeze,sun came out from the clouds every now and then,it was a bit windy but still decided to grab two setups with me, a #7 weight and a #9 weight just in case,well...I had some pike flies with me too.

This time I was out all alone.Because I had no clue about proper Perch fishing I decided to paddle on areas I thought could be good and just fish from a drifting yak.

When I reached some open water I noticed that with my casting technique I could forget using the 7 weight rod and fish with the nine weight instead,wind was really about to increase now.

Came to the first area and started to fish,got a 6-7 cm flashy streamer at the end at the line,it felt so easy to cast after all those big pike flies.

Fished close to a area where we  had caught many pikes so naturally I used trace wire too which came to use just minutes after I started to fish,noticed immediately it was a pike that shown some interest in my small streamer....

Don't know....Should I be happy or not,after all I was fishing for perch....

Anyway...fished this area for a while but without any contacts from neither perch or pike so I decided to move a bit further,actually to a pike spot but thought it could be a good place for perch too,third cast and boom,not surprisingly it was a pike again...and again....and again,felt strange,fishing was good,only wrong species hitting my fly

Just before I thought it would be nice to take a coffee break someone hit my fly with bad intensions and a small but angry and strong jack decided to do some harm to me,water was warm so I wan't to keep fights short and I forced the pike closer so I could grab the leader but this little bugger decided to do a angry run straight downward which ended up in a BANG when my rod broke,ended up to fight this fish with a two ft long rod tip,managed to land the fish anyway...

NOW it was a good time to take the break,after all I needed to pile up my reserve rod....

Said and done....

While drinking my second cup of coffee it started to rain and also noticed that the wind went harder every minute,in fact it was so hard I for a second thought to quit fishing and get back to the shore but because I knew I will have some tail wind on my way back I decided to go on.

Paddled a short way against the wind and even if this yak is one of the best I have paddled it was tough,so hard I was almost giving up but managed to reach the area I had in mind,a slightly shelter area were I was to spent the rest of the day.

Fished a long reed bank when the wind suddenly really went hard,so hard the waves rolled over the yak on and on so Decided to drag my ass to shore and wait for the wind to take off.

This break last for almost one and a half hour,eat my food and drink my coffee and decided there was no idea to continue so I fished some spots on my way back,this time I had some pikes in mind.

Except this I landed a lot of smaller jacks on my way back.

The way back was most steering the yak because of the strong tail wind.

Had mixed up feelings about this trip,had pretty good fishing even if I failed to land a single perch,but a amount of about fifteen pikes still made me longing out as soon as possible.

Need to find some time and inspiration to edit all video material from this trip,while waiting you can laugh to this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmcJygWidEk

EARLY BIRDS GET THE WORMS: FISHING MAY 28TH 2016

When your alarm clock ring 3.15 am your first thought is WTF, so was my but after some coffee I was ready to go and just as I had scheduled.

Had made some late forecast check before I left home,sunny (it wasn't) water level -30 cm and wind from east didn't increase my hopes for good fishing but at least it's always nice to get out.

Called my friend Bruce on my way to the shore and he was almost behind me and not long before we were out paddling to the first spot.
Wind from east and low water level was just as challenging as we expected so in the first two and half hours we only had two hits on our flies,very good time to take a coffee break.

We continued a bit different as first had planned but fishing continued slow so after a while we decided to follow our original plan and soon after we also started to catch,small but at least it kept us on our toes for maybe...who knows about the next one.

I don't know how many fishes we landed or how many we dropped. But I know I dropped A LOT. Those we saw were small so it's actually better to drop them without causing them more stress than to unhook them in the yak.

Most important moment in kayak fishing is lunch break. It's funny how good all food can taste outdoors, even this fast food meal was heavenly.

Fishing continued well and even if the size still were "pocket size" some of them felt very strong. The water is getting warmer which probably explain it.

We noticed one thing several times, fishes were not afraid of our yaks, we caught some fishes in shallow areas just two, three ft from our kayaks.

I have to say that even if we enjoyed our fishing one key point to enjoy is to NOT stay out for too long,go home while you having fun and it leave good memories of the day,especially if you not catch at the end of the day it might erase all good moments from earlier catches/experiences of the day.
We fished for about ten hours which was just enough,nice to get back home without feeling totally exhausted.
What I noticed is that I still after so many years on same waters almost every time find something new to take photos of,this time it was this pine.

Here's still some random shots from our trip, in wait till next weekend, stay tuned.

FISHING TRIP 22ND OF MAY 2016

3/6 of the team were out on a warm sunny Sunday. Had my alarm clock ringing 3.15 and noticed how funny it is that it feel almost impossible to wake without snoozin for at least thirty minutes when your duty calling but when it's about fishing.....No problems to wake up.

Anyway, after morning rituals I jumped in my car and while i was driving my team mate Alex called me to see if I was awake and yes....I was.

Pretty cool to see the sunrise while I was driving, sights like these makes me feel good.

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Sunrise on the road to fishing spot.

Early mornings at the shore are in some way magical,took a moment to just feel the beauty of the stillness before I started to rig my kayak and while rigging Alex also arrived and not long before we hit the water.

Rigging the yaks.

First planned spot was pretty close, only three, maybe four hundred meters away.
Sun had just risen, water was crystal clear and surface calm, not the best odds to play with but I was wrong,fourth or fifth cast and first fish was landed, Alex also got his first fish of the day, aah, so cool.

We paddle slowly around a islet enjoying surroundings, stopped for some casts here and there and think we both had landed 4-5 fishes before we decided to take a coffee break.
Hard to describe how amazing it feel to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee and a good fresh roll with good company on a warm beautiful  summer morning, hard to beat imo.

While we were drinking our coffee we got a call from Christer who had arrived and decided to wait for him and not long before he arrived too and the line up for the day was finalized.

Me and Christer in ATAKs and Alex in middle in his Ride 135.

Weather slowly turned from warm to hot but thanks to a light breeze it didn't felt too hot out on the water.
We continued to fish and we had some good fishing at a deep reed bank but only in amount, not size but who care, nice with some action anyway.

Alex fly fished catch from the reed bank.

Moved to second reed bank and we managed to catch even there, we had some fun too, Alex found a rock in middle of a bay we fished from and decided to "take a walk" with the yak.

Walkin the dog.

 Funny how you always feel for something to bite when your out fishing and we decided to take more  short breaks than we usually do, it makes all difference in world on long days out like this. I think it really helps you going on.

Close to the place you see above, I managed to land a pike with a nasty looking cut on it's back,many guesses heard,a prop,a cormoran, spawning wounds etc, etc, don't know but it was still feeding and felt strong despite the cut.

Nasty cut.

So, we fished, we had some breaks and had very fun and ended our day in My favorite way of fishing, in middle of reeds searching for those small pockets were to put your fly in and wait for the hit which use to come when you least wait for it and they are usually explosive, with bad intentions.
Here's some mixed pics from the rest of the day which was long (17 hours), it was fun, despite the missing big fishes but at least the amount was decent to keep the state of mind on alert.

 Season is on and there will be reports from almost every weekend now so stay tuned.