NCKFA Oak Island Classic

Not a lot I can really say except this is a great event put on by some great people for a great cause. I got to Oak Island on Friday around noon and launched in an attempt to pre-fish and learn the local water. I went to a local creek and with a falling tide saw lots of exposed oyster beds. Caught 2 small redfish but nothing that would win a prize. So on Saturday the morning of the event arrives. I am the first kayak fisherman and the launch and then the official arrives. After I get setup and the official blows the whistle off we go. The wind is blowing 15-20 NNE. I hit a marsh bank with top water with about 3 cast. I get to a nice little point that everyone passed by and on the first cast a 16.5" Speck is locked on. I get back to the point, set anchor and take my photos. I continue throwing and catch 5 more speckle trout, which seemed odd since everyone stated there were none around they could locate. I figure I need to try for a slam and start jigging Gulp. Sure enough two small redfish around 14 inches. I wrap it up around 12 and head for some structure to try for the flounder. No luck. Once at checkout the trout sounds promising and I get the call to view my photos. Its confirmed and a nice trophy and some prizes for a 3rd place trout out of 168 anglers. Looking back I guess I should have packed up after that first fish. Not really I loved catching those specks that were stacked up. Thanks to the other anglers that passed them by!

Installing a Garmin Depth Finder on a Jackson Cuda Kayak

I wanted to have the ability to find depth contours when fishing deeper water for Old drum and if I ever do so freshwater lakes. So I bought a Garmin Echo 100 from West Marine for $69.95 after the did a price match from my phone. After I got it home I studied how to install it with the different arms and the Lowrance scupper mount and decided to just build my own. I grabbed a piece of 1" aluminum flat bar from Lowe's and with a few quick measurements started to bend and shape it. Once I got the right lengths I smoothed the edges with a file, drilled the hole for the bolt and another for the transducer bolt. Then I attached the transducer.

Next with a little bending I was able to get it through the front scupper hole on the right side of my Jackson Cuda to keep it out of my way and still have use of the scupper.

I routed the wire into the center hatch using a West Marine wire cap item 8717886. It was time to mount the unit. I wanted to be able to remove the unit when it was not needed so a 4" Yakattack Geartrac was added to the first slot on the hatch cover. A Yakattack screwball was added and a Ram Mount arm and mount were used.

Another West Marine wire cap was used to run the power and transducer cables from the hatch to the unit.

Next was the power. I orders a 12 volt 8 amp gel battery and installed it into a Ozark waterproof container from Walmart. A grommet was used an a disconnect to be able to remove the box so the battery can be charged.I tied a bungee cord between the scupper holes to hold it out of the way. Make sure to fuse it. I switched to a mini AVP type fuse.

I hope this has helped you see how I installed a depth finder onto my Jackson Cuda kayak.