Mounting for FF and Bait Tank! - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

Lord Matthew34 · 03-10-2010, 08:26 PM

I mounted my FF in the front of my yak and obviously the bank tank in the back. The bait tank wires run through the kayak to a switch mounted up near the FF. Then I spliced the wires from the FF and the bait tank into a dry box where I have 1 12volt battery to power them both. I dont do a lot of live bait fishing (mainly because I enjoy fishing plastics and cranks in the bay) but i've got the option and I think the capacity to pretty much run both at the same time for extended periods of time. I'm also going to run an inline fuse to the FF wire, because if this does cause me to blow a circuit i'd rather the fuse go out, then the FF.

Hide your wires on the inside of the yak, and use zip ties to keep them singularly and out of the way.

-scallywag- · 03-11-2010, 07:36 AM

As far as batteries go, it all depends on your application. I agree that you can run the bait tank and FF from one battery and it will work great for fishing the bays and lakes (unless your butt fishing with dines) or even keep a couple macs alive.

But, If you want to seriously target the big three, you should seriously consider two different power sources, one 6V and one 12V.
-A dedicated power source for your GPS/FF is nice, loosing your GPS in the fog even if you have a compass is not fun. It also sucks fishing half the day only to get out to a new spot and loose your FF.
-Bilge pumps running at 12V suck up the juise pretty fast and pump way too much water for most 5-8gal yak tanks. 6V batteries are small, about the size of a paperback book and will run most pumps 12-18hrs.
- Targeting pelegics during certain times of the year usually requires making lots of bait(20+ mac) then transporting them a mile or ten and keeping them alive all day
-Also some live bait such as squid and dines require lots of water, when using these baits I leave the tank running constantly, it seems like if you turn the water off for even a second, half of them will roll.

OR

You could go the redneck style with any random container and a $15 hand bilge pump, I use this method with a bigger bait tank (10-12gal) on the front of a tandem, it works OK, but just don't plan on keeping more than 4-5 pieces of bait alive all day, which can put you at a pretty big disadvantage.

03-10-2010, 08:26 PM	#1
Lord Matthew34 Mad Yakker Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: La Mesa Posts: 38	I mounted my FF in the front of my yak and obviously the bank tank in the back. The bait tank wires run through the kayak to a switch mounted up near the FF. Then I spliced the wires from the FF and the bait tank into a dry box where I have 1 12volt battery to power them both. I dont do a lot of live bait fishing (mainly because I enjoy fishing plastics and cranks in the bay) but i've got the option and I think the capacity to pretty much run both at the same time for extended periods of time. I'm also going to run an inline fuse to the FF wire, because if this does cause me to blow a circuit i'd rather the fuse go out, then the FF. Hide your wires on the inside of the yak, and use zip ties to keep them singularly and out of the way.

03-11-2010, 07:36 AM	#2
-scallywag- Banned Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: on the road... Posts: 598	As far as batteries go, it all depends on your application. I agree that you can run the bait tank and FF from one battery and it will work great for fishing the bays and lakes (unless your butt fishing with dines) or even keep a couple macs alive. But, If you want to seriously target the big three, you should seriously consider two different power sources, one 6V and one 12V. -A dedicated power source for your GPS/FF is nice, loosing your GPS in the fog even if you have a compass is not fun. It also sucks fishing half the day only to get out to a new spot and loose your FF. -Bilge pumps running at 12V suck up the juise pretty fast and pump way too much water for most 5-8gal yak tanks. 6V batteries are small, about the size of a paperback book and will run most pumps 12-18hrs. - Targeting pelegics during certain times of the year usually requires making lots of bait(20+ mac) then transporting them a mile or ten and keeping them alive all day -Also some live bait such as squid and dines require lots of water, when using these baits I leave the tank running constantly, it seems like if you turn the water off for even a second, half of them will roll. OR You could go the redneck style with any random container and a $15 hand bilge pump, I use this method with a bigger bait tank (10-12gal) on the front of a tandem, it works OK, but just don't plan on keeping more than 4-5 pieces of bait alive all day, which can put you at a pretty big disadvantage.