Been a while since I've seen much local Melbourne posts.
Thought I'd start some chatter...
Got a pedal kayak about a year ago.
Spent about a year researching what fit my purposes and budget and landed on a propel 10.
Been an absolute game changer for me, always hated fishing off of land only because of the amount of people traffic - love the solitude on the water.
By all means it is a light kayak but for someone just under 70kgs, still heavy once it is all loaded up.
Highly recommend it to anyone serious about fishing and being on the water, it's good exercise, a great hobby and a work out all in one. Have never felt close to tipping over, it is a well built yak, though at times a bit slow.
The only bummer is parking in most of the inner city locations, always handy knowing anyone living in those councils!
Learned the art of car topping and all diy mods one can do on a kayak, not to mention the workout that comes with it.
Mods/Lessons:
Should have spent more money on a good kayak cart, currently have a railblaza ctug cart, gets the job done but a pain to put underneath the kayak with its flimsy stand design.
Bought a cheap kayak load assist suction cup from EBay, really helpful for loading. I stick it on the top back of the car roof, not on the rear windscreen.
Tracking sand on car roof - got a 10L can, and eBay hose that plugs into car 12v socket, spray it down before loading, also washes most of the salt off. Rinse off the roof when I get home. Not to mention car paranoia, wax car often and have bought paintgard protection film for spots bow/stern car straps vibrate and have worn off some shine.
Happy the car roof isn't too high like a full on SUV - Skoda Kamiq serves its purpose surprisingly well.
Bought a garmin striker 4 fish finder, fairly cheap but hugely worth it and diy'd the transducer onto a part of the pedal that goes underwater thanks to seeing it done on a YouTube video. Stuck the fishfinder ontop of the pedal drive, as there was a small threaded hole I could use. Was way cheaper then buying extra parts and would take up valuable space elsewhere on the yak.
Bunch of other small things - kayak anchor, diy anchor trolley with some rope and stainless rings, rod holders drilled onto my cooler, flag+tentpole+waterproof lamp for visibility.
Have launched from a bunch of spots including:
Docklands - Ron Barossi Park
Yarra River - Lorimer Street Beach
Brighton - North Road boat ramp
Brighton - Green Point
Sandringham - Anchorage
Black Rock - Boat Ramp
Mentone car park - near Mundy St
Mordialloc - Horse beach car park
Frankston - Oliver's Hill Beach
Mornington - Mornington Peninsula Beach
Mount Martha - Beach North
Shoreham - Beach
Got a lot of the locations scouring google maps or here/vyak, plenty more to try as I become more familiar and confident. I live SE so most locations are out of convenience.
If anyone else is keen, would be great to compile doable launch spots here.
As for fish and squid, have caught plenty of edible species but frustratingly still haven't got one humble bream on the deck
, still recovering from Docklands I reckon. I'll always come back, what is with the allure of fishing urban inner city waterways?
