Mounting an all-round white light to a fishing rod.

[kingiFiddler]

The rod will cast a shadow but probably not much, so I'm keen to find a mounting option for my railblaza all-round white light to test it out and see if I can still see the light when directly in line with the rod. If it works, I'm thinking of ditching the railblaza pole because it triggers my simplification and minimalist OCD and I want it gone.

Does anyone have any ideas how to mount the light to a rod please?

There are those rod clips that look like plastic bulldog clips, to hold lures securely, so maybe something like that adapted to take the white light?

[Hairy Little Dwarf]

What about a thin rod, think "chopstick" , that drops down through the top 2 rings?

Shadow from the rod will ne a non-event unless your kayak stays absolutely motionless.

[kingiFiddler]

Thanks HLD. That's got the creative juices flowing. Would be worried I'm just replacing the railblaza pole (which I dislike intensely), with another pole to have to stow though. I'm thinking some sort of star mount that clips to or ties to the rod. During sun-up it can just be uncliped and thrown in a spare mount on the yak or in a bag. Or, if the mount can be cable tied to the rod without creating any flat spots or pinch points, then perhaps it might even be robust enough to fish the rod during dark hours while the light is on it too. I've got a few ideas, might make a crude prototype before seeing if anyone with a 3D printer can knock up a few test pieces.

It's funny how there are a zillion different railblaza mount options but this idjit has dreamed up the 'need' for another

I'm now down to using just one rod on the yak and it is so bloody good I absolutely have to lose the railblaza pole. It is so very Zen, so liberating, to know there is nothing else back there or in front when a fish hits the one and only rod. I'm loving it. Should have done it sooner.

[kingiFiddler]

Thinking about this some more, your idea of the support peg is genius, HLD. Thank you.

The only time I'll be fishing with the light on is catching livebait on the way out, and for that I don't need to run the line through the top two guides, so the light support peg can go through those and not be so long it's a PITA to stow during sun-up.

I'll be tinkering on this over the weekend. Thanks again. If I can ditch the railblaza pole, I'll be very happy. The gaff is getting twitchy now too. It should be afraid. Very afraid.

[kingiFiddler]

6.5mm plastic Op Shop knitting needle epoxied into the hole Railblaza conveniently left for me. Not sure how well the plastics will bond to the epoxy. Did scuff it but I guess we'll see once this dries:

lightTweak.jpg (55.91 KiB) Viewed 298 times

[kingiFiddler]

It was too much weight if going through the tip so moved it down a few guides, leaving two guides for the fishing line to go through, which is hopefully going to work out fine when catching livies.

Used the velcro strap that came with the railblaza kit.

Not sure if it's going to work out OK, and if the guide will handle it, but hoping to test it out tomorrow.

Any suggestions or ideas how to improve, please sing out. Always keen to improve it. I did go looking for long plastic type of bulldog clip I could mount the light to then clip to the rod blank anywhere I like, but couldn't find one.

[AndrewRawlingson]

Put a Railblaza mount on your hat. It will look like you're permanently having good ideas

[kingiFiddler]

Put a Railblaza mount on your hat. It will look like you're permanently having good ideas

I've a headlamp on order that has a top 360 light mounting option, but like xmas (and stealth kayaks), stuff never seems to get here soon enough. Jury is still out on if it'll even make 1m above the waterline on this short-ass though and I doubt its waterproof but keen to try it as yet another proof of concept

Also have a flat railblaza starport but will have to fiddle with securing hat well. Maybe just 1-2" elastic chin strap to each side of the mount so can take it off easy enough. Worth a shot though. Cheers ears.

[kingiFiddler]

Rod-mounted light worked well this morning. Nice to not have the railblaza pole on the yak. Now, just the gaff to cut down and the minimal zen yak is almost consciously manifested into existence.

Experimented with the livebaiting rig this morning, trying to see if I could use a 8/0 circle hook for livebaiting but too big. Also, I cut a spiralled slit the full length of the pen lure so I could easily take it on and off without cutting the line. It wasn't as effective as a solid one though. Perhaps creating too many bubbles?

[Hairy Little Dwarf]

Gaff issues sorted... You a lefty or righty?

GAFF.JPG (29.67 KiB) Viewed 257 times

[kingiFiddler]

But if I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times:

[AndrewRawlingson]

All your dreams come true, right here

[kingiFiddler]

Noice but does it float?
We were discussing longer rods the other day. Here I am wanting to shorten the gaff now.

Houston, we (might, in the future, with a longer rod) have a problem.

[AndrewRawlingson]

No idea. Come to think of it, I never used a gaff or net on the kayak, just grabbed the tail.

[kingiFiddler]

No idea. Come to think of it, I never used a gaff or net on the kayak, just grabbed the tail.

Whilst, sadly, it never got close enough to test the theory, but I'd put money on there being no way I could have got my midget hands around the tail of that kingi I lost after a 1/2 hr fight a few weeks back. That thing was way too big. I don't think I could have got its centre of gravity over the rail of the yak if I had just grabbed it by the jaw and pulled it up either. I'd have needed a gaff somewhere in the back., or just put a rope through it, strapped it to the side of the yak and paddled it to shore.

It may not happen this Summer but at some point I'm going to need to land something big. Maybe just some inflatable floats, tie it to the yak, and hope like heck a shark doesn't see it? I wonder if that's why they use those spear type gaffs in Hawaii - they can at least kill it from a safe distance even if they can't get it aboard.

[AndrewRawlingson]

In my dreams considering how to wrangle a marlin on the jetski (yes, I have tried and others have succeeded!), I thought about taking a speargun for an instant iki. Nothing that could go wrong with that plan

[kingiFiddler]

LOL. Don't we all mate. Don't we all. In my dream, I find that transition from green to blue water just a few kms off Mangawhai, have a big kahawai livie, sight a marlin top water, deploy livie, hook up, somehow don't get my 5000 sized reel instantly spooled, and after 10 minutes and getting towed a few miles, I phone a friend (who just needs to hear me say marlin on and coordinates and he'll set in motion our pre-arranged battle plan), and after five hours I leader it, hand the rod to him on the boat (he has cancelled the days work, launched the boat and found me by this stage) to do the rest and revive it while I collapse on the deck with arm cramps and a tear in my eye.

Hmmmm, I wonder if a paslode nailgun would do the job of insta-iki? But where to stow it