Revo rudder Mod. ideas

I have a Hobie Revo 13 with both rudders. I mostly fish lakes and need the small rudder to be able fish backwards. It takes to long to switch the sailing rudder which I need to use when I am out in Puget sound. I was wondering how I could make a larger slip on sleeve that I could easily put on and off the smaller rudder when in the sound. I just don't want to spend a half an hour switching the darn thing back and forth. Some sort of a sleeve set up.
Any Ideas?

I am really curious what you're talking about with regard to "fishing backwards".

I backtroll (go Backwards) with flies for trout on lakes. The sailing rudder catches the water and slams the kayak left or right and has just about dumped me. It does not do it with the standard rudder. I am using the Hobie 180 drive in reverse. It works better for some presentations.

I backtroll (go Backwards) with flies for trout on lakes. The sailing rudder catches the water and slams the kayak left or right and has just about dumped me. It does not do it with the standard rudder. I am using the Hobie 180 drive in reverse. It works better for some presentations.

I've almost fell out multiple times doing the same thing.

Any Ideas?

Keep the rudder up and drag a hand or shorty paddle to turn.

Thank you for your idea, I really need the rudder to do the work.

Fishman, do you hold your rod or can you mount it in a forward-facing rod holder? 

If you are back peddling, and slow trolling I would certainly go with the suggestion of a hand paddle for steering corrections, or just use your paddle and not the drive at all.  No modifications required. I realize that it kind of negates the purpose of the 180 drive, but fills the gap.

When I used to troll for trout with my T13 at Hagg Lake, I too went backwards so that I could see the subtle changes to the rod tip or be ready to set the hook.  I just used my paddle (as that was my only real mode of propulsion) to move me around.  Most of the time I could just drift in a light breeze backwards with some basic tweaks with my paddle to speed up, slow down, or change my rearward heading. Trolling for trout should have some variables in the presentation anyways so getting an "S" curve in the troll is a good thing. 

I always have the rod in my hand. Occasionally, one in each hand while trolling forward. Had six doubles on in my last trip. Landed one pair. It's was a s__t show. Fun though. I use two rods when legal to test patterns then switch back to one once I figure out which is the hot fly.
When I backtroll peddling, the purpose is to twitch the fly and this can't be done trolling forward.
If you paddle and the rod is sitting down or in a rod holder you are at an extreme disadvantage.
All the guys trolling in a pontoon by rowing miss lots of strikes. The float tube guys do okay with their fins trolling but if they want to go to the other side of the lake it is not ideal.
A peddle kayak of any type has huge advantages over one that just has just a paddle, if you are going to troll with it.

My opinion is based on fly fishing with barbless hooks. Lures with barbs may not have the "missed strike" problem.

One solution, I don’t particularly like it but see nothing wrong with it:
Standard rudder has about 37.7 sq. in. of surface area below the water.  The sailing rudder has about 76.5 sq. in. of surface area below the water.
You could modify the sailing rudder so that with only 3 bolts the bottom 7.2” of the rudder assembly with 2 doublers of .10” thick aluminum and another 3 bolts, can be removed and you are left with a rudder with about the same effectivity as the standard rudder.  Would add very little drag.
This was quick and dirty sketch of the idea, hope you get what I'm thinking.

Thank you for that Idea.  I will consider it.
I would hate to cut my sailing rudder in half and have it not work in the short version.
I think I will try the sleeve concept first. It should work. I have worked with moldable plastics for holsters, knife sheaths etc. before and I have the tools to form and rivet it.
I will send you pics when I am done.

Cutting a rudder in half - it’s why I didn’t like it.  I like your approach, looking forward to your pics.

Started making the quick detachable sailing rudder.
I used Kydex plastic and brass rivets. I will drill through the sleeve set up and the standard rudder inside and use two stainless screws with nylock nuts. The set up pretty much mimics the sailing rudder. The inside of the rivets are hollow so there will be some water drag. If it is appreciable, I will fill the holes with some product. More picks will follow.

When I backtroll peddling, the purpose is to twitch the fly and this can't be done trolling forward.
If you paddle and the rod is sitting down or in a rod holder you are at an extreme disadvantage.

That's odd.  I troll flies for trout all the time, paddling forward, and I don't think I miss many, if any, strikes - and I assure you, you most definitely can twitch the flies while paddling.  Doesn't matter what I'm fishing for, I only use barbless hooks.

Hey!  Maybe that explains why it's Steelhead: 26 - Tinker: 0?

Did your catch ratio go up a lot when you switched to a Hobie?  I didn't notice a difference when I switched back to paddling.  Maybe I'm just always missing gobs of strikes.

Sent you a PM
Mike

Tinker, For kayak fishing, I have always used my Hobie drive. I switched and got a newer model for the seat upgrade and a 180 drive to be able to peddle in reverse.  I catch lots of fish peddling forward with my rod off to the side but as I watched the guys in my club kicking with fins and the rods pointed straight out in front of them, I wanted to duplicate a presentation in which I could twitch the line with one hand on the rod and the other doing the line twitch. the rod need to be pointed towards your fly to do this.  If the rod is off to the side and the kayak is going forward and you just try to pull on on the rod to create a twitching movement , the rod tip flexes and no twitch is transferred to the fly. 
The guys that row their pontoon boat have their rod set down, they get a strike and miss part of them because the cannot pick up their rod fast enough.  When pedaling, I get the strike and continue to peddle to keep tension on the line to try to keep the fish from unbuttoning with those barbless hooks. This works most of the time.
I am the only one in our fly fishing group to use a kayak so that is my observation from fishing with those guys and watching other folks.
I you are able to have a great success rate doing it while paddling, that is great.
Mike