Handline fishing...have you tried it?

Anyone ever try one of these? 
http://waaycool.com/wc_kyk_setup_safety.html

Nanook has been posting on using a handline to fish.

Being in a sea kayak myself I'm interested in this also, might give it a shot one of these days.

That's the one I've been using...the way cool. It's a pretty slick set up, but the down side to this unit is you have to pull in the line hand over hand and have a big mess in your lap. the winder is small and flimsy for bigger game, good for trout & smaller stuff.

I have another with a wood winder that is larger and stronger for winding the line back on instead of in your lap.

I've only used the way cool one, as it's compact enough to fit in my small soft cooler i use as a tackle box... the whole cooler can fit in my day hatch with all my fishing stuff.

What I've founf so far is that trolling is ideal for hand lines. jigging etc is allot more challenging as it's hard to set the hook and keep the line tight. trolling kind of takes care of that for you.

it's even more fun stillfishing with a bobber on a handline. things can get real interesting real fast.

wish i had seen this set up when i was fishing via handline off the fantail of the Gilliland. might have saved wear and tear on my shoulder sockets

What ya need is one of these for rock fish jigging....

https://www.ronco.com/PocketFisherman/Default.aspx?source=google-fisherman

Actually it might not even be a bad idea as a back up rod if your others get broken or go to the bottom of the big blue pond.  My little brother got one of these for his birthday back when he was like 8 and it was a pretty stout setup.  He caught some good sized trout on it without issue.  Nowadays, maybe slap some Carbonex washers and Cal's drag grease on them and your set.