My Tarpon 120 Project Log (Large Pics)

Hello,

After about 15 years of fishing out of an old homemade fiberglass kayak my Uncle let me use I finally got the money saved up to buy a new yak. I decided on the Tarpon 120 for a few reasons:
1) It was 20% off at the time. 
2) It was in stock at REI and the Prowler 13 was not.
3) The size. Anything over 13ft is longer than I would like.
4) It is a SOT and geared toward fishing.
5) I used one of my Uncles a few times before in rivers and lakes and liked it.

So here I will post a log of what mods I am doing to it. I make a new post with each different mod.

Flush mount rod holder.

Note the direction the arrow is pointing. That is the were the holder locks in. I put it in that position so the holder will not pop out when the holder is pointing out the water side of the yak like in picture 3. It does not really work much for actual trolling or fishing. as the spinning reel rests on the kayak and it is a little hard to get out of the holder from that position. However this is fine by me as I use the holder for a place to hold my extra rod out of the way while not using it. I do not like the way many have their rods sticking strait up in the air. I do a lot of cast fishing and that make it easy to get your line caught on the pole behind you. I like the pole down and out of the way like in the 2nd last picture.

Truck Rack.

I needed a way to haul the yak on my truck and didn't want to pay for a ladder rack. I am a welder/fabricator/fitter by trade so making such a rack is not hard for me. I got some scrap angle from work and welded the 2 frames up and bolted them to my truck. This worked ok but they were a little wobbly. So I got some electrical conduit from Home Depot and made 4 support brackets. These made the racks very sturdy. I used pool noodle zipped tied on to keep the yak from scratching. This will be replaced soon with 2" PVC pipe.

Fish Finder Battery.

I picked up this little gem from Batteries Plus. I picked up some Velcro strips from Home Depot to secure it in the hull of the yak. it is a small battery (3.5" x 2.75" x 4") and light. Estimate it to run my FF for about 20hrs before needed recharge.

Fish Finder. I picked up  Hummingbird Piranha Max 20 from White Elephant for $90.00 on sale. I picked it over the Max10 and Cuda 168 because it has a higher resolution screen. I drilled a 1/2" hole to run the wires and mounted the bracket as shown. The transducer I first mounted with clear RTV silicon but that only lasted a few trips and it popped off. I had some "Goop" with me so I cleaned up the silicon and gooped the transducer on. It has stuck on there for a few months now. I pulled on it a bit and it seems pretty solid. I installed the transducer right below the small rear hatch where the hull flattens out. I am not 100% satisfied with this however. I seem to get odd readings now and then. Like when I am in 1ft of water it will read 6-7ft and sometimes pick up fish. Other times it reads 1ft as 1ft.  I might try a few different mounting techniques in the future.

Loaded Up.

This is how I strap the yak in. I turn it upside down as it rides very well. I have the racks spaced out just right to were the flat parts of the yak fit on the rack. I use 2 straps one in front and one in back. I have a 5ft cable lock I use through the rear scupper holes to lock the yak to the rack to prevent theft and to secure the yak on the truck in case I have to hit the breaks or get hit from behind.