Just like the rest of you, I am a budget kayak fishermen, who fell in love with the Pelican Potomac Fishing Kayak. However, after the first trip, I quickly realized that I was going to have to take a hacksaw to it. Not good at all. This episode doesn’t have any videos, but future modifications will! Until then though, check out what happened!
I started out, by not liking the hatch on the back of it. I knew that I needed to access behind the seat, and also keep a fishing crate on board. So I started drawing lines with the sharpie. Once I had all of the lines connected, squared off, and where I wanted them, I started drilling. I drilled some pilot holes in order to get my hacksaw started. You can see in the picture below, some of the sharpie marks are still visible.
I tried to follow the lines of the kayak, to make sure everything fit right. Once I was finished, I had a burred up mess of plastic. I emptied the shavings from the kayak, and grabbed the air conditioning pipe insulation. This stuff fit perfect. Use some duct tape to secure it underneath, and use a lot. You don’t want this coming off.
On to the front of the boat now. I had to literally climb half way in through the hatch to get anything that made its way to the end. This is impossible when you are on the water, obviously. So, being me, I chopped up the front as well, using the same procedure as I used on the back half of the boat. These 2 modifications increased my storage space and accessibility by 10 fold. It looks like it was meant to be there too!
There you have it, volume 1 of Pelican Potomac Fishing Kayak Rigging. Stay tuned for more posts, as we increase the comfort and fishability of this budget fishing kayak!