Hooping off the Kayak

[jorluivil]

The temps haven't dropped much but once they do stay away from layering yourself with cotton clothes, they make you sweat a lot and absorb and hold moisture for long periods. Cotton clothing can also be a huge drawback ~IF~ you fall off your kayak.

Setup as much gear as possible on land, the less you do on the kayak the quicker you'll get your nets in the water, if you do most of your setup on the water it'll turn into a cluster fuck in no time.

If you have the space to install one get yourself a Scotty Trap-eeze, this alone will make pulling nets so much easier.

ALWAYS carry an extra gauge and make sure you get the one that measures both crab and lobster, I usually keep an extra one on my PFD.

When you drop your nets always make sure you set a waypoint on your fish finder that indicates where the net was dropped, if your buoy light goes out it's going to be very hard to find your gear.

Don't bother keeping anything that you have to measure 2, 3, 4 times. If it's not legal after measuring it once, it won't be legal after measuring it 2, 3 or 4 times.........when in doubt toss it!

If you're hooping open water and the swells are up you want to make sure you're pulling your nets with your bow pointed into the swells, NEVER EVER be parallel to the swells

carry extra batteries with you, you never seem to need them until you're on the water. Also, test your lights the day before or the day off, especially the lights on your headlamp.