Share Your Innovations

[dsafety]

It was a dark and stormy night, (really, thanks to the first big storm of the season). At times like this I like to go to the shop and futz around. I tinker with things and sometimes come up with an idea or two on how to make the things I use work better. I call on my inner-Macgyver. We all have a little MacGyver in us. You remember the TV show where the guy saves the world every week with duct tape and a swiss army knife.

Anyway, as I was tinkering with my new Hobie Livewell I thought it might be fun to ask everyone to share some of the cool ideas and mods that they have come up with over the years. I remember reading of a few great innovations in this forum. A couple that come to mind are:

Adding a weight to the bottom of the Hobie peddles so they remain upright all the time.

A video camera mounted on a short mast attached to a stern mounted bait tank to record the day's events.

I am sure our community has come up with dozens of simple but wonderful ideas that help make the kayak fishing experience better and more fun. If you have one of those ideas, post it in this thread and share it with the rest of us. I'll go first.

We all know that we should leash our gear when out on the water. Sometimes, however, there is just no good place to clip a leash to a rod. With this problem in mind, I came up with an easy-to-make connection loop that can be installed on just about any kind of gear we carry on our kayaks. The thing takes a couple minutes to make and the materials cost less than a quarter. Behold the LEASH LOOP!

All you need to make one of these is a four inch piece of coated wire leader, a similar size piece of shock cord, a crimp sleeve and a crimper.

Materials-Needed.jpg

Cut a 4" piece of the leader. Tie the shock cord so that you have a suitable size band that will stretch to fit around your rod, (or whatever else you want to use this thing for). Make sure that when the shock cord contracts, it fits tightly around your rod. After trimming the shock cord be sure to burn the end so the nylon does not fray.

Tied-Shock-Cord.jpg

Thread the leader through the crimping sleeve, loop the leader around the shock cord and thread it back through the sleeve. Tighten this loop so it is snug against the shock cord. Make a larger loop with the other end of the leader and thread that end through the sleeve. Crimp the sleeve and trim the excess leader.

Crimping.jpg

And you are done.

Finished-Loop-1.jpg

Slide the shock cord ring over your rod.

Installed Loop.jpg

GO FISHING!

BTW, as shown in the photo above, the Leash Loop can also double as a place to hook your lure to keep it out of the way when not in use.

I have a couple other simple projects that I will post soon. If you have something to share, let us see it.

Bob