Wii nunchuck controls fishing canoe

Reading one of my favorite tech blogs today (yes I am a geek) I came across a crazy video of a guy who has modified his kayak with two electric motors and given himself the ability to control it with a wii nunchuck. For those that don't know, a Wii is the latest video game console from Nintendo and the nunchuck is the little thing that fits in your hand with a control stick (think joystick) attached.

It is equipped with 2 golf cart batteries and can travel at 4 miles an hour top speed. It is almost a boat rather than a canoe and the maneuverability is absolutely amazing! This video is well worth a watch just to marvel at the engineering, but the trailer they have built for it is also very cool! The enginuity of some people is really quite amazing!

I hope you enjoy the video and if you have something you want to say about it please leave a comment!

Kayak fishing video (record tuna)

I have always admired people who fish from kayaks. This is probably because where I live big aggressive crocodiles are common and they would have no problem tipping over a kayak to eat the occupant! Fortunately big crocodiles aren't present all over the world and there is plenty of good kayaking waters ripe for the fishing.

I found this great little video on youtube today of a guy catching a tuna from a kayak, which just so happens to be a 70 pound kayak fishing record tuna! It is a well presented video and if you are into kayak fishing or big tuna then it is well worth watching!

Fish finders for kayaks

Fishing from kayaks is becoming quite a popular pastime. Even where I live I have seen people in ocean going kayaks going out to the close inshore reefs. That might not seem like such a big thing, but I live in an area famous for big crocodile attacks. Anyway onto todays topic...

Fish finders for kayaks
Fish finders for kayaks are really not much different than fish finders for boats. The main difference being that space is a premium and you will probably want a slimmer receiving and sending unit. Any portable fish finder will work as well as any streamlined boat model. However, make sure the model you purchase is usable with a portable re-chargeable battery.

Choosing a fish finder for your kayak
Select a model with as many pixels as possible for better definition. Spending a few extra dollars in this area can make a lot of difference. A cone angle of 20 degrees will be perfectly adequate. The power of the fishfinder is not really a concern when fishing from a kayak unless you are planning on exploring over 200 feet of water. Transducer selection is very easy with a kayak and the model provided with the unit will be perfectly usable, even through the kayaks hull.

Installing the fishfinder transponder on kayak (transducer)
I am not an expert in this area and there are already some very good resources in this area. It doesn't look overly simple, but most people should be able to follow the guide through. Here are some great resources:

Sonar install for a kayak

Video of kayak sonar installation

Kayak and great white shark

If you are a regular reader of my blog you will probably remember the sharks love post, which even though is a hoax is still an impressive story! In that powerpoint/video there is one of the most famous pictures running around the Internet - The man in his kayak and the great white shark behind him. If you haven't seen it here is the picture I am talking about:


Is the great white and kayak picture a photoshop fake?
This is the proper definition photo (not the compressed image going around via email which looks fake) and it looks genuine enough so lets look at the facts.

This photo is indeed genuine and was taken from the magazine National Geographic. It was part of an article by Michael C. Scholl and Thomas P. Peschak who were studying sharks without the use of engine noise. This is what the authors had to say about the incident:

Although we had extensively tested the sharks' reactions to an empty kayak and had observed no signs of aggression, this gave us little comfort as we eyed a great white heading straight for us, albeit slowly. Just a metre or so from the craft it veered off, circled and slowly approached from behind. It did this several times, occasionally lifting its head out of the water to get a better look. Then it lost interest, and as it continued on its way we were able to follow a short distance behind. Once we'd come to terms with having nothing between ourselves and a four-metre shark except a thin layer of plastic, our kayak made an ideal research platform for observing great white behaviour in shallow water.

If you are still a little skeptical then I have another great picture that will hopefully dispel all doubts.


Amazing as it is even as a fisherman you would not catch me dead in that kayak no matter what the researchers say! Great whites are scary enough in a full sized boat and a plastic kayak just wouldn't cut it!

Want to tell me what you think - Please leave a comment.