I watched a video today from railblaza where they had 'blazed' a TI. I sent them an email to see what mounts they had used on the Aka's and was informed that it is a prototype that they will be bring out in April. I can't wait, it will be great to get my trolling spread a bit wider (and might be able to fit in another couple of rods )

You can check out the Vid here: -
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I do a lot of solo fishing from my Tandem Island and it is awesome.

The only issue is it is a beast to move around out of the water. I am heading down to Maclean tomorrow to pick up a trailer to make my life easier.

If I knew that I would rarely have a passenger, I think I would go with the AI. Seems to be a sleeker boat, more manageable out of the water, and possibly a bit better in skinny water.

Anyway, that's my 2 bobs worth.
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Cheers for the comments guys.

We've had Tuna steaks on BBQ for a couple nights, which were awesome. My wife (who is French and knows how to cook, which is handy) is doing a tuna pie tonight. We are having people around tomorrow for another BBQ so we should get through most of it then - some went to the freezer, but now sure how it will turn out when thawed.
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I have a TI and have to negotiate the Maroochy River bar when heading out. The bar is usually worse than if you were to head straight out from the beach as the waves break for a greater distance. In full sail mode, I generally won't head out if the waves are more than about 1-1.5 feet (tide dependent of course). In hull only mode I might got to about 2.5 foot sets. I surf and consider myself a strong swimmer so am confident that I could always swim across to the beach if things went pear shaped however I don't like the thought of my beloved TI shooting away without me.

One of my crossing resulted in the outside Aka collapsing as I was skipping along sideways. I did not reposition my weight quickly enough so she turned turtle. It was pretty messy but I managed to get it upright again, re-pin the Ama and get in. However that episode made me a little more wary. I would actually like to practice a lot more to get more confidence in these situations but I also don't want to break anything on the TI...

Funnily enough when I came in on Saturday after my 3 hours Tuna battle there were 2 cops on jet skis just outside the river mouth. The surf was tiny so I got in fine but one of the young coppers had a go at me for putting myself and others at risk. I started to voice my opinion but then decided to drop it and just head for home. My first statement to him was that the biggest risks on the bar are the jetskis jumping the waves and nearly landing on you - he said I should try and get the laws changed - arrogant bugger.

Keep us posted how you go.
Cheers
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Hi all,
I follow the site daily but have not really had many posts - however, I thought I might have a brag - after all that's what this forum is for

I headed out on Saturday morning for a quick fish on the TI in kayak only mode - easier to get through the crappy Maroochy River bar that way. A few weeks ago I managed to find a lone Spotted Mackerel however the surface actively seems to have been awfully quiet on the Sunny coast so far, so I did not have very high hopes of landing a few meals.

Needless to say, I was pretty happy to hook into something that felt quite substantial on my second troll pass along the front of the river mouth. At first the fish did not seem to be fighting that hard but then it started to take line, and kept taking line. I was not on particularly heavy gear (4000 real on a 6-10kg rod) so it quickly got me down to the backing so I had do do some chasing and get some line back.

After about 30 minutes I new it must be a Longtail as any Mackerel would have been done by then. Anyway, the fight continued. After 2 hours he had pulled me about 4km's offshore and I was pretty knackered but I really did not want him to defeat me - he had shown moments of weakness so I kept fighting. At around the 3 hour mark I figured I was finally getting on top of him. At one point he was pointing straight at the bottom and as I heaved I could see his tail getting closer to the yak, moving from about 10 metres down to almost within reach, but then he swam off again like he was fresh off the blocks. Anyway, he did weaken enough and he started to do a bit of surface flapping. I had a couple of goes at him with the gaff but that just wasn't working. Luckily a couple of guys turned up to watch the fight so as the fish to a turn towards their boat they gaffed the bugger for me. I honestly don't think I could have pulled him in. I was now at the Inner Neerings, just over 6.5kms from my starting point. I was cooked (in more ways than one).

Anyway, I won the battle - although there was an assist in the end. After gutting him, he weighed in just over 20Kgs which was certainly by best fish ever.

On reflection, would I do it again if I new I was battling a similar beast, I'm not sure. They are such magnificent creatures, built like torpedoes and I think after an hour I would give him the respect he deserves and cut him loose.

What a day
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