My Rocket Launcher (not complete)

[quincyraybon]

Alright guys. Here's the big mama... not near done yet. I think this is how I'm going to have the frame though...

On either side of me is a swivel arm. The left side has foam so I can hook my most used jig heads, popping corks, and other lures on it. There's only going to be probably four or five things on there at a time. The good thing is when I'm tieing a new leader off I can hook the hook into the foam incase I drop it I'm going to implement something for a weight and (barel) swivels too. That way when I take them out of my takle box to tie off I won't have them in my lap - primed and ready to drop and lose.

On the other side is a swivel for a utility belt -type thing I'm going to make. I just gotta find that material. That'll be where my fish dehooker thingie, pliers, scissors and so on will be. The securing mechanism is a surprise I have an idea that will keep the tools secure (in case I get dumped upside down) yet I can grab the tools in a hurry.

The swivel arms will only rotate 90 degrees. That is straight out and straight up (maybe more than 90.. depending if I want it to swivel further back. Have to take it on a test run first). I have to put some stainless in to make this happen. (currently they swivel 320degrees around because I have the pvc sticking out)

Coming off the back is where my 360 light comes up. Works well, but I'm going to go from 1.5" to probably 3/4". The reason I used 1.5in for everything is because that's what my rod holders took (had to cut in to the PVC though). I ended up just buying lots of 1.5"
We'll see what the visicarbon YakAttack pole will work with when I buy it. For now this is how it's staying though!

Next you'll see some 3/4" pipe sticking up really high. This is simply because I had both pipes cut to 6' and haven't re cut them yet. These two will be the structure for my bimini top

You'll see my rocket launcher has some 90s in the middle making it come up. That's so I can open my bait bucket.

I haven't field tested this thing yet. I'll take it on the pond to make sure I like the placement of everything. There are still more things I'm going to add, but that'll come later! This is still in the very early phases.

[quincyraybon]

To answer a few of the upcoming questions:

1) Yes, the Bimini top will be collapsable. I have an idea in mind.
2) I'm not sure if this will hold to a nice strong fish. I feel I have some reinforcing to do.
3) In the end the 360 light will be collapsable, as with the visicarbon pro.

I'm the kind of guy that'll buy the product that's 5$ even if there's a part that's 3$ right next to it, simply because the 5$ part is 25% stonger. I like to do things right the best way possible the first time. Bounce some ideas off of me if you have any please

[richg99]

Just an idea that I saw on YouTube one day....and you may already be using it...

The guy wanted a PVC arm to swivel. He used threaded 90 deg. pieces...both male and female.....just turned 3/4's of the way in...and then let the threads act as the pivot.

I had never seen that approach before, but it certainly made sense to me. The PVC part is its own swing/hinge by the use of the threaded portion!!

Hope I am explaining this correctly. I have not tried it.... since I haven't made up anything that had to swivel..... since I saw the video.

regards, Rich

[kneekap]

That looks like a antenna for a couple of radio stations.
I like the idea of a bimini. The summer sun can certainly take away
some of your fishing enthusiasm.

Lots of good ideas came from Rube Goldberg rigs. You will
just have to put it to use to see what works and what does not
and modify accordingly.

Have kept my gear to a minimum so as to have less things that
can break of malfunction.

Send us the final photos.

[RedWolf]

The old saying of "Less is more" comes to mind here. I think that you will find all this is major overkill, and as far as a bimini top goes, it will act as a giant wind anchor if your paddling against the wind. I'm sitting here looking at your photos, and only thing coming to mind is that is a lot of extra stuff to get hung up on while trying to make a cast.

Sorry, not trying to belittle your work, we all have had mods that didn't work out as we envisioned, and I really hope this works for you.

[5moreminutes]

I have to agree less is best. I think maybe your fishing is different than mine. I hope it suits your needs.

[TroutSupport.com]

Nice, like it!

[quincyraybon]

Everything comes down, even the bimini top I don't carry a lot of gear with me, but what I do carry with me I want to be able to access hassle-free.
-Arms can be swiveled out of the way, the 360 light will be collapsed until night time (or won't even take it if I go early)
-If it's windy and/or I'm moving real fast the bimini top will not be up. My design is one string that I pull, but the bimini is probably an 8 on my list(1 being the most important, 10 being the least). I realize that will be the hardest thing to perfect, but I'll make it work.
-I'm placing most items that may be in my way while casting on the left, as I am a right handed caster. When I cast left handed it's at an angle 90% of the time, rendering the 360 unnoticed. The bimini will pose a threat here, but that is with all boats.
-Take off the 360 and bimini adapters and you really don't have much... Just two swivel arms and a regular rocket launcher that angles up in the middle. The swivel arms, of which, I think are GREAT as I already put the foamy one to use. the foam swivel arm stops at the perfect length for casting. The gear arm I haven't worked out yet because I have yet to make the "belt", but it will be even shorter. The reason they swivel is in case I have to paddle.

Thanks for all of your posts. Like I said, I want everything convienient, but I guess I lost sight of what too much is. While reading all of your posts a second time and looking at my pictures I came up with another idea. Instead of having a really loooong foam swivel arm I can make half my gear "belt" and half foam. That way I get rid of the arm on the right.

The idea for a gear belt/foam swivel arm(s) arrose while fishing at night time. With little light it's hard to keep track of all of your items on this 14 foot monster. I needed some sort of organizer for tackle/tools that I'm using, something that I had easy access to, yet something that I could move out of the way quickly.

I like the idea of a bimini. The summer sun can certainly take away
some of your fishing enthusiasm.

Lots of good ideas came from Rube Goldberg rigs. You will
just have to put it to use to see what works and what does not
and modify accordingly.

Have kept my gear to a minimum so as to have less things that
can break of malfunction.

Everything you said is %100 accurate. Especially the middle statement. I just have to try stuff out.
I keep my gear to a minimum so I have less to keep up with and less to put up when I come in

The old saying of "Less is more" comes to mind here. I think that you will find all this is major overkill, and as far as a bimini top goes, it will act as a giant wind anchor if your paddling against the wind. I'm sitting here looking at your photos, and only thing coming to mind is that is a lot of extra stuff to get hung up on while trying to make a cast.

Sorry, not trying to belittle your work, we all have had mods that didn't work out as we envisioned, and I really hope this works for you.

That's alright! I'll take it as constructive criticism. This is the main thing I need to not overlook. However, I think if you take off the 360 and bimini this is a very minimal project with a bow in it for live bait. I'll post a video of the bimini up while I'm pedaling with the wind I'll be movin! I'll just take it down while against.

I guess here's what I'm going by with this project:

If the task takes me longer than a few seconds to complete - whether looking for my tools, grabbing my net, tieing off a hook (and dropping something in the process), poking down my stakeout pole - that's too long.

[quincyraybon]

I took off everything that I wouldn't be taking with me in a day trip. That's the bimini (because it's not complete) and the 360 light. I cut about a foot and a half off my retractable fish net so I could place it where it is... I also took off the other swivel arm and cut some of the foam off the left swivel arm to make room for my utility "belt".

Thanks for the ideas and concerns! Keep em comin if you have more! All it's doing is helping me perfect my water craft!
Nothing is yet glued together. I'm waiting for someone to post a game-changing idea that'll make me rip this thing apart.

[saltfix]

The old saying of "Less is more" comes to mind here. I think that you will find all this is major overkill, and as far as a bimini top goes, it will act as a giant wind anchor if your paddling against the wind. I'm sitting here looking at your photos, and only thing coming to mind is that is a lot of extra stuff to get hung up on while trying to make a cast.

Sorry, not trying to belittle your work, we all have had mods that didn't work out as we envisioned, and I really hope this works for you.

x2 I always wonder how people would spend over 2k on kayak and then save on small stuff. I love my HOBIE too much to do that. Paint it black or put some Christmas decoration it looks like you robbed plumbing store