Extendable Cam mount

Ok, this idea isn’t exactly original as I saw this idea elsewhere on the web, however, I have tailored it to suit my own requirements. I’m a big fan of the camera mounts from YakAttack though I was wanting something much longer to provide some interesting camera angles. I was looking for something that would provide a good overhead view as well as a ‘birds' eyes’ type view from one side of the kayak.

The idea I’d seen on the web utilised an extendable camera monopod. These vary in price greatly though I purchased something cheap and cheerful with the idea of producing something that could be mounted in various positions around the kayak. To be honest I was expecting the item to be utter junk when the postman delivered it, though I was pleasantly surprised when it turned up a couple of days later. If I’d paid several times more than I had for this particular monopod I’d have been quite satisfied.

 

I’d decided to modify it to allow it to be fitted to the GearTrac that was already installed on my kayak. It also was quickly apparent that it’d fit into a flush mount or suitable tubular rod holder. The monopod came with a fixed head for mounting a camera. Sliding the foam back reveals three small pan-head screws, removing these allows the fixed head to be removed. Fortunately, I already had an insert that was threaded for a GearTrac T-bolt. This was reduced in diameter until it was an interference fit into the opening where the fixed head was originally mounted. This was secured in place using the original pan-head screws.

 

I also took the opportunity to slip some additional foam onto the monopod to effectively lengthen the existing grip. This provided a far steadier mount when slid into the flush mount rod holder on the kayak.

The other end of the monopod featured a pointed stud to provide additional grip when the monopod was used on a soft surface. I cut the point off this stud and removed the plastic ‘collar’. I had a 1” RAM ball which I threaded to suit the trimmed down stud on the monopod. The RAM ball was them screwed on to finish off the mount. The RAM ball allows a double socket RAM extension to be used providing great flexibility when positioning the camera.

  

The monopod is 54cm when fully closed or 170cm when fully extended and weighs in at just 360g (unmodified). Here’s the finished product.

   

Here’s a few photos below showing it mounted onto the GearTrac and into a flush mount rod holder. Some photos show it partially extended, others show it fully extended, with some photo showing it collapsed.

   

Collapsed – Mounted up front

   

Mounted on the GearTrac (fore & aft)

  

Mounted in a flush mount rod holder

I’ve had a little play on the water though I’ve still got a few angles that I’d like to try, that said, my favourite angle to date is when mounted in the flush mounted rod holder whilst fully extended as shown below. It’s actually a frame from a movie clip in low light hence the poor quality, though it gives you as good idea all the same.

I’m using a GoPro camera with an extended battery pack giving over 4 hours of life. With the camera angle set to suit, the camera can be switched on and the monopod extended. Adjusting the camera angle is easy enough by collapsing or removing the monopod, and the results are certainly different and most pleasing.

A short trip

I’ve recently returned from Norway and was quite eager to get out on the water. I’d wanted to fish a new venue during daylight hours, though a longer then expected day at work forced me into an evening session. I decided to play it safe and fish the Bristol Channel near Watchet. I arrived early and once rigged it was clear that I was going to have to wait an hour or so before I was able to launch. Surprisingly the beach was covered in several inches of soft mud, far more than usual. I put this down to the calm weather over the previous few days that’s allowed the sediment to settle. Unfortunately it added an extra wait as I didn’t fancy wading through it to reach the water.

Whilst removing the wheels from the C-Tug trolley I managed to slice one of my fingers which resulted in a steady flow of blood. Fortunately my first aid kit it well stocked so a couple of plasters soon had me fit to fish!. The sun was close to setting as I paddled east towards Watchet and twenty minutes later I was anchored up up in ten metres of water.

Earlier in the week I’d replaced the composite RAM balls that support my RAM rod holders with metals ones. I’d replaced the corroded metal ones before Christmas though one of the replacement composite items snapped on the first trip out. I painted some Waxoyl onto these new RAM balls so hopefully they’ll remain in good condition for several years.

I’ve previously had my anchor light mounted at the rear of the kayak, it’s been there for the best part of five years. There have been times when the weather has deteriorated to a point where I’ve wanted to take the light down when recovering to the beach, though due to its position that’s not been an option. With it being hard mounted to the hull an untimely capsize in shallow water could cause considerable damage to the hull, unlikely as I tend to choose my weather windows carefully, though I have been caught out on a number of occasions. I had a spare base mount for my light so I decided to mount it to the kayak, positioning it just behind me, wiring into the kayak electrics as per the rear mount. It’s easily removed in that position whilst afloat an can be stored within the kayak via the centre hatch. Another advantage is the amount of additional light I get in the cockpit area, plus is illuminates the rod tips extremely well. The rear electrical socket it still fully functional and can be used to power my live well should I ever get around to using it!

Anyway, back to the fishing. The first hour was extremely slow, in fact I don’t think I registered a single bite!. The fish did eventually show and the first fish to come to the kayak was a nice sized Thornback Ray. It gave a great account of itself, not hanging in the tide as they often do, but making several runs to a point where I expected a conger eel to surface. It was the first of five rays, the remainder were somewhat smaller, though they provided steady sport.

I’d left my camera at home so had to make do with my mobile phone. Far from ideal but better than nothing I guess. The Dogfish were out in force and proved to be quite a nuisance, on more than one occasion they were coming up two at a time!.

 

Once the fish started to bite the action was pretty much none stop. I hooked into something that yet again was being quite aggressive and had a real conger feel to it, needless to say I was quite surprised when a decent sized Cod just under 6lb came to the surface.

The Conger eels finally made a show, though they were all small, the largest at around 10lb. I managed four before slack water totally killed off the fishing. I fished on for another hour or two until the ebb tide picked up a little.

I have to say the weather was superb, the being sea glass calm for most of the evening, with the occasional sea breeze causing the surface to ripple over from time to time. The paddle back was very leisurely, I was just enjoying being out there on the water again.

Once back on the slipway I washed the blood and guts off the kayak and decided to fillet the cod before I headed home. One fillets I noticed several red thread worms, not that unusual in Cod. Though it was the dozens of brown circles in the other fillet that raised an eyebrow. I don’t recall seeing these before, though after a little research it appears they’re a fairly common parasite called ‘Cod Worms’. On one fillet there were probably 50-60 of these coiled worms, on the other fillet there were perhaps 10, the coils being up to 1/4” in diameter. I decided to cast the fillets back to Neptune, quite disappointing.

Still, all things considered it was a quite productive session and an enjoyable one at that!

Facebook page

I’ve added a FB page that’s linked to this website. It’s somewhere for me to chat and post random kayak fishing stuff!. It’ll also inform folk of updates to this site, feel free to ‘like’ and follow the page.

Click on the image below to take you to the page.

Cool videos

Shark and big game fish from a kayak, awesome stuff from http://www.kayakgamefishing.com.au/. Check it out!