The Lunchbox Paddle Park was invented in 2016 by Charlie “LunchBox” LaBar prostaffter of Eddie Line Kayaks and The Kayak Fishing Store. The original concept came from using gear tracks a T bolt and a Yakattack RotoGrip Paddle Holder to offset the paddle holders from the track area. Stowing the paddle away has always been a challenge on many kayaks. Now with the new track mounting V grip style paddle holders the paddle will lay across the entire length of track. This unfortunately renders use of the track useless for mounting any additional accessories.

About:

The LunchBox Paddle Park arms are fabricated from 1/2″ black starboard. The plastic is very rigid at this thickness but is soft to drill for adding paddle holders and other accessories. They are track mounted using a T Bolt and plastic knob. This allows them to be stowed easily for kayak transport. You can mount the YakAttack RotoGrip™  or any other V style paddle holders to the arms.

The Paddle Park can also double as a ParkNPole Holder! If you have ever tried to stow a YakAtack ParkNPole you know how awkward it can be.  Simply add on the YakAttack ParkNPole Clip Kit with Anti-Pivot Mounting Base and Security Straps to the center of the arms. No more shoving under bungees trying to get  it out of the way of your paddle stroke. Neatly stowed at the gunnel and easily accessible.

The Paddle Park Use:

The Paddle Park first of all has the ability to be track mounted on the gunnels of a  kayak. Most fishing model kayaks come standard with these tracks from the factory. The paddle parks are designed to position the paddle holders offset of the gear tracks. The paddle park allows for quick and easy access to your paddle while keeping it out of the way from the remainder of the tracks for mounting other accessories. The system is handy for stowing the paddle all day on peddle style boats or motorized kayaks where the paddle is not needed 90% of the time.

Most of all I really like the ease of stowing and accessing the paddle. A simple lift from the Rotogrips and your ready to paddle. Align the paddle in place, push down and the paddle is locked in and stowed.

The paddle park stows while traveling. You can simply rotate the Paddle Parks to align with the kayak. This way they are not protruding. The Paddle Parks are easily transferred to other kayaks with gear tracks installed on them.

Customization:

Changing out Hardware:

Furthermore I decided to countersink 1/4-20 bolts into the starboard to give a flush mounting of the RotoGrips. The Paddle Park is not countersunk from the factory. You can swap out the Plastic Knobs with Screwballs. This also allows the mounting of additional RAM Mount accessories. These include camera mounts a fish finder mount etc.

Adding a YakAttack Park n pole mounting kit is a great option. In addition you can stow your parkNpole right next to your paddle for easy access.

The Paddle park can be used with other manufacturers paddle holders such as:

Native Cam-Lock

Rail Blaza G-Hold

The Paddle Park is only available at The Kayak Fishing Store

Living in Delaware we don’t typically see many Red Drum in our waters. Traveling for the opportunity to target these game fish is exciting. Fortunately its only a 140 mile drive south from my home! It’s only a little over 2 and a half hours to make it to the trip to Cape Charles Virginia. I’m spoiled since I have been driving maximum an hour to the water all my life and now it has become my backyard. This drive is worth it though. This is the story of A Fourteen Hour Fishing Trip.

After Work Fishing

Midway through October 2017 and the days have been still warm. I have been getting out after work here and there for the evening Striped Bass bite close to my work. Some good fish but it’s still like summer. The size of the fish is still 30″ and below. Tuesday Oct 10th during an evening on the water I sent Joe H a text giving him a fishing report. He called soon after informing me that he was planning a trip to fish in Virginia for Sunday. The weather looked good so I decided to ask if it was cool if I met up with him there. The trip was on.

The Plan:

Photo by Joe Hosler

Meet up at 06:30 near the Eastern Shore Wildlife Refuge Boat ramp Sunday. Then go fishing targeting reds. Simple enough!

The Chesapeake Bay can get rough in this area but I loaded my Jackson Kayak Kilroy as i feel it is the best suited for saltwater creek style fishing. The kayak has a Torqeedo Ultralight 403 installed for those days when you need to get back quick or against a river style current ripping tide. It comes in handy!

Sunday Fishing Day!

Out the door by 3:45 am on the road. It’s still raining and foggy. The misting and fog finally became intermittent around 2 hours in.  I can spot the deer peering into my headlights while passing through heavily wooded areas. Warm coffee and maximum concentration. Thinking to myself how much i love my 2016 Ford F150 over my old truck. Waze on the consul broadcasting the distance traveled and my ETA its 6: 30 to start but traffic light s and such made it more like 6:40.

I arrived and everyone was there gearing up. It was just starting to become light. There was an eerie yellowish cloud as the sun hit it from below the horizon. We hit the water and fished a small creek. It was slow fishing only with a few small Speckled Trout.  So we crossed the channel and begun fishing that area. The tide was on its way out. A few more trout early. Paddling through the shallows I went as far back as I could. There were oysters all over in the sod banks. Not sure if these are edible or if they are even legal to harvest. I found one laying on the bottom and picked it up to examine it. They were pretty small and flat but i put it back and went back to fishing.

There was no water only an inch or two. I circled back and figured id throw some casts at a drop off I saw on my way in.

First cast reeling slowly bump bump across the bottom and bang fish on! Great fight on my bull bay rod paired with the Abu Garcia Revo Inshore casting reel. Peeling drag running towards the kayak and back deep again. A great fight to land a 23 inch healthy Red Drum!

Released him and caught a few more on that drop until there was inches of water left. The clouds had finally broken away to sunshine. It was nice and warm now as everything begin to dry out. The tide slowed to a crawl so did the bite. Managing a bunch of Speckled trout a few more reds and small Striped Bass. At this point it was 12:30. We realized we were now landlocked. We fished for another half hour on a slow bite until finally dragging the yaks across the sand bar to return to the launch.

I took a detour to go take a few photos of a large chunk of drift wood that had washed up on the sandy part of the island. As an amateur photographer I spot these things and have to get there to grab a few photos. This particular piece of drift wood i spotted from a mile away in the morning on the way across the channel. After getting my shots using the Torqeedo I went back full throttle. 6.5 mph most of the way. A following sea made it a bit strange.

Fortunately the drive home wasn’t so bad. I was worried that id be exhausted as I have been in the past coming back from really long fishing days in the summer heat. Arriving home around 5 PM the concluded the fourteen hour fishing trip.  Will defiantly be doing this trip again in the future.

The new Jackson Kayak 2018 colors are in!! Available now! Take the poll and vote for your favorite color for 2018!

Available in all new standard colors are:

Available in only Forest, Rockfish, & Thunderstruck:

Retired Colors from 2017:

• Patriot
• Mahi
• Bluefin

As always  you may order a custom color for an up-charge and about 6 weeks wait time. Visit your local Jackson Kayak Dealer for more information. To find a dealer location near you please visit the www.jacksonkayak.com dealer locator.