Yak Chum’s Personal 2014 Cuda 14 in detail:

2014 Jackson Kayak Cuda 14 Custom Color

Rigging:

Yak Attack 12″ GT90 GearTrac both sides.

Modified factory smarttrack Rudder to accept Sealect Designs Tru-Course rudder.

Anchor Trolley installed.

Gear track installed at rear for camera mounting.

Custom skid plate transducer mount installed.

Rigged for Lowrance Elite 5 Fishfinder series.

Paddle Used:

Aquabound Spin-drift Carbon w/ telescoping ferrule 335 – 350 cm

The Plastic Hull’s Spindrift Carbon Review

Accessories Used:

Lowrance Elite 5 HDI Sonar/Chart-plotter Unit

Standard Horizon HX290 VHF Radio w/ External Speaker Mic

12 volt battery in DIY Waterproof Battery Box

Ram Mounts  X Grip for Smart Phones (Mounts my Samsung Galaxy S5)

EcoXGear – EcoRox Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker (Ram Mounted)

Yak Attack Visi Carbon (Flag with Light)

Ram Tube Style Rod Holders

Milk Crate & Crate Pack w/ 3 Extra rod holders

Various Camera Mounts (Typically two at one time)

C-Tug with Mullet Miller Conversion Wheeleez

DIY Kayak camera mounts were invented as kayak anglers and touring paddlers begun to capture photography and video of their trips to share their point of view with family and friends. With the affordability of waterproof cameras and now the light weight action sports cameras anyone can record their day of fishing, paddling  and with a little time behind a computer and video editing software compile pretty neat short videos of highlights! The following are a few mounts I have used in the past!

The DIY PVC Pipe Camera Mount:

The inexpensive way to mount a camera to your kayak. A length of 1/2″ PVC makes for great DIY camera mounts. You have the ability to customize the mount to fit your personal needs. You may not know this but 1/2″ PVC slides loosely with no play right into a Scotty mount with ease. Want it to snug up? A single layer of Gorilla Tape around the portion that will insert into the Scotty mount will snug up nicely.

Using a 1/2″ PVC cap and drilling a hole that will allow a 1/4 – 20 screw will allow the camera to mount directly to its threaded insert. The downside of PVC is the longer the length the more flex the less of a still video image.

Small Camera Tripods:

Cheap 6″ mini camera tripods are also great due to their pivoting head creates the ability to level out the camera. To mount the mini tripod you can use zip ties mount just about anywhere. You can also remove the leg portion of this tripos and use the pivoting head on the PVC mount above. Simply install it where drilled to accept the 1/4 20 screw.

The Good Old Hat Tripod!

Some Kayak anglers simply drilled a hole through the bill of a baseball cap then ran a 1/4 20 bolt though threaded side up. You now have a head mounted camera on the cheap! These hat cam hats can also be purchased from eBay and Amazon.

A Standard Camera Mount such as Tripod or Mono Pod and Accessories:

A standard camera tripod is commonly used. As a matter of fact Kayak Kevin uses one all the time with his Sony Handy Cam setup zip tied to his crate. This is most likely the best way to mount heavy cameras such as DSLR and Handy Cam types. There are many attachments you can use to add on to a tripod such as L Brackets. An L Bracket can be used to mount a GoPro to a tripod using the GoPro tripod mount. The L Bracket gives the ability to mount hot shoe accessories such as a shotgun microphone with a wind screen or a photo light for night video. The L Bracket also doubles as a nice handle for less shaky video.

The mono pod also works well due to its ability to collapse and extend. It is great to use on the kayak with any lightweight action camera. The ability to extend it out and take hero shots It can be stowed in a rod holder also can be lashed to a milk crate for high angle rear shots.

Its good to have a tripod for photos and video from land. I prefer a tripod with the ball pivot as it is the most adjustable. These typically are the most professional and are great for keeping your shot level on all types of terrain. 90% of my land based video and photography is taken using a tripod with a Cannon T4i EOS SLR Camera utilizing multiple lenses. The photos below are examples of using a tripod from a beach or pier to stabilize the camera with a 300 mm telephoto lense at its maximum distance!