When it comes to lessons learnt from many hours fishing out of a Hobie, securing valuable items to the hull is paramount. Too many times we have lost vital axillary tackle, like pliers, braid scissors and lip grips overboard on trips where the fish were hot to trot. Whether it’s pliers not put away properly and falling to a watery grave or slippery hands letting go of the lip grips, these mishaps meant we ran the risk of a treble in the finger or a wicked case of cod thumbs.
There are four main items we secure to the Hobie, these include: scissors, pointy nose pliers, fish grips and the camera (Nikon AW1.) After a little trial and error we settled on two specific leashes. The Hobie Gear Keepers and a home made contraption made from an old retractable telephone cable and a couple of zip ties.
Hobie Gear Keepers
These come in two different sizes. The smaller version is made up of 32” of 50lb nylon which retracts into a tiny case with clips either end. We use this to hold the scissors to either our person or the hull of the Hobie.
Its bigger brother contains 36” of Nylon Coated Stainless Steel Cable, which also retracts into a slightly larger case. Its super tough and perfect for a solid set of pointy nose pliers which are attached to the Hobie at all times.
The Homemade Keeper
This simple construction is made of a plastic snap clip and a small karabiner joined together by an old phone cable. The beauty of this leash is it stretches to the best part of meter and retracts back to 25cm. At that size, it stretches all around the Hobie, but is completely out of the way when retracted. We also use the same style leash on the camera, as the karabiner is easy to detach and move around the Hobie if needed.
Unwritten Law – In our Hobie it is a UL that if you must secure accessory tackle before using it. Even if its attached to your person it eliminates the risk of losing accessory tackle overboard. Nothing is more frustrating and potentially harmful to a hooked a fish, than a trip without the big three – scissors, pliers and lip grips.
So leash it up, this is your tether warning!