Custom kickboats

Custom kickboats Custom built kickboats

24/06/2025

I should have the first 2025 model kickboat ready by the end of the week, watch this space to follow the progress.

Pontoons arches for sale, R100 each or R350 per set of 4. Complete with strap and buckle.
06/05/2025

Pontoons arches for sale, R100 each or R350 per set of 4.

Complete with strap and buckle.

A long time ago, good memories.
05/11/2023

A long time ago, good memories.

Rest in peace young man, thank you for your contribution to the kickboat community. A message from Alan Wills (Dad), "Th...
05/11/2023

Rest in peace young man, thank you for your contribution to the kickboat community.

A message from Alan Wills (Dad), "Thank you to everyone, for the messages being shared"

Good news - I have arches for sale.R600 for a set of 6 arches , 4 complete with straps and buckles and 2 without straps ...
22/09/2021

Good news - I have arches for sale.

R600 for a set of 6 arches , 4 complete with straps and buckles and 2 without straps and buckles.

21/01/2020

What do i miss about bass fishing ...everything.

From the monthly braai ...social fishing comps... yearly prize giving and everything the club had to offer ...there was a great bunch of people .

the shopping for more and more and more and more tackle ... going around to the various shops finding new products to try... chatting to other like minded people in the shop.

Launching the boat or kickboat in the early hours of the morning ...the sunrise ... watching the frog wobble through the water and then that boooom fish on ...there is nothing better than watching a blow up on a top water. .. sometimes i would pull the lure away from the fish so that it would do it again and again.

That feeling in the gut as you feel the little knock on the line... or even better the line just starts moving ... the temptation to strike... but you know it will drop it if you do... you have to wait for the knock.

That feeling you get in your gut as you wait for the fish to surface... then if jumps and you see it is bigger than you thought ...the poor old ticker goes into overdrive and you have to stay calm or you fumble and drop the fish.

The excitement of preparing for a comp ...getting the rods and reels ready ...packing all the tackle ...making sure everything is 100 % right...checking for cracks in the eyes ...down to replacing hooks which fail the nail test ... every single detail counts.

Standing in the back yard ...practicing to pitch into a tin 20 m away....making sure the drag is set on the reel.

enough for today ...time to go earn a buck or 2.

19/01/2020

Yes anyone can win a big fish comp... one of the biggest fish i ever caught was at Shongweni ... i decided to try bass fishing on my paddle ski ... bought a cheap yellow spinner bait ...had no idea what i was doing ...watched my line go under my fishing ski... thought i had hooked a barble ...tried to break the line ...I cant even remember what line it was ...i couldnt break it... eventually a 4.9 kg bass jumped out the water next to my ski ...I almost crapped myself ... but man i was hooked on bass fishing from that day... that poor bass ended up on my office wall.

It took a long time (years) before i caught another decent fish... after catching that fish i thought I would be catching bass like that every time i went fishing ...boy was I wrong.

The more time you spend researching ...watching videos... talking to people who are prepared to teach you tricks and techniques... and the right stuff not the promo stuff...the better quality fish you will catch more frequently.

It took years of trial and error ... i eventually learnt that the only way to catch fish consistently was to move around and look for "active feeding fish" ... i watched people sit on "spots" for hours... waiting for that fish they knew was there...but just wasnt taking the bait... in 2006 things changed... i managed to get more than 50 fish between 2-3 kg and and just over 30 ...3-4 kg fish and a couple other nice ones in between... then there were the days like Rory and I had at Wild Acres ... :)

Having a partner like Shannon who was just as committed and willing to put in the effort... made it easy for us to win the 2006 KZN Sa Bass cast cash and to win the first ten grand challenge we fished ...which we also placed in the top 5 for the others we fished.

18/01/2020

One of the most important points to note about fishing a comp... what you "land" and keep alive is what will determine your position in a comp.

I am sure you have all sat around at the end of a comp and heard the same ol same ol stories about the one that got away.

To win consistently you have to learn to land fish and manage your live well.... loosing one fish could take you from 1 st place to 20 th or even completely out the ranking... as what happened at craigie burn dam... only a total of 7 fish where caught that day... this is why time management is a also extremely important ...know how long it will take you to get your disc back on the board... and fish right up to last minute.

Then there is the game and the trash talk... which makes it fun... never tell anyone what is actually in your livewell... on many occasion people would just assume we had 5 fish... and we always told them we did ;) .

We never weighed any fish during the comp ... we always followed the same routine ... i would clip the disc on the board ... get the vehicle an reverse the trailer into he water ...Shannon would load the boat ... I would only then get the bag and empty the livewel.

18/01/2020

A week before a comp the prep work would start.

Monday evening.......

Remove all the line from all the reels... add just a dot of oil to a few spots. ..like the end of the spool... spray the reel with kvd line conditioner... then wipe the reel clean and use a pipe cleaner to get into the hard to reach places... then re spool all the reels with new line.

The weightless fluke rig had 10 lb braid with a swivel... the size swivel would be determined by the sink rate required ...generally the smallest barrel sinker i could find... then a piece of flouro...length determined by the water clarity... generally at least 300 - 500 mm long... the hook... a wide no 2 thin framed... also determined by the sink rate required.

Cranking ... i only used 10lb for all my cranking ...i bought it in 600 m rolls... i think it was called berkley big game... with norman speed clips (best speed clip for cranks... worth every cent)

Frogging... 50 lb dark green power pro... of all the lines i tried this was my favourite ... for many reason ...one being that it was round... a little kvd spray before and during the day kept the line in good condition.

not a big fan of using flouro ...in fact i never used it ...other than for leaders.

I used the same knot for everything

Then the rods... spray the rods with kvd line conditioner... use the pipe cleaner to clean around the eyes... scrub the handles with a bit of sunlight dish washing liquid... and check for cracks on the eyes... especially the tip... the rod/reel combos where balanced.

Then assemble...and store above my pub ready for the weekend...I had special covers made for all the special rods which was made out of the same material as the drimac jacket.

Then it would be time to start with the tackle...

10/01/2020

Crank bait fishing... something i spent a lot of time perfecting... how team cranky came about in 2004/5/6.

I hear people talk of reel retrieve speed... they say you need a slow ratio ... for me... it was all about rod action... i could tell you if it was a big or small fish even before i "loaded" the rod ...by the way never strike a cranking rod.

My preference for cranking rods were the american rodsmith 7.9 ft for big 20 ft deep divers... the the Gloomis 7.6 ft cranking rod for everything else paired with a calcutta DC ...you can throw the lure as far as required.

Some people think cranking is a brain dead operation which just requires winding of the reel... learn to pull and feel the rod and use the rod to create the action required... and watch the tip ... know the the tip action of the rod.

It is very important that a cranking rod bends from the handle ... it helps when the fish surfaces and tries to throw the lure... a soft long bend in the rod will help keep tension on the lure.

There is an art to cranking ...take the time to understand the correct colour selection ...when to use and not to use rattling noisy cranks... hot... cold ...misty weather cranks will work if you choose the right crank ...time of day also makes no difference ...some of our biggest fish during comps were caught just after lunch.

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Pinetown

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