First Look: YakAttack BlackPak Pro And Accessories

New gear crate, rod holders and mounts

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At the beginning of summer 2022, YakAttack made big news when they released three new BlackPak Pro storage crates designed to provide safe, protected storage for tackle and gear. By the end of the summer, the company will add a selection of accessories to expand the BlackPak’s versatility.


YakAttack’s BlackPak Pro is a Premium Storage Upgrade

YakAttack BlackPak fishing storage crate
The original BlackPak.

With solid construction and a sturdy lid, YakAttack’s original BlackPak was a big step up from the milk crates and small coolers anglers had been using to store gear and rods. With the pre-drilled holes, anglers could add rod holders and accessory mounts to the outside of the crate.

Improving on the original design, the BlackPak Pro is stronger and lighter with more options for customization. First, the Pro is available in three sizes: 13 by 13 inches, 13 by 16 inches and a massive 16 by 16 inches. The new crate has adjustable hinges to secure the water-resistant lid. On the front, two latches keep the lid closed and can be opened with one hand.

a display of YakAttack's new BlackPak Pro fishing storage crate at ICAST
Photos: Kayak Angler Staff

The new crate comes with three of YakAttack’s new TetherTube rod holders. The rod holders are large enough to hold the biggest rod butts and cradle baitcasting or spinning reels. To keep the rods in place, the tubes are outfitted with a bungee and hook that can either attach to the rod or one of three caged attachment points on each side of the tube.

Accessorize Your BlackPak Pro

So how do you make the new and improved gear crate better? YakAttack has released a line of accessories to customize the crate outfitting.

My favorite accessory is the TetherTube Turret. Attach the rod tube to the crate with the Turret, then push a lever to angle the rod holder up to 45 degrees. This is helpful for river anglers who need to lower their rod tip to pass beneath branches and overhangs. Angling the rods also keeps them out of the way of an angler’s backcast.

Continuing with the same idea, the GridLoc MightyMount with 90-degree adapter attaches an accessory base to the outside of the crate to hold a PanFish Pro camera boom, Omega rod holder or VisiCarbon Pro navigation light. The 90 degree adapter can also be angled to mirror the TetherTube Turret.

a display of YakAttack's new BlackPak Pro fishing storage crate at ICAST

YakAttack also redesigned the MightyMount XL gear track to match the pre-drilled holes on the BlackPak Pro. Moving forward, all YakAttack accessories will be designed with hole spacing to match the GridLoc pattern on the BlackPak Pro.

Inside the BlackPak Pro, new Knotloc Bungee Dividers keep tackle trays and gear organized. Attach the plastic taps to the GridLoc holes and run the bungees between the tabs. The bungees are infinitely adjustable to customize gear organization and easy to remove, adjust and install.

To make the BlackPak Pro even better, it is now available in olive drag green and desert sand tan. In fact, YakAttack will be releasing select accessories, like cleats, tie-downs, rod holders and gear tracks in the new colors, too.

For years BlackPak dominated the kayak storage market with the toughest and coolest tackle crate system. Now, the updated BlackPak Pro will continue to offer secure and customizable gear storage for years to come.

The YakAttack BlackPak Pro is the Best Paddling Accessory of 2023 as voted by the public in the fourth annual Paddling Magazine Industry Awards. Read more and see a complete list of winners here.

 

Ric Burnley
Ric Burnley
Kayak Angler editor Ric Burnley has been kayak fishing since the dawn of the sport. In 2007, Burnley wrote The Complete Kayak Fisherman, with chapters on how-to make a PVC rod holder and glue a fish finder transducer to the hull. In 2013, he landed his dream job as editor of Kayak Angler magazine. Burnley is a regular contributor to Salt Water Sportsman, Sport Fishing, Outdoor Life, In the Bite and other print and online publications. Burnley lives in Virginia Beach with his wife, adult daughter, daughter’s boyfriend and daughter’s two cats. Experience In 2004, Ric Burnley stole his first milk crate from behind a 7-Eleven and fashioned it into a gear crate for his Ocean Kayak Prowler 15. Many years and many milk crates later, Burnley has witnessed the rise of kayak fishing from a bastardized fringe element to a legitimate industry with millions of devotees. The journey to becoming an angler started early in Burnley’s life. His father, Eric Burnley, is a renowned outdoor writer and former fishing guide, so the boy grew up in the cockpit of a charter boat and in the pages of national magazines. After college, Burnley lost easy access to his father’s boat, but not his passion for fishing. Once he had exhausted the limits of land-based angling, Burnley decided to try out a new thing called kayak fishing. About the same time, Burnley was looking for extra work to pay for his expensive addiction. His father, editor of the Mid-Atlantic Fisherman Magazine, offered him freelance assignments for the weekly publication. That led to a position as regional editor at Salt Water Sportsman, publication of The Complete Kayak Fisherman and editorship of Kayak Angler. Meanwhile, Burnley and his partner-in-crime, “Kayak Kevin” Whitley were exploring the boundaries of kayak fishing. With the bountiful Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean as their playground, the two anglers were the first to target big red drum, cobia, trophy striped bass, monster black drum, sheepshead and many other species. Once inshore species were exhausted, Burnley loaded his kayak onto motorboats and fished for bluefin tuna, blackfin tuna, king mackerel and amberjack. All the while, Burnley shared his experiences and knowledge with anglers through print, photos, video, radio, seminars and online. Almost 20 years later, Burnley continues to fish obsessively and share the stories. His recent projects for Kayak Angler cover the latest trends in forward-facing sonar and remote-controlled electric motors. Over the past two decades, kayak fishing and Ric Burnley have come a long way from PVC rod holders and stolen milkcrates. Education ● Radford University: BA English; Virginia Teacher’s License. Highlights ● Other Interests: Mountain biking, traveling, hiking, surfing and skateboarding ● Day Job: High School English teacher at an alternative school for at-risk students Fun Fact Ric’s name is a contraction of Eric. Ric is named after his father, Eric Sr. To differentiate between the two Erics, Mrs. Burnley removed her son’s E. To this day, she writes the boy’s name ‘Ric, with an apostrophe replacing the E.

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