A specialized trailer rigged for kayak fishing can be tough to justify with price tags in the thousands. Yet, having a well thought out trailer is the best was to tow your gear to the launch. In this video, Nathan Joel Rich of Southern Salt Kayak Fishing shows us just how he took a standard small boat trailer, and gave it the ultimate DIY kayak fishing modification for just around $300.
Building Out Your DIY Fishing Trailer Upgrade
“The base of the trailer would be a standard jet ski trailer. You can find these on Craigslist or Facebook marketplace all day long for between 100 and 200 bucks,” Rich explains. “Most the time they will need a new set of wheels and hubs.”
Using the trailer frame as a starting place, Rich was able to use steel strut channels and directly bolt through the slots, rather than requiring any welding. “What I did here was use all Unistrut material. It’s direct bolt-on so no welds or anything like that. Basically just drilling a hole through the frame and bolting it all up,” Rich instructs. “This stuff came together in about I don’t know four or five hours. ”
The channeled steel provides the bones for the frame, and from there Rich added a cargo area up top, a forward platform for a storage bin, as well as a central platform for his cooler. Rich also attached a locking Yakima rod holder running along the side to complete his DIY fishing kayak trailer upgrade.
There Is No Limit To Modifying This Kayak Trailer
“You can add pretty much anything you want to it,” says Rich. “I’m looking at adding in a little drop down and just having a step so I can step up on there and allow me to get to this box a lot easier.”
Rich also talked about attaching a lighting system to the back for having a better visual of boat ramps at night. Kayak anglers will look for just about any modification they can imagine and this DIY fishing kayak trailer is no exception.
This is so far superior to the little Farm & Fleet special I kayak out of it’s ridiculous – great ideas though!