The importance of being seen on the water can never be overstated and after some close experiences with boaters I will spare no expense to make my kayak and I as visible as possible. I have used the VISI Pole for a while now and it truly is on my must have list of kayak fishing safety items.

The VISI Pole gives off an enormous amount of light and offers you visibility on the water that is required for safe night fishing and kayaking. The VISI Pole certainly adds some extra light around your kayak and is visible from a greater distance than most other lights I have used. The trick with any light is to find the balance between brightness and burn-time.  I still have not changed the original 3 AAA batteries and I used the light over 70 hours so far and it is still going strong. The creators of light over at Yak Attack (www.yakattack.us) say it is waterproof to 1000 feet; I would like to know who tested it to find out, but I am confident that it will stand up to any salt spray or occasional dunking that might happen. The VISI Pole also doubles as a flag for daytime fishing. 

Some kayak anglers might not really understand the importance of this but anybody in a highly trafficked boating area knows that you have a much greater chance of being in harms way during the daytime hours than in the middle of the night. The flag is a flexible orange that is fade resistant and made to be removable. It also comes in the America Flag style for the patriotic angler.

The set-up can be mounted in 2 ways: a Scotty Base mount makes for a rod solid foundation that will have the pole stand straight up but some people might choose to use the option of just sticking it in their rod holder, milk crate of gear bag (ones with rod holders). If you choose to just slip it into a holder of some sort, the VISI pole comes with what they call a QuietSlip Mount™.  This is a well thought system that includes rubber to reduce banging around and comes with a tether to make sure it stays in place.  

At a cost of between $50 and $60 (depending on model), it is easy to think that you can make something similar in the garage out of a flashlight and piece of PVC.  However after looking over the set up you will realize that even such a basic device like the VISI Pole has been well thought out for the kayak angler.  The components have been engineered to work optimally with a kayaker and the environment from the mount up the mast to the light itself.  In addition there’s even extra strips of reflective tape that helps day or night.  The lightest and strongest materials have been used in the design with one goal in mind - to make sure you’re visible at all times! The folks over at Yak Attack have a motto, Kayak Fishing Accessories for Kayak Fishermen, By Kayak Fishermen.  I must admit I kind of like that attitude.

Al Stillman