Initial review of the VisiCarbonPro

I've always been a do-it-yourself kind of guy. My wife even brags to her friends about my MacGyver skills around the house. So, when I first started kayak fishing, I made my own light pole. It had a nice bright light, attachments for a flag and camera mount, too. I was pretty proud of it and for a while, it did it's job well. Keeping in mind, I fish A LOT, things eventually started to fall apart. I made another one and it also did it's job well, but not long after it was looking kinda rough too. I had metal rusting, inferior grade plastic cracking, tape peeling, messy glue all over the place, lights breaking, and batteries losing juice too quickly. I didn't want to go with PVC since I dislike the light swinging around because of the excessive flexiblity. But I didn't want more metal broom handles either.

I decided to finally break down and get a professionally made kayak light. I found the YakAttack VisiCarbon Pro. It had all the features I was looking for and then some. It's pricey, but let me tell you why I think it's worth it. First of all, finding all the pieces to make my previous two light poles wasn't cheap. That was one of my main reasons for going with the VisiPole. I might as well put that money into one that was professionally made (in the US, I might add). Also, with all the other things I have to take care of around the house, time is very valuable. Time is money, so they say. I simply don't have the time to make another one.

When I opened the package, I was pleasantly surprised how small, and light it was (even with the 3AA batteries already in it).

The first thing I checked for was anything that might rust. Nope. None. Excellent. As I inspected it further, I then realized how much thought went into making this product. It's quite ingenious. The poles are made of carbon fiber, so they're very strong and light. They fit into each other like tent poles to form a 4ft long mast upon which the light stands. And they are thin so there is very little drag against the wind. The bottom is wrapped in quality foam so you can put it in a rod holder and it will remain silent. The one I ordered came with an attachment on the bottom that will fit into a Scotty mount. I believe there is the option to get it with RAM attachments also. So if you don't want to take up a spot on the rod holder, you can put it in either a Scotty or RAM mount.

If you do want to put it in the rod holder, there is a stretchy lanyard that you can pull over the bottom of the rod holder to keep the light in place (just in case you turtle). Smart.

It also has the reflective SOLAS tape on it, the light was plenty bright, and the package says the batteries will last for over 100 hours! However, as a precaution, I still carry extra batteries in a drybox, along with an extra camera battery and batteries for my head lamp. The light has two O-rings so no water gets in where the sensitive stuff is.

The bag that it stores in doubles as the flag. I used to fly full size flags often, but the drag they created made me dislike them. However, the flag/bag that comes with this light pole is only 6" tall, creating less drag. But it's still long enough to be highly visible. Very efficient. Also, they came up with a Silent Snap system which makes the flag very easy to remove and there's no clips that make noise when the flag is flapping. Genius.


















So far, I am very glad I got this product. I've taken it out on two trips; one very windy day on the James river, and one nice evening out to the HRBT. I'll put it through the rigors of all the other fishing I do throughout the year and post up a final review towards the end of the season.