can anyone recommend a good/reasonably priced two person kayak? thanks for any input.
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can anyone recommend a good/reasonably priced two person kayak? thanks for any input.
If you have one near you I'd check out a kayak rental place. They often sell off kayaks, and you can get a good deal. good luck!
Tandem kayaks have earned the nickname "divorce boats" for good reason, I paddled one once, won't do it again. And, if you are going to fish from it with another person in it ... good luck. It would be better to get 2 solo kayaks and just paddle close together. The Old town Loon series and the Perception have gotten good reviews in the entry level boats. See [url=http://www.paddling.net:b5aa0]www.paddling.net[/url:b5aa0] for kayak reviews and prices. Also there is a "for sale" section for used boats.
Hey Dpenrod,
I agree with Kbobb. A single yak is the
sportscar of paddle craft, whereas the
tandem is the family wagon. Many of them do
not perform well with solo paddlers should
your partner not be available. Harder
recovery getting two folks plugged into a
kayak in the event of a capsize. A lot more
options and versatility IMHO with the solo
yaks. Warm regards, Jim
Yeah, My girlfriend and I were warned about the divorce boat reputation of tandem yaks. (From a salesman) One wants to go slow, one fast, one deep, one shallow... You sit very close together- making it hard to both fish, let alone flyfish at the same time. We got a canoe so we have more space, and wade fish and use a small tin boat on occasion. Good luck, Jim
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"Knowledge is knowing, wisdom is understanding"
Costco sells a single and double kayak each spring at a great price and all rigged with seats and paddles. Not high performance, but a good utility/casual use/bulletproof boat. I have owned one of each of those for severeal years. I have 8 kayaks and have owned a few others too. Yep singles are best. Doubles are good for hauling non paddling passengers, dogs, lots of gear, or for traveking to camp with two paddlers.
Nothing like a high performance single though to experience the best of fly fishing from a small boat. I like kayak fishing even better than fishing from my pram. My best kayak is carbon sit-on-top and has taken me 14 miles in 6 hours fishing along the shorelines in the Pacific ocean. It cruises at 4 MPH without chugging, has GPS, a rudder, sonar and fly rod holders etc. It is reall a fun kayak.
Most plastic "tupperware" sit-on-top kayaks are all dogs compared to rigid hulled kayaks. But these plastic boats are what just about everyone has these days. They are relatively inexpensive. There must be over two dozen great kayak fishing sites on-line. Just search them up searching on google with "Kayak Fishing". You will busy for a month reading all of the kayak reviews and rigging pages..Have some fun!
Renting is a good idea to form an opinion on the different models. They are all different in some way. There over a dozen brands and dozens of models for each brand.
I'd recommend a sit-inside kayak for touring and sit-on-tops for fishing and casual summer fun. Wear a good PFD-no matter how hot it is!! The doubles are great for taking kids under 10, or for your kids to use together. The others have already warned you about the SO and doubles http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/biggrin.gif
Rich
That "Divorce boat" theroy goes well with Canoes too,I am now kicking myself for selling my old town discovery,for those "one wants to go fast the other slow" type things with my ex bro in-law...should have hung-on to my canoe.....get two singles...you'll truely be glad you did in the end..trust these men,they know and have been where you are now http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/wink.gif
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"I've often wondered why it is that so many anglers spend so much money on,and pay so much attention to.the details on the wrong end of the fly line.If they took as much care in selecting or tying their flies as they did in the selection of the reel and rod,They might be able to gain the real extra edge that makes it possible to fool a fish that has,in fact,seen it all before" A.K.Best
"Wish ya great fishing"
Bill
I too did not like the tandem kayak experience. Timing is everything and if you are not together with your kpaddling partner it can be a disaster. WIth a kayak you don't have the space between people that you do with a canoe and you constantly hit each others paddles.
My wife and I went the two kayak route and are still married http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/smile.gif We also have a two person canoe and that works fine as well.
jed
Some interesting thoughts here.
I have both solo and tandem and will add they are all rigged for flyfishing. My tandem is a beast. Approx. 16' long and 70 lbs. it actually has the third middle kid seat. It's a ocean kayak cabo sit on top (all mine are sit on tops). I use it in freshwater. Your paddles are not going to hit when using this thing. You could not flyfish two at once out of it. The bow person flyfish's the rear holds position or uses a spin rod. If your getting it for flyfishing you want some space between the two paddlers so don't get one of those solo length tandems.
My solos are always the first choice for fishing. The tandem is nice because you can cover ground fast and easy say.......on one of the Great Lakes for Smallies.
I have not found a canoe I feel comfortable in yet compared to a sit on top wide kayak.
I don't know what to tell you ? The tandem yak is not my favorite rig. It is very heavy compared to a canoe. A canoe really kills my knees with the seating as compared to a yak and like the yak it would be very hard to flyfish two out of it at the same time.
I think you need to try both. A 14' - 16' wide stable sit on top yak with seats and a wide stable 16' or larger canoe with seats & back rests. Again you will not be able to "flyfish" two out of either.
thanks for all the good info. i am planning on using this with my son who is soon to be eight. he doesn't flyfish (yet) so i don't know if this will make the kayak more practical or not. they are definitely less expensive than canoes in my neck of the woods, so that is a plus.