Quote Originally Posted by SteveGibson View Post
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I would never opt for a traditional sit-inside kayak for my waters. Not practical. Sit-on-tops are the way to go.

Casting from the seated position isn't a problem and all and that's not the reason for standing up. We stand up to "sight-fish," which can be rather difficult (impossible?) while sitting down.
OK, let me rephrase my statement then: sit-inside kayaks are more efficient and therefore faster. Your 'return on investment' is higher, meaning, you go further quicker with the same amount of output in energy.

Hull speed is a product of beam to length ratio and even though there are fast sit-on-tops (wave skis), the sit-on-tops boats sold for fishing are sluggish and if you need to cover a lot of territory (big reservoir, sea) you'd be better off in a more efficient kayak. That's practical.

Sit-on-tops are not more stable necessarily. That's a common myth perpetrated by folks who probably haven't paddled a variety of sit-inside kayaks. Basically, you sit lower in the water in a sit-inside kayak, thus increasing your stability. You sit-higher off the water in a sit-on-top kayak and in order to make them stable, they tend to made them wider. That slows the boat down (beam to length ratio).

A 'real' kayak with outriggers is stable enough to stand up in in order to sight-fish and the benefit of having a more efficient kayak are obvious. And, if you bought the kayak with outriggers and, say, wanted to cruised down a river stopping to fish from sandbars or shoals, you'd get there quicker and easier in a real kayak than you would in a sluggish sit-on-top.

My suggestion is not to discount the benefits of traditional decked boats without trying them first. A lot of people/companies are pushing sit-on-top boats over real boat for fishing, but their logic isn't solid when it comes to hull science, stability and usability.