Pedal Kayaks and Fly Fishing

[Paul Arnold]

I reached the same conclusion, Coach; I use my sculling paddle after I get close to where I want to fish. I almost always fish tenkara these days, so can easily cast and scull at the same time.

Unlike you, I do not break down my kayak paddle, just lay it athwart the kayak above my lap. There is no loose line to tangle with the paddle because of tenkara. My little kayak is only 8 ft. long, and stowing the broken-down paddle would pose a problem.

[okflyfisher]

I have an emotion stealth paddle kayak. I am from Oklahoma and it is often breezy so I use drift socks ( sea anchors) on anchor trolleys to drift the shorelines of lakes for bass, catfish and pan fish. I use a 30" or an 18" drift sock and when the wind nears 20 mph i use them both at once on the same side to slow the kayak down enough to fish well. I have the paddle crossways in my lap and make a stroke or two occasionally to move around a tree or point. Adjusting the anchor trolley allows me to keep the right distance and angle to shore. I have drift fished for 5 hrs without making 2 dozen strokes. Generally I have the larger drift sock rigged on the main wind side and the smaller sock rigged on the port side for protected bays. The kayak weighs 44 lbs so that works for my old bones. If I had to paddle for 4 or more miles before I fished this would not be the right kayak for the situation.
With greater distances to cover to get to fishing I would think that one of the peddle yaks may be the way to go. They are stable enough to fish and fast enough to negate the distance. You just have to make provision for their weight. There is probably not one kayak that suits all needs, which is why some people have their own fleet.

[allen]

If you put the pedals in backwards so the leading edge of the fins is facing the rear of the kayak it will go backwards. Please don?t ask me how I know that.

I did that once when surf launching in 2-3ft breakers. Total yard sale after I did a major dump. Good thing everything important was lashed. I also use a towel to strip into. Once an awhile the line will get tangled but its no big deal. If you put one pedal all the way forward then you won't get a tangle with the fins since it raises them up against the hull. One thing to keep in mind is that the Hobie uses a back and forth leg motion and the Native uses a circular motion. Our legs are much stronger going back and forth. I've pedaled for hours on end and didn't really feel that fatigued and I'm not in that great of shape.