Yak or Toon?

[Bluegill Budd]

As I get older, I can stand less and less time in the canoe. I have a Tube and use it but am limited in mobility with it. So I'm trying to decide if this spring I get a kayak or a Personal Pontoon. Both would alleviate the lower back problem I am experiencing with the canoe but I wonder which would be more useful ????

While I have spent some time in a kayak I have never been in a PP (personal pontoon). The added height of a toon would make fly casting easier but would also subject me to more effects of the wind, while the low position of the yak gets me out of the wind somewhat but puts me in a tougher position to "keepeth my backcast upeth". I have considered the oars/paddle also. With the PP all one has to do is drop the oars (assuming they are somehow affixed to the oarlocks) while in the yak, the paddle has to be stowed somehow to fish.
I am sure there are considerations that have not even crossed my mind but I am relying on the collective wisdom of the Bulletin Board to help me make my choice.

Comments???

Clint ( in the the land of the flat waters )

[Fly_Fisher_12]

Bluegill Budd- Hmmm... You bring a good argument. If you ask me it's a matter of personal preference. I'm more comfortable in a kayak, because I'm farmilliar with them though. I also have never used a PP. I don't know what to tell ya.
-Fly_Fisher_12

[beadleech]

I use a Hobie Float Cat ['toon] but have never used a kayak. I do know it's easy to fish out of the Hobie; just fin along and cast when you want to. Easy to turn. Actually one of the better presentions with the 'toon is to actually "troll" as you move from one area to the next. You also have the oars for moving greater distances altho you will not have the range of a kayak. You can mount a rod holder on the 'toon and troll while using the oars. If wind is a problem and you want to hold in place you can rig up an anchor system.

I also have a 12' pram with electric motor but like the Hobie for the additional presentions I can use with it.

Hope this doesn't confuse more.

Donald

[dixieangler]

Since you already have a canoe, why not just get one of those padded (cushion) seats with the fold up/down backs? I know they make the metal crossbar seats that the folding seat can fit onto.

I have a Creek Company ODC 816 pontoon catamaran that I like a lot with the old style padded seat (the new ones have plastic seats that I don't like). I also know that yaks can have folding padded/cushion seats. I don't know about yaks but the cat is very stable and very portable. It also has a lifetime guarantee on non-metal parts like the pontoons and seat. It probably does not row as well as a rigid craft in calmer waters like a yak unless I had rigid pontoons but it gets me where I want to go and it doesn't take up a lot of space. Its personal preference so I guess it boils down to what works best for you. Best of luck.


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Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL

"Flip a fly"



[This message has been edited by dixieangler (edited 16 August 2005).]

[WarrenP]

Clint,

You are one year older than me and I know where you are coming from with the canoe. I used one for several years and now own a Hobie Cat 75 and really enjoy it. It only weighs 33 pounds, fits inside my Mazda B3000 pick-up truck which has a cap on it and is very comfortable to fish out of all day. I have added an anchor system and use the oars to go from one fishing hole to the next. It rows very easily even against the current. I removed the soft foam seat and back and installed a padded vinyl seat with folding back plus mounted it on a swivel which really makes it easier to turn around to reach the cooler or fish from the side. The pontoons are polyethylene which means no pump or worrying about a bladder over inflating in hot weather or traveling higher altitudes. Just my opinions on this subject

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Warren

[Jed]

Two observations:
1. You can get a seat backrest for a canoe seat which might alleviate some of your canoeing back pain

2. If you need to go any distance chose a kayak. The effort is much less in a kayak than a 'toon.

jed

[This message has been edited by Jed (edited 17 August 2005).]

[l1ranger]

i like the kayak b/c of its ease of transport and manueverability. Also, I fish alone often, I can put in, paddle upstream, then float back in many cases. it has paddle clips on either side, or I lay it across my lap when fishing. No air bladders to worry about busting either.

[Royal Wulff]

Gill Budd, RW here,

I'm 69 and still going strong with my canoes. How come by now you have never used a clamp on seat with back rest?

If you're used to fishing from a canoe you wouldn't like a belly boat for all your fishing..trust me on that. A toon won't help loading time or the impracticle aspects of loading and unloading in particular vehilces as you get older, especially if you fish alone a lot. A yak will just put you lower to the water. My son has yaks, and I tried fishing from one. After 45 years in canoes I didn't like it. If you are used to fishing with a canoe and hate to give em up then don't. Use the applications (seats with backs, etc.) that are readily available.
I do.

Later, RW

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"We fish for pleasure; I for mine, you for yours." -James Leisenring on fishing the wet fly-




[This message has been edited by Royal Wulff (edited 17 August 2005).]

[Bluegill Budd]

RW, and others,
In my youth I was a semi-serious canoeist. I have never felt comfortable sitting on a seat in a canoe. It is too high and "tippy". I have always knealt but that puts too much strain on my lower back. I have seen the seats that rest in the bottom of a canoe and have considered them, but I would have to paddle kneeling and then change position to fish. Not a good option I figure.

As far a a toob goes, I have one and use it. I have no problem with my back using it, just the lack of ability to cover greater distances with it. There is one cove on Johnathon Creek on Kentucky Lake that is shallow enough that I drive the Bass Boat Boys nuts when I fin up into the end of the creek channel and bust LMBs on poppers and rubber spiders when they are trying to work the drops 100 yards out and doing zilch. What fun!!

Clint

[speck]

Kayaks/Tubes/Pontoons

I just got back from a trip down into New England where I spent most of 13 days fishing from my float tube. They are definitely a poor man's bass boat. With a flip of the fin you can swivel just like in a bass boat fishing chair. You can slow troll more efficiently than any gasoline motor. You have the silent approach of an electric and when you want to move you can propel the tube pretty much the same speed as a solo canoeist.

I have also done a lot of fishing from my canoe and my kayak. The main advantage of the canoe is the amount of interior space. Even though I lose all the space convenience I prefer to fish from my solo cockpit style kayak. This craft is much lighter, far more manoeverable and doesn't get blown around like a canoe. It also moves twice as fast over the water and with a rod holder or the rod handle sitting in your lap can slow troll with hardly any paddling effort whatsoever.

While on my trip I had the opportunity to paddle an open cockpit kayak. It was A Wilderness Systems "Pungo". This kayak would be an excellent fishing vessel. It gives you much more canoe like convenience with its open cockpit. Lots of space for fishing gear, a cooler etc. This kayak tracks really well on flatwater and would be a joy to fish from compared to my small cockpit vessel. As one of the other fellows mentioned you can also paddle effectively upstream in a kayak. If I had to choose one craft for fishing it would be one of the modern open cockpit kayaks. You can even get in and out of them like a canoe. These kayaks were observed on top of vehicles in a ratio of 10 to one over canoes on our journey home to Canada. They seem to be very popular and now, having paddled one, I can see why.

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"...whatever is true,whatever is noble,whatever is right,whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."



[This message has been edited by speck (edited 17 August 2005).]