BigFlatBrook,

You're about ten miles away from a big-time kayak fishing store! The folks behind the Kayak Fishing Stuff web site are in Mine Hills, NJ which MapQuest says is about ten miles away from where your profile says you live. I suggest a road trip!

They do plenty of demo days if I'm not mistaken. I'm on the other coast from them but have used their web site's forum for info and advice. You can look them up at:

[url=http://www.kayakfishingstuff.com/default.asp:d6565]http://www.kayakfishingstuff.com/default.asp[/url:d6565]

I'm bigger than you are by more pounds than I care to admit. I fit great in a Hobie Outback but would probably be squished in a Hobie Sport. I really like pedaling when fishing since I don't have to put my rod down to manuever. It's not for everybody though.

I have buddies with sit-in yaks and they fish just fine too. Figure out how you'll mount rod holders (Hobie's moulded-in rod holders are designed for spin rods, not fly rods...I'm modifying my Outback this weekend to correct that oversight).,

You can find some info here on FAOL for getting started in yak fishing (typical gear you'll want to bring like a personal floatation device, VHF radio if going in the salt, top notch whistle for signalling, tow rope, etc). You can also find good info on the KFS site I listed above.

Given how close they are to you, if you haven't already dropped in on them, it's probably a good thing to do before deciding on which model is best. They should have demo days, or some other way for you to try some of the models out (possibly already rigged for fishing).

They'll have info on rigging for fishing as well (most kayak shops I've been in just start at you when you ask about that).

Good luck