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).]