It is just my opinion, but these things are awful to fish from. I use mine for traveling up and down a slow river, but fishing from one is like fishing from a battleship. You can’t stop it on a dime or change directions very easily, like you can with a pontoon or kick boat. The wind multiplies the problem. I have all three, and I use a trolling motor on all three for traveling when on the water.
The problem for me is the best fishing is in unwadeable deep water that is over a good casting distance from wadeable water. I see people wading and casting and looking in good form, but they are not catching fish, not to mention a crooked rear end at the end of the day.
I will probably keep my kayak, but it will stay in storage most of the time. The kayak is good for carrying my dogs when the go with me.
To be specific, I have a Cobra FisnNDive kayak and a Hobie 75 Float Cat. My kick boat is homemade, from commercial styrofoam.
You might say Kayaks are STILL popular, given of course you live on the artic seacoast. Since man first stretced a dried out seal skin over a framework of bent branch’s they have been a mode of travel for thousands of years by our northern Eskimo friends. Yes, they are still popular only the Indians used a different kind of fiberglass and Kevlar.
I have a donut tube, a canoe, and a sit-in kayak
The 'tube is rarely used… hike/walk in stuff only.
The canoe is for fresh water excurtions. Extra room to stretch out, you can stand to cast … and I love up stream poleing.
Where the kayak really shines is in the salt. The speed of the 'yak makes traveling long distances easy. Plus the 'yak is so stable that there is no worrys paddling in high seas.
Casting from a 'yak may not be a picnic, but they make up for that in fun and safety.
My yak lets me travel farther and faster than my float tube. The yak lets me move better in the wind as well.
I don’t see how casting from a yak is all that different than casting from a float tube…both have you right down close to water level. The trick is not try to cast the entire line.
I’ve caught fish literally right off the side of the kayak (within a foot of the side of it) and I can move in quietly as well. So, no need to fish 70-100 ft away from my target…
For small bits of water, the float tube is fine but I prefer the extra space and mobility of my kayak…I guess different folks have different preferences…
I try to avoid fishing from a kayak as I most often fish fast water and it’s a ROYAL pita to control the boat and play a fish. I use it to get me TO fishing situations on/from banks that would otherwise be unreachable to me. I tie up and wade till the cows come home or move on to a better spot.
By the way, the plan usually is that my wife drops me off about 10 miles upstream and picks me up at a pull out point 6 or 7 hours later.
I love the size and freedom of the kayak.
Must not be a hobie outfitted with a mirage drive that you boys are fishing from…I have had quite a different experince fishing from my outback…it’ll turn on a dime with a flick of a finger! as the steering can be controled either with a paddle…or the use of the rudder control lever…
Have the Hobie Floatcat 75 as well…but it no longer sees water…comfy it is though…But If I want to invite a friend, he need not supply his own means of getting out a bit farther…
For small changes in position on my Hobie Outback, I use an 18 inch wooden paddle one-handed (it’s a miniature canoe paddle)…works great and gives me reverse and is much easier to use for small position adjustments than the normal double-ended kayak paddle.
Seemed to be the answer to my mobility problems. Can’t bushwhack anymore, but I can still paddle. I’m hoping my 44 pound kayak wont be too difficult for an old gimp to manage. :? I’m still a bit worried about remounting if I dump it in the middle of the lake. Mounting and dismounting are already difficult enough from shore with one leg. :lol:
Will report back later on the efficacy of a kayak for my fishing needs.
I’ve never fished from a kayak. A canoe is a different situation. I do it all the time. About Joe’s rig, I’d have that thing looking like a crow’s nest in about five minutes. I can’t count the number of places I could wrap line on that rig. Good grief! I admit, that even after all these years, I have a bit of Charlie Brown in me in terms of line management. And with my opulent-looking belly, you just don’t use a line basket – for some unexplainable reason the line keeps tumbling out the front. JGW
Joe Valencic,
Great contraption. BUT, back in Chicago, people use things like that to mark their parking spot after shovelling snow out of a spot by the curb. There was some assurance that "nobody’ would steal it.
I’m with Bill on this one. My Hobie Outback is the best fishing boat I’ve ever used. Plenty stable, super quiet, easy to peddle and my hands are free for fishing. My only gripe is that I have to use the paddle to back up. This kayak was designed to use for fishing and they did a great job!
I like my 'yak for fishing. I use it on lakes and ponds. I can get to where I want fast, they are very stable and hold all the junk I want. I use it on slower rivers and it works well to move at the water’s pace or to stay at one location with a simple anchor. I use it in the ocean or bay’s and it is able to handle water that has some wave action.
It doesn’t do everything (no craft does) but it is a great all around boat. Rather than using a paddle for smaller movements, which can be awkward, I am using a piece of wood about the size of a ping-pong paddle. Makes small adjustments in direction or location easy.
Kayak: navigating up or down slow rivers to remote spots, fishing using a small paddle for direction control in slow rivers and still waters, exploring tight spots and backwaters, stealthy, light, easyily loaded, holds some gear.
Canoe: roomy, take a friend, stand and cast in still waters, paddles up slower rivers, heavy, holds more gear.
Pontoon boat: floating faster rivers to wade points, fishing larger lakes, more set up time, holds some gear.
Float tube: fishing smaller ponds and lakes, easiest to load, not very comfortable to fish from for long hours, not much room for gear.
I use a paddle with a bit longer handle from a small inflatable raft. That way I can swing it over the kayak without adding more water to the inside, and lash it to the side. When I got one, I hadn’t planned on fishing from it, but now I find myself doing it more and more and enjoying it. It just takes some practice and getting used to (like most things worth doing). 8)
Personally, I’ll fish from my kayak anytime. It really isn’t that hard to get used to casting from, and while it isn’t the optimum platform, it can take me places on the river that only a fool would think of trying in a float tube, pontoon, or glitter boat. My home river is huge and relatively shallow, with an irregular bottom that makes wading a dangerous proposition. Give me my kayak. She’s fairly quick (even though she’s a barge by kayak standards), and stable as all heck. I laugh when people in chest waders tell me I’m too low in the water to cast properly. Yes, it isn’t the easiest way, but since when has easy been important to fly fishers? The kayak is a useful tool that is just what is needed in many situations.
