Help On Fishing Kayaks

[straw hat]

A freind of mine is thinking about buying a small fishing kayak. Something like a pelican of a Walmart one. He was wondering if you guys had any advice or tips for him. Any help would be appreciated.

[fishbait3]

THey have some reaonably priced fishing kayaks at bass Pro

[UnCivE]

I fish out of a 12ft Ascend Sit-in kayak from bass pro and I love it. I'd advise you to decide on your size first, I'm a big guy 6-2 , 215lbs so I fish out of a 12ft. Also, save the cash and get the base model instead of the "angler" model. You can outfit the boat the way you want for less than the difference between the two.

I like the bass pro boats for the seats alone. Go in the warehouse at Springfield Bass Pro and you can easily get 10 percent off a scratched kayak. (they had a whole line of em last time I was there).

[straw hat]

Thanks for the tips guys. Money is an issue so that Bass Pro warehouse idea sounds good.

[dennis boatman]

...also check Academy Sports...

[fishbait3]

very true about academy. SOme of the boats at the outlet store are priced just like the knew ones give or take 50 or so, just becareful of the conditions they are in. The seats r very comfortable as well.

[straw hat]

What models do you two have? What are the pros and cons to yours?

[Ham]

I'd stay away from the Pelican one's like the plague.

[Stoneroller]

DO NOT buy any sit on top kayak that does not have scupper (drainage) holes in the seat area. You will end up sitting in water with a wet, chaffed behind all day and you will hate the experience.

Frankly you get what you pay for. Sure we could all plop down in an old inner tube and it would get the job done, for cheap, but when you start looking at room (a cooler is a must, warm drinks suck, and it gives you ice in case you need to remove a hook, easier to do when the body part is numb), room for rods, SEATING!!! probably the most important feature. etc etc. and uncomfortable, too small, unstable, butt wet, cheapo kayak is going to deliver the kind of experience you paid for.

There are some really nice kayaks in the $500-600 range that would work much better, and of course there are always deals. Check with local sporting goods shops (not walmarx as they don't know a darn thing about what they sell) and see if they have any demo or closeout models. Also check the web. I know a couple of places that regularly carry high end kayaks in their closeout/outlet sections. ACK currently has at least 5 that are under $500 and around 10 under $800, with some really good deals too.

[Stoneroller]

I have an Ocean Kayak Trident 13 and a Jackson Coosa.

the Trident is made for lakes and open water, big rivers (ie missouri/mississippi) it's set up with factory provisions for a fish finder, rod holders and plenty of in the hull storage. It turns like a battleship, even with a rudder and you can stand in it. it's super easy to get back into if you want to go for a swim, carries a ton of gear, including a cooler, tackle boxes, 8 rods (with the milk crate). It's faster than the coosa, easier to paddle, I can easily troll with it, and the wind doesn't blow it around as much due to it's longer water line and lower bow . But you sit just above the surface of the water and when you do stand, you are an instand sail. I bougth a $120 addon seat for this kayak and the seat is awesome, the one you get with it pretty much sucks. For lakes, this is the design he'll want to lean towards

the Coosa is made for flowing water and works fine on small lakes say under 200 acres in size. It's not great in the wind on open water as it's higher profile bow catches more wind and it's lower draft doesn't offer much resistance. It still tracks amazingly well for a boat that can turn a 360º in it's own length, the trident cuts about a 20 foot circle with the rudder. The Coosa is super easy to stand and fish from, I can actually walk around on it although it's no bass boat. It has an amazing amount of storage inside the boat. (Both boats can fit fully rigged fly rods inside them (although you'd have to be extremely careful about what else is stowed inside while doing that). The seat on the Coosa is amazing! it's more like a short metal frame camping chair. You sit up off the hull, in both the low and high seating positions. There is about a 6 inch difference in the two. I don't fish from the lower position, which puts you around 6 inches off the water to start with. The high position is around a foot off the water. But the Coosa is very stable and unless you are in class 3 water, the high position is perfectly fine. The seat drains well too so no sitting in water. For river fishing on smaller ozark rivers and streams this is the design he'll want to lean towards.

both boats retail around $1000, so that may be out of his price range, but the features both have make them well worth it. These two boats represent two different hull designs and aspects of kayak fishing. Just like all boats aren't the same, but could be fished from, all kayak hulls designs are not the same. Companies are now producing kayaks geared more towards specific kinds of fishing instead of pulling a standard hull off the line, sticking a couple of rocket style rod holders on it and calling it the 'angler' model.