Sit On Top Kayak Suggestions

[Ham]

I'm still rolling in my 2003 Tarpon 120. I also have a 2005 Tarpon 100. Both of tyhose are fine boats, but my next one is going to be a Coosa.

It isn't the absolute weight that has to be considered. My Tarpon 120 is around 65 lbs. Lifting a 65 lb barbell over your head is no big deal. Put 20 lbs on a long awkward to hold level and it gets more interesting.

I throw my boats in the back of a pickup truck. Very easy.

[msamatt]

I have a couple of buddies who each own a Coosa and I've paddled and fished from one on the Menominee in Wisconsin two summers ago and it was a great fishing platform. I really don't like fishing with a kayak paddle on my legs but the Coosa (and other sot kayaks) often have paddle keeper bungie deals on the side of the hull and I was able to attach the kayak paddle to that and just use my normal canoe paddle while fishing and then used the kayak paddle to move back upriver, etc. There's also ample room under the seat for tackle boxes, etc. Here's a pic of a nice chunky Menominee smallie in that Coosa. That fish hit a footloose about 3 feet from my rod tip.

[MOsmallies]

Nice one Matt... Smallies are notorious for scaring the crap out of you when you least expect it. I had an 18+" crush a topwater about 5 feet from me last year. Can't believe I landed it.

[Mitch f]

That's a great northern specimen!

[Smalliebigs]

I have a couple of buddies who each own a Coosa and I've paddled and fished from one on the Menominee in Wisconsin two summers ago and it was a great fishing platform. I really don't like fishing with a kayak paddle on my legs but the Coosa (and other sot kayaks) often have paddle keeper bungie deals on the side of the hull and I was able to attach the kayak paddle to that and just use my normal canoe paddle while fishing and then used the kayak paddle to move back upriver, etc. There's also ample room under the seat for tackle boxes, etc. Here's a pic of a nice chunky Menominee smallie in that Coosa. That fish hit a footloose about 3 feet from my rod tip.

Wow what a sweet looking fish Matt....kudos!!!...I might have to try your idea of a second single blade on the hull....that's really is intriguing me....not sure why I have never done it before

[msamatt]

Smalliebigs:

I caught that fish on the last day of a three day trip and it really capped off the whole trip. That was a beautiful fish I caught in about 2 feet of water. There were some huge smallies hiding out in some large, shallow weedbeds on river left that afternoon. I lost an even bigger fish in about a foot of water. The water was so shallow in the open pocked of water I was fishing that I could see the fish' dorsal fin protruding from the water as it shout out from under a mat of muck to hit the buzzbait! It broke me off while I was trying to haul it out of heavy weeds and rock. That experience really drove home what I already knew about not overlooking any possible cover. I'm just really comfortable fishing with the single blade on my lap. I can use it with one hand to make small corrections while I'm fishing. There's no doubt that the kayak paddle helps you move around more quickly but it feels so unwieldy when its on my lap while I'm fishing. I found that both my canoe and kayak paddle attached quite securely and nicely to the side of the coosa. You should give it a try. The one feature of the coosa which I would warn prospective buyers about is the height of the hatch cover on the front hatch. I upgraded from a single cab to double cab truck last year and was still using just two racks to haul around boats. The coosa is just long enough and that hatch is tall enough to rub right against the roof of the cab. So you either have to put a towel under that sucker or buy another set of racks. I got another set of rack for a good price (Thanks Dan!) so I don't have that problem anymore. But I do have a nice rub mark on top of the cab thanks to that Coosa. Oh well, you have to break in the truck sometime or other.

[Plastic_worm]

I don't own a coosa but I though you could take the hatch off? With my cuda I was thinking the rod cover would rub but I noticed it was removable and/or put it on backwards. Luckily the rack I have is adjustable so it wasn't an issue.

[Jim Elam]

Have tried most of the popular ones out there, and they all can be made to work. Lots of good marketing from WS, Jackson, Old Town, etc, but the Ascend D10T is dollar for dollar the best SOT yak for rivers and creeks. Deck is clean and uncluttered so you can customize as you see fit, or leave clean to fly fish from. The seating is not well thought out, but a functional solution is simple. Any 18-20 Qt cooler fits nicely in the seat area. Lash it down and rig it out however you like (seat cushion, stadium seat, etc). It positions the paddler at the perfect fishing height, allows one to easily get in and out of the boat, and is still pretty darn stable. Makes getting to stand and back to sit easy too. Fits in a pickup bed easily, is fairly light and durable. It is a great little float boat in the configuration I have described as long as there is some current and not a lot of wave action from powered boats...

It is not a strong big lake or ocean platform IMO...I would look at the aforementioned Pescador or FS12T models on up for lakes. Would consider 12 ft a minimum length if you plan to paddle in a lake more than a mile from put in, or if doing floats on really slow rivers with long flat pools where paddling speed and tracking are bigger priorities.

Regardless of what you decide to get, I would strongly suggest a sit on top type kayak as you have indicated. Sit in kayaks are not really designed for fishing IMO, and a solo canoe would fit a fishing mission better.

Cost - $250-$300 on Craigslist, $400 new for boat, $20 for 18 Qt Igloo cooler, $8 for an old stadium seat

JE