A word about Kayaks

[Old plug]

Last week I was in St Charles to buy a new trolling motor at Tri State Trolling Motor. While there I got to look at the line of Kayaks. Was the first time I ever really gave them a going over.I will tell you if I was 40-50 years younger You could not stop me from having one of those things. They open a whole whorld of fishing opportunities. But I imagine most of the opportunities are over run just like LOZ is.. But even at that a good fisherman could really do well in one.  And there are a cheap fishing boat. I got neighbors  laying out 80k plus for something they are going to pay for a long long time. Matter of fact I would about guess the odds are very high  they will be paying longer than the boat or motor might last. Those things are also a inviormental blessing. You coil fish more for almost nothing compared to roaring around some lake with 250hp.

[fishinwrench]

It is a growing sport that's for sure.   I'd be into it in a big way but I don't really enjoy fishing while sitting down.  Especially while sitting down that low.   

 

[Gavin]

Get a sit on top with a comfy chair that straps on top of the hull. They are heavy, hard to load on top of a vehicle due to disproportionate weight distribution, but easy to drag out of the garage and tie in the bed of a pickup for a day trip. Have one...fishes great...but just a day trip boat IMO. Use it 2-3 times a year, but my wife floats it allot more.

 

 

[conorsixtakc]

They’re pretty sweet Plug. I’ll paddle out at first light just to sit with a coffee. Can be hard to fish efficiently out of depending on what they want, but you can’t argue stealth and no fuel cost! You don’t need a fancy fishing kayak to get the job done either.

 

 

[aarchdale@coresleep.com]

8 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

It is a growing sport that's for sure.   I'd be into it in a big way but I don't really enjoy fishing while sitting down.  Especially while sitting down that low.   

 

I could never get used to the sitting down part. Heck i took the seats off the deck of my boat, they just get in the way

[Flysmallie]

I grew up fishing in float tubes so being low to the water doesn’t bother me. 

[snagged in outlet 3]

Things are overrunning my no motor holes!! 

[nomolites]

They have the top of the line Hobies at Tri-State and like plug says they are very interesting.  Bottom line is I’m with the rest who can’t sit and fish.  Cracks me up when people say they don’t like fishing because they don’t like to sit still.....

Mike

[kjackson]

Kayaks are fun-- no doubt of that. I've been fishing out of an Old Town Predator since last October and love that boat. It is a sit-on-top and easy enough for old legs to get out of.  While I've done more paddling than real fishing out of it, it's become an addictive way to fish.  The whole stealth thing is hard to believe. I've had fish--carp and carpsuckers-- hit the boat. Turtles will pop up at boat side, and I've seen a lot of things--like a flock of turkeys on shore-- that I am pretty sure I would have missed in my big boat.  

The fishing kayak thing is an explosive trend--at the ICAST show this year, there were something like a dozen kayak manufacturers there plus the not-quite-a-kayak boats. One of the latest versions is a double-hull type of platform boat. Think pontoon but with the pontoons being really narrow kayaks joined by a platform. One, the Bi-Yak is designed so that you can slide the deck/platform a bit and make a wide boat into something like a very wide kayak. That one, as I recall, was rigged with a small gas outboard.  

There also were a several kayak accessories exhibitors at the show and plenty of others that had kayak-targeted accessories on display. 

[moguy1973]

They really are nice.  On lakes they can let you get way up in where no motorized boats can get to, and quietly at that.  I would definitely get one with a nice comfy lawn chair seat like the fancy ones have now over the one I have now but it's still fun.  A lot of the newer ones let you stand up in them also with really good stability without being all tippy. The new ones really need a dedicated trailer for how heavy they are though.  Pretty hard to lift a 160lb Hobie with the power drive system on it up on top of a car.