Help deciding on Kayaks..sit in or on top

Not sure what to get....Both have pros and cons....Just don't know which one to pull the trigger on.

I will be fishing some of the time, but not all of the time....probably mostly just cruising and enjoying the water with friends....I will be doing some fall and winter runs too....so I'm not sure what to get.

Thanks

 

The sit ins I have are for white water/rivers with waves. If I am just paddling around on a lake or a calm river I use sit on tops. For me it depends on what type of water I'm primary using it on.

 

That's a tough call...Virginia can get cold in the winter and when it's cold it's nice to have a sit in kayak to keep some of your body protected. But at the same time it's easier to move around on a sit in top and of course much easier ingress/egress. I've got a sit in and wish I had a sit on top, but I don't go out in the winter at all so the warmth of a sit in doesn't factor in at all for me.

If your just cruising around on flatwater I'd get a 13 ft or so sit in with built in rod holders and definitely some REAL dry storage, I'm talking a hatch with some latches to keep it watertight. If there is any whitewater in your future I'd cut it down to at least a 12 ft and ideally something around a 10.5 to 11 footer. The maneuverability is very handy when it's 40 degrees out and you do NOT want to get dumped in the water cause you couldn't shoot a tight rapid.

Here's what I have. It's a great boat but only the front dry storage actually works, the back gets water in it no matter what I do. The Ascend kayaks from Bass Pro intrigue me, maybe you'd be interested in one of those.

 

All depends on what kind of water you'll be on. Get one of each!

 

The easiest answer for the fishing is sit on, I have a sit in and I only use it for fishing. I like it but the sit on would be much better. I would like the sit on so I could throw the 4 year old on it with me. She really likes fishing with me so she would love being on the yak with me.....