Buying my kayak was a very good idea.

I’m having so much fun! It evaporates my work stresses. I’m not going to say I get a lot of exercise but some. I get some.

I’m on year three of kayak fishing. I’ve learned a lot. I’m catching bass. My focus is bass fishing. I may venture into the ocean soon, but bass are plenty satisfying.


I could own a boat if I wanted, but I’m not sure I will ever will. The cost of kayak fishing is so minuscule, it doesn’t get my wife all excited. I’ve fished any lake I have wanted and some lakes bass boats cant. What a journey!

money well spent as far as I’m concerned.

 

I haven’t gotten into kayak fishing… but kayaks in general are a ton of fun for the money, and so many possibilities. Camping out of them is a worthy challenge, whitewater, big flat water, river racing. Lots of possibilities.

 

I do a lot of Stand up Paddlboarding.
Its so easy to grab it out of the back of the truck and jump in the water and go.
Anything that gets you out on the water is a good thing.

 

Hell yeah! I have even been taking mine down to Florida every winter for inshore saltwater fun. It's a great way to get into shallow areas, and explore small lakes and rivers.

"I don't always drink beer while kayak fishing in shark infested waters. But, when I do, it is Dos Equis."



Edit, forgot to add the caption..

 

Time spent fishing cannot be deducted from a man's life. I fish and camp out of both my kayaks and have more fun than I did with my bass boat. My longest camping trip was 173 miles over 9 days.

 

Good looking fish, making me want to get a kayak. Any opinion on the cheap inflatable ones as a starting point, or better off just investing in something nicer?

 

Wind. Any tiny wind will ruin your trip. Inflatables get blown around so easily

 

The wife and I haul our off road trailer all around the country, and have been thinking a LOT about getting two kayaks.

We got married at Turquoise Lake in CO and although cold all year, would love to kayak that lake.

Any recommendations for a good pair of wider/stable kayaks?

TIA

 

I really prefer to stand up and fish, so my small craft is a Gheenoe, but I understand the sentiment
Very relaxing

 

Wind ruins most kayak fishing. I’ve towed many an exhausted kayaker back to shore in my boats. I’m sure if you have a fancy one with the pedal drive it helps keep you moving. I used to do a lot of kayak fishing but would avoid windy days or only fish small protected coves if wind was forecast.

 

We bought 2 kayaks last year at Academy Sports, haven't used them much but they are fun. Bought a single and a tandom, my son and I took the tandom out early one morning and I caught this catfish, threw it back.

 

Mine tends to accompany along most road trips. It's been the great supplement to the pop-up camper. If there's time to spare at whatever campground we're in - great, roll it out, inflate it, and go explore by paddle for a minute.


Pop-up kayak.

 

The ones we bought are Pelican brand, they are pretty stable for what they are

 

I'm strictly an inflatable person. Go check out airkayaks.com if you want to window-shop the nice ones.

The cheap 100-buck inflatables are good enough for one hour of calm water paddling, but you quickly grow to hate them if you want to do more or often. Its not much different than trying to paddle a pool-toy. They're bouncy, they are slow as hell, you have to reach way out over the inflatable tubes to get your paddle in the water, and you wind up with a sore back due to poor ergonomics plus the above factors. That said, I love my mid-priced inflatable. If you go with one, get one that has a drop-stitch floor at a minimum, preferably one that has a drop-stitch hull.

Here's the real deal on them, pros and cons:

Pro:

• Folds down to the size of a 50 pound suitcase. Therefore it goes anywhere, it stores anywhere. It only takes a small corner of the truck bed and doesnt suck gas from a roof mount or take away from other cargo. You could theoretically check one on a flight (Ive never tried, but theoretically you can).
• In inflated form, they are light. One person can carry it to the water.

Con:

• The best inflatable will never be as fast in the water as a mid-price rigid hull. They come awfully close, mine really scoots. But mine scoots well for an inflatable. Its just physics. The more a hull flexes, the more energy its sapping from momentum. Speed equals distance - Ive gone 12 miles round trip on mine in one setting, but that's about all I wanted to do that day.
• Set up time. Its not unload and go. Its unload, unroll, inflate, take a breather, and then go. Mine is among the more complex of the bunch, it takes 15 minutes to inflate, about 20 to deflate.
• They really, really don't like being put away wet. After every camping trip I have to unroll mine and let it sit in the garage for a week to thoroughly dry. Otherwise, you'll never get the stink out.
• They aren't really all that much cheaper when comparing a good inflatable against a comparable mid-tier rigid hull.

The cons do outweigh the pros on the inflatables, which is why you don't see many people running them. Their one advantage is go-anywhere portability. That said, I take my inflatable everywhere because its easy to toss into the truck. I had a canoe before that, it never went anywhere because I hated the chore of digging it out of the garage.

 

Look at the Wilderness Systems Tarpon 120 and the Ocean Kayak Caper. I paddle with some folks who have the Tarpon 120s and the Caper. Both are stable and paddle well. The Caper is cheaper and lighter.

 

We started out a few years ago with some rental kayaks. We loved it.

Bought 2 Pescador Pilot 12’s and one (the one I was on) the drive locked up on me 3 miles out and had to paddle back. Couldn’t fix it and it was our first day of the trip. Ended up getting a Hobie PA12 and holy crap what a game changer that was! Ended up getting my son a PA14 for his birthday that year. We’ve had tons of fun on them and wouldn’t trade it for anything.

 

This is the one single advantage of an inflatable.




I might go paddling on this trip, might not. It's there if the mood strikes, it's out of the way if it doesn't.

Who knows, I might find some water somewhere.

 

I have a 20 ft bay boat I have to keep in storage about 15 minutes from the house. A lot of boat to take fishing by myself. So I grabbed up a 10 ft Native Slayer Max that can just slide into the back of my truck. Definitely nice to be able to load up from the house and go fishing.

 

I have a Wilderness kayak that’s let me get into some great spots/increase productivity. it’s been a good yak and never let me down.

If I were buying new now I’d check out some the NRS inflatables for the packability.

Or on the other side of the spectrum some foot powered ones because if it’s windy and the bite is on it sucks to have to keep paddling/readjusting