Author Topic: Any kayak fishermen here? (Read 2625 times)

Bowhunter57 · « **on:** February 25, 2012, 03:08:35 PM »

Last year I purchased a canoe, had it 2 months and sold it. It was entirely too unstable and difficult to load/unload on my vehicle...by myself.

The canoe was replaced with a kayak and it has become one of the best fishing machines that I've ever owned. It gives me access to waters that would otherwise be unfishable. For around $300 a person can get into a kayak and add accessories as you go. I've added rod holders, a fishfinder and modified the seat. Weighing in at 45 lbs. it can be loaded quickly, easily and transports safely to anywhere you care to go.

Any kayak fishermen here?
Bowhunter57

Savage .250 · « **Reply #1 on:** February 26, 2012, 02:47:30 AM »

Bowhunter57........ After reading your comments ,they could have been mine.
I bought a 10 pluse footer from Bass Pro Shops last year. Installed rod holders, made a small anchor out of an old plastic coffee container, made a couple more improvements and have really enjoyed it since.
Down sized my tackle as I`m fishing small lakes around my area. For the most part fish aren`t that big so lighter stuff much more fun. Mine is more of the "cockpit" type as your is more open.
Like you said, easy to load/unload by yourself. Plus, no gas to buy.
Once you get used to the " this thing is going to turn over" feeling, everything else falls into place. Certainly can get into places my Bass boat will never see!
Lots of fun plus, you get a work out along the way.

By the way, I`m using all spinning gear.

That`s for Zulu`s benefit!!

Zulu · « **Reply #2 on:** February 28, 2012, 04:54:06 PM »

Spinning gear? Mostly small fish? Savage, I can't believe I am hearing this from you!
Did someone do an intervention?

Zulu

streak · « **Reply #3 on:** February 28, 2012, 05:40:32 PM »

Bowhunter57,
I like that setup!
Back in my home state of Louisiana, always wanted to take a pirogue down Dorcheat Bayou and hunt ducks, squirrels, and deer! After seeing your setup, I think it is a better setup as opposed to a pirogue. At my age I would definetly like the open type kayak ! Also would be great for fishing especially around cypress trees and stumps!

LunaticFringeInc · « **Reply #4 on:** February 28, 2012, 06:39:06 PM »

Yep, I am a proud card carrying member of the Plastic Navy!

My ride is a Ocean Kayak Prowler 13 Angler Edition thats been modded considerably.
-High Back Gel Seat
-7ah Battery
-'Cuda 242 Fish Finder
-12v Auxillary Lighting
-12v 360 degree white light
-Anchor Trolley w/ 5 lbs claw anchor and 100 feet line
-3 Scotty Rod Holders
- additional 4" Water Tight Acess
Its a great way to terrorize the local fish population. Pretty stealthy too, I have eased in behind bass anglers on my local lake after they have worked a spot and pulled up nice fish they were unable to coax out of structure. I can often access waters they cant as well making for some great fishing oppertunities since if I can walk to it, I can launch in it. I also have a PVC built rack that installs into the factory installed rocket launchers, thast allow 3 rods and one large net to be held securely in place until needed. My tackle consist of 3 soft tackle bags. One is set up primarily with Jigs and panfish type gear, the other is Bassin' lures and the larger bag is a worm bag with soft plastics. This makes for and extremely compact tackle system thats very well organized making access in the dark easy even. Its the best tackle system I have found to date. Most of my outings are at night hence all the additional lighting thats been installed. My personal best to date in Freshwater from my Kayak is a 38 lbs Blue Catfish on Lake Lewisville Tx.

Savage .250 · « **Reply #5 on:** March 01, 2012, 01:27:08 AM »

Quote from: Zulu on February 28, 2012, 04:54:06 PM

Spinning gear? Mostly small fish? Savage, I can't believe I am hearing this from you!
Did someone do an intervention?
Zulu

If that`s your best attempt at being a "stand up comic", don`t quit your day job.
Bye the way, have they repo-ed your fake bass boat yet? I`ve yet to see another kit boat powered by a 45 HP washing machine motor.........

I hear tell that thing (your boat) is so slow, Mal-Mart has refused to let you fish the drainage pond behind thier store.
Reason....You get in everybodies way!
Stick with what you do best ..............building cannons and blowing up everybodies bird bathes through out the trailer park! That being said, you still "living" in the 1941,single wide? I remember seeing a pic some time back with you in the " Throne room" reading
your favorite Wal-Mart flier............

J s/n.

Good hearing from you..........

Zulu · « **Reply #6 on:** March 01, 2012, 05:34:08 AM »

Quote from: Savage .250 on March 01, 2012, 01:27:08 AM

Quote from: Zulu on February 28, 2012, 04:54:06 PM
Spinning gear? Mostly small fish? Savage, I can't believe I am hearing this from you!
Did someone do an intervention?
Zulu

If that`s your best attempt at being a "stand up comic", don`t quit your day job.
Bye the way, have they repo-ed your fake bass boat yet? I`ve yet to see another kit boat powered by a 45 HP washing machine motor......... I hear tell that thing (your boat) is so slow, Mal-Mart has refused to let you fish the drainage pond behind thier store.
Reason....You get in everybodies way!
Stick with what you do best ..............building cannons and blowing up everybodies bird bathes through out the trailer park! That being said, you still "living" in the 1941,single wide? I remember seeing a pic some time back with you in the " Throne room" reading
your favorite Wal-Mart flier............ J s/n.

Good hearing from you..........

Savage,
Actually, my wife and I just logged our 103rd boat launching. We have had it 4 years and 4 months now. We have a lot of fun! We keep a log book of where, when, water temp, conditions, and what we caught. We're still not great bass fisherpeople but we do okay.
Let's hear some of your stories. We hear your name constantly around here. You are a legend!
Zulu

Savage .250 · « **Reply #7 on:** March 01, 2012, 07:31:36 AM »

Zulu:

"103- boat launchings." I 'll bet the launch ramp at the trailer park duck pond has a really big "blow out hole " from when you attempt to load that Wal-Mart, blue light special piece of crap. Oops, I mean bass boat.

" We keep a log book" blab, blab blab. Knowing you, I`ll bet the shortest page in your "book" has more thumb prints than entries. Ok, maybe a few, under sized cat-fish .

" We`re still not great bass fisher-people.............." Honesty is the best policy~~

Don`t forget the pic`s................ your still have the one where your using the pink,
kids, push-button one? I know that`s your "security blanket" but come on , your over
40.

You still selling those home made cannons with bent barrels to the Trailer Park Marching Band ??

Please tell me you finally bought a ......baitcaster. If not, your a sissy...

Zulu · « **Reply #8 on:** March 01, 2012, 01:12:22 PM »

Savage,
The trailer got updated in 1963. Running water now.
I'm still making cool cannons!
Yes,
My freezer is full of catfish fillets. Nothing wrong with that!
No baitcaster yet.

Check these beauties out.

Go to the cannon forum to see more.

Search my past postings to see a whole lot more.

As usual, still no fishing stories from you. What ever happened to the "sticks" trip you were going to report on? Yeah, yeah, I know, you don't know how to post pictures.

$:-\$ $:-\$ $:-\$ $:-\$ $:-\$ $:-\$

Zulu

Bowhunter57 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 01, 2012, 03:01:36 PM »

Good to see that there are more Yak fishermen on this website.

Here are a few more pics of my fishing adventures:

My brother and I's catch on a spring fed farm pond...in March of '11. This is what we kept, as we threw back more than double of what's on the stringers.

Later in the year, I caught a few more nice ones...like this 15 1/2" black crappie. Slightly longer than my tackle bag.

While trolling with floating Rebel crawfish crankbaits, I caught several channelcats. This one pulled me around for a while, at 21".

I transported both my and my brother's kayak on top of my Honda Civic, until later in the summer when I replaced it with a Honda CR-V. Either way, they traveled well...down the highway or on the back roads.

Bowhunter57

Savage .250 · « **Reply #10 on:** March 02, 2012, 02:00:00 AM »

Zulu:

I`ve got to hand it to you..............You do some really nice work! No bad for a guy with half his fingers missing from your trailer park 4th of July parties. The ones where you try and throw the sticks of TNT into the air ....prior to them exploding.
One of these days you`ll get the timing down. Remember, throw "before" the big bang. Not after!!

One other question. You still pulling that blue piece of junk your ( "bass boat") with that 1957 fram-all tractor?

You and Bowhunter57 should get together. It looks like he fishes the same drainage ditch
behind your local Wal-Mart. Plus and that`s a big plus.... he`s a trophy cat fishermen.
His pic`s tell the story...............

Actually my trip was to the big "O." Caught a ton of bass. Great time. Hotter than all get out though !
you would of had a lousy time though as there were no..................DINKS~

Again.........props on your great cannon work.

Savage .250 · « **Reply #11 on:** March 04, 2012, 01:19:10 AM »

Zulu:

Always enjoy messing with your head!

Remember, keep that over priced Ranger in the garage so the re-po man can`t get
his hands on it.

Will be back in early June to once again remind you that C-4 is not a good plastic to make baits out of.

Bye the way, you still using your "burn barrel" to grill on?

dstegjas · « **Reply #12 on:** March 04, 2012, 03:45:00 AM »

Kayak fishing has always interested me. I sold my 19' Champion several years ago and went the canoe route. Eventually selling it just because it was to much of a hassle loading and unloading by myself. My big question has always been the comfort of a kayak. I am in good shape, but I am 6'-2" and 55 years old. I had no problems sitting in a canoe all day fishing. So what can I expect from a kayak.

Any suggestions of what make, model, size of kayak to look at would be great.

Jim

Bowhunter57 · « **Reply #13 on:** March 04, 2012, 07:47:09 AM »

Quote from: dstegjas

My big question has always been the comfort of a kayak. I am in good shape, but I am 6'-2" and 55 years old. I had no problems sitting in a canoe all day fishing. So what can I expect from a kayak.

dstegjas,
Originally, I purchased an Old Town Saranac 146 canoe. It's an angler model canoe, 14' 6" long and it weighs 80 lbs. Well, a canoe is no where near as stable as a kayak, so I sold it.

A kayak allows you to sit at the water level, which keeps your center of gravity lower and makes it much more stable. As for comfort, you'll find that you'll have to get into a $600+ model kayak to get a good seat. However, you can add cushions and/or pads to make the seat as comfortable as you like.

Native Watercraft and Wilderness Systems have some extremely nice kayaks and the seats are the absolute best in the industry. Depending on where in the country you live may determine what type of kayak will suit your needs.

Sit-on-top kayaks tend to have nicer seats (depending on the model/brand) than the sit-inside kayaks. Sit-on-top kayaks will allow you to get on and off easier, but you're gonna get wetter too, due to the lack of a deck. If you're not going to fish during the colder weather months, this may not be an issue. Some of the kayak companies offer a video demonstration of how stable their kayaks are for fishing. There are models of sit-on-tops that will allow you to stand and fish too.

A sit-inside kayak suited me better, because I'll fish any time of the year that I have time to fish and I'd rather be on the water without the option of getting wet.

The only brand that I can steer you away from is Pelican. Their plastic tends to crack if you hit rocks or would happen to drop it on a hard surface. Nearly all other brands use a softer plastic and a process called roto-molding that makes them more durable.

Future Beach, Perception and Old Town are a some of good brands of kayaks. Make sure you get into a kayak that has a flat water designed hull, as opposed to a whitewater hull design. Less bevel and rocker will give you better tracking (paddles straight) and more stability.

I'm 5' 10" and weigh 178 lbs. and my kayak is rated at 325 lbs., but it only weighs 44 lbs. Weight is another issue...the kayaks weight, that is...Often there are lighter weight models offered, but they're gonna cost more. CAREFUL!!! You may NOT want to get into an Angler model kayak, as you can add your own rod holders, deck mounts for fishfinders, etc. There's quite a bit of money to be saved by doing it yourself.

I hope this info helps!
Here's a few links to get you started:
Old Town Kayaks http://www.oldtowncanoe.com/kayaks/
Perception http://www.perceptionkayaks.com/product_homepage/index/products
Future Beach http://www.futurebeach.com/index.php/kayaks.html

Bowhunter57

dstegjas · « **Reply #14 on:** March 04, 2012, 02:54:12 PM »

Bowhunter57,
Thank you for the information. That was exactly what I was looking for. Almost all of my fishing will be in ponds. They are reclamation ponds and I will need to portage between them throughout the day. So I am looking for something light and easy to handle.

I will take a look at the websites that you gave me and see what I can find. I might even get lucky and find a used one in good condition.

Thanks,
Jim

Bowhunter57 · « **Reply #15 on:** March 04, 2012, 03:50:25 PM »

dstegjas,
You mentioned having to load and unload by yourself...that was my #1 reason for selling the canoe.

Don't bother with the $30 kayak roof kits with the belts and form fitted pads. Just go to Walmart and purchase a large sized noodle in the pool section. Get some quality rope and run it through the noodle to tie them to your kayak for padded roof kits.

I have a Honda CR-V now, but before I purchased it, I had a Honda Civic and transported both kayaks with a set of rachet straps.
* Carefull with the rachet straps! You can over torque them and actually bend the kayak on hot sunny days. Also, give the straps a couple twists, so that they don't "buzz" so much as you travel down the road.
* I use a short piece of foam pipe insulation or a short section of a small noodle on the straps where they touch your vehicle. This will keep the strap vibration from rubbing the paint off of your vehicle.

You mentioned portaging too...well, it's easy and affordable to build your own cart, out of pvc. This one was for my canoe, but I cut it down, made it smaller and installed smaller tires on it too. It works great when you have a ways to walk before you're going to get to the water. There's only about 5 lbs. of carry weight with all my gear in it and all you have to do is run a strap around the kayak and cart. The cart can be strapped on the kayak or left on the bank to be picked up later...pending on where you're fishing.

Bowhunter57

Zulu · « **Reply #16 on:** March 06, 2012, 04:08:39 AM »

Bowhunter,
That two wheel cart looks pretty handy. How do you secure the canoe to it?
Zulu

Bowhunter57 · « **Reply #17 on:** March 06, 2012, 01:13:23 PM »

Quote from: Zulu

That two wheel cart looks pretty handy. How do you secure the canoe to it?

Zulu,
I use one of the rachet straps that I use to secure the kayak on my vehicle. I just wrap it around the entire kayak and the foam padded arms of the cart.

If you want to take the cart with you, on the kayak, you can use that same strap to secure the cart to the top of your kayak. Be careful doing this as it will/can make the kayak "top heavy" and a little tipsy.

Bowhunter57

dstegjas · « **Reply #18 on:** March 06, 2012, 02:44:32 PM »

Bowhunter57,
I was reading back through your posts and didn't see what kayak you currently had. After looking through all the websites I like the Old Town Vapor 12XT Angler and the Future Beach Trophy 144 so far.

I noticed that you were in Ohio. I live in central Ohio and do most of my fishing in the reservoirs around here or south at the Ohio Power ponds. I also fish the the ponds around Moxahala Ohio too. So it looks like we probably fish the same type of water.

Jim

lakota · « **Reply #19 on:** March 06, 2012, 03:31:33 PM »

I fish from an Old Town 12' solo canoe. I call it my poor man's bass boat. It weighs about 50 pounds. Not hard to load. I like it a lot. I have rod holders on it, a seat backer(very comfortable), a fish finder with the transducer rigged to shoot through the hull powered by a small rechargeable 12 volt battery. I also put a Scotty anchor mate on the bow so I can lower and raise anchor from my seat. I use a kayak paddle to paddle it. I also bought a drift sock from Austin Kayak for drift fishing but I never got to try it last summer. I want to get a lantern holder to clamp on the gunnel for night fishing this summer.

I think canoes and kayaks are very under rated fishing vessels.

I second the comment on staying away from Pelican. I had a Pelican sit on top angler kayak...but only for a few hours. That sucker was quickly taken back to where I bought it. It was like paddling a log around and it was about as stable as a log too.

LunaticFringeInc · « **Reply #20 on:** March 06, 2012, 06:39:45 PM »

Quote from: dstegjas on March 04, 2012, 03:45:00 AM

Kayak fishing has always interested me. I sold my 19' Champion several years ago and went the canoe route. Eventually selling it just because it was to much of a hassle loading and unloading by myself. My big question has always been the comfort of a kayak. I am in good shape, but I am 6'-2" and 55 years old. I had no problems sitting in a canoe all day fishing. So what can I expect from a kayak.

Any suggestions of what make, model, size of kayak to look at would be great.

Jim

I would suggest a well designed High Back seat with a gel pad. The High back will give you a lot of support and the Gel padding in the bottom of the seat will provide plenty of cushion for the whole fanny. This will cut down on lower back fatigue and the Gel seat will keep the legs from getting tingly and knumb after extended periods in the kayak. I sometimes will stop someplace for a stretch and get the blood flowing to the extremities after a few hours in the seat. This is also why I prefer SOT's to SIK's, I can adjust my seating position a lot more or even straddle the yak with my legs hanging in the water to give me a bit of a break and a change of pace.

LunaticFringeInc · « **Reply #21 on:** March 06, 2012, 06:46:41 PM »

Quote

I second the comment on staying away from Pelican. I had a Pelican sit on top
angler kayak...but only for a few hours. That sucker was quickly taken back to
where I bought it. It was like paddling a log around and it was about as stable
as a log too.

Ill Third that motion on Pelican yaks! They are cheap inexpensive recreational yaks designed more for happy jacking around on the water at the family lake picnic. They are pigs to paddle, track like crap, enough said. Its better than nothing, buyt not by much... Spend a few more bucks and get something thats more suitable for the task at hand. Youll be glad you did I promise!

KNIFE_NUT_1981 · « **Reply #22 on:** April 07, 2012, 07:34:50 AM »

Never fished from a kayak, but have done lots of fishing, here in LA, from my 12 foot camouflage (custom krylon back yard paint job) fiberglass pirogue. Not sure if they would let me cross any state lines with that thing, or if you could even get one anywhere else in the world, but it's a blast! And Pelican must make their Bass Raider pontoon boats out of different plastic than they use for their kayaks... I have a 10' Bass Raider, and it's tough as nails! I've got a 2HP Sea Horse on one end, and a 30# thrust Motor Guide on the other, and it's jumped more stumps and logs than most bullfrogs. Never had a lick of trouble out of it. It gets a dent every once in a while, and I just open her up, push the dent out from the inside, put her back together, and she's ready for next time...

woodchukhntr · « **Reply #23 on:** April 20, 2012, 02:54:08 AM »

I was on Longboat Key, FL for a couple of months (I live in central NY) and used my old Wilderness Systems Pungo in Sarasota Bay. I caught a few trout and a redfish, and just enjoyed being on the water. My problem was getting my 65 year-old butt into and out of the kayak. Anyone taking a video would have had an America's Funniest Home Video winner! It's used it around here in the spring and summer, but my 33 lb. Old Town Pack Canoe gets used more since it is easier to get on/off the car and move around. I'm considering an appropriate sit-on-top kayak since it is easier to get in and out of.