Try out pedal and paddle yaks if you possibly can before you buy. I’ve fished from both. For warm calm water I like a sit on top and would consider pedal. Cold PNW, sit inside for me. Weight is a HUGE factor for me since I cartop and don’t want to mess with a trailer. If I trailer I’ll go to a motor boat.
I have two sit inside kayaks (SINKs) and love them, but my use is likely different from yours: BIG cold northern river with swift current, often in rain. Have done some salt water fishing for salmon and kelp fish in BC and WA State.
I fished a Hobie pedal kayak in an East Coast salt water bay for stripers and blues. Excellent boat for that use, mild currents, inside water with no big waves, and hands free for fishing. Downsides to the Hobie pedal boat: WEIGHT for solo car topping, complexity of the pedal mechanism (which went wonky and my partner had to come fix for me) and depth of draft in shallow water inshore.
I knew I would be solo cartopping, sometimes on rough logging roads, so set my upper weight limit of 40 lbs. for my yak. One of my boats weighs 41 and the other about 30. (I liked it enough to fudge one pound.) Both are 13’ 3.”
In my cold rivers and PNW salt water I prefer the warmth and spray skirt of a sit inside, the instant steering and control I have with a paddle, and the slightly more stable and lower wind profile that sitting below the waterline creates.
Problem is, kayaking is addictive. I bought mine as a gift to myself after recovering from two years of surgeries, misery and blindness. Most fun toy I ever bought. Enjoy!
