Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Kayak for fishing!

If you're cramped for storage space at home, you might take a look at an inflatable. There are cheap ones and good ones. This Sea Eagle is one of the good ones.

I would go with a “Jackson” 12 footer. Stay away from the “sit on top”, Bass pro models. Their 12 footer sits too low in the water and the slightest chop splashes water over the bow. Definitely get a sit on top.

Check the weight,
AND
Most importantly the seat comfort.
They all sit too flat for my fat old body to enjoy for long.
There are some nice ones but are heavy, well they are heavy in comparison to my Old Town 119 canoe anyway.
Ilike my seating/leg arrangement more too since i redid the seat to higher position.
Bet the kayaks are more stable though.

If you can try out as many as possible before buying!

Buying a Jackson of course would support a great Tennessee company!

My wife decided that she wanted a kayak since her sister bought one. Neither of us had ever been in a kayak and didn't want to spend much in case it wasn't to our liking. I bought two Lifetime Tamarack 10' sit on top from Walmart. With discounts, they were around $200 each shipped to our door. At 57lbs., they are light enough for me to load on top of the SUV by myself and surprisingly stable in the water.
After 30 years of trying to get my wife to fish, she now keeps asking where were going next and is always making "just one more cast" when it's time to leave.
I added a raised stadium seat to mine but the wife is content with just sitting on a PFD seat pad. With the limited space and the possibility of tipping, I would suggest tethers for you gear. I bought my wife a new Zebco Bullet reel and a decent rod which went overboard in 8' of murky water before the first cast. Luckily, after 30 minutes I was able to snag it from the bottom with an 1/16 oz. crappie jig.

I had a nice Fish & Dive model Yak, but had to sell it when I moved out of state. At 15' it was too much to try and carry with a fully loaded cargo trailer already stuffed to overflow!

It was a Malibu Kayak brand.....very stable and great for it's intended purpose. They have a newer model called the Prowler Big Game II Angler, and at only 13' it still has a weight capacity of 600 pounds with tons of adaptability and only weighs 70#. If I were in the market for a dedicated fishing Yak......I'd look hard at this one!

https://oceankayak.johnsonoutdoors.com/fishing/solo-fishing/prowler-big-game-ii-angler?jo-page=2

I was just contemplating the fishing kayak option this past month but based on my past experience with canoes desided to go with what I know. I was tempted to try a Wenonah but thought I'd best be more practical with the budget and see if I really like to canoe and fish by myself. I will mention that access to dealers is not good making it difficult to actually check out the models I was interested in. I ended up buying an Old Town Discovery 119 Solo Sportsman that I've had for several weeks but have not had a chance to get it in the water. Hoping this coming week will provide an opportunity.
https://oldtowncanoe.johnsonoutdoors.com/canoes/fishing/discovery-119-solo-sportsman

i fish all small rivers with mild rapids. i have an old town vapor 10 angler. it is a good yak for the money. you can get a regular vapor 10 for $299 or an angler for $399. the difference is the angler has rod holders and an anchor. not really worth an extra 100 bucks. it is stable, tracks well and the cockpit is very large and the seat is pretty comfortable for all day trips. i am similiar size as you and i am not cramped.

as for fishing out of them, you have to plan accordingly. there ain't a ton of room and it takes some getting used to. i take two rods and my vest with a cooler between my legs. there is only one watertight compartment and it doesn't hold much. plan to get a wet ass.

old town makes some nice yaks and you can spend what you want. if i was a die hard, i'd spend more money on a bigger one but i only use it a half dozen times a year.

oh and it only weighs about 40 lbs so you can carry it all day.

Well, lots of advice so I'll add mine. I've gone from paddle to pedal. I can still paddle, but hardly ever have to. Pedal boats will be heavier and a lot more expensive, but they make handsfree fishing a lot more enjoyable. I've had two pedal boats. A Native Watercraft Propel and my latest which is a Perception Pilot 12. The Pilot is less expensive than the Propel, but less refined as well. Most of the bugs are worked out.

People who go to kayaks make several mistakes. The biggest is, they want to take all the crap with them they took when they had a boat!
The second is, while the kayak may say 85 pounds... it's a damned unwieldy 85 pounds due to the length of the things. Add a pedal drive and you are over 100 pounds immediately.

If you are going to car top it... you'll actually come to appreciate your boat! For my kayaks, I had a trailer. Screw car topping a 115 pound kayak/pedal drive... But then, I kept the yak on the trailer year around in the garage so the only loading/unloading was at the lake and with a yak, it's about as simple as it comes. (but then so was a 14 foot jon boat on the same trailer!!!!)

I also have an inflatable. Yesterday, I had my wife and two grand daughters out on it for an hour of paddling. It weighs 40 pounds empty.

If you decide to go kayaking, cut down the gear. I take three poles. A spinner, a bait caster and an ultralight for fun. A smaller compartmented tackle box you can organize. Fewer baits (stick with the ones you regularly use and lose the ones you haven't tied on in years but can't bring yourself to throw away because you may one day need them...)

If you paddle, in addition to the bit paddle, get a smaller one hand paddle for minor position changes while fishing.

Wind!!! You're gonna get blown over the lake. So use the wind... don't fight it. Pick your spot to start fishing so that the wind pushes you along. This may mean paddling the length of the lake, and fishing all the way back home as the wind carries you along. If you try to fish and paddle, you'll hate it after a while (unless you're trolling.)

I love kayak fishing, but I miss my 14 foot jon too! Another option is the square back canoe. I had a nice one with a 2.5 Suzuki and a trolling motor set up. On and off the trailer was a snap and if I wanted a paddle day, I had it. If I wanted a motor day, I had it. Fished the crap out of that boat and miss it too...

Kayaks are a compromise. A darn good one. Fished several hours last night with just the ultralite rod and had several dozen nice bluegill and crappie take the bate. It was a blast. Only needed one bait the whole night.

I live 300 yards from the water. 5 minutes from garage to fishing. Pull it on a cart, slide it into the water, climb on and pedal away...

I'm 6'4... was 280 when I bought my kayak. I bought a Malibu Kayaks, Stealth-14.

Very stable, I've been happy with it. I bought mine as a "blem" and got it for close to half price.

I use it in fresh water lakes and out in the sound. Theoretically you can stand up and fish, but I'm too tall and top heavy to try that trick. I do like sitting sideways with my legs in the water. Or laying down and catching a snooze.

Take a look at the Jackson Kilroy.

I used one for fishing and duck hunting for years. I liked it in some ways and not so much in others. As I got older, it got harder and harder to get out of. Finally sold it.

My wife likes her 10' and has fished out of it often. She had to get an open cause she was afraid snakes or spiders would be hiding in it. Just don't get a tippy one,seen some that are worse than a bad canoe.

Just me,BUT check out (good) canoes!!!!!!!! With a canoe you can take the dog, lunch, tackle, clip on backrest, cooler, & your wife or buddy! When you decide to check out those walk in or flyin, hidden lakes. Then you can include, tent, food for a week, tarp, small propane single burner stove (when there is a fire ban on) oh ya (put food in a barrel pack so you can hang it out of reach of a bear (if any in your area) . Most people don't like canoes because, there to lazy to practice the paddle strokes, & they remember the old canoe at Gramps cottage that weighed over 100 lbs. Canoes have come a long way, my favourite was a 15.5 ft. Wenona. 36lbs, 36 inches wide, etc. etc. Very stable, I could get the dog back in the boat from the side & not tip the canoe when he would forget we were in a boat & launch over the side thinking I had hooked into a duck. (Assumption) we did correct said problem!!!! There isn't another feeling compares to being so far back in the bush & not seeing anyone for a week, catching supper & cooking it over an open fire. Well almost nothing, but I forget what it is now???? Just my thoughts, don't shoot the messenger. Bill out 🐾👣🐾👣🇨🇦 Oh ya, hunting way back in & not seeing anyone!!!!

Why didn't you perform the Eskimo roll?


mike r

When I worked in Corpus Christi I used fish quite a bit out of kayaks off of padre island. I remember running our shark bait out a few hundred yards from the beach on kayaks. Bit hairy doing it the dark in the rough surf. We would paddle out to the platforms and fish during decent weather. Fun being pulled around by a shark. I had to cut the line a few times because of getting pulled out too far

So on a serious note; maybe, just maybe 1 in 10,000 kayak anglers puts thigh straps on their fishing kayak. Heck, the number is probably lower than that even.

FWIW, if you do, you might just be able to E-roll it. It's easy enough to do in an OK Scupper Pro. But it was practically moving heaven and earth to roll a WS Tarpon 160. Managed it just once before the strap failed. Never bothered to try it again with better straps.

well onetime we got flipped over in a 12ft zodiac and lost over 10,000 bucks in rods and reels.