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Posted By: Calhoun Newbie kayak owner questions - 04/17/17
Okay, bought another toy I probably won't end up using as much as I would like. But going to give it a try.

Got a 12' fishing kayak coming, the Field & Stream Eagle Talon. Mostly for use on a 50 acre fishing lease I'm on, big largemouth (for Nebraska) and bluegill, some crappie. Had a single person inflatable pontoon, and I loved fishing from it but it rows like a barge. Just too slow to get around in.

So I'm going to want a paddle, obviously, and sounds like replacing the seat is something pretty much all the owners agree with. But I'm a total newbie for this stuff. What should I be looking for in a paddle, and what price range? And any hints on a seat that will provide decent back support without breaking the bank?

Oh yeah.. also suggestions for roof rack carriers? Thule looks great, if I want to spend more money on the carrier than I did on the kayak. grin

Waiting on it to arrive, but this is what it will look like.

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You may want to think about mounting a small trolling motor. It's just easier to fish if you don't have to mess with a paddle all the time, picking it up, putting it down, not having it float away, tangling a tether, etc. You can save the battery by paddling to where you'll start fishing and then secure the paddle and switch to using the trolling motor. Since you are not focusing on kayaking, just get an inexpensive aluminum shaft kayak paddle like you'll find at any canoe/kayak float outfitter.
OPEN arm Life Jacket


The kind of water you are going to fish makes for different rigging.
IF you are not on white water the a paddle leash/tether is handy.
See of you can spray foam your paddle so it will float.
The infamous milk crate or other gear/rod system
Lashed cooler
Appreciate it. Definitely not planning on any white water, unless a squall pops up unexpectedly and even then I'm only a 100 yards from shore. But life jacket is definite. This is just to scoot around ponds/small lakes.

I've actually thought about putting a trolling motor on my inflatable pontoon, that would be slick and I might still do it. But a bit of exercise on the kayak is probably a better idea, I sit at a desk too much as it is. grin

Browsing through paddles last day or two. Holy cow is there a lot of options. Think I'll pass on the $250+ carbon fiber ones. Probably start off with a reasonable aluminum 96".
Posted By: JMR40 Re: Newbie kayak owner questions - 04/21/17
I'm not able to help with the seat, but I bought a 12' Wilderness Tarpon model a few years back. I could have bought some cheaper boats, but the good seat and light weight sold me on this one.

I don't see the need for the fancy paddles, especially for what you and I do. There are plenty of $30-$50 options that work fine. I would suggest a rod holder and a paddle leash. For the guys who paddle long range trips of 30-40 miles in a day might need the expensive ones.

http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/magellan-outdoors-no-limits-kayak-paddle#repChildCatid=3918069

http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/attwood-heavy-duty-adjustable-rod-holder#repChildCatid=760754

http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/yak-gear-baja-36-paddle-leash#repChildCatid=1027304

There are a couple of small lakes where we use them, but mostly in local rivers. We get together with a group, park one truck at the take out point and put in 5-15 miles up stream and float back fishing along the way. No white water here, but a few shallows and rocks to maneuver around.
96" is a bit short for my sitting position in my 1 person canoe, but should be about right or a bit long for a kayak. See if you can borrow one from someone to test for your comfortable length.

I always use a kayak paddle in the canoes now and find I really appreciate the versatility they offer.
This kayak actually comes with a rod holder, it can be seen in the photo I linked in. Also comes with an anchor, which will also be nice if it'll hold.

Appreciate the comments on the oars. I didn't think I needed anything fancy, but would also hate to buy something that turned out to be junk. There are a couple of small rivers that I may eventually get around to paddling down - would be a fun half day trip with some nice catfishing along the way. grin

JMR, what did you do for racking the kayak for hauling it around?

And LouisB, appreciate the comment on canoe. I've got a 14' canoe that hasn't seen much water and was thinking of taking it out with the kayak paddle.
On a 50-acre pond, the paddle is almost irrelevant. You certainly won't get exhausted or develop blisters paddling a couple hundred yards. That goes for slow-moving water, too. Fancy, lightweight paddles are for long distances or white water.

I've seen folks adapt folding stadium seats with backrests to kayaks. Any seat with a backrest will be MUCH better than what comes with the 'yak.

Almost any two-bar roof rack will work. You may want to pad the bars with a pool noodle to protect the 'yak. Do use a tie rope from the front of the 'yak to the front bumper of the car - to keep the wind from lifting the kayak's bow.
I had that same kayak for 4 years. Used it a ton on some fairly large lakes. Fly fished off it as well. It tracked very well and it didn't take much effort to keep it moving well, even against a headwind. I didn't stand in it! Can't recall the replacement seat I used but it worked well and raised my butt up about 5 inches.

The scupper holes allow a bit of water to bubble up if you carry significant weight. I weigh 190, but the water goes back down. You will get damp so if you are fishing chilly weather, dress accordingly.

With kayak fishing, you either use a small net, or make sure you don't reel the fish all the way to the tip of your pole. You want to be able to bring the fish to your hand. Remember, the kayak goes where your head goes. You lean too far over and you're going to join the catch!

Any kayak paddle will work. But do yourself a favor. Get a collapsable oar from Walmart. It collapses down to about 2 feet. I use the main paddle to get me into position to fish, and then I set it aside and for small corrections in position, I use the short paddle one handed.

When I say corrections in position, a little goes a long way. On a windless day, even a small stroke causes a kayak like the Field and Stream to keep going and going and going! IT is very hydrodynamic!

I recently gave the kayak to a friend. I now use two kayaks. One is the Native Watercraft Propel 13 pedal kayak, and the other is the new Perception Pescador Pilot pedal kayak.
Haven't much experience on the Pescador, but the Native Watercraft is a fishing machine!!! I can cover huge lakes and keep up 3 to 4 miles per hour with no more effort than walking on flat ground at that same pace. Slow and easy. It's nearly "effortless!"
Posted By: bobmn Re: Newbie kayak owner questions - 05/03/17
Dan: Could you please review the Pescador? I am looking at purchasing a couple. Thanks
The rod holders suck. You need to replace them, or modify them with sleeves, like the foam pipe insulation.

The seat is very comfortable.

As it came from the factory, it was kind of noisy while sitting up on saw horses, but that was due primarily to vibrations echoing through the hull like a sounding board. I bought the recommended grease and grease gun and fitting from Amazon. You can download the manual from Amazon where it talks about maintenance on the last couple of pages and references the suggested equipment.

After greasing it up, it quieted down considerably on the saw horses.

In the water, it's an easy pedaling machine. On par with the Native Propel, though the drive system is a whole nuther animal than the propel system.

Stable. Turns well. Tracks well.

Worth the money - considering the Native is $2500, the Old Town is $2700 and any of the Hobie offerings are more or less, but have some limitations as well.

Were I to do it all over again, I'd probably go straight to the Pescador...but I have to say, the Native seems a bit more substantial in hull thickness. I like them both.
Posted By: bobmn Re: Newbie kayak owner questions - 05/04/17
Thanks Dan. Any hull slap in choppy water?
Thanks, Dan. Hadn't heard of the collapsible paddle from Walmart, I'll have to take a look. Fished from a inflatable personal pontoon so I'm used to managing the pole and reeling in the fish, it's very much a trip to fight a 5lb+ bass while sitting in a little boat.

Still waiting for it, been 3 weeks today and the forecast for the next week is clear and sunny after a week of rain. Grrr...
Bob, not so much with well curved kayaks. More so with canoes. I haven't fished chop with the Perception yet. Still, my Native has a very rigid hull while the Perception is a bit thinner.

Calhoun,

I landed a 33" blue catfish on the Native a summer or two ago. That was fun!
Okay, that was way more fun than I expected! Saturday was an absolutely perfect day, so naturally I couldn't get out. Today the wind was 15-20 with gusts to 40, so I sat at home and growled. Finally said screw it at 6:30 and headed out, got rain coming in Tuesday and supposed to last 4 or 5 days and I'm just not going to wait another 2 weeks for the water to clear up to get out.

I hugged the dam which gave me some break from the wind, but it really wasn't a problem and that's some of the best fishing anyway. That kayak scoots along easy as heck and the 1.5lb anchor does fine for keeping me in position when I wanted to. Should have headed out at noon and fished all day.

Caught one nice fat 16" largemouth, couple of other bites but that was it for an hour of fishing. One of the other guys was pulling in crappie after crappie with a tube grub under a bobber, might give that a try tomorrow. Think a half day of vacation is called for. grin

No pic of it on water, the phone stayed in the car this time and with only an hour of fishing I didn't dink around. The roof racks are the Rola racks off of Amazon, work great.

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Got back out Monday night for about 90 minutes. Still windy, but the Eagle Talon handled great. Still loving how easy it is to move from place to place and to anchor, though I need a better solution for storing the anchor line. Ordered a stadium seat to replace the factory seat, that one's fine for a couple hours of fishing but I can tell it won't have enough back support to make 4 or 5 hours much fun.

Fishing started out slow, caught a couple of crappie on a jig up by the rocks. One of the other guys was fishing his favorite spot and hauling in 8"-12" crappie on pretty much every cast, they were definitely loving whatever jig he was using.

I moved down the lake away from the rocks to some mud flats and got into the bass. At least 10 bass in 60 minutes, most in the 2lb-3lb range with 2 fat 18"'ers that should easily be 4lb each. What a blast! Couple others that threw the hook before landing 'em, and one was a big one.. A whole lot of jumping, they were definitely hungry and active, just had to find where they were. Didn't have any problems bringing them in the boat, though one of the big ones did try to get cute by cutting directly under the kayak from one side to the other. Might bring along a net in the future, caught a couple of 7lb largemouth out of there over the last few years and would hate to miss one because I miss a lip grab.

White Mepps Aglia #3 caught most of them, also had a white jig with brown/yellow tube skirt on it about 18" down under a bobber and one of the 18" bass grabbed that right off the side of the kayak.

Had a heck of a downpour this morning, probably take a couple of weeks for the water to clear up enough to bring the fishing back to what it was this weekend. Got a couple other spots I might haul it out to in the meantime.
I use an extension cord holder for my anchor rope. Get one at any home store for under two bucks.

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I'd seen pics of that, think I might swing thru Home Depot after work and see if they have a good one in stock.
Dan is right. The short sculling paddle can do wonders for moving or maintaining position. Ya may want to tie it on to the kayak.

I use several sets of shoestring and 550 cord tiedowns. One is a lanyard for my main paddle.
17", caught about a dozen in several hours, from tiny to 18". Loving it, though could do with slower winds than 15-20mph gusting to 24.

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Still loving it.. grin

Sundown at the lake.

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