fishing kayak advice

[dbradyh]

Considering buying a fishing Kayak. Does anyone have practical advice to offer as regards to fishing a kayak with a flyrod?
Thanks

[Glenn Hawkins]

I would suggest that you try out a few kayaks before you purchase one.  Rent a yak, give it atest ride.  There are 2 types of yaks on the market today.  Sit-on-top or Sit-inside.  You need to decide which type would work best for you. 
Have you ever fished from a yak before?  Do you have any kayak or canoe experience?  White water or lake/stream.  Will you use your yak year round or just during the summer?  Do you like to get wet?  Will you wet wade or use waders?  What rivers, lakes or streams do you plan to use your yak on.
Your size, weight and physical condition are important when picking out a yak.
Will you float and fish point to point.  ex Happy Hollow to Bettys Island.  Or put in and paddle up stream and drift back while fishing?
Think about these questions.  Post back with questions.  I'll try to help!  I'm sure others on the board will add their 2cents.

[RonS]

dbradyh-Dude, if you listen to Thumper, he'll have you fishing from a two wheeled, high horsepower "MotorcycleYak" 

I have only fished from a yak once. CaneyBuff and I floated from the dam to Happy. I enjoyed it, however---Mr. and Mrs. Caneybuff have sit in yaks. Before the float was over I was feeling a little cramped. Also, it started getting dark on us and we had to start paddling to get to Happy.

I noticed that CaneyBuff's yak is quite a bit longer than Mrs. C's yak. She most graciously let me borrow hers for that float.  That lenght translates to speed on displacement hulls like those.  I really had to pump the paddles to keep up with him and he seemed to be working less and going faster. I'm sure an experienced paddler would have done better than me, but that's how it seemed.

I want to try some sit on tops before I buy one. I think, for fishing, those would probably be the bomb. Easy on easy off. Lot's of space for gear. I know dleo got a yak recently, but not sure what kind it is. He'll probably pipe up on this thread before too long.

Like Thumper said, try some before you buy. I would imagine a couple of members here wouldn't mind letting you test run the boats they own.

Good luck,

Ron

[dleo6446]

Thumper nailed it, try a few or read a heck of a lot on line before purchasing...

I got the Wilderness Systems, Tarpon 120 Angler, which is a sit on top yak with a ton of storage in it.  I like it a lot because I sit higher in it than I would in a cockpit type kayak, it is very stable, and easy to maneuver.  I didn't really try a lot of Kayaks before I bought mine, I did however read a lot of user reviews on line for a lot of Kayaks and this one was rated pretty highly by a lot of end users.  There are Kayaks that do more, have more options etc, but not in the price range that I bought.  Sit on top yaks are generally heavier than are cockpit type boats, but they usually do offer more storage, and do allow the user to sit higher on the water which helps if you plan on fly fishing from it.

If I had it to do over again, I would make the same buying decision that I made but I may opt for a different color.  Mine is Olive and I would probably go with a beige or lighter color.  come down to the store sometime and take a look at what we have and learn a lot from most of the people there that have kayaks, and what they like about the type that they have.  Obviously, both types (sit-on-top, and cockpit) are popular and you will find folks that argue one side or the other, so as you listen to what they have to say, keep in mind what you want your yak to do for you and what you expect from it

[dbradyh]

Thanks for all the 411...
I am leaning toward the sit on top kayak and plan on fishing small rivers, creeks, and lakes.
Also, why beige over olive color? The tarpon models seem to review well on line.
dleo where do you work?

[Glenn Hawkins]

A lighter colored boat will be cooler to the touch.  It reflects more sunlight and is cooler to fish from during the summer.  An 11.5 to 12 ft would be the shortest lenght boat I would consider.

[dleo6446]

I work at Cumberland Transit 4 days a week, rest of the time I just build rods, tie flies, fish, and keep up on the honey-dos!!  Working Wed - thru Saturday this week.  We can take a couple of them off the dispalyer and let you see the ease getting on/off of them and let you talk to all the pros there that take the great kayak trips on all kinds of water!

[RSiegmann]

Here's a great site for kayak reviews and fishing from a kayak information ... www.kayakfishingstuff.com ... the folks that work for and run this site are extremely helpful as well ...

I've been debating the kayak fishing purchase myself for the past few months ... personally, I am choosing between a Wilderness Systems 12' Tarpon and Liquid Logic's 12' Manta Ray ... but for the most part they're very similar boats ...

I do have one of those high-powered 2-wheeled yaks that Thumper might point you to ... They're awesome getting to and from the river ... but they don't float worth a lick ... and casting from them is anything but easy ...

[Caneybuff]

My kayak is a 12 foot Old Towne Dirigo, bought  at Bass Pro for about 500 bucks three summers ago.  The regualr price is higher but  the one I bought had a scratch which allowed the manager to mark it down some.   Needless to say it has a few more scratches now.  The hull is extra tough and takes the abuse of shallow runs and gravel bars without any problem.   Lighter hulls may suffer more quickly from the same abuse.  The Dirigo is very stable, sit-in, lots of dry storage that is nice to have.  (Haha, my neighbot Lew uses his dry storage box as an ice chest, duh) For fishing it is just okay, in my opinion.  Without any gear aboard it weighs about 54 pounds, not bad at all.  It's becoming just a little difficult for me to get in and out of since my knees have been giving me some problems, but I do like the seating system which is adjustable to add or diminish lumbar support.  Some yaks will wear your back out. 

I like the lashing system that came with the boat, it provides plenty of opportunity to secure tackle bags (purses) life jackets, etc. 

I added an adjustable Scotty rod holder on the front of the cock-pit and that's taken some getting accustomed to.  It rises high enough to be a nuisance at times when casting or hooking up with a fish.  It is also an object to drape a fly line around.. not good.   

Oh yeah, my yak is day-glo orange.. UT orange I guess..  Cher says she never has to worry about where I am on the river cause she can just look for the orange glow on the horizon.  It's a bit bright, but when floating in the early mornings or evenings when the mist blankets the river, I'm more easily visible to folks in boats.  More than once, when floating at those times, we've been nearly run over by  boaters.  We hear a motored boat approaching we always paddle toward the bank to get out of the way anyway.

If and when I  replace this one I will probably be going with a sit-on-top just for the easier access/egress.

Good luck finding one you will enjoy for a long time.

[dbradyh]

Thanks all for the huge amount of info!
Glad I stumbled on this sute