Yak Fishing

[taylornelms]

Does anyone here fish from a kayak or ever fished from a kayak. A buddy of mine got one and he has convinced me to get one too. The kayaks im talking about are callled "sit on top" they are sea kayaks and i have seen a good bit about them in salt water. The new thing in saltwater is to get in a big boat with your yak go out really far then get in your 12 footer and catch anything from marlin to wahoo to dolphin. Most of my fishing,however, will be fresh water. They can really rig these things out as far as fish finders, coolers, rod holders. Somebody let me know what they know. Thanks.

 

[PHIL M]

I have a ocean kayak Drifter. I hardly ever take my fishing boat out anymore. You should pick out your boat according to your size, and what type of water you plan on fishing. I fish mostly rivers with hard current.
If you plan on fishing still water. you will want something kinda long, and fast, that tracks strait. If you fish moving water, you will want as short of a yak as you can get, that will acomadate your weight with gear. my favorite brands are. Ocean Kayak, Cobra, and tarpon (wilderness systems). in that order. If you want to mount a fish finder, you will need a yak with the right hull material. no poly link, or superlink. that is what Old Town uses. that material has air pockets in it.
Hope this helps! Phil

 

[Glenn]

I fish out of and Old Town Loon 138 sit-in yak and love it!

 

[rayjay]

We used to have a 16' loon 2 seater, an 11' loon 1 seater and another single seater that is no longer made and I can't remember the name.

The 'sit-in' are a lot more stable than the sit on's. It's like sitting in the bottom of a canoe. Lot lower CG. You will have to learn to do everything sitting down

We used to do a lot of float trips down the Yellow river. Most of the time you would not see another soul.

 

[taylornelms]

thats what kind of fishing im looking for. I dont want to see anyone and i dont want anyone to see me. I know the kayak thing is gonna be right up my alley. Im excited. Any other info on good places to go around here.

 

[rayjay]

Just find some local rivers and start driving around checking water depth, put in and take out locations, parking, ect. You quickly learn that when the road starts going steeply downhill there is usually water at the bottom.

I used to live in the Centerville/Snellville/Lilburn area and we could make a 7 hour trip on the Yellow River and never be more than 20mins driving time from home. You would be floating along hearing people talking or cutting grass, etc. but never see them. Rarely we would see people fishing or out swimming or playing with their dogs in the water. The best 'rapids' are just above Annistown Rd. Just small steps really. That river gets to RAGING when there is a lot of rain.

REI used to rent Kayaks and that was how we decided on our first, the 16' Old Town Loon with a rudder.

I got dumped out of my single seater in 6" of water. Got sideways against a rock and sploot.

One advantage of the Loon series is you don't really need a skirt. The single seater I had required a skirt to keep the water out. It was a LOT more fun in the rapids though.

The property that fronted the river where the good rapids were was for sale at one time. We spent many an hour dreaming of owning that 17 acres.