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Choosing a Fishing Kayak

Nutterbuster

Nutterbuster

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Never thought I'd make this thread...

I have loathed every sit-on kayak I've ever sat in. They've all been heavy and felt like paddling a bathtub. I've always preferred sit-ins in the 12-16ft range. Rec paddlers and touring boats. I never really got the appeal of "fishing kayaks."

I hate formal exercising. I love to fish. I get no exercise running the trolling motor. I need to be active or being back full time at a desk will kill me. And my new job means that fishing is going to be a very big part of my life for a while. I'm lowkey considering getting involved in some local kayak fishing tournaments for networking purposes.

So...

What's the recommendation on a fishing kayak? I have a jetski trailer I can trailer it on but want something light enough that I can cartop it and horse it into weird places if I want to. I kinda want the ability to pedal but also need something that paddles well. I'd like to stay under 2k new but this will honestly probably be a next year's purchase so I could save up and go big if it really matters that I have a Hobie.
 
Old town Sportmens 106 Peddle. I have one and I love it. Had the none peddle version, sold it, and bought the peddle version. For fishing, it makes a big difference. Being able make small adjustments with one hand real fast and or with your feet is the biggest selling factor for me. Also the speed. I can easily peddle twice as fast according to my GPs

I had the Hobie bug. Read enough bad things about a 4k kayaks peddle drive to steer me clear. Also I like the instant reverse of the old town. For twice as much idk if it’s anywhere near twice as good. Everytime I see one thing I do get hot and sweaty.

Old town sportsmen’s peddle 106 is slightly heavier than u may want but it makes up for it in every other way. It’s also close to your price point. I did find a 2022 for under 2k.

Any questions feel free to pm me or in this thread is fine. I have two years kayak experience which isn’t a ton. If you ever are around Ohio u could try mine
 
Nutterbuster said:
Never thought I'd make this thread...

I have loathed every sit-on kayak I've ever sat in. They've all been heavy and felt like paddling a bathtub. I've always preferred sit-ins in the 12-16ft range. Rec paddlers and touring boats. I never really got the appeal of "fishing kayaks."

I hate formal exercising. I love to fish. I get no exercise running the trolling motor. I need to be active or being back full time at a desk will kill me. And my new job means that fishing is going to be a very big part of my life for a while. I'm lowkey considering getting involved in some local kayak fishing tournaments for networking purposes.

So...

What's the recommendation on a fishing kayak? I have a jetski trailer I can trailer it on but want something light enough that I can cartop it and horse it into weird places if I want to. I kinda want the ability to pedal but also need something that paddles well. I'd like to stay under 2k new but this will honestly probably be a next year's purchase so I could save up and go big if it really matters that I have a Hobie.
Click to expand...
If you hold that 50lb kettlebell in your off hand while using the trolling motor or while holding a rod I’m sure you’ll get plenty of exercise and it’ll save you $2k.

I honestly don’t see kayaking for fishing as much exercise unless you’re just sprinting to fishing spots or something where you get your cardio up high, much less if you get a pedaled one. I did a ton of bay fishing down that way out of kayak though, tons of fun.

I think you’d be better off taking all of 10 minutes and running a good mile to a mile and a half if health is your motive. If you just want to kayak fish, then buy a kayak, but fitting exercise into that decision seems like a weak one.
 
I have a pelican catch 100 that I got specifically for how stable it is and use it for hunting but its actually meant to be open water fishing kayak you can also stand and fish on it. It’s a 10ft but they have 12ft also. It’s very light also I can 1 hand it like a giant briefcase for 100yds pretty easily.
 

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I have several kayaks from 10' sit ins to16' sit on tops . My favorite kayak is , by far is my peddle kayak .
 
was fishing in my wife's sit it last week. It was fun, but it was hard to swap out lures or carry my tackle box, very limited on space. I wonder if a sit on would be better.
 
If you want to be able to hunt and fish like you want to for as long as possible, think @WHW, take your medicine like a big boy and get in the gym at least 4 days a week. Do a mix of cardio and strength training for functional fitness. Not a single one of the guys I grew up hunting with can hunt more than a couple hundred yards from a wheeler now. The only reason to be that guy is lazy. There is nothing about going to the gym that I enjoy other than the fact that it keeps me doing the things I enjoy, the way I want to enjoy them.
 
Take up playing golf and walking the course if you want exercise. I never worked up much of a sweat paddling my yak. Maybe if you did a long paddle to get back to those mythical mile or three spots out there. I suppose if you trolled that would be a bit more exercise.

Dealing with different kayak styles is mostly a tradeoff game. Stability and speed just aren't compatible unless you add a motor. I've got a 32# thrust motor on my sit on top and top speed 3mph with no wind. Pedal yaks are much faster.
 
I have an Old Town Topwater 106. But if I were to get another it would probably be a NuCanoe. Honestly looking at selling mine and putting money towards a Jon boat or maybe a Bass Tracker. Just don’t use it as much as I’d imagined I would. I think it’s partly due to loading/unloading everything from it and fighting wind. Maybe a pedal kayak would help with some of that. I also want to be able to take my wife or someone with me.
 
My favorite fishing kayak is a solo canoe. Cartops easily, and carries everything I could want or need. If I couldn't find a solo canoe I'd get a conventional 14'-15' canoe with trad bench seats and sit in the front, facing the the stern. Maybe put a lower seat with a backrest in at a height conducive to a double paddle. Can also fit a spouse and child, or a deer, or a week's worth of camping gear, or a shotgun and bag of decoys, or any number of other things that you can't so easily do with a kayak.

Really this is an easy thing to overthink. As long as you can attach rod holders, and stash your tacklebox where you can get at it easily you've got a fishing kayak.
 
Agreed that you won't get a workout, but I love my hobie outback. It's one of the older models, has forward/reverse but not the fancy swiveling setup. It's like a 2013 ish I think (previous generation hull style to the one that's out now, still has the seat you sit on instead of molded plastic seat). Paddles OK, but you only really need to paddle to leave the ramp/come back, the fins can fold up against the hull in shallows so I typically do that instead of taking them out (other than at the ramp). Any boat that paddles well isn't going to be that stable to fish from, but sounds like you know enough about yaks to know that already.
 
I missed the exercise part... honestly, paddling isn't that much of a workout, unless you're sprinting; if you're sprinting you're not really fishing. If you're handy you might look into a "stitch & glue dory", which is a 15'-16' homemade rowing boat made from 2 sheets of 1/4" luan underlayment and epoxy. Dories were developed for fishing, but handlining and pulling nets rather than casting. You can troll with one of these very easily, as well as anchor out and bobber fish, but it's probably a bit tippy to stand and cast from.
 
I have 2 kayaks... A 10 ft Heritage Redfish that you can car top it and drag it to water easy. It's ok to sit in for about 2 to 3 hours and the old back starts hurting.
I also have a Hobie 12 ft Pro Angler..... Love, love,love it. It's heavy, but fits in the bed of my truck. I have wheels for it, so I can roll it to the water as needed. It's an all day fishing kayak and comfortable, easy to peddle. i can stand up and throw a cast net from it. The best part is you can move the kayak while fishing hands free. The cost and heavy is the only bad thing about the PA. I bought it in 2013 and I have not regretted it.
 
I was like you hated every kayak I sat in (mainly older versions I’m sure a lot of them are good now)

But I recently got a Nucanoe frontier 12 and absolutely love it! 650lb capacity and crazy stable I stand and fish out of it most the time.

Figured the extra capacity I might be able to haul a deer or 2 out with it
 
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