So I buy this kayak - now I’m trying to catch largemouth bass.

[robtattoo]

So what is a good kayak to get started with? Certain brands to avoid? Length? My son and I have discussed getting into this style of fishing but have no clue where to start. I did some float tubing for trout when I lived in CA. This is a new game.

I did a ton of research before committing to one. Bearing in mind, I'm not a rabid, habitual fisherman. I wanted a yak I could carry to Texas, Louisiana & Florida to fish maybe 10 days a year.
I looked at & kept coming back to Nucanoe. I bought the Freedom 12. It's 42" wide & stable enough that my 250lb lardass can stand up in the thing. It's not the fastest paddle, but it gives me an absolute TON of real estate & they're very customizable. The 360° raised seat is fantastic & the amount of track & rail space is awesome. I paid $1100 for mine, but you can find them cheaper (mine came with a couple of rod holders, seat, paddle etc)

 

[Centralcoastca]

I’ve had a few different kayaks over the years and have had a couple Hobie outback’s for the wife and I the last couple years. They aren’t cheap but are great covering distance (while being able to drink coffee) are awesome in holding position in the wind while casting and being able to troll at a consistent speed for trout or Kokanee is nice. We use them in the lakes and ocean. We sold the boat when we got a travel trailer and the kayaks go on the roof racks on the truck.

 

[OXN939]

Where you at, im in VA- trying to figure out the James near Lynchburg- no consistency yet- but im targeting bass- would love to dive into some of those though!

I'm in Richmond. Shoot me a PM if you want, could be some weather windows next week during the dead center peak of that run.

I’ve had a few different kayaks over the years and have had a couple Hobie outback’s for the wife and I the last couple years. They aren’t cheap but are great covering distance (while being able to drink coffee) are awesome in holding position in the wind while casting and being able to troll at a consistent speed for trout or Kokanee is nice. We use them in the lakes and ocean. We sold the boat when we got a travel trailer and the kayaks go on the roof racks on the truck. View attachment 384707View attachment 384708View attachment 384709View attachment 384710View attachment 384712View attachment 384713

Nice halibut! Cool your dogs like to come too. I'm a poor grad student currently, so my setup is designed to find the apogee of the "price to performance" curve lines- just a little Dick's special Lifetime Teton angler 10 I added through hull storage, the Garmin Striker and one more rod holder to. Does the trick for my current purposes but damn those Hobies open up a lot of territory. A few more from the tidal James River.

 

[Centralcoastca]

I'm in Richmond. Shoot me a PM if you want, could be some weather windows next week during the dead center peak of that run.



Nice halibut! Cool your dogs like to come too. I'm a poor grad student currently, so my setup is designed to find the apogee of the "price to performance" curve lines- just a little Dick's special Lifetime Teton angler 10 I added through hull storage, the Garmin Striker and one more rod holder to. Does the trick for my current purposes but damn those Hobies open up a lot of territory. A few more from the tidal James River.

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I started on a used beater then a nicer used beater and eventually got a Hobie then got the wife one after she tried it out. The dog loves the kayaks, she’ll jump in for a ride as soon as she sees one, occasionally not mine! The Hobie compass is very similar to the outback but much less expensive, a few less extras but to do it again if they had the compass when I got mine I probably would’ve gone that route. They’re stable enough to stand on to cast if you pay attention to wakes. Id maybe even try to find a used compass or outback, but Ive caught plenty of fish off the old beaters.

 

[Newtosavage]

I love kayak fishing and have many of my closest friends hooked on it now. We plan trips 2x/year just to kayak fish new rivers or lakes or bays.

Best thing about kayak fishing is that my wife and youngest daughter LOVE kayak fishing too. In fact, my wife even agreed to go kayak camping with me a couple years ago (we camped out on islands in a nearby major river) and said it was the best camping experience she's ever had. There is so little public land in Texas (but the larger waterways and riverbeds are all considered public rights of way) that kayak camping is a great way to get some peace without having to be shoved into a state park campground.

At one point we had a plastic navy behind our garage, with 5 kayaks including one tandem for a total of 6 seats. Now that the kids have moved out, we still keep three - one for my wife and me (we have identical Hobie 13' anglers) and the Emotion 10'er that I bought for our youngest daughter when she was 9. She still uses that kayak and she's 21 now.

There is a reason these boats have become so popular. I've even contemplated more than once, selling my 17' carolina skiff because my wife and I enjoy kayak fishing so much. It really is the most fun you can have with your clothes on.

 

[Newtosavage]

I’ve had a few different kayaks over the years and have had a couple Hobie outback’s for the wife and I the last couple years. They aren’t cheap but are great covering distance (while being able to drink coffee) are awesome in holding position in the wind while casting and being able to troll at a consistent speed for trout or Kokanee is nice. We use them in the lakes and ocean. We sold the boat when we got a travel trailer and the kayaks go on the roof racks on the truck. View attachment 384707View attachment 384708View attachment 384709View attachment 384710View attachment 384712View attachment 384713

Great pics man. Would love to know where some of those places are. They look amazing. What a blessing it is to have your wife kayak fish with you, isn't it !?!

 

[Newtosavage]

I'm in East Texas right now, chasing flounder & reds in the flats. I'm new to kayak fishing, but man I'm seeing the appeal! View attachment 384698
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Yea, it's tough to beat a good stable kayak in those coastal marshes. Love it!

 

[Centralcoastca]

Great pics man. Would love to know where some of those places are. They look amazing. What a blessing it is to have your wife kayak fish with you, isn't it !?!

Thanks, Lewiston lake, whiskeytown lake, Santa margarita lake, leffingwell landing and port San Luis all in ca. I’m glad she finally decided to give it a try and ended up really enjoying it, it’s a little sharky in our area so she doesn’t like to go outside of the harbor but she is always ready to hit the lakes.

 

[cjdewese]

Who knew it would be so much fun? I started solo fishing when the virus locked us down. It’s a strenuous hike to get to a small park lake. Well, at least the shortcut is strenuous. I just packed in some plastic baits and an UL spinning rod setup. It was game on! Nothing bigger than 2lbs but on the 4lb line it was fun.

then it started nagging at me. “Bigger bass”. I have some local lakes with very limited shore fishing. Way too much plant growth around the perimeters. Hmmmmm, I need a boat!

now I own a Hobie kayak. I played with it a few times to learn the system. Last Saturday I took one fishing rod and some plastics. A friend gave me a bag stuffed full of SENKO plastics. I fished one weightless. Boom. 2 hours of fishing I landed my personal best California largemouth. 2.5 - 3 lbs. oh boy. I might be hooked. My wife the nurse is working a lot lately. I have every Saturday to play. Shoot my bow, mtn bike, shore fish for bass, surf-fishing, and now kayak-fishing! Too bad I work! I need more free time. Any other kayak fishermen?

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Where at in California are you at? Waiting for my local waters to warm up some as I am in the mountains in so cal. Kayaks are a blast, I had one for a while, now with my son and dog both wanting to come with me, we use a 14' canoe and it works great. Outside of that I have a 12' boat that I made into a bass boat that is a blast and pretty much a glorified Kayak.

 

[Fartrell Cluggins]

I have been fishing out of various paddle craft for as long as I can remember. I do better in my paddle boats than I do in my power boat. Pedal yaks really are the way to go for fishing.

 

[Newtosavage]

Where at in California are you at? Waiting for my local waters to warm up some as I am in the mountains in so cal. Kayaks are a blast, I had one for a while, now with my son and dog both wanting to come with me, we use a 14' canoe and it works great. Outside of that I have a 12' boat that I made into a bass boat that is a blast and pretty much a glorified Kayak.

Once my wife caught her first bass from a kayak, she was hooked. The camping is a real bonus. She can pack some of her "comfort gear" and not have to carry it. She really likes that.

 

[Crusader]

Interesting topic, I'm thinking about getting one in the next year or so. Some questions:

If two people are going to be involved and budget allows, I guess it's better to have two kayaks instead of one, two-person kayak, so both can go where they want in their own boat?

What makes Hobie so good, and are there other comparable brands in the higher price range like that?

Is Ocean Kayak a good brand?

Finally, is the sit on top the better choice for fishing?

Thanks!

 

[OXN939]

Finally, is the sit on top the better choice for fishing?

Pretty much all serious fishing yak rigs are sit-on-tops; they're a much more fishable hull plan. Counterintuitively, they're actually drier too. As you can see in that pic I posted on the last page, the water temps here are pretty chilly and even in my "economically minded" setup I rarely get more than a drop or two on me. I wear Kokatat foul weather gear to keep paddle drips from getting me wet when SST is under 50.

I'd personally go with two single yaks over a double. Lets a pair cover more ground and stay out of each other's hair.

 

[NickKreutz]

Ive got really cheap Pelican kayaks, but they float! Use Them to get into small lakes to spearfish out of. My wife and I also did a short trip from Stanley Mission to Nistowiak falls on the Churchill River system, the walleye fishing was great.

 

[arock]

Man, and just when I convinced myself I wouldn't make any major outdoors purchases this year...

Looks super cool. How do most of you transport them? Up on a rack or with a trailer?

 

[Centralcoastca]

Interesting topic, I'm thinking about getting one in the next year or so. Some questions:

If two people are going to be involved and budget allows, I guess it's better to have two kayaks instead of one, two-person kayak, so both can go where they want in their own boat?

What makes Hobie so good, and are there other comparable brands in the higher price range like that?

Is Ocean Kayak a good brand?

Finally, is the sit on top the better choice for fishing?

Thanks!

100% better to have two kayaks than one tandem. Way more fun to be able to move around independently and I couldn’t imagine trying to fish with two people in one, after being in one once I have zero interest doing that again.
The pedal drive is what makes the hobies so good but also expensive. It is way easier to fish while using the pedals to hold your position or to cruise a bank or troll and occasionally adjust the rudder handle than constantly juggling a paddle and a rod. The other nice thing about pedal drives is the fact that your legs are stronger than your arms so you can go faster and further as well as easily maintain a consistent pace if trolling. In my circle we had a few guys try the other propeller pedal drives but they didn’t seem to hold up too long and most sold them after replacing or fixing the drives. The Hobie drive seems to be much more reliable but maybe something better has come out, I haven’t seen any new ones lately.

 

[Centralcoastca]

Man, and just when I convinced myself I wouldn't make any major outdoors purchases this year...

Looks super cool. How do most of you transport them? Up on a rack or with a trailer?

Either/both or just slide them in the bed of a truck.

 

[cjdewese]

Once my wife caught her first bass from a kayak, she was hooked. The camping is a real bonus. She can pack some of her "comfort gear" and not have to carry it. She really likes that.

My wife loves to come along too, usually when we have the entire family though we borrow my dads bigger boat. If it's just the two of us her favorite fishing platform is the float tube. It helps that I have built ours out some with pole holders and a nice umbrella for her to relax under when she gets tired of fishing. I just tie a short rope to my tube and tow her along as I keep fishing and she reads a book.

So basically, Kayaks are great and a good option if you can only pick one. It's nice to have a few options to fish in different situations.

 

[robtattoo]

Man, and just when I convinced myself I wouldn't make any major outdoors purchases this year...

Looks super cool. How do most of you transport them? Up on a rack or with a trailer?

If it's just me & mine, I toss it in the truck bed. I do have to make sure everything's secure (12' yak, 8' bed....) inside the topper, but it's easily doable by myself. This trip, I have a friend along & I borrowed a trailer from another buddy. I don't have a rack & trying to get 2 boats, 3 coolers & a week's worth of fishing & hunting gear in there was silly.

It makes getting to a launch point & actually launching a whole lot easier.
The one thing that was recommended to me & so far has proved to be worth its weight, is a trolley for wheeling the boat around. Fully loaded with tackle, I'd estimate my yak weighs close to 120lb & dragging it over dry grass is a dick. A simple, $40, home built, pvc dolly makes life a million times easier.

 

[arock]

If it's just me & mine, I toss it in the truck bed. I do have to make sure everything's secure (12' yak, 8' bed....) inside the topper, but it's easily doable by myself. This trip, I have a friend along & I borrowed a trailer from another buddy. I don't have a rack & trying to get 2 boats, 3 coolers & a week's worth of fishing & hunting gear in there was silly.
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It makes getting to a launch point & actually launching a whole lot easier.
The one thing that was recommended to me & so far has proved to be worth its weight, is a trolley for wheeling the boat around. Fully loaded with tackle, I'd estimate my yak weighs close to 120lb & dragging it over dry grass is a dick. A simple, $40, home built, pvc dolly makes life a million times easier.
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So cool. Nothing like portability and making life easy.