Anybody hunt/fish from a kayak?  Tell me what you use, what kind of water, etc.

I am about 250 lbs, and looking to get something for slow rivers, ponds, and lakes.  We have a popular lake nearby that can get 1-2 foot chop.

I just bought an ascend fs12 and fs10 fishing kayaks from bass pro and love them. my 10 yr old uses the 10ft and I use the 12 ft. the 12 ft has additional storage upfront and the seat is very comfy. both have 2 rod holders behind the seat,rod holder up front.my choice would be the 12ft. we got the camo ones. Both are very stable and can handle waves and some mild rapids.

Get a sit on top style.  I have a 12' and 14' set up for fishing,  The 14' is my favorite. Tracks very well, handles 2' chop and is easy to paddle.
14' Native manta ray

If you are going to be around any boat traffic like in Tampa bay, get a bright color.

Hobie Cat Pro Angler

I saltwater fly fish inshore flats/creeks in my Native Slayer 14.5. I bought it mainly because it's stable for standing and the seat is friggin awesome. I noticed last night it's a bit slower than my friends' Ride 135s. I was always a bit behind them. Then again I was only in a hurry when the damned skeeters started tearing into us about 9pm.

Headed out the door now but I'll be back to post some pics.

I had an Ocean Kayak, Prowler Model for several years.  Ended up buying one for my son too.

We took it out in the ocean along the coast of Maine,on several camping/fishing trips to the Adirondacks, as well as, almost daily use in the Niagara River and Lake Erie.

Great for fishing, excellent stability.  I purchased that model because I used it as a SCUBA & Snorkling platform.

Check out the web site: www.oceankayak.com

This is actually the boat I am most interested in!

Thinking about adding one of these to the fleet as well. As much as I love my Jackson Coosa, it's just not cut out for that big water.

I really want a slayer 14.  I love the open bow and overall layout/storage options.  That being said I hear they are slow.  I have a tarpon 120 and want to upgrade soon to a 14 footer.  The slayer and bigger tarpon are the ones on my short list right now.

ETA: I fish inshore and btb.

I decided on a 14' after demoing 5 different boats, all native brand.   I liked the pedal option, but I fish the skinny water in old tampa bay often and would end up paddling as much as pedaling, so it was out.  The pedal boat is also pretty heavy fully set up.
The paddle options went from 10' to 14' and I felt the 14' was the easiest to paddle and very stable.
Most kayak shops will have some demo option to rent before you buy, I was lucky and found a "demo day" where they had about 12 different kayaks you could try.  
The seat is everything, and cheap boats will have cheap seats.   Look at the yaks in discount stores and you will see what I mean.
I borrowed a 10' wal mart yak once, and it was miserable compared to a good boat.
If you look around, you can find used hobies/natives/etc for under 1k, but like an AR, allow for add ons.

Looks like I'll have to dig around to find which card has the boat pics. Here it is with its normal rigging (though I'm not using the camera mount now).



First off I'll admit two things:

1. It's not a rocket. However, as long as I'm in a good stroke rhythm I have no issues and I can cover some good ground. I've heard the 12 isn't so hot.
2. I have flipped it with the seat in the high position when I leaned too far trying to clear a snag.

Despite those two issues I love my Slayer. I spent about two years looking for it. As a fly angler a clean boat was critical for me. A fly line will snag on a gnat's hair and just about every yak out there is setup with spin/baitcasting anglers in mind. Things like rod holders, hatches, etc are great but not for your casting. The Slayer had the cleanest cockpit I could find. I do sometimes use a Scotty holder on a rear track if I'm going to be in narrow feeder creeks where I don't want to risk pushing the tip into the grass. If I'm out with others or plan on being out after dark I use a Yak Attack VisiCarbon light/flag.

I find the boat very stable for sight fishing. I'd say I spend about 95% of my time standing. I also find that I can easily make the transition between seated and standing regardless of whether the seat is high or low. My general rule of thumb is to cross channels low and cover the small creeks high. But I'm also just as comfortable staying in the low position.

The scuppers are big so it drains pretty quickly. I tend to keep the front/rear plugged. I'll also keep the cockpit plugged so it's more quiet and only pull the plug when I need to drain.



From Saturday's guided trip.




The Slayer is a beast if you have to load it on top of a vehicle. It got old real fast so now I transport it on a Harbor Freight folding trailer. This was just a demo pic. I actually transport it upside down.



I do plan on making some camping/fishing trips so I'll probably end up buying the hatch covers. I love not having to deal with covers as a general rule but having the options is sweet.

I understand that Native is coming out with a hinged, locking cover for the cockpit console which I'll probably get. The only real issue I've run into is the screws don't seem to stay in. I find I go around periodically to re-tighten and I lost two of the lid screws.

Even though the Ride may be a little faster I don't like that you have to slide the seat back to stand. That's wasted time and noise that might spook a red. The other boat I thought I'd like is the Malibu Stealth. The casting platform is sweet (though prone to letting water into the hull) but I loathe molded seats. The Native seat really earned the name First Class. It's like sitting in a lounge chair. In fact I've pulled the chair from the boat to use it on land.

Overall I'm very happy with my purchase.

The seat is like a lazy boy in my Native.

This is the main reason Im looking at this boat. I fish with a few guys who fly fish from the Jackson Cuda and I do think it is a great boat, as I love my Coosa as well, but to me there is just too much going on in that boat for me to fly fish from. Thanks for the mini review, its nice to get a fly fisher's perspective on things

Love my Native 16ft

Shoot. Sorry I never saw your response. Glad this got bumped.

I looked at the Cuda and I think it'd be a great boat for others but as you said it's got way too much going on for a fly guy. What'd you end up with?

I have an Ocean Kayak Trident 13 and am very happy with it. I weight about 190


and have loaded it with close to a hundred pounds of gear and only changed the


the water line about a half inch. But this allowed water to pool in the bottom.





Scupper plugs fixed this issue.




















 

I have an Old Town Loon 13'8" sit in that I use.  While not ideal I added a couple recessed rod holders behind the seat and made a bait bucket out a cooler with a battery powered areator and it fits nicely out of the sun between my feet.  I've been wanting to upgrade to a SOT but most of them are too heavy to cartop.  I can snatch the Loon up over my head and put it on the racks of our Pilot without much trouble.  I don't think I could do that with another 20-30 pounds.

Barracuda out of Australia is making some super light SOT's but they aren't available here unfortunately.  The closest I've found is the Hurricane Skimmer 128 at 48 pounds.  But with the added rod mounts and holders for fishing it would be closer to 55.

I've got a Trident 13 in Sand...they were out of the Camo when I ordered.  

 

Mirage drive hobie cat

Whatever you do, don't go with the full Jonah model pictured here.

About to go full potato on a perception 12' pescador, any suggestions on what else is really needed?

Depends on what sort of fishing you're doing and where.  That front rod holder looks like it may be a little far forward.  I'd consider adding a piece of YakAttack gear track on the side and a Zooka Tube  If you can't reach the mounting location, you can use rigging bullets (youtube for instructions).  

You may want an anchor and some other stuff.  

Definitely need a pfd and I believe Texas requires a whistle or other noise maker.  If you think this is a hobby you'll be into for a while, skip the $50 aluminum paddle and jump right up to a $100-200 fiberglass or carbon fiber model.  After the jump from aluminum, the bang for your buck decreases significantly.  My favorite paddle right now is the Cannon Slider.  It's $150ish and is adjustable from 230-250 CM.  I'd avoid any other adjustable paddles right now.  They use cam systems that aren't very durable.  

A lot of people use a milk crate to store and organize tackle.  I use a soft side tackle back with a rigid waterproof bottom.  

Eventually, you may want a fish finder and other toys, but they aren't necessary to get started.

I purchased an Ascend PFD that says its for paddling and have been advised by numerous people to opt for the CF paddles as well. Thank you for the advice.

I will use the kayak mainly for slat water flats/marsh but on those days I cant fish there is a large neighborhood pond that I could get some paddling time in close proximity.

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The pinnacle of fishing kayaks to me is the Pro Angler. I'm going to go ahead and say that pedal kayaks, in any flavor, are the way to go. I had an Ocean Kayak 13' which was nice, but once i tried a Hobie, there was no going back. I have one of the smaller offerings, but i love my Revolution 11. I can easily throw it in the back of my truck or carry it to the water. It's fast and fairly stable. A Pro Angler is a little more than i can afford right now, but i have thought about moving up to the Outback for the added room and primary stability. I took mine out twice today, this afternoon in chop and about a 10 MPH wind, no issues. I was pedaling at a leisurely pace and made great headway. The only drawback are weeds snagging the fins or if the water is very shallow. You can "flutter" the blades to get in about a foot of water, but there isn't much you can do about weed beds other than avoid them.

Actually I'd say the Native has the advantage. The Hobie doesn't do reverse.

Pop the unit out and rotate it 180.

This is true, but try finding one in the used market. If buying new i would certainly look at them. It usually isn't too hard finding a used Hobie, and they hold their value very well.

Hmm, what's that tell you?

I ordered a Jackson Kayak Kilroy for my first fishing yak. It's a sit in but has a great flat standing area that Jackson added to the Kilroy and designed the area to be supposedly snag free for fly fishing. My Kilroy came in yesterday, but I'm out of state. I can't wait to get home and pick it up. I figured the sit in will be great for cruising still waters,which the majority of my fishing will be lakes and slow river/creeks. If I end up enjoying the sport(using a yak, I'm already a fish nut) I'll be looking at a high end SOT eventually.  I said this in a previous Yak thread, we should get an Ar15 yak trip setup some time. I think that would be cool :)

 

Honestly, almost every time i see one it is because they are going to the Hobie Pro Angler or a more recent model. Very few people go back to paddle kayaks once owning a pedal. I know i won't. And when i say i see them for sale, i was looking in a 150 mile radius of my home. I live on the coast between New Orleans and Destin. Lots of kayaks around here.

I just bought a Hybrid as well. I got the native ultimate fx 15 tandem. I can throw the second seat and take one kid or pop it out, move my seat forward and have the boat to myself. Im really excited but have to wait until July 20th for it to come in.
Mine is the "Hidden Oak" color

I have a simple Old Town angler from Dick's. Bought it cheap last year and it works.  I love getting out in the local ponds with it.

The wife wanted us to get a tandem kayak for just touring and recreational use, but of course I want to also use it for fishing. So I have been looking at kayaks and found the Jackson Big Tuna to be the one I am looking at getting.

I looked hard at the Tuna. Decided to go with the Native Ultimate FX 15. It is a hybrid and you can remove the second seat and slide the solo seat more to the middle. If you have a Native dealer go look at them. They are cool boat, lighter and may work better if you want to go solo then tandem.

thanks for the info. I will take a look at them too.


I am wondering what kind of footwear you guys use on the water?

Something I didn't like about the Ultimate (which is what I thought I was going to buy) was the inside of the hull. I knew very quickly it wouldn't make a good standing platform. I can stand all day in my Slayer.

As for footwear I'm usually wearing flats boots due to the oyster beds.

I am looking for suggestions on footwear for the kayak. my limited search so far and I think I am leaning towards the Simms Rip Rap shoes.

when speaking of wader shoes, do they run large to accommodate your waders?

Why do you say the ultimate (mine is a FX) isn't a good standing platform? My soles are actually below the water line making it more stable.

traded an M&P for this Tarpon 100, now I just need to get it rigged up and in the water.

That's a good looking boat. I'm trying to find a tarpon 100 for my kids.

I run on Lakes and slow flowing rivers. I don't know what brand it is. It was given to me. I am ready to upgrade and use this boat as a backup/friends boat. The best thing I did was add a milk crate with pipe in each corner for rod holders.

I have a pair of Keen Newport H2 sandals that I love.  The toe protector is invaluable.

I don't wear waders in FL. I wear the flats boot either barefoot or with a wader sock, though. I think it may be a little larger than my regular shoe size. I'll check for you.


The Ultimate I tried wasn't like the pics I'm seeing. I remember the inside being more rounded from the tunnels under the hull. All I know is that I was expecting the bottom to be flat and it wasn't. After standing for a while on the lake it hurt my feet. The Slayer gives me a completely flat platform. So it was based on how the hull made my feet feel, not stability.

I got the angler version of that boat and have been really happy with it. Mine came with an anchor and the adjustable rod holder plus two verticle holders behind the seat. I'm 6" 220lbs and have no trouble reaching any of the holders when seated. I've had it on ponds, streams (very short spurts of 2-3 rapids) and the ocean. It's done well in all.

Thanks. I couldn't figure out which rod holders I wanted between the Scotty and the yakattack so the obvious choice was get both lol. I really like how easy yakattak is to position but it is a lot more bulky than  the Scotty. Kust missing the side anchor trolly now and its hitting the water this weekend.

I'm still waiting for my Native Ultimate 15 tandem to come in. In the mean time I picked up a special edition, one of a kind Tarpon 100 for my daughter.
She has already added a few stickers

Few questions for the experts. I'm 6'2" and 330lbs. I want to get a kayak to do some fishing on a local lake and a few small rivers/creeks. I also want to have the wife go with me. Each in our own boat. What should I be looking at? There is a bunch on our craigslist but don't know what I'm looking at. I think the rushing would be great fun but also want to use this as exercise and just to be out in the fresh air. I live a mike from the lake so I'm really itching to get going on this.