Torn between owning a kayak or a powered boat for fishing

[ZooJunkie]

Help please. I'm torn between buying a Native kayak or buying a used powered boat for my fishing trips. Need to be able to hit the open ocean and lakes, I can't decide.

Kayak:
Pros: quite, low cost, only have to feed me, low carbon footprint (but I've been told that I can really stink up the bathroom), very intimate with the ocean, can launch at any beach.

Cons: most likely lots of solo trips (all my friends are lazy asses), paddle power only, sharks?, wife might not join me because of sharks?

Boat:
Pros: get to any place fast, larger can fit more people, can fish longer, can out run a shark, can fish in rougher waters,

Cons: need to be towed, need to feed it gas, need insurance, need license, need to register, noisy, pollution,




I really like those Heritage Featherlite 14 tandem and the Native Marvel 14.5 tandem.

 

[Desertoutpost]

I think before I can suggest I need to know a few things...

What type of fishing do you plan to do?

What type of expirence fiahing do you have?

Is storage an issue for you?

Is towing an issue for you?

Is money a factor?

Have you ever fished from a yak before?

I have done both and fish out of my boat about twice a week.

 

[ZooJunkie]

Which do you prefer to fish from? Kayak or boat?

Striped bass, rockcod(rockfish), mackerel, sturgeon. Can't fish salmon or albacore tuna in a 'yak I don't think. Storage is not an issue for a 'yak, but it is for a boat. Towing isn't that big of a deal, unless I go beyond my 5000lbs towing limit.

Lots of rays and sharks caught in high school. I'm comfortable fishing on any platform, so I wouldn't think from a 'yak would be any different. I would just need to pay attention to my surroundings.

 

[Desertoutpost]

Which do you prefer to fish from? Kayak or boat?

Striped bass, rockcod(rockfish), mackerel, sturgeon. Can't fish salmon or albacore tuna in a 'yak I don't think. Storage is not an issue for a 'yak, but it is for a boat. Towing isn't that big of a deal, unless I go beyond my 5000lbs towing limit.

Lots of rays and sharks caught in high school. I'm comfortable fishing on any platform, so I wouldn't think from a 'yak would be any different. I would just need to pay attention to my surroundings.

I like boat because it is more comfortable, but I fish a center console which is open to wind, weather and waves, so the comfort factor goes down when the seas go up.

Fishing from a yak is a pain in the butt, however with time on the water it gets easier. Everything needs to be water proof on yak, and straped to yak somehow.

If storage is an issue go for the yak. If storage is no issue go for boat. Sharks, I don't see a great need to be concerned, tv has overplayed the whole shark thing.

You might think about your wifes comfort and go for the boat. If you have a dog like I do go for the boat so you can take them.

Overall I'm a boat guy but yak's are nice because you can launch them from anywhere! JMO.

 

[crawler#976]

...as an old Coasty, I'd personally not recommend a powerboat in the 14 ft class for salt water. Yeah, I know a lot of folks use'm, but then again I spent a lot of time doing Search and Rescue in the SF bay (from the San Mateo bridge to 10 miles outside the GG, and to as far north as the Carquinez bridge) helping folks in boats that were too small.

The exeption to the "it's too small" rule were the rigid hull Zodiac's, and the small Boston Whalers. They are pretty much up to any task...

 

[ZooJunkie]

Nono, I wasn't looking for a 14ft. boat for the open water for Half Moon Bay to Monterey. Minimum size for that would be either 18'-20' depending on our budget.

 

[TrAiLbUs1]

I'm getting myself a kayak soon, I can't wait!!!! I'm a poor poor man though, and live in AZ not to many lakes here

 

[snipecatcher]

hey

I have a kayak and love it. I also have a boat, which has been sitting in a field for the last 5 years or so. Then again, all of my fishing is done from the beach, so a boat wouldn't do me much good. I mostly use my kayak to run out shark baits from the shore, but I occasionally fish the bays and the surf zone out of my yak. It's a 12' Ocean Kayak Scrambler XT. The part about you going solo because your friends are lazy cracked me up, because it's the same way with me. My friends are a bunch of pansies when it comes to doing anything halfway risky, so they won't fish the surf zone with me. There's a good amount of people around here that will paddle 5 or so miles offshore and fish the oil platforms. Some people even regularly catch 5-6 ft. sharks out of their yaks. Then again this is Texas, and we're all nuts. I would really like to paddle out to a rig one day and troll for kingfish and such, but none of my friends will go, so I'm hoping to meet up with some of the other people who know what they are doing one day. Check out this to see what some people are catching out of thier yaks, you'll be amazed:
http://extremecoast.com/phpBB2/index.php
Go to the section titled "kayak wars." I'm entered in it, but have 0 points because the rest of the people on my team are lazy.
-Dan

 

[Nullifier]

I grew up on boats and now my primary fishing is from yaks. If you think wheelers are passionate about wheeling then you do not know any paddlefishing enthusiasts. Get on some forums and you will have plenty of people to fish with. Plus you can take the Yak with you on 4wd trips and that is a big plus.

You can fish for jsut about anything off a kayak. Since you are out west you will want alonger yak with good hull speed look for a Wilderness Systems Tarpon 160 or something comparable in size. 14 is the minumum due currents and distances you will cover. If you have not been paddlefishing you have not been fishing in my book.

If you have questions about kayak fishing let me know I can tell you about anything you would ever need to know.

 

[ZooJunkie]

Thanks! I was looking at your site and some of the recommendations you've made in other threads. That's what got me all started on yaks.

I was looking at perhaps a Native 14.5 tandem or Heritage tandem. I need a tandem for those off shoot my wife comes with me.

Would having a rudder be a plus or a negative? I like something I can easily maneuver with my wife in the yak w/ me.

 

[Christophe Noel]

I've paddled thousands of miles in various sea kayaks in Alaska, Baja, Washington, westerm B.C., Greece, etc. There are all sorts of kayaks. If we're talking a true ocean going kayak designed to be sea worthy enough to cover some miles, then fishing from such a craft is a hassle. My kayaks are 22" wide by 18ft or 21ft long and as such, slice through the water and surf like a knife. Fishing from them is sketchy. I got dumped trying to land a 15lb salmon in 40 degree water. Any time you sit in a kayak with a spray skirt you need to realize the threat of drowning is actually pretty serious. I liken the risk of open water sea kayaking to that of rock climbing. Sharks? You'll likely die sitting upside down in your kayak, if anything. Keep that in mind. Yes, I do know people who have died in sea kayaks.

If by "kayak" you're talking about sit on tops, then those might make for more reasonable fishing platforms. You can't cover many miles in them, but if that isn't the idea, you'll be fine. They're only good in temperate zones. If most of what you do is lake paddling/fishing, there are dozens of short, stable, stubby boats that make for great fishing platforms. Again, they paddle like bath tubs, but make for stable boats.

Kayaks are amazing craft. In Alaska I was on the water 4-5 days a week. To most animals you're a log or a shadow. It's very easy to sneak up on seals, whales, dolphins, eagles, fish, you name it.

Me in my back yard in Alaska a few years ago. Seriously...my house is 100ft away.View attachment 10455

With regard to your rudder question. Rudders are really not for steering. Rudders are for holding course in crossing seas or winds. If you use your rudder to make a turn, you'll be turning the same radius as a mega tanker. It cracks me up to see guys on flat water with rudders. A good kayak and paddler can execute a snap turn without a rudder. In fact, the rudder often limits snap maneuverability.