Fishing kayaks
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The one big disadvantage I see to kayak fly fishing, at least for me, is this: A very effective way to fish many of our stillwaters is to move along parallel to the shoreline, casting into the shallow water and stripping the fly out. With a float tube or pontoon boat, it’s easy to kick slowly and move. Unless I get into a pedal kayak, it seems like too much effort to cast, paddle a few feet to reposition, repeat, etc.
Try trolling! I almost never fail to catch a striper when I troll while traveling just off the shore line or even paddling from one area to another. Once I hook up, I’ll usually stay in that area for awhile to see if any others are hanging around. My success rate while trolling really adds a lot of fun while fishing out of my kayak.
OK folks. I’m a big proponent of fishing kayaks (see earlier posts above), but I think I’m going contarian – for me, a canoe fits the bill better. In fact, I’d venture to say that if you are doing most of your fishing on moving water, a canoe is likely a better option.
I’ve been fishing out of my Tarpon 120 for the past couple of years fishing the hooch for stripers, and have hit the river pretty hard. I really dig the Tarpon with the inflatable pontoons for stand-up fishing. I’ve fished in it in the salt and on lakes. It has proven extremely versatile.
I recently got a Mad River Legend 15, primarily because the wife and I do a fair amount of class 1 -2 whitewater with our kayaks, and sometimes want to take friends along and don’t want to deal with renting a boat. Plus, we’ve always wanted a canoe. The Legend is conventional canoe tweaked a bit for whitewater – it has a little bit of rocker to add maneuverability and and has a big bulky bow and stern to give it float coming down rapids. We had taken it out a couple of times to hit local rivers, and I really liked the boat.
In any case, I took it out fishing this weekend and today for stripers on a local river to to see how it would do, and it rocked – just a much more enjoyable flyfishing experience than a kayak.
Why? A lot of reasons – here is the breakdown.
Pros
– Very stable and can stand in it, cast, and be anchored in current no problem. This was surprising, but it seems that the royalex flexes a bit and adheres to the water nicely.
– Less fiddly. I’m not constantly putting on and taking off the outriggers.
– More space. Can carry anything. Plus, I can keep my coffee on the yoke, where it stays high and dry and, surprisingly, doesn’t fall off. Rod storage is easy.
– Quieter – When standing, the number and magnitude of ripples it sends out from small shifts in weight is much much smaller than with a kayak and pontoons. Much stealthier approach. Plus, no scuppers or similar creating noise or drag.
– Sit higher. Your butt does not get wet. Easier to stand-up and sit down than than having to get all the way up from a kayak seat.
– Easy to load solo / easy to carry. My 15′ canoe weighs the same as my 12′ kayak, but oddly is easier for me to put on and take off my car solo. I didn’t think I could do this, but it is easy. The thing also comes with a yoke, which makes carrying it a cinch.
– Snags – Flyline has a clean and obvious place to go. No snags.Cons
– Wind. It does catch the wind.
– Less versatile – I will not be taking the canoe out in the salt.
– Not unskinkable – Sit-on tops can’t be swamped
– Cost – on avg., royalex canoes cost more than polyethylene kayaksMaybe the kayak and SUP marketing people, and the professional kayak anglers have us all hoodwinked by the trend. Maybe I’ve not tried the right kayak – but all of the ones that seem more standable than the tarpon (jackson coosa, the wilderness ride, native ultimate) were all too heavy for easy loading and unloading.
For me, the right canoe is superior for me if you are wanting to stand. Will I still use the Tarpon, sure, but will probably not use it much for fishing other than maybe lake fishing and some salt stuff.
I’m pretty surprised to be writing this, but this is how it is.
Hey Scott –
Very interesting and thanks for following through with the post.
As you all mostly know, I stand to fish in a similar canoe – the Old Towne Guide 14’6″ model. Like Scott’s boat this has two seats. I basically never sit down, though. I have a chain anchor which I mount to the rear with a big caribiner, and then I have an axle and wheels that I’ve posted on here before. I toss those in the front compartment. When I operate the boat I typically stand directly in front of the rear seat. Like Scott I keep my coffee or beer on the central thwart. I’ve actually paddled the entire Chattahoochee from Morgan Falls Dam down past Paces Mill while standing up. It’s plenty comfortable. You can even rotate in place and fish the other way if you get into a slow pirouette in the current.
Since I’ve never fished out of a kayak I can’t comment on that but my general sense is that the canoe does all I want for the moving water I fish. I have poled it for carp before but I prefer my Gheenoe if I’m going to be doing that.
The major disadvantages from my perspective:
Not as fast. Kayakers who you want to fish with will have to consciously slow down to keep from running ahead.
Heavy to load and unload, although there’s a trick a Cajun showed me to deal with that.
More likely to get scarred up. This is something I think you’ll notice, Scott. Because it’s a two-man canoe and you’re handling it alone, you will inevitably be unable to prevent certain impacts you otherwise would be able to avoid with two folks. They’re not life threatening but they will scar up your boat, both on the water and in the parking lot. I advise you to embrace the scars because you can literally hurt yourself trying to keep these boats looking new and it’s not worth it. I view my canoe as semi-disposable. I bought it on Craigslist and will eventually replace it on Craigslist.
You will end up being the pack mule. If you ever do a party float with kayakers all their extra gear will overflow onto you since you have more room.
Harder to maneuver on dry land. This is why I made the break down axles.
Zach
PS Here’s a video:
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