I'm getting the itch again to try kayak fishing. Wanted to try it for a while and never pulled the trigger. Hoping to find a decent rig in the $400-500 range. I know the last time I looked (a year or 2 ago), you could find some decent ones in that price range on FB Marketplace. So....for those of you that do it and enjoy it...what tips/tricks/recommendations/pointers can you offer?

Toto-molded, nicer seat/ chair, sit on top.

*Roto

MY TIP - don't! get a small jon boat instead ... i tried it & fkn hated it - it's a DAMN CRAMPED fishing experience for a fella with as much meat on the bone as you
IJS ... hardest i ever worked for a fish in my LIFE was on a fkn yak

I'll take you up on your advice..................if you want to make a sizeable donation to the "Gomer needs a boat" fund. Otherwise, I'll make the best with what I've got.

Nice seat is critical. Sit on top, get a long paddle for a sit on top. If you’re fishing mostly creeks and small rivers think lighter to get to the water, less V in the hull makes it more maneuverable once it gets there. My budget advice would be sacrifice newness for quality manufacturing, meaning I’d take an older wilderness, old town or Jackson over a newer less reputable boat.

A lot of stuff you’ll learn as you go, but one other gear tip is be careful about rod placement on those small rivers. Upright and overhanging limbs become a problem, along the deck and you can lose rod tips on the rocks. Up until you get your sea legs don’t bring much, certainly nothing you aren’t willing to get wet and strap it down really well if you care if you lose it.

Have fun, it can be challenging but it’s so fun.

It is definitely more challenging on a yak. I couldn’t imagine being one of y’all big fellers sitting in one of those tubs.

I picked one up yesterday, as soon as I figure out what not to do in it I'll let you know

I have had a canoe for 16 years It is 14’6” and 42” wide, it is great for not only fishing but loading up the family and floating the creeks and rivers. Put some seat backs on and get a kayak paddle, PFD and an anchor. I’d think this setup would be ideal for what you are looking for. We float a 2 man blow up boat for the kids if we have more than one going with us.

excellent👍👍👍

my donation is to your family bro! dont do this to your wife & kids — you know you’re gonna fall out of a yak, bump your head, knock yourself unconscious, sink to the bottom, and leave your poor wife to take care of your 2 young kids & raise em fatherless 😩

when a vessel is skinnier than you are, it’s time to pluck the wild hair & throw it in a garbage can 🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

I’ve kayaked before. And some of these sit-on kayaks are damn near wide and stable enough to stand on. I’m not worried about it.

My advice: get a sit on top with a decent seat, either padded or chair style, and go have a ton of fun. Me and my 14 year old fish creeks, rivers, bays, and the Gulf in yaks, and have a blast.

The wave forecast is looking good later this week. We may head down to fort morgan or gulf shores to get after some spanish and kings.

White tip, Black tip, spinner, Sand, Nurse, Hammerhead, Mako, Tiger, Bull, White....

Never worried about sharks in the gulf until I was about to gaff a king or red and what might be poking up at that wounded fish as I was looking over and down at the fish

I’m 6’1” 245 lbs. and I fish out of a Jackson Mayfly. It is designed for fly fishing but I really don’t like standing up in it. It is cramped and you have to be very careful with placement of your spare rod(s), net, fishing gear, etc. There’s a learning curve. It’s also WORK. It’s heavy, you have to load and unload EVERYTHING EVERY TIME. Maybe I’m just lazy BUT I CAN drive through a mud hole.

i bumped into a kayak guy a couple weeks ago ... a very fit, athletic dude, prob around your height, and the first thing i noticed about his setup is, he'd mounted permanent wheels on the back of his kayak, and the back bed of his truck was setup nice to load/unload easily ... his was the pedal kind, and he had it rigged up with electronics, etc. ... i chatted with him a while, and he works for McAbee Construction ... his legs looked like he was a soccer player, and he was lean & mean ... very nice fella, he said he was actually going to get another kayak setup in the next few weeks, but this dude was a) clearly fit for the challenge, and b) had worked out all the kinks ... he also was a pretty good fisherman -- had a stringer slap full of bass, and asked me if i wanted to take 'em home LOL

bottom line, do what makes you happy -- important thing is getting outdoors & enjoying it ... for small bodies of waters, i can clearly see the benefit of kayak fishing -- those bodies i don't fish as much as i do the larger lakes, with quite a bit of boat traffic (IOW waves) ... if i ever got into kayak'ing, i'd prob go this direction:

A good used Kayak is running around $700 on FB, on the low end. If you don't get in a good yak, Jackson, Wilderness, Bonafide, Old Town...etc... I just feel you will eventually get disgusted with it.

Bass Boat - $70k
Side-By-Side - $15K
New Kayak - $1700

It's one of the cheapest outdoor activities... get you a good kayak and it will make all the difference.

I've seen 10-12' Ascends on FB pretty regularly for $500ish...I feel like that'd be a decent starter for small ponds/creeks/etc. Just gonna keep looking until a decent deal pops up.

True.. you can find Ascends for around $500.. they are just not a top end kayak. They will work to get you started.

Throw FeelFree kayaks in there. The Lure and the Moken are great, I have the moken.

Get a stable canoe. Weighs less, carries more and a ton more comfortable.

Unless you know of a good, stable canoe that's 12' or less (and not $1000+), I think the kayak will better suit my needs.

The weight capacity is everything ! Unless you're bean pole skinny you'll want a wide boat 12 or more feet long with a weight capacity >>> than 350 lbs. The stadium type seats are a must, fishing with a wet azz sux.

I see people riding around in their own cars still wearing masks too. LOL. Can't be scared of everything. I worry about getting a hook in a hand or leg or arm way more than anything else.

I’m 6’2” weigh 275 and fish out of a 10’ Old Town Vapor (Sit Inside) which has a 325 weight capacity. I’ve never had a problem with stability in it and it floats just fine with my heavy rear end in it. My point is, you don’t have to go overboard or overkill on all these things if you don’t have the budget for it. I paid $350 for it used and have fished comfortably out of it by adding a simple stadium seat to it. You can spend as much as you want on a kayak but it’s not an absolute necessity. You can easily find something that works for you for under $500 if you do your homework on each individual kayak that interests you and be patient in your search.

I think he might have one for sale , only has been sunk once! ( that we know of) Comes with your own live well too (well a used kitty litter box, but hey better then nothing!)

I'm taking mine out for its maiden voyage this afternoon. If I never post again y'all will know it didn't go well.

been nice knowin’ ya, bud

Meanwhile, in a kayak on a faraway creek....

True.. you can find Ascends for around $500.. they are just not a top end kayak. They will work to get you started.[/quote]


I’ve known two people in my relatively small circle with cracking problems on ascends. One guy was NOT a big guy, the other was and tended to pack a heavy cooler.

My other advice: on small water, rivers and creeks pay attention to rain and check the flow rate on USGS sites. If there’s a downpour up stream you can get high water quick. Just part of the game, probably less dangerous than tree stands or ATVs for people who have it figured out, but bad stuff can happen.

You need to decide what type of water you’ll be going in and then decide if you want to paddle or pedal. Lots of good options out there. I’m partial to old town and hobie, but you won’t be getting into either of those for less than $1500. For fishings ponds lakes and even the river, it’s hard to beat pedal drives. It allows you to cover a lot of water quickly without wearing yourself out. Also it’s a lot easier to be more precise fishing in a pedal. It’s hands free for the most part.

I always wanted to outfit a kayak with a trolling motor.
You’d have something then.

They make them with a trolling motor built in. I'd imagine that you wouldn't want to have to tote one of those though.

trolling kayak

Once you put a motor on it (electric or gas) you get to pay the state and have to register your ‘yak.

Very true. 🤨

The battery weight was a concern for me and those special lightweight batteries are super expensive.

I wouldn't be surprised if Minn Kota and Motorguide don't already have something like the batteries for lawnmowers and chainsaws in the works. 60 volt maybe.

My dad bought a pedal boat, (the 4 man blue one) and put a trolling motor on it.

I bought a tandem Brooklyn kayak this spring for me and my wife and/or kids. It’s very stable.
Had to order it in February, took 2 months to get.
This one
https://imgur.com/a/f8KfCP2

Gators. Big nasty tempered Gators.

Not sure how far you're willing to drive but I found these
dell laptop keyboard sticking

Thanks...messaged him and they were already sold, unfortunately.

Well damn.

It's probably for the best...those were good deals, but probably not quite "7 hour round-trip" good.

That was a good deal, i have a 14 foot Wilderness Attack and love it!

I’ve had my Vibe Sea ghost for a year and have no complaints.

I have the SG 130 and fish regularly in the bay and gulf(1 mile + offshore). No complaints either.

I just picked up this whole rig Sunday. Excited to get into kayak fishing. Two Vibe sea ghosts 130s and a Feel Free Lure with the trailer. Even got up at 4:30 to fish before work.

let me know when you're ready to liquidate....I'll let you make me a good deal on one 'em

My father in law has one and I tried it, man it was tippy and very cramped. Didn't have room for all my gear. I prefer and plain old canoe and if I'm by myself I pile a few rocks in the front to settle it down. The canoe feels a little higher off the water too.

Cool. Is this the cahaba?

I had mine out on Nickajack this morning, man was it peaceful.

[/quote]
let me know when you're ready to liquidate....I'll let you make me a good deal on one 'em
[/quote]


I'll let you know. My plan was to sell one of them, but I have an 8 year old that thinks he can paddle it. If he can't, it won't be long. I am going to build a better trailer this winter and sell that one.

Floated this for a couple of hours earlier today. Only managed one small largemouth

I'm doing a 16' American Eagle square back canoe. I've got a 5hp air cooled motor and a 65lb thrust trolling motors on it right now. Putting pontoons and fish finder next

Pulled the trigger today on a lightly used 3 Waters Big Fish 120. It’s 12’ and 35” wide. It’s essentially a Feel Free Dorado minus the the pedal drive. Got it for $450 with a paddle.

Like it ! That attacking yellow fish sticker will help too !... Big Fish eat little Fish baby.

Those are awesome kayaks. Heavy, but I like the cathedral hull. You can also rig up a trolling motor in that sonar pod slot pretty easy. That’s a good price on it too.

nice you will enjoy it!

Please video the first time out, and post it up.

Good find and good price, enjoy!

Does this go for boats too?

I’d like to say that I’d stick with a paddle to preserve the traditional experience of kayaking......but really I’ll stick with a paddle because I’m too cheap to rig up a trolling motor for it.

Yes. Even if you don't use it. If an electric or gas motor is mounted, it must be registered: canoe, kayak, jon boat, pine log, doesn't matter.

Fun... fun...

Get ready to buy a trailer for it if you plan on keeping it. That's the biggest problem with those fishing kayaks they weigh a ton and they are awkward to get loaded in the back of the truck

I'm pretty sure I'm about to sell a kayak trailer.

Yep...it's cumbersome for sure. I can get it in/out of the truck bed relatively easily, but I'm going to either buy or build a little cart to go under it to get it back and forth between the truck and the water. I've got quite a bit of PVC laying around and there are countless plans online for DIY carts. Since I already have the pvc, I could probably make one for under $20