Some general kayaking questions

[chickman1313]

As of now I dont have a kayak, plan on getting one soon though. not sure what to get, have looked at the ascends, which will probably be my best bet because i'm on a pretty tight budget. Anyone here have experience with them? Regarding the sit in vs sit on top, whats the biggest difference while fishing? When you buy a kayak, say brand new from Bass Pro, does it come with everything you need? Do yall have depth finders, GPS and all taht on your kayaks? This question actually seems pretty dumb to ask, but ill go ahead, what do you do with your fish once you catch them? Id think a stringer would give too much drag, so do you just have an ice chest with you to throw them in?

Sorry for all the questions, im not even to newb status yet as i havent gotten a yak yet. Pretty much been a bass fisherman my entire life with the occasional inshore saltwater trip, always on a decent sized boat with a motor!

[theoldcaster]

Chickman1313, most of us will give you the same answer DEMO,DEMO,DEMO, several of our sponsors like the Backpacker and Pack and Paddle will be having demos on lakes all summer you can attend and try many different yaks in several different price ranges. No yak is perfect for everyone and you have to find the would that offers you what YOU want out of a boat! You could be looking for comfort, or for speed, or the ability to stand, and how a yak sits and handles for me at 170 pounds would be different for a yaker of 250 pounds, thus the importance of the Demo. Once you find the yak that fits YOUR needs you may find that it is an affordable model like the ascend or you may want the features of a more costly yak, in which case you can often find used yaks on our site and others that will be reduced in price that will make the purchase a more attractive investment for you! Everyone finds their on level in what that want or use on their yaks, and you will see them from striped to loaded with equipment, and many different methods of storing fish! If you are free this Saturday it would be a great day to ride to Golden Meadow to Bason Marina and meet everyone at the MC tournament and the guys will be glad to show off their yaks and answer question for you! You will find that the only thing that most of us enjoy more than talking yak fishing is drilling holes in other peoples yak! Good luck with your search and send me a pm if I can help you!

[vwspdshp]

I owned an ascend sit on top for a while. It was a "first yak" for at least three people, and was sold with minimal loss a few times. They serve that role well as long as you're not too heavy. IMO 200lbs is about the max for most ascend SOT's. Those kayaks don't come with everything you need, but you should be able to get on the water for about $100 more. You'll need a paddle, PFD, and wistle as a minimum.

I fish from a sit on top, and wouldn't recommend a sit inside unless you find a great deal on one. There are a few people that fish from them though. My advice for a beginner with a tight budget would be to watch out for demo days and demo, demo, demo. Once you know which boats you like or dislike, you can wait for a used yak to come along. Here or on craigslist. That's the path I took, and I'm glad i did. I ended up with exactly what I wanted at the price I could afford.

I generally carry a cooler in my boat, but a stringer will work fine in most cases if you can't fit a cooler. Many people in the club have all the gadgets, but you certainly don't need them. I carry a handheld gps, but I don't really need it. I mainly use it to track where I've been on google earth, and to keep track of mileage.

[elementfiftyfour]

You will probably find out that you need very little to actually fish and be successful. There are however a ton of things that make fishing much easier and they are not likely to be included with your first kayak purchase unless you buy it fully rigged from either a company like Pack and Paddle, The Backpacker or even if you find one used. Things like rod holders, or an anchor trolley make things go much easier on the water.
I would bet that few of us actually have a fish/depth finder installed. In most cases if you are part of this club you just see who is catching fish where and with what technique and bait.
There are a few people in the forum that use stringers in certain situations but I would bet that most of us use either a hard side cooler like an Igloo or a soft sided cooler bag like the California Innovations.
You will probably also realize that a Sit On Top kayak is just an easier thing to deal with when fishing. You could make due with a sit in kayak but the extra layout and open space makes the sit on tops easier to rig and store your gear and catch.


Having seen this played out plenty of times already I'm going to ask you give some of your vital information such as weight, height and where you plan to fish most regularly. Granted you might not know where you will fish but do you expect to be in the marsh or on a river for the most part? There are plenty of options that are more suited for particular types of fishing and we can give you suggestions once we have some answers to these questions.

And finally, I would recommend that you take a look for the used kayaks to get yourself started. Once you find what fishing style you are more suited for you can purchase a more suitable kayak if you haven't already gotten lucky with your first purchase.

[cant catch fish]

We have a good group of guys with a multitude of kayaks and equipment here. That being said, there is a tournament at Bason's Marina this weekend. Weigh in a believe is at noon or 1 pm. There will be ever kayak under the sun there fully rigged out. See if you can get there. Look and ask questions. More tahn enough people to help you out.

[vwspdshp]

We're starting to sound like we all read the same pamphlet! :spin:

In any case, welcome to kayak fishing!:welcome:

[chickman1313]

Thanks guys for all your input, fyi, im about 5'11" and weigh about 175lbs. Typically ill be fishing ponds and want to start fishing the marsh and canals more frequently. I dont really have a way to get out saltwater fishing right now because of the lack of a yak, but i think that will probably turn into my primary fishing style pretty soon.

eta: ill see if i can make it out this weekend and check it all out, gotta figure out where Bason's Marina is first!

[elementfiftyfour]

This is the address pretty much.

542 West 107th Street
Cut Off, LA 70345-3561


http://maps.google.com/?ll=29.470725,-90.341649&spn=0.015038,0.01929&t=h&z=16&vpsrc=6



At your size pretty much any option is open for you. Some of the bigger guys got no hope in the little boats though.

[Speckled_Tiger]

Bason's Marina
542 West 107th Street
Cut Off, LA 70345-3561

slap that into google maps to get directions and you'll be good to go

[chickman1313]

Thakns yall, ill try and make it down, im hunting in Mississippi saturday, I may make it back in time though

[vwspdshp]

Massey's first demo day of the spring is Saturday, February 25th, Bayou St.John, New Orleans. No time listed yet, but they generally start at either 10 or 11 AM.

[Coon]

Smart of you to take the outdoor board's advice and ask your questions here... MUCH more info as you can see...

[seeinspots]

The Backpacker's demo day in B.R. is 2-25-12 if you will be in this vicinity. I wouldn't mind going just to try out that Ocean Kayak Torque!. But, I'll probably just go fish.

[pistol]

Smart of you to take the outdoor board's advice and ask your questions here... MUCH more info as you can see...
Some smart dudes on the OB sending you here but you won't find any Bama and Beer pic threads though.

[MidCityGumbo]

Hey send me a pm if you want more details about the Ascend SOT-- it was my starter (and still only) yak and I'm pretty happy with it; especially the price (I was all rigged and on the water for about $500). Happy to tell you all the pros and a couple cons.

[Speckled_Tiger]

MCG: if you don't mind why don't you post your review in the new part of the Rigging section that is setup for each kayak brand. We are trying to establish a bunch of reviews so new paddlers can compare boats. Thanks.

[yak-aholic]

Another great yak to look into in that price range would be the Perception Sport at Academy. You and I are about the same size. Might I recommend a 12' or more to start. Any shorter and you'll have problems with tracking (yak will want to steer left and right with each stroke). All great advice so far. Hit a Demo Day soon and try a few out. The club used to do demo days where members would bring their yaks and you had much more variety of yaks to demo there. Maybe we need to look into starting that up again.

[elementfiftyfour]

The club used to do demo days where members would bring their yaks and you had much more variety of yaks to demo there. Maybe we need to look into starting that up again.

Ha ha, there would be a couple Jackson yaks, a couple Malibu yaks, maybe a WS Ride or Big game and about 100 Hobies to choose from. :D
He could demo every color Hobie yak imaginable to see which one he looks best in.