Kayak fishing?

[Silent Ocelot]

I use hiking poles for fishing in shenandoah NP, mostly because it helps arrest yourself sliding down a hill, or trying to make good time hiking through the creeks downstream.

Shauna uses a wading staff, didn't stop her from going head over heels.

 

[tomgamber]

I picked up an 11 ft SOT hobie Maui for 200 bucks some lady had in her barn. Bought a seat, rod holders, an anchor and a paddle. Boom. Fishing yak. Had it in the ocean, sound, lakes... Look around. There is stuff out there.

 

[Yoder]

I have a 12ft Hobie Mirage Passport. It's their entry level pedal kayak. I love it. Being able to pedal makes it so much more enjoyable. You can travel so much further with a lot less effort. It also leaves your hands free and you can troll if you want. You can stand on it, but it's pretty shaky. So far I've used it on several lakes and also fished in the bay at Outer Banks a bunch of times. This year I want to do a short trip down the Delaware for smallmouth. I do have a small aluminum V hull fishing boat, but I like the kayak better. It's nice to get a little bit of a workout.

 

[hooker-of-men]

I picked up an 11 ft SOT hobie Maui for 200 bucks some lady had in her barn. Bought a seat, rod holders, an anchor and a paddle. Boom. Fishing yak. Had it in the ocean, sound, lakes... Look around. There is stuff out there.

Good find.

Last summer, my wife saw that some lady threw a nice peddle drive angler kayak (don't recall make/model) on Facebook marketplace for ~$200. It clearly seemed a situation where she was liquidating someone else's stuff and didn't know what she had. The posting was gone in 15 minutes, though. Someone either got a deal or her misstep was pointed out. I was bummed.

 

[bigjohn358]

I had the pleasure this weekend of coming across an area on the West Branch Susquehanna while kayak fishing for smallies and musky that had a good hatch of gypsy moths. I saw this last year and wasn't prepared but I had some flies ready this time! There were just enough moths landing on the water to get a few fish looking up. Caught a few smallies and fall fish on my gypsy moth flies.

 

[Yoder]

In PA you are positively required to wear a PFD on a kayak, however a throwable device is NOT required.

Usually when I'm out in a boat like I was last Thursday the only person I see wearing a PFD is me... 😕

I thought you were only required to wear them November 1st-April 30th? If I'm on the river, I always wear one. On a lake, I don't worry about it unless people are running outboards.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

I thought you were only required to wear them November 1st-April 30th?

This is what a park ranger told my wife at the end of April when she was not wearing hers. 🙄

 

[Jemoca75!]

Just bought 1 to basically use as a water taxi around the Falmouth/Bainbridge/Wrightsville area. I usually wade but with a kayak I can now cover so much more territory

 

[Fish Sticks]

I have a river run $19 inflatable tube with an inflatable head rest. Floated my local small mouth stream comfortably casting at the banks for 2 miles and caught a nice 11” small mouth which is good size for that stream. I wear a PFD and get our and carabiner the tube to my pfd so I can walk and wade fish in good looking spots and float over deep ones in the tube fishing em. Works great. Throw my flys tippet, keys and phone in an ice mule inflatable dey bag and carabiner that to the tube.

 

[edword02]

Jackson Yupik owner here. Fish the Kiski mostly with it for small mouth. Great for fly fishing because of the open deck. I'm able to stand if I have the seat back far enough so I'm not standing on the front half of the kayak. Anymore though I sit with the paddle across my legs and cast. Having the paddle there allows me to make minor adjustments while floating due to wind and currents turning my *** every which way. Jacksons new seat for 2023 is super comfy.

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

It clearly seemed a situation where she was liquidating someone else's stuff and didn't know what she had.

Her decked-out Ford Super-Duty now sports a vanity tag that reads, "WUZ-HIZ."

 

[Silent Ocelot]

Last summer, my wife saw that some lady threw a nice peddle drive angler kayak (don't recall make/model) on Facebook marketplace for ~$200. It clearly seemed a situation where she was liquidating someone else's stuff and didn't know what she had. The posting was gone in 15 minutes, though. Someone either got a deal or her misstep was pointed out. I was bummed.

This year I found a listing for a rare reel. The seller listed the reel with a particular finish that didn't exist for that reel nor was the finish ever employed by said company. Because of that no one else found out about it and I was the only bidder and got it at its initial price. It was supposed to come with a spare spool. I pestered the seller about it and he said there was no spare spool for it. I tried negotiating a refund but we just kept going back and forth on the refund amount so I just gave up. Point is, this seller listed a rare reel under a non-existent finish so he didn't get as much as he wanted out of it.

Moral of the story is, always be familiar with what you're selling and you can always tell how good of deal something is based on the number of people flocking to said item. I doubt that yak lasted minutes after it was posted. Someone got one helluva deal!

 

[Sylvaneous]

I did get a fishing kayak, one of the bonafide ex123, mainly because it was just 63ish lbs. I had a heavier one that I put on top of my car, which was brutal sometimes getting it up there.

I mainly fished for trout, until now, I'm really liking the 4wt rod for panfish, and occasional bass... w/ floating line. Surprising numbers of fish will eat on the surface in the summer, and I was pleased to find many of the flies / nymphs I used for trout work for other fish as well.

Yesterday caught my first decent size bass 15-16" on the fly rod, in the yak... good times.

My go-to panfish rig is my old 8 ft 4 wt Scott Alpha or SAS or whatever it was called when I got it. (like 2nd or 3rd generation) with a heavy reel, so that the tip feels light, and 5 wt line. It works REALLY well, loading, casting and fishing. The heavier line carries the big and wind resistant poppers. If you're ever inclined and your rod is even moderately stiff, try the 5 wt line. I fish LMB with a fast 8 wt that I load with 9 wt line. Makes handling big LMB flies: foam poppers, streamers, weird wormy things with coneheads in the weeds so much easier. Plus, you don't cast far. You need the line weight to load the rod. Just saying overlining is a recurrent theme for me. It really makes the rod do more work for you.
Syl

 

[JeremyW]

My go-to panfish rig is my old 8 ft 4 wt Scott Alpha or SAS or whatever it was called when I got it. (like 2nd or 3rd generation) with a heavy reel, so that the tip feels light, and 5 wt line. It works REALLY well, loading, casting and fishing. The heavier line carries the big and wind resistant poppers. If you're ever inclined and your rod is even moderately stiff, try the 5 wt line. I fish LMB with a fast 8 wt that I load with 9 wt line. Makes handling big LMB flies: foam poppers, streamers, weird wormy things with coneheads in the weeds so much easier. Plus, you don't cast far. You need the line weight to load the rod. Just saying overlining is a recurrent theme for me. It really makes the rod do more work for you.
Syl

I got a 6wt, mostly to get some distance and cast large poppers well, I've caught some decent size bass on the 6wt, and it's soft enough at the tip for small fish.

 

[Ryan Hall]

Anyone else out kayak fishing this summer? I've recent found a new purpose for my 4wt rod for panfish and bass on my local reservoirs. Curious if others take a fly rod out on flat water, or spinning gear etc...

I had a recreational kayak for years and dreaded fishing out of it. No room, no place for my rod. Got a fishing sit on top style and it’s a game changer. I mostly use it spin fishing for bass but there are more opportunities for that where I live.

 

[bigjohn358]

I had a recreational kayak for years and dreaded fishing out of it. No room, no place for my rod. Got a fishing sit on top style and it’s a game changer. I mostly use it spin fishing for bass but there are more opportunities for that where I live.

Sit on top style is the only way to go anymore!