Fishing in a Kayak

[angler1]

Hey, guys,

There are some local ponds that don't have 100% shore access, like Milne Dam Resevoir, Swan Lake and Toogood pond, but with some spots reachable by kayak. Do you think that this is practical/safe?

[MuskieBait]

Definitely safe as long as you are prepared with all safety gear.

I have friends in Hawaii who paddles 10-15 miles in their kayak out into open ocean to fish for tuna, wahoo, dorado and marlin on regular bases. Obviously, they have to pick their days to go, but 2-3 foot swells isn't uncommon and considered a relatively calm day. You can do a lot on a kayak...just need to prepare all the safety gear, learn and practice strokes, roll over and re-entry, and get lots of experience handling various water conditions.

Make sure you know what kind of water body you wish to fish. For small ponds, a short 9' wide body kayak can handle most small pond situations, even smaller lakes on calm days. For rougher water, you would definitely want something at least 12' long and a good hull to battle some waves.

Here's a good site with a lot of good people.

http://www.yakfisher.net/smffiles/index.php

I was on the site learning and had a yak for about 2 months...but living in an apartment and carrying a 9' yak up a narrow staircase for 3 floors wasn't fun...and the yak didn't get any use...so I sold it in the end and stick to land based fishing for now.

Ken

[Sailor Joe]

Check local regulations first. Some reservoirs are prohibitive with any kind of personal floating device. Like Hilton Falls in Halton.

[Freshwater]

A dunking always come to mind when I picture kayak fishing.
I believe your expertise with a kayak, along with all the safety steps should come first.
Weeds are a tangling risk and can be dangerous on a roll over.

That being said, I watched a lot of youtube videos on kayak fishing and would love to try something like that. It can take you places that are normally inaccessible from shore.

[MuskieBait]

(03-21-2013 08:54 AM)Freshwater Wrote:  A dunking always come to mind when I picture kayak fishing.
I believe your expertise with a kayak, along with all the safety steps should come first.
Weeds are a tangling risk and can be dangerous on a roll over.

That being said, I watched a lot of youtube videos on kayak fishing and would love to try something like that. It can take you places that are normally inaccessible from shore.

Kayaks are surprisingly stable, especially because your center of gravity is so low to the water. It is much more stable and maneuverable compared to a canoe. If you happen to roll over in a sit-in kayak, it is much easier to roll back up over in a kayak as opposed to flipping over in a canoe, rolling the canoe over and reentry. Sit-on-top kayak are even easier to simply flip over the kayak and reenter...not to mention they are designed to be buoyant.

Most definitely you need to practice your safety skills and have all the safety tools available.

Weeds are a tangling risk...but that's why you should have a dive knife strapped to your upper thigh or on your belt in case of tangling. But I would worry much less about weeds and worry much more about paddling ability and general water knowledge.

Again, a small pond is not much to worry about...you can always simply swim back to shore. On a bigger lake or even the Great Lakes, much more is involved.

[angler1]

Roll over! LOL, I don't want to roll over, lose my tackle and drive home wet! I guess I should learn how to do this first, before even thinking about buying one.

[Freshwater]

(03-21-2013 10:28 PM)angler1 Wrote:  Roll over! LOL, I don't want to roll over, lose my tackle and drive home wet! I guess I should learn how to do this first, before even thinking about buying one.

There are kayak outriggers that can help prevent roll overs and allow to actually stand up on your canoe.

You can equip your kayak with straps to hold down your stuff and attach a floater gadget to your rod to keep it afloat.

I know all this and still can't 'dunking' out of me head