Hey guys,
I was just looking for some advice regarding my current fishing boat options. This is my current boat
It is a 9 foot inflatable raft that I rigged for fishing. I got it because I was going off to college and I would've rather fished from my little sisters inflatable duck tube than fish from the shore and lose countless lures to snags, some of which still dangle from trees that are just a few feet out of reach to this day. Hell, I even SWAM AFTER some of my snags if I was frustrated enough. But anyways, to this end this raft was perfect. It could fold up and fit in college dorm a long with the motor. However, now that I am done with school I want to look at some other options. My dad has a bass boat that I will likely get someday but until then I want a small boat I can take out on my own.
Some of the Pro's of my raft:
- Has great stability. I can stand, jump, or do the macarena if I felt like it and wouldn't have to worry about falling in.
- It can flat out fly. I have a 10 hp motor on it and the raft can get up to 20 mph if the water is calm enough. Never get tired of zooming around in it.
- Can take another person out on it (if I had any fishing buddies that is)
- Generally spacious and I can switch out the trolling motor with an electric one if the lake is more suited to it.
Some of the Con's:
- I swear if I have to patch up ANOTHER hole on it I will save myself the trouble and just stab the raft with my fishing knife. It's pretty durable but occasionally you get a hole that just won't go away.
- Boat Motor always seems to have one problem or another.. especially the Carburetor.
- Take time to set up. Some days I just want to put a boat in without having to inflate, put the floorboard in, attach the seat and motor, etc.
- It is not particularly comfortable. The lack of a backrest means that after a few hours in it my back hurts... and not in the workout kind of way.
- It has no efficient means of movement besides the 10 hp motor. I can try and paddle a bit but it really doesn't move well that way. The only real way to fish out of it is to either constantly anchor, make a few casts, pull up anchor, move a few feet and anchor again, repeat sequence or to beg the wind to blow at the right speed and direction to allow you to drift by your spots or not blow at all.
I currently fish medium sized rivers, local small lakes, and am considering attempting to fish Lake Lanier in whatever I end up going with.
It seems like so many people I have met love kayak fishing and I am considering getting one but I don't know how fishing out of a kayak would compare to fishing from my raft or what some of the pros and cons of kayak fishing would be and I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on the matter. I could sell both my motors and the raft to buy a new fishing kayak for around 1000 dollars. I am fairly large so I would be getting a longer kayak.