Popularity Of Kayaks

[hoosierbass07]

  I was at the hardware store Menards last night and checked to see if they still had a few kayaks that I saw from last year.  The last time I checked they had about seven or eight sitting outside covered in plastic.  So I start walking to the outside section and see a couple of big stacks of something in the distance.  Sure enough, they had to big stacks of kayaks plus another section of kayaks.  They had some Coleman canoes too but had far more kayaks.  These kayaks looked all the same except color.  

 

 Every so often I will read online how kayaks have been outselling canoes by a wide margin.  I think this is some evidence of that.  I did not see a price tag on those kayaks but - after spending $700 on my Ride 115 I have realized I'm going to need another kayak so I can take friends/family with me.  I just might pick up one of those lower cost kayaks at Menards.  

[Darren.]

Probably true. Kayaks have a certain appeal and popularity today whereas in days past, canoes probably held the greatest adventurous spirit.

 

I still have my canoe, but we never use it. Kayaks all the way in my family. Just more fun, individual, kids can work them far easier than a canoe...

[flyfisher]

I also fish out of a kayak and never thought of getting a canoe.  I fished out of them as a kid and there were fun but with the recent advent of more stable kayaks designed for more recreational activities i just don't see the need for a canoe anymore.

 

There will always be people who love their canoes but they just aren't for me.  I am hoping to get another one to have for friends and family but i will get something that i would fish out of because i don't want to put them in something that wouldn't be good to fish out of and potentially sour their experience.  There always seem to be used tarpons out there for the price of a cheap new kayak that wouldn't do the job as well in my opinion.  

[camovan]

The death of Royalex is going to cripple an already weak canoe industry and most likely the trend of kayak popularity will continue to grow.  For camping I prefer a canoe but fishing a kayak all the way.

[Marty]

 

I also fish out of a kayak and never thought of getting a canoe.

 

I'm just the opposite, I bought a canoe and never considered a kayak. But like was mentioned above, I've read in a couple of places that kayaks outsell canoes by up to a 20:1 ratio.

[flyfisher]

The death of Royalex is going to cripple an already weak canoe industry and most likely the trend of kayak popularity will continue to grow.  For camping I prefer a canoe but fishing a kayak all the way.

I actually prefer camping out of my kayak more than when i had a canoe.  Yeah it is easier to load up a canoe with gear but then you have to tie everything down.  In my kayak, I can open the hatches, put everything in there i need and not have to worry about losing any camping gear should i capsize.  Canoes will have a higher load capacity for the most part though.

[tntitans21399]

I bought my kayak back in 2005 and most were just plan and simple with a couple high end. But now they all have a bunch that are $700+ with most having a rod holder (flush or mount for one). The kayaking world has exploded in popularity. I think the ocean guys helped it with adding milking crates and showing how you can get alot of gear in it. I still remember back in the early 2000s when someone mentioned a kayak everyone thought about the whitewater kayaks and now hardly anyone gets a whitewater but dominated by ocean sit on top types and lake/river sit inside.

If you were going to buy a second kayak I would check out craigslist for something cheap. I think Dick's has some cheap kayaks.

[RipSomeLips]

I have been reading lots of this subject lately as I have always been a canoe man myself...but bought a kayak this last week because of the EASE OF TRANSPORTING AND LAUNCHING A KAYAK  is so much better than my canoe. I can easily load and unload my kayak, but before with my canoe is was such a chore. 

My conclusion after research was that for fishing a sit on top kayak at least 10 feet was the way to go! I happen to get a great deal thru Craigslist, and now I am already thinking down the road that my next purchase will maybe be a NuCanoe. It is a canoe/kayak hybrid, it give you all the advantages of a canoe: Load capacity, stability, easy to stand up, but retains all of the attractiveness of a kayak: Easy to paddle, rides high in the water, less vulnerable to wind gusts etc. Here is a pic of how you can sit on the edge of the Nucanoe it is so stable: 

http://www.google.com/imgres?start=85&sa=X&rlz=1C1GGGE_enUS471US471&espv=210&es_sm=122&biw=1600&bih=933&tbm=isch&tbnid=DJdijj8YeeUp5M%3A&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwest-coast-kayaks.com%2F&docid=5bVlfhTxs0kmcM&imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwest-coast-kayaks.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F08%2Fnucanoe_fishing_edited-1-1003x480.jpg&w=1003&h=480&ei=LvUbU6GXPMqlrQHI3oDQBw&zoom=1&ved=0CC0QhBwwDDhk&iact=rc&dur=3472&page=4&ndsp=30

 

And no, I have no affiliation with the Nucanoe, only discovered it a week ago but am loving the idea of it. Price is around $1000 on up though, but still cheaper than a Hobie ($2300 on up).

[bartdude186]

Love my kayaks, actually sold my boat because i didn't use it anymore. For a cheaper kayak as an extra look at pelicans, the newer models track well and make for an easy paddle. i wouldn't go under 12' though.

[Grizzn N Bassin]

Love,fiahing yak and you can bring then anywhere. Love it for places deep in the woods where i can wheel it to a honey hole.

Little hassle. Pkus like you said lots of stores sell them

[B@ssCrzy]

I think the issues come from what RipSomeLips touched on which is portability/transport.  When I bought my kayak I never even thought about a canoe because I knew I would be fishing solo most of the time and so loading and unloading would not be very easy with a canoe.  Car topping anything close to 15 ft (minimum) and around 80 lbs was not an option.  I know there are kayaks out there that weigh that much, but something that big is just not something I was looking for.  Plus, I like the security of knowing that if I am out in the middle of the lake and I flip my SOT yak I can immediately flip it over and get back on.  Not so with a canoe.  Good luck with a self rescue if you flip one of those. 

[OperationEagle]

Many coming from canoes I agree but I have always wondered if most were coming from people that have always coveted a bass boat or had a boat and realized the expense, time for upkeep, storage space, gas, insurance, time to prep for the day, time to get it in the water and get it out.

 

I think the recession also was a huge catalyst with resources being constrained, people were looking for an affordable alternative to the traditional bass boat.

 

If you love to fish, I cant recommend this mode of getting on the water enough.  Can't wait for that ice to melt!!

[sully99]

Fished from a canoe as a kid with my dad and have lots of great memories. I bought my 1st sit in kayak in 1998 (Old Town Loon) to fish out of and have never turned back. I sold it and bought a sit on top and fished out of it for 2 years and loved it until I went to Florida and fished with a guide out of a Native Ultimate and was hooked. Sold my SOT and picked up one. The Hybrid is where it's at. Chad Hover fishes out of a Commander most of the time. Best of both worlds.

[gallowaypt]

A huge reason that kayaks are so popular now, at least down south, is our extreme lack of rain these past few years. Some lakes around me are only accessible by kayaks now that the boat ramps are far from usable.

[Wbeadlescomb]

This makes me want a kayak even more. Just need to figure out how to haul it on top of my jeeps soft top and I can go anywhere

[TorqueConverter]

Menards has kayaks?  The hardware store?  This is new to me.  Sams has them so this shouldn't be a surprise I guess. 

 

Kayaks are great.  I love fishing out a small personal watercraft.  A much as I love fishing out of my inflatable pontoon, it's impossible to row against even a slight breeze. 

[flyfisher]

This makes me want a kayak even more. Just need to figure out how to haul it on top of my jeeps soft top and I can go anywhere

What year Jeep?

 

I had a 95 with a wilderness systems expedition rack with the basket and now i have a 2012 wrangler unlimited that i have the wilderness sytems adventure rack. Both are great racks and can easily hold the kayaks. They are a little pricey but i had the one on my 95 for over 10 years without an issue and sold it before i sold the jeep for about 2/3 what i paid for it.  It can be a pain to get a kayak up there at times but it is definitely manageable.  I am going to get a trailer eventually though...hopefully this summer.

[Wbeadlescomb]

03 tj on 32's

[Wbeadlescomb]

I fished out of a float tube for years.some of the lakes I went to were really swampy and full of snakes so I think the kayak would be better. I fish 6-7 days a week. Big boat on the river in the weekends and in the ponds around town during the week so i think I'd get some use out of it.

Do you prefer sit on top or the sit inside kind

[Bill Poch]

This makes me want a kayak even more. Just need to figure out how to haul it on top of my jeeps soft top and I can go anywhere

 

This was my solution.  Bestop HighRock http://www.quadratec.com/products/12034_0302_07.htm

 

I like the fact it doesn't require any drilling and is easy to take off so I don't have to have it on all the time.

[gr8outdoorz]

I fished out of a float tube for years.some of the lakes I went to were really swampy and full of snakes so I think the kayak would be better. I fish 6-7 days a week. Big boat on the river in the weekends and in the ponds around town during the week so i think I'd get some use out of it.

Do you prefer sit on top or the sit inside kind

 

For fishing you definitely want a SOT! 

[hoosierbass07]

I'm visiting Tennessee and I saw a kayak at Walmart for around $275. It looked nice.

[Jim Mac]

  I was at the hardware store Menards last night and checked to see if they still had a few kayaks that I saw from last year.  The last time I checked they had about seven or eight sitting outside covered in plastic.  So I start walking to the outside section and see a couple of big stacks of something in the distance.  Sure enough, they had to big stacks of kayaks plus another section of kayaks.  They had some Coleman canoes too but had far more kayaks.  These kayaks looked all the same except color.  

 

 Every so often I will read online how kayaks have been outselling canoes by a wide margin.  I think this is some evidence of that.  I did not see a price tag on those kayaks but - after spending $700 on my Ride 115 I have realized I'm going to need another kayak so I can take friends/family with me.  I just might pick up one of those lower cost kayaks at Menards.  

 

Was it the Viper 10 footer? We bought one for a 3rd kayak last spring and my wife loves it. Since she used it, she has yet to use her Old Town Otter again. We paid $149 for it, and that included a paddle and foot pegs. Great deal on a very stable, comfortable kayak.   

[hoosierbass07]

Was it the Viper 10 footer? We bought one for a 3rd kayak last spring and my wife loves it. Since she used it, she has yet to use her Old Town Otter again. We paid $149 for it, and that included a paddle and foot pegs. Great deal on a very stable, comfortable kayak.   

 

 

  I'm not sure what it was called.  

[basshole8190]

I got an ascend 128t about a month ago after going down to the river an unable to launch my buddy's boat. due to low water levels we casted around the launnch when two guys pull up with yaks and put in and preceeded to paddle up river to a rocky shoal and catch fish.

i tricked mine out with a trolling motor bassyak style. Redid the anchor trolly and added a lowrance 5x dsi with chartplotter. i must say I've been pretty impressed with my first two outing in it. like it so much i have been slacking on my new bass boat search.