Bye bye boats!

[HookInMouth]

11 hours ago, SuperDuty said:

I wonder how it would handle in fast flowing streams, not whitewater stuff, just quick smallmouth streams with some fast ripples.

 

Take this with a grain of salt because I don't have a lot of experience with other boats, especially on moving water.

 

I mainly fish small shallow rivers and creeks with my Kaku Voodoo. The Voodoo handles it. I can't compare to other boats but I've had the Voodoo in some rough water (class II) and made it through fine. What I will say is that the Voodoo tracks great but as a result, doesn't turn the quickest. The Voodoo can handle rough water fine, but where it lacks is turning quickly and avoiding rocks. So, anything above a class II I would be more comfortable in the Wahoo which was made for a little rougher water. 

 

The waters I fish mostly (Kiskiminetas River, Loyalhanna Creek, Clarion River) aren't bad enough to force me out of that awesome Voodoo seat haha.

 

I will say that the Zulu is a cross between the Wahoo and the Voodoo. It looks to have the Voodoo deck and rear-hull but the Wahoo bow and front part of the hull (design wise)? It looks like it would handle faster water better than the Voodoo but probably not quite as good as the Wahoo.  

[Dens228]

I've never owned a boat but do like occasionally fishing from one.  I started out with a kayak and can't see myself ever switching to or even adding a boat. The end of last summer I added a rudder attached motor to my kayak, the Bixby and it opened up even more fishing ability to me. 

Every summer I spend a week up at Lake Tomahawk in Wisconsin.  I fish out of my son in laws bass boat up there but this year I'm bringing my kayak.  It's a very large lake and the motor will really make it easier for me to get to the spots I want to.  

[Hook2Jaw]

@SuperDuty, I can't recommend too many pedal kayaks for small, quick moving rocky creeks.  I'm a pond/slow river/inshore/lake angler myself.  I would look into Nucanoe if they were my primary fishery, though.  Their ability to be customized to your liking is second to none.

 

I completely understand your apprehension about being hit by a boat and the amount of people who simply ignores no wake zones disgusts me.  I've had a jet ski wake me so hard it knocked my favorite setup at the time off my boat.  I use a Yakattack Visicarbon Pro II with a flag and light because I'm often out before first light or after dark.  I've almost decided that any boater who hits another boater or kayaker wasn't paying attention.  Another sad fact.

 

But hey, on the water accidents are fairly rare and even rarer are alligator attacks.  I have an 11 footer at my local PFA that I often charge with my kayaks.  They're more scared of us than we are of them, I'm pretty certain.

 

www.nucanoe.com

[Hawkeye21]

Another downside to having a boat that I don't see get mentioned as much is trailer maintenance as well.  Not only do you have all the maintenance that goes along with a boat the trailer has plenty of issues too.  You have to worry tires, wheel bearings, lights and it's another thing you have to register.  There's so much that goes into owning a boat.

 

I think the best thing ever is to have a kayak and a few friends who own boats.  That's what I do. ?

[SuperDuty]

53 minutes ago, Hawkeye21 said:

Another downside to having a boat that I don't see get mentioned as much is trailer maintenance as well.  Not only do you have all the maintenance that goes along with a boat the trailer has plenty of issues too.  You have to worry tires, wheel bearings, lights and it's another thing you have to register.  There's so much that goes into owning a boat.

 

I think the best thing ever is to have a kayak and a few friends who own boats.  That's what I do. ?

Agreed. People try to play how easy boats are to hookup and go but the truth is, there is much more to it than just that. You've gotta fuel them and maintain them, too. Boats are much more effort than people lead on. I speak from 30 years of owning boats. 

For me, A kayak is as simple and worry free as it gets. And that's exactly what I enjoy about them. 

[Hook2Jaw]

Registration of boat and trailer, tag every year for the trailer.

 

Heck them boats, I used to have one.  Bought a Hobie, forgot about it, and finally sold it.

[MN Fisher]

10 minutes ago, Hook2Jaw said:

Registration of boat and trailer, tag every year for the trailer.

 

Heck them boats, I used to have one.  Bought a Hobie, forgot about it, and finally sold it.

3 Year tag on the canoe, lifetime tag on the trailer. Boat and utility trailers rated for under 3000# axle weight can get lifetime tabs in MN.

[HookInMouth]

3 hours ago, Hook2Jaw said:

@SuperDuty, I can't recommend too many pedal kayaks for small, quick moving rocky creeks.  I'm a pond/slow river/inshore/lake angler myself.  I would look into Nucanoe if they were my primary fishery, though.  Their ability to be customized to your liking is second to none.

 

I completely understand your apprehension about being hit by a boat and the amount of people who simply ignores no wake zones disgusts me.  I've had a jet ski wake me so hard it knocked my favorite setup at the time off my boat.  I use a Yakattack Visicarbon Pro II with a flag and light because I'm often out before first light or after dark.  I've almost decided that any boater who hits another boater or kayaker wasn't paying attention.  Another sad fact.

 

But hey, on the water accidents are fairly rare and even rarer are alligator attacks.  I have an 11 footer at my local PFA that I often charge with my kayaks.  They're more scared of us than we are of them, I'm pretty certain.

 

www.nucanoe.com

A big reason I have so little interest in pedal kayaks is the waters I fish. Generally speaking pedal yaks aren't very user friendly to the shallow water river/creek fishermen.

 

Also want to second the Nucanoe recommendation. While I ended up with Kaku (without regrets), the F12 and Pursuit were right there when I was shopping. If I would have known how much I liked fishing moving water I might have even gone that route. Who knows. 

[NHBull]

Heck......when I see how much some folks have into their kayaks.....pedalS, motors, shallow anchor, electronics, a Jon boat would be cheaper and just as easy to move ?

[Dens228]

19 minutes ago, NHBull said:

Heck......when I see how much some folks have into their kayaks.....pedalS, motors, shallow anchor, electronics, a Jon boat would be cheaper and just as easy to move ?

I agree in that you can spend a lot of money but I can also guarantee that I can and do get my kayak into waters even a jon boat isn't getting to.

[FrogMann]

3 hours ago, Hook2Jaw said:

@SuperDuty, I can't recommend too many pedal kayaks for small, quick moving rocky creeks.  I'm a pond/slow river/inshore/lake angler myself.  I would look into Nucanoe if they were my primary fishery, though.  Their ability to be customized to your liking is second to none.

 

I completely understand your apprehension about being hit by a boat and the amount of people who simply ignores no wake zones disgusts me.  I've had a jet ski wake me so hard it knocked my favorite setup at the time off my boat.  I use a Yakattack Visicarbon Pro II with a flag and light because I'm often out before first light or after dark.  I've almost decided that any boater who hits another boater or kayaker wasn't paying attention.  Another sad fact.

 

But hey, on the water accidents are fairly rare and even rarer are alligator attacks.  I have an 11 footer at my local PFA that I often charge with my kayaks.  They're more scared of us than we are of them, I'm pretty certain.

 

www.nucanoe.com

Hobie and Jackson are heard to beat. The others just don't look the same after comparing to the top dogs. 

[Hawkeye21]

46 minutes ago, NHBull said:

Heck......when I see how much some folks have into their kayaks.....pedalS, motors, shallow anchor, electronics, a Jon boat would be cheaper and just as easy to move ?

This gets said all of the time and while it can be somewhat true it's not always that accurate.  If the people who stick that much money into their kayaks wanted a jon boat they would have bought a jon boat.

 

I know I don't want an ugly jon boat taking up space in my garage.  I'd still have to register it.  I'd have to put some kind of motor on it.  I'd need to get a trailer for it unless it's small enough to fit in the back of my truck.  I wouldn't be able to fish in as many tourneys with it.  I don't see many benefits to having a jon boat over a kayak at all.

[GReb]

Maybe a dumb question. So you just throw a 12 foot yak in the back of a 5 foot pickup bed with no issues. How heavy are they to lift by yourself? I’ve noticed around here being carried on what looks like trailers specific for kayaks. 

[TnRiver46]

2 hours ago, Hook2Jaw said:

Registration of boat and trailer, tag every year for the trailer.

 

Heck them boats, I used to have one.  Bought a Hobie, forgot about it, and finally sold it.

My buddies canoe registration costs more than one of my boats. They go by length and it's a monster old town!

[FrogMann]

18 minutes ago, Hawkeye21 said:

This gets said all of the time and while it can be somewhat true it's not always that accurate.  If the people who stick that much money into their kayaks wanted a jon boat they would have bought a jon boat.

 

I know I don't want an ugly jon boat taking up space in my garage.  I'd still have to register it.  I'd have to put some kind of motor on it.  I'd need to get a trailer for it unless it's small enough to fit in the back of my truck.  I wouldn't be able to fish in as many tourneys with it.  I don't see many benefits to having a jon boat over a kayak at all.

The benefit to a jon boat is having multiple people capacity plus ability to have outboards. However, the kayak push is for real. Its one of those things that hard to understand until you do it 

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, Dens228 said:

I agree in that you can spend a lot of money but I can also guarantee that I can and do get my kayak into waters even a jon boat isn't getting to.

That depends on the jon boat..... Unless you have two cars and two free days, you aren't getting a kayak where my boat is sitting in this picture. We did it with one vehicle in an afternoon. We used to only dream of day trips fishing there with kayak/canoe until I created that rig 

[Tizi]

Back in the day, all we had was a jon boat.  Fished out of that for years and years.  Great way to get on the water.  In my opinion, it was as easy as dealing with a kayak.  We just put the 12 foot jon in the back of the truck and off we went.  We used electric trolling motors.

[Tennessee Boy]

20 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

That depends on the jon boat..... Unless you have two cars and two free days, you aren't getting a kayak where my boat is sitting in this picture. We did it with one vehicle in an afternoon. We used to only dream of day trips fishing there with kayak/canoe until I created that rig 

I used to fish with a friend who had a mud buddy and a flat bottom boat.  He ran across a flat one time in what seemed like about an inch of water.   It was amazing the places he would go with that thing. 

[Hook2Jaw]

Had a brand new 1436 Tracker Topper with a brand new Mercury 9.9 on the back.  Could hit 27 with me, my tackle box, and three rods on it.  Had a 45# foot controlled Motorguide on it.

 

Bought a Hobie Outback and sold it, as I've already stated.  It killed the Jon boat for ease, killed it on the bills and work, and killed the trolling motor speed.

 

The only advantage was the Outboard.

 

Heckem jons. 

[TnRiver46]

7 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I used to fish with a friend who had a mud buddy and a flat bottom boat.  He ran across a flat one time in what seemed like about an inch of water.   It was amazing the places he would go with that thing. 

I drive mine down the driveway to get the mail every morning.......

[the reel ess]

I with you! I had a fishing boat. I used to go to my parents' place on the lake, launch the boat, run it to make sure it was in good working order, go back, sleep and get up with the chickens and go fishing. No matter how early I went there was someone already sitting where I wanted to be. I'm not a tourney angler and I don't enjoy the competition or grinding out 2-3 dinks. I got my first kayak about 7 years ago. A Perception Soprt Pescador 120. Now I still ahve that one for really small places, but I bought a Feelfree Lure that has a transom mount 36lb trolling motor kit. I have about 6 private places I can fish as well as several public if I wanted to fish them. I sold the boat recently and I'm so glad to be rid of it. I don't have that lake house anymore either.

 

The only downside is fishing in cold weather. That's just easier, more comfortable and safer with a real boat. But winter is not very long here.

[jaimeastin]

I hear you.  The kayak was my very best fishing investment.  I have 5 kayaks right now, but I went backwards.  I started with kayaks and then bought a boat.  I like my boss and I go places I would not take the kayak...but the kayak experience is second to none.   

 

Glad other people are getting into it.  I started in like 2014.  Made a kayak a fishing kayak.  Digging them up is fun.  Getting drug around is fun.  Even more is I leave work, grab my kayak and go fishing... Better yet, my kayak would go with me to work and other places just because I could find almost anytime to launch.  I could fish anywhere and anytime.  Boat, not the case.  Takes more money, gas, etc.  I still drag my boat for two hours and fish for one... But I can also take my kayak 20 mins and fish for ours.    Still catch big bass and have fun. 

 

What makes me change is the desire to learn a new bod of water or try something different in different environment.  So, it's all good.  Kayak, float tube, or boat.   I am happy.  Let's not forget about the shore

[Bird]

As I got older I got wiser and started to simplify my tackle and boats.

 

Owned bass boats, jonboats and canoes and sold every one of them.

Now have 2 fishing kayaks, both are feel-free.....one you paddle and one with motor pod.

 

Simply less hassle, more convenient and best of all, I fish way more. Lol

 

 

[TnRiver46]

5 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

I with you! I had a fishing boat. I used to go to my parents' place on the lake, launch the boat, run it to make sure it was in good working order, go back, sleep and get up with the chickens and go fishing. No matter how early I went there was someone already sitting where I wanted to be. I'm not a tourney angler and I don't enjoy the competition or grinding out 2-3 dinks. I got my first kayak about 7 years ago. A Perception Soprt Pescador 120. Now I still ahve that one for really small places, but I bought a Feelfree Lure that has a transom mount 36lb trolling motor kit. I have about 6 private places I can fish as well as several public if I wanted to fish them. I sold the boat recently and I'm so glad to be rid of it. I don't have that lake house anymore either.

 

The only downside is fishing in cold weather. That's just easier, more comfortable and safer with a real boat. But winter is not very long here.

Winter is at least 5-7 days a year down there....... sometimes.,........ Haha

[Hawkeye21]

1 hour ago, FrogMann said:

The benefit to a jon boat is having multiple people capacity plus ability to have outboards. However, the kayak push is for real. Its one of those things that hard to understand until you do it 

The people I fish with have bass boats.  Most times I want to go fishing when others are not available and I like to go alone.  The kayak is perfect for it.  I bought the NuCanoe Frontier 12 so I have the extra space so I can take my daughter when she wants to go.