Struggling: Keep boat or trade for Kayak

[Functional]

It might be the lack of fishing I've been able to do the past 2 months with all the holidays and travel me and my wife do around this time of year but I've been wrestling with a decision to sell a 2013 Tracker 175 and do it right and go all in on a Hobie PA12 or Old Town 120pdl (open to others but these are my front runners). Kayak would be 90% trailered so weight isnt really an issue, would possibly entertain an Old Town 120 AutoPilot but kind of want to keep it simpler to peddle only. 

 

I think the aspects I didnt like with kayak fishing would be handled with peddle drive (getting blown off too fast, fish pulling me into my spot and blowing it out, cant maneuver with rod in hand) but I'm struggling with the freedom of being able to zip around a lake to wherever I wanted to go. On the other hand it would force me to really fish a spot/stretch of area instead of spending 15-30 minutes and leaving. 

 

Another minor benefit is the space I'd gain in my garage without the boat stuffing it up. Minor inconvenience but its there. 

 

Thoughts? Opinions? Any advice from people who have gone either direction?

 

-Boat is fully paid off, new garmin force motor and Garmin 9sv both put on a little over a year ago. 

-I'd certainly recoup all the money I've put into the boat given todays prices and what I paid for the boat in 13. 

[A-Jay]

I fish from a canoe & a Bass rig.

I'd agree with most everything you've listed above as having merit.

For me the Bigger rig is easier to load & recover, mostly because all the gear is already in it.

Versus loading & unloading everything in & out every time with the canoe.

Then there's the tackle carrying capacity differences, the size water I can or can out get out on

and the weather protection.  Garage space for me is a wash as I have the space for both rigs to do whatever I need. Including storing my truck inside all season.

Can't make the decision for you as our priorities are probably different.

I'd imagine whichever way you chose to go there will be concessions made.

Bottom line, I get bigger bass from my big rig as it offers safer access to bigger water.

Canoe is a blast too but 'it's a different' deal.

Good Luck

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

[gim]

54 minutes ago, Functional said:

Another minor benefit is the space I'd gain in my garage without the boat stuffing it up.

Unless you can completely fit a vehicle in there instead of the boat, I don't think it would be worth it just to "save some space" in the garage.  If you were to increase the garage space enough to the point where you could park your truck or car in there, then that might be a consideration.  But you mentioned you'd be storing the yak there anyways, so I'm guessing you won't be fitting a vehicle AND a yak in there.

 

IMO the advantage from a boat comes from the ability to take someone with and get on bigger water.  If you ONLY ever fish alone and almost always fish smaller water, then two of the big advantages to having a boat are diminished.

[Choporoz]

Maybe instead of 'all-in', you go 3/4 in.  Compass or Slayer Propel 10 at bit less cost.....and keep the boat. 

Boat is awesome, but yak is too.  Best of both worlds?

[casts_by_fly]

Everything noted above is all true. I’m on the kayak side (autopilot) and would swap to a boat if situations allowed. Things like gear and raingear storage, not having to load and unload everything every trip, and the ability to move around spots on the lake are all nice. The kayak is smaller and easy to handle for sure. 
 

big question- what size lakes are you fishing?  If all are under 1000 acres then a kayak isn’t a bad choice at all. If you’re fishing bigger than that then a kayak might be a bit too limiting. 

[TnRiver46]

43 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

I fish from a canoe & a Bass rig.

I'd agree with most everything you've listed above as having merit.

For me the Bigger rig is easier to load & recover, mostly because all the gear is already in it.

Versus loading & unloading everything in & out every time with the canoe.

Then there's the tackle carrying capacity differences, the size water I can or can out get out on

and the weather protection.  Garage space for me is a wash as I have the space for both rigs to do whatever I need. Including storing my truck inside all season.

Can't make the decision for you as our priorities are probably different.

I'd imagine whichever way you chose to go there will be concessions made.

Bottom line, I get bigger bass from my big rig as it offers safer access to bigger water.

Canoe is a blast too but 'it's a different' deal.

Good Luck

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

I use motorboats, canoes, and kayaks and you probably won’t get a better answer than what he said 

[Will Ketchum]

What I found with a kayak is you are locked into that one position; can't move around much and will get stiff after a while. Depending on age, you might not be limber enough to climb in and out of a kayak easily too. If you never used a kayak, it might be nice if you could do a test run in one. Other than that, you could have both and find out which is worth keeping over the other. You might even want to keep both.

[volzfan59]

I tried the very thing that you're thinking about a few years ago. Sold my boat a purchased three kayaks. Kayak fishing wasn't for me. Gave my son the first two, sold mine and the trailer. Bought another boat and love it.

[Choporoz]

Got a boat, kept the kayak. 

Love being able to gear up and launch and recover in almost no time and with almost no maintenance.   Also, I'd hate to give up these spots

 

[Functional]

Main lake I fish 75% of the time is 1800 acres but my launch is right in the middle of just about all my spots so its never that far, farthest spot I have is 2 miles off my launch. Second I rarely go to is Bukchorn Lake which is 2300 acres.

 

Little background

-I've owned 2 kayaks (bonifide rs117 and Recon120 non peddle) but no peddle drives so I'm familiar with limitations and how it fishes. I enjoyed kayak fishing except range limitation due to paddling and all the draw backs I mentioned above. Figured peddle or autopilot will take care of all my issues and extend my range just a bit using my legs instead of arms. I'd rather go for a top tier system if I did this knowing what I do now, IF I went this direction.

 

-I wont be fitting a car in either way but I have machinery (lathe and mill) thats still at my parents barn 3 hours away because I cant fit it in my garage. Not having either keeps me from earning some extra cash on the side and I'd really prefer to get both in my garage but its not something I'd be relying on to pay bills or this decision wouldnt be a debate. Having the smaller kayak even on a trailer would give me the space to re-organize and get that stuff in my garage. 

 

-Having both isnt really a desire. I had my recon 120 and Tracker at the same time for a year before I sold the recon. If I was missing 3 fingers I can still count on 1 hand how often I took the kayak out. Mainly for not having any control while fishing with rod in hand. Dont want to dump 2.5 to 4K on someone that ill just take up space.

 

-A few times (3-4) a year I get on lake gaston (20,000 acres) but it has multiple public launches if I wanted to try different areas, still would be limiting in a kayak but theres enough variety around the close launches I'm fairly sure I could find fish givin the limited range from them. Most times the inlaws come out on their pontoon and I just fish in the areas they are around. If I went kayak I dont see why we couldnt tow it and I use it as a mother ship (FIL rarely pushes his pontoon more than 10mph).

 

- Within 1hr I can drive to Falls lake(12,500 acres), Lake Jordan(14,000 acres) and Shearon Harris (4100 acres) but I've only ever been to one of them once in the 2 years I've lived in the area. Would like to do more but the reality is I'll probably get a trip to any of them once or twice a year

 

-Having the boat with the gas motor does prevent me from fishing some of the lakes when I'm at my parents that are electric or oar only. One of which holds the state record LMB and the other 2-3 have spit out bass that have been close. All of smaller size, likely less than 2000 acres each. We visit them about every other month to once a month so it would be frequent enough to be nice to fish.

 

-99% of the time I'm by myself. My wife/daughter only came out on our home lake twice with me this year. She has a small kayak herself she feels she wants to use more so I think shed enjoy it even if she just tagged along. My father has only come out with me once. Typically if he wants to go out on a boat its the whole family so he drags his big pontoon boat with him to fit everyone...even on my boat I couldnt do that. 

 

 

I realize this is my decision, just trying to sort out my thoughts and see what the feedback is. 

[GaryH]

Ask yourself the question, What is it that You don’t like about your boat and if a kayak will solve the problem. Then ask yourself what will you miss about not having the boat. Weigh the two things out and you should arrive with your answer as to what to do. Good luck on your decision.

[Choporoz]

@Functional, for me, pedal vs paddle was really night and day.  I know some who paddle, love it and do well - in fact our current club AOY is a paddler.  I paddled for 3 years.  After getting a Hobie, fishing from a kayak was 100 times better for me.  I'm probably not 2 hours from you (Mayo); if you'd like to come up and try fishing from a Native and a Hobie to see how you like it, PM me and we'll make it happen.

[Darth-Baiter]

i am weird.  my wife gave me the green light to buy a small bass boat and i went REALLY small and came home with a kayak.

 

in the beginning there was a learning curve about everything.  loading up.  i have learned what i need to bring and keep it all together.  loading my truck is almost a ritual now, and i have it down to a chorographed "Dance".  it takes me 8 minutes.

 

having fished out of a kayak for 2 years, i know my decision for myself was 100% on point.  and here is why.  i fish a lot of smaller lakes near my home.  two are less than 10 minutes away.  non motorized boat lakes.  and the ramps sucks if you wanted to drop a boat in and trollling motor around, only one of my lakes is viable.  the neighborhood lakes fish great and because they are so low impact with respct to effort, i tend to go fishing a lot.  my friend sneaks in before church.

 

the big lakes.  way further.  but fishing out of a kayak is great.  why?  in a drought, the lake stays open for kayaks.  boats drag hard parts in the shallows, ramp close to them.  with my pedal drive, i can do an 11 mile day easy.  that is a lot of range!!  not as much as a boat, but what this has done for me is to force me to be a better angler.  i do research on where to launch,  find spots and work the areas i can get to.  i cant simply pull up a trollling motor to zip to  a new spot.  i have to figure it out relatively close to where i launched.  basically live with my decision.  

 

do i sometimes stare longingly at the bass boat on full throttle ripping past me to mysterious unknown waters?  yup.  all the time.  but i cant count the time a bass boat pilot has puttered up to me to ask me what they are biting on.  i sometimes think they dont stay in one spot enough to figure out a pattern.  i got nothing but time on a kayak.  

 

wind sucks.  no way around it.  but a ProAngler handles wind better than my Outback.  to add:  my friend has a legit bassboat.  i get my fix there.  in summary, i feel the BEST bassboat is a friends bassboat.  ahhahahh

[Fishingmickey]

If your going to be trailering the kayak. You might want to consider the PA14 instead of the PA12.  It is a more stable kayak.  The PA14 has a large storage area under the front hatch.  The Hobie Compass would be good if your looking at carrying minimal gear & tackle.  It's a lighter boat and probably faster then the PA12 or 14.

FM

[Logan S]

I would keep the boat.  Your particular boat is easy on storage and towing and light on maintenance and upkeep (as compared to bigger bass boats)...And you are going to a trailered kayak so you really aren't even improving any of these things for yourself besides outboard motor maintenance.   All you're doing is reducing your fishing platform's capabilities.  

 

I think you'd run into a lot instances where you'd be wishing you had your boat back while out on the water.  

[Susky River Rat]

I fished out of a canoe with a trolling motor for 3 years. I personally would never go back to another other than a boat. I fish shallow rivers and electric only lakes. There isn’t one place I could get my canoe that I can’t get my boat. There is a lot of places I couldn’t get my canoe that I can get my boat though. Other lakes have 20Hp with restrictions and I just don’t go to them. Being able to get up and move around is a big thing for me. As well as being able to motor when I am in places that I can. To be honest I don’t really fish the electric only lakes anymore either. 

[Darth-Baiter]

32 minutes ago, Fishingmickey said:

If your going to be trailering the kayak. You might want to consider the PA14 instead of the PA12.  It is a more stable kayak.  The PA14 has a large storage area under the front hatch.  The Hobie Compass would be good if your looking at carrying minimal gear & tackle.  It's a lighter boat and probably faster then the PA12 or 14.

FM

my outback can pace my buddies PA12 with his Motorguide dragging him at high.  i cant stay in it that long..but the Outback and Compass are fast.  i named my Compass, the Green Basilisk.

 

my outback is Basilisk 2.0

 

but this is solid advice.  if you're planning on trailering the yak.  go with the PA14.  and if you can store it all in the garage, you wont even need to unpack the kayak!!  just clean up and store it almost loaded for the next run.  win win win. 

[Koz]

Do you want to get to your next fishing spot in 10 minutes or an hour and 90 minutes?

 

I love my kayak. But sometimes I have a two hour pedal to get to where I want to fish. And then after fishing that area for hours I have a two hour pedal back to my launch. If it's blazing hot or a squall blows in it can be problematic out there.

 

I don't have a boat, but if I did I would not trade it in for a kayak. But I would probably buy a kayak and have the best of both worlds. That being said, you may want to save some money and not go all in on a $4k kayak. My Seastream Angler 120 PD was less than half of that and I have zero regrets about my purchase. 

[Bluebasser86]

I've got both and they both have their advantages. If it wasn't for my family occasionally wanting to go, I'd sell my boat and keep the kayak. 

[Junk Fisherman]

From reading through your posts, I haven't really seen a strong reason why you want the kayak other than you want something different.   Not being critical- I often just want something different and have had my eye on a pedal-drive kayak for a while as well.  I have a non-pedal kayak and I struggle with fishing from it because of boat control.  Getting an anchor trolley and an anchor greatly helped but it still doesn't compare with fishing from a boat.  There's no getting around the fact that a bassboat will provide a much superior fishing platform than any kayak.  It sounds as if the majority of the lakes you fish are all large bodies of water so I would definitely keep your Tracker.     You can always get the kayak in the future.  I know at some point I will get a pedal-drive kayak but it would not never come at the expense of my boat.  Good luck with your decision.  

[Woody B]

Keep the boat.  

[Deleted account]

Oh, the kayak for sure...

[813basstard]

Do what you want but everytime I see someone pull up at the ramp and make 58 trips from the truck to the kayak to make it work, I realize it ain’t for me

[FryDog62]

On 12/21/2022 at 6:46 AM, Functional said:

... would possibly entertain an Old Town 120 AutoPilot but kind of want to keep it simpler to peddle only. 

 

I have both a bass boat and an Autopilot 120. If you are used to spot-lock on your regular boat, it will be really hard to go without it on a kayak.  Boat control is key, especially in wind or current. Very frustrating on a kayak to spend as much or more time paddling/peddling to stay in position when you're trying to fish. 

[Koz]

1 hour ago, 813basstard said:

Do what you want but everytime I see someone pull up at the ramp and make 58 trips from the truck to the kayak to make it work, I realize it ain’t for me

Then they are doing it wrong. This is why you still need a kayak cart even if you trailer your kayak.