i might eat my words and put a motor on my kayak.

[Darth-Baiter]

my friend has a bass boat.  he only fishes the CA Delta and he stores his boat at a dock that has his boat in the water for him (charged and gassed (if he pays) .  he cannot back up a trailer to save his life.  

 

on his boat, the Delta is our plain white canvas.  we can explore and look at things, and try spots.  many of these spots i LOVE!  i always note the Marinas we pass.  we find spots that look "kayaky" if that makes sense.  sheltered, smaller channels, etc.  we found a place like this yesterday.  the nearest marina is 4 miles.  there is another Marina almost exactly 4 miles in the other direction.   4 miles in and out is reasonalble, but maybe not where there is a tidal current.  i fought a current 2 miles once and it was tiring, and i felt like i was abusing my pedal-drive.  if it broke, game over.   i paddle like a person that was born and raised in a desert, because i was.  i suck with paddles.   i can see myself with a third method of movement.  an electric motor pushing me around.  the luxury!!

 

my friend keeps sending me Vexus boat advertisements.  haha..  the Delta feels like a different place to me.  like we are in an abandon bayou sometimes.  abandoned boats, cars.  it is amazing. 

[WRB]

Why not buy a 14’ aluminum boat with 15 hp OB and tow you Kayak to far away destinations or fish out of the tin boat!

The Delta only/has 1,500 miles of shore to explore.

Tom

[Darth-Baiter]

No boat storage.  Sad but true. 

[Fishing_Rod]

Greetings @Darth-Baiter and @WRB my fellow desert dwellers!

 

I hope each of you are well. Yes, the question posed has been pondered for some time. Especially since recent technoloy has provided some tempting options with great utility. Heck the battery options alone bring plenty of possibilities. Unfortunately for me I can't see that with my budget. Most of those bits and pieces are more than I'm comfortable investing in. Sure I can use it but I'm not sure I'll get the amount of use out of it to justify the investment.

Of course your mileage can vary, as you've got a different environment. You're CA Delta along with the other sizeable waters presents a compelling reason to add some propulsion power to the kit. You'll still need that backup propulsion for safety purposes. I see more and more folks in kayaks simply sitting there with remote control in hand powering about the small waters here.

 

I have to wonder if I would spend too much time with that remote in hand rather than my fishing pole in hand? My answer remains to keep thing simple for me, fewer things to muck with, that way I can keep focused on catching. Over years, I have managed to avoid the fear of missing out by not being an early or late adopter but by keeping in mind what my principle objectives are. That is to enjoy catching fish. I just don't want to work too hard at recreating. Yeah, keeping it simple also means I don't have to register the watercraft here in AZ. Just an other budget and fuss aspect to keep in mind.

 

I would love to hear what you end up doing! Also I'll be keeping an eye open for those Delta catching reports too! I'm with you guys on finding those limited access areas to find fish.

 

Wishing both of you well and continue to have those great angling adventures! I will continue to paddle on those occasions when the AZ wind is not too crazy because I would rather do more fishing than paddling. Cheers!

[WRB]

On 9/18/2023 at 4:14 PM, Darth-Baiter said:

No boat storage.  Sad but true. 

Rent a small inexpensive boat slip. A plain aluminum boat and small OB can be safely stored at a dock. Your kayak has all the equipment you need to fish out of, the aluminum boat ferry’s the kayak to your destination and anchored safely.

You can tow more the 1 kayak for your buddies.

Tom

 

[Darth-Baiter]

I don’t rent.  Principle of mine. 
 

I do it my way and work around things 

[Darth-Baiter]

…..and bottom line. I don’t want a boat.  I identify as a kayak fisherman. 
 

I like the challenge and the obvious handicaps. 

[TnRiver46]

4 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

…..and bottom line. I don’t want a boat.  I identify as a kayak fisherman. 
 

I like the challenge and the obvious handicaps. 

And they don’t necessarily require boat ramps. There are many places we can access long stretches of shallow river in canoe/kayaks that boats can’t go . I spent all weekend in national wild and scenic river floating 20 miles and camping, no motors allowed. Then again it’s all rapids so they wouldn’t work 

[Big Hands]

You could eat worse things than your words. They taste just like chicken if you season them right.

[gim]

10 minutes ago, Big Hands said:

You could eat worse things than your words. They taste just like chicken if you season them right.

Canadian Goose does NOT taste like chicken even if you season the sh** out of it.  Its useful for filling potholes, that's it.  lmao

[TnRiver46]

I saw this guy with a new motorized yak on his maiden voyage goose the throttle and fell out, then it ran over him haha

[flyfisher]

On 9/20/2023 at 12:29 PM, Darth-Baiter said:

…..and bottom line. I don’t want a boat.  I identify as a kayak fisherman. 
 

I like the challenge and the obvious handicaps. 

Then why not get a kayak that actually paddles well and put a motopr on it.  Best of both worlds and I wish i hadn't wasted so much time before motorizing my kayak.  

Just today I went out and realized I forgot to charge my batteries so no big deal, take the motor off and batteries out and I have a great paddling kayak.  

4 Miles one way isn't bad at all with a good paddling kayak, assuming you have the time.  My ATAK i can comfortably paddle at 3mph and with a little extra effort get to 4 and maintain that speed.  Now I have a motor and just use that.