The bottom line is that there’s no such thing as a short kayak fishing trip:
Unlike recreational paddlers who don’t fish, kayak fishermen don’t just hop into their kayaks and go fishing for half an hour. Kayak fishing trips are in most cases much longer, and although no one seems to have accurate statistics, it seems like the average kayak fishing trip is longer than two hours.
Why does it matter?
Our website features this article about long kayak fishing trips , which explains how important it is to have an appropriate kayak for them, that is a kayak that won’t get you tired prematurely, and won’t make your legs numb and your back ache, and thus ruin your trip.
It also talks about storing your gear and tackle in your kayak, and other issues that matter in long fishing trips.
But coming to think of it, since nearly all your fishing trips are likely to be long ones (say longer than one hour), it means there’s basically no reason for you to compromise and get one of those hyped, run-of-the-mill SOT or sit-in fishing kayaks that offer you neither adequate comfort nor enough dry and accessible storage space.
Nobody I know goes fishing from any kind of boat for less than an hour.
As for spending that time in one of those SOT fishing kayaks, just the thought of it gives me a bad feeling in my back. Thanks, but no thanks.
Pete
My fishing trips are long ones and there are times that I spend hours at a time in the W. Time that passes way to fast when I’m really into it. In most fishng places there are not loads of spots to just hop out of your boat. The bottom is oyster beds or mud to your waist so getting out without a paddle to some distant beach is not an option. Sometimes you have to change position and nothing else allows it like the W. Virtually every time I’ve been on a long day of fishing with other kayakers they have to get out for a break every couple of hours. In the W that that is just not the case. When it comes to easy simple storage I also have them beat.
Kayak fishing is fun, and relaxing. What I found with traditional SOT and SIK yaks was that after about thirty minutes or so, just as I was getting relaxed, my legs would start to feel uncomfortable, and then I’d get that urge to stand up and stretch… and soon after that my back would start to feel uncomfortable, and then the lumbar pain would start.
My w yak keeps me in the sport. Without it i would have gone back to fishing from a bass boat.
Blue