2022 Kayak Fishing Buying Guide
Kayak fishing has grown in popularity over the years and so have the features offered in sit-on-top fishing kayaks. This can make it difficult to decide what fishing kayak is right for you, whether you are someone just starting out in the world of kayak fishing or just looking to upgrade your angler kayak. Below are some key questions you should consider before purchasing a kayak.
1.) Where and what are you fishing for?
One of the first things to think of is what kind of water you will be fishing. Are you fishing in a pond? Are you fishing in a bay? Are you fishing a big body of water? Are you mainly targeting panfish or are you going after monster musky? These are the things that will help you decide what size kayak and features you will need. Typically the bigger the body of water, the more water you will potentially have to cover and the rougher the water can get. If you are going after bass in a pond you obviously would not need something as large or stable as someone who is trying to fish for musky in a larger bay.
2. Paddle vs. Pedal Drive vs. Trolling Motor
Unless you are a Paddle kayak purist, this is going to be one of the bigger decisions you're going to make. Paddle Kayaks are your traditional kayak powered by paddles and are going to allow you to enter into kayak fishing at a cheaper entry point and don’t have any mechanical components that need maintenance. But relying on paddles will limit your efficiency in covering large areas of water. If you are looking to fish larger bodies of water and cover fishable water as efficiently as possible, pedal drive and or a trolling motor powered kayak will be the way to go. Some kayak fishermen even have a trolling setup with these. Both pedal drive and having a kayak powered by a trolling motor will allow you to not only cover more distance, but it also allows you to be hands free while mobile. This will allow you to fish while on the move.
Pedal drives and trolling motors are going to have to be maintained. You will have to lubricate your pedal drive as the manufacturer suggests to maintain the warranty. With trolling motors, you will need to make sure you're maintaining the battery's charge as well as anything else the manufacturer suggests.
A scenario to think about when comparing the two, would be if you plan on going on a weekend camping trip, if you're going to be logging a lot of hours, you might have difficulties maintaining a charge, where with a pedal drive you would not have to worry about that. But at the end of the day no matter what style you go with you're going to want to have a quality floating paddle, just in case you have any issues on the water.
3.) Ability to Stand Up
Another question to ask yourself is if you want to have the ability to stand up in your kayak,This can be beneficial if fishing for several hours at a time. This will allow you to stretch, give you a better view of the surrounding water and even more importantly will give you more range of motion when working different lures, such as jerkbaits and crank baits.
No matter what kayak you decide on, you're going to need to purchase some add-ons to meet your needs. When looking for accessories you’ll want to make sure your kayak is compatible with add-ons you want to add. Most major brands such as Bonafide, Jackson, and Native will all be compatible with Yak Attack accessories. YakAttack offers a wide range of accessories such as paddle holders, rod holders, fish finder mounts, etc.
One example of a brand that is not compatible with would be Hobie Kayaks. These are high quality kayaks but you must run their specific Hobie accessories, as their tracks will not allow them to be used with YakAttack. Although you must run their accessories, Hobies typically come with a good variety of accessories, such a paddle, and rod holders.
Conclusion
This is just meant to be a starting point in narrowing down what kind of angler kayak would be best for you , but the only way to truly find out if it is a good fit is to go look at them. Also, an option is to try and schedule a demo, some dealers that have fishing kayaks for sale will have demo models that you can schedule to try out. At the end of the day some of the differences will just come down to personal preference. But once you answer the above questions, here is a list of brands you really can’t go wrong with.