Kayak Koz

It depends upon how much money you're talking about.

You're welcome. If you're looking at a pedal kayak, I would make sure that it has instant reverse and you don't have to flip a switch for reverse. Why? I spend a lot of time jogging the pedals so I can stay relatively in place while fishing. Call it "spot lock for kayaks." With instant reverse I can do this while casting and reeling. If I have to reach and flip a switch every few seconds then I'm not fishing. For your price range a lot of folks like Hobie or Old Town. Personally, one reason I chose the Seastream Angler PD was the price (I think it was $1,399 when I bought it). I had never been on a pedal drive before, and I couldn't see laying out $3k plus on something I might or might not like. I don't like that kind of risk. It wasn't a matter of whether or not it was a good or bad kayak, I just did not know if I would enjoy fishing out of a pedal kayak. Update - I love it! I will say this - my kayak is very stable. I'm out on a big lake and often fish in very windy weather and there's lots of boat traffic and I cross a lot of perilous areas with seawalls where I get the wake and the rebound off the seawall. Not once have I ever felt like I was going to get dumped. I don't stand in my kayak because even though it's stable and has a nice deck plate, I'm short soo that means the space between the seat and pedals isn't all that big. I don't want to bark my shins on the pedal drive. Plus, I can't bump the rudder or jog the craft if I'm standing and fishing in current or wind. Having that trailer will definitely be an asset for you. But I've seen a YouTube video of a 100 pound girl put a 90 pound Hobie on top of her SUV without any problems. She has an extension that pulls out the back, then simply puts the nose on that and walks the kayak up the rack. Easy. One drawback of the Seastream is there are no storage hatches. So I bought I dry bag. The seat doesn't have micro adjustability, so the distance it's set at is about 1/2 inch off from what I think would be more comfortable for me. The seat also can't be raised or lowered, and I wish it was a little higher. But that would also impact the center of gravity. I can fit plano boxes underneath the seat, so that's a plus. None of the items above are deal breakers, they would be on my "nice to have" list. I did invest in a Lowrance Hook2 5, but I git a refurbished model direct for Lowrance at about half price. It looked brand new to me. With that I had to buy a battery, battery box, and transducer arm. It took some trial and error to determine where I wanted everything mounted. The problem for me was that without a hatch to store the battery, I opted for mounting the battery box on the rail and the Lowrance on the battery box. That makes it a bit higher than just the fishfinder alone, so I had to learn to work around it when casting and bringing in a fish. That leads to another item - if you are going to add a fishfinder, you need to determine how you will mount the transducer. My transducer is a tripleshot (has side scan), so there was no way to mount it to the bottom of the kayak with the way the hull is designed. That meant buying the arm. I also have the TuffKrate Premium, and a Yak Attack safety flag with light. The other week I added a cleat to the rail to make it easier to tie off to docks. One of the best investments I made was the C-Tug kayak cart. I initially bought a cheap cart and it was nothing but problems. The C-Tug has been a lifesaver, especially because I move my kayak up and down a big hill out back of my hotel. I can break down the C-Tug and tuck the front wheels under the bungees up front and store the unit between the seat and my crate so it's always with me if I need it. All told, I have about $1k in addons and accessories for my kayak. To be honest, I probably could have done without the Lowrance. Then again, maybe I just need to spend some time and take advantage of all of its features. I really need to find someone who is good with electronics to come out with me, help me dial it in, and help me understand what I'm seeing beyond arches, temperature, and depth. As far as kayak reviews go, remember that a lot of reviews are paid reviews or sponsor reviews. Dig around and look for actual user reviews. Good luck with your decision, and let us know what you purchase.

The first factor to consider is what bodies of water you will be fishing. Big lakes and small, light kayaks don't play well. The wind and the wakes will mean you spend more time positioning your kayak than actual fishing. But bigger fishing kayaks are heavier, and you need to take that into account when lugging it around. Second is transporting the kayak. The length and weight of your kayak may be limited on your ability to transport it. Some may interject here with sit on top or sit inside kayak. Personally, I can't imagine trying to fish from a sit inside kayak. Next - pedal or paddle? Look at the launch points for your kayak and determine how far you need to go to get to areas that you want to fish. Can you paddle that far? Even if you pedal, factor in a speed of 2.5 mph - 3.5 mph as your cruising speed. Th other option which is becoming more and more popular is adding a trolling motor. Next, factor in any accessories you may need including a PFD, paddle (you need one even in a pedal kayak), anchor and anchor trolley, wet bag, tackle storage, fishfinder, battery, extra rod holders, drink holders, rooftop kayak carriers, wheels to transport your kayak to and from the launch, safety flag and light, etc. Trolling motors are also popular nowadays. You may not want any of those, but of you do be sure to include those in your budget if you want them. Do you like to stand and fish or sit and fish, or both? Technically, you can stand in any kayak but you're going to want one that is stable if you plan on standing. To be honest, I don't stand and fish but overall stability was a key factor in my purchase. I fish on a big, busy lake and I prefer to mitigate the chance of rolling over. Lastly - and an important factor - is how the kayak looks. Yes, it probably shouldn't matter, but I simply was not going to purchase a purple camo kayak. I love the look of my urban camo kayak. Now that you have narrowed things down and have a budget, start searching for your kayak. When I was looking for mine I probably had a list of at least a dozen that I was considering. I read and watched a ton of reviews. This is where I also started factoring in tracking and seat comfort. Once you narrow down your choices, compare prices on multiple websites. Another factor here is going to be availability. The kayak you want might not be available for weeks or months. I took a gamble on the kayak I purchased, the Seastream Angler 120 PD (pedal drive). It was a fairly new model, and there really weren't any reviews on it. That was a year ago, and I'm still tremendously happy with my purchase. Personally, I think the pedal drive has HUGE advantages over a paddle kayak when fishing. I've fished from both, and pedal drives win hands down. I spent more time trying to position the paddle kayaks than I did fishing, although you can mitigate that with an anchor system. With the pedal drive it's much easier to keep the craft positioned. I can tap the rudder and jog the pedals to stay in place or reset my drift angle. I can also fish and pedal at the same time. I have no issues going out and fishing in 12-14 mph winds with my pedal drive. I'm sure people will chime in with other key factors as well. I will tell you that I spent a few months researching before I finally pulled the trigger. It was a big investment and I wanted to get it right. Good luck in your search.

I should be fishing, but our second hotel commercial dryer crapped out today. We've been waiting for parts on the first dryer for 4 months now. The one that crapped out today had a fire suppression warning system fault and the machine wouldn't reset. Repair guys wouldn't give me the super secret code for the reset override, so now I have to wait for them to come in tomorrow. Then I got sucked into other work at the hotel, and by the time I finished, winds were gusting to 22 - not kayak weather. So now I'm taking a break from cleaning the house. It's supposed to be chilly tomorrow, but I have to work anyway. No fishing for at least a few days. Maybe Monday or Tuesday after work.

I'm going to update my initial response. I now have a TW and Yak Attack decals on my kayak.

I actual don't like my MGL as much as I like my Curado DC and Curado K. I don't know what it is, but it seems "off" a bit. And Tackle Warehouse seems to be taking longer than usual to get things processed and shipped. I orders some lures and soft plastics on the 13th and still don't have a shipping date. I was hoping yo have everything delivered by the weekend.

It's going to take a few weeks of a warming trend to get their blood warm enough where they start getting active. If their not on the banks trying to sun themselves now, they will be shortly. After that, they'll be hungry and horny. Stay alert. Wait - I didn't mean they want to eat you or do stuff with you? Keep an eye out form them when you're fighting a fish. The males will also be more active and covering a lot of territory looking for a mate.

If I had to pick one, it would be a 7. When I'm out on my kayak I usually bring only 3 rods and they are a 6, 7, and 8. With that, there's a time and place for everything. For example, I might normally fish a 7 in a certain area on most days. But if I'm drifting quickly with a heavier than normal wind one day I might fish with an 8 so the line doesn't slack so much. I'm also not married to "this bait only goes on this speed reel." Some days the fish want what they want.

As the water begins to warm, I like to work the coves that have a rapid transition from deeper water to shallow water. I'm looking for bass hanging out looking to make a run up the hill to feed as the baitfish move in to shallower water. As I move in I'll start targeting any structure. As I move back out I'll target any structure I missed, but also target the center channel looking for bass coming up the hill, especially if there's a stream bed. The caveat here is that I fish from a kayak, and where I fish between the wind, current, and the abundance of pleasure boaters I prefer to stick to quieter coves and spend time picking them apart.

So, with today's gas prices that's about 32 miles, right?

The volume of fish I have been catching so far this year is a lot better than last year. But it’s mostly the smaller, male bass. A couple of 4 pound girls were the biggest I caught. That being said, the temperature has been erratic. After warming up for a week we had 3 nights in a row in the 20’s and 30’s over the weekend. But I fished off our docks for 40 minutes after work and caught 4 that were all a pound and a half. I’ll take that volume, even if the big girls haven’t pushed into the coves yet. I’m actually excited for a decent fishing year on Oconee this year.

I've looked at your question three or four times over the past few days, put some thought into it, and I've got nothing. No costume. No accessories. I guess that makes me Boring Man.

It must have been canceled. Every mention of it has been wiped from the MLF website. It looks like the Phoenix Series is an Open series and they allow backseaters. I might have to coax @flatcreek into having us both enter the next time they are in the area.

The temperature only made it to 37 today and the wind is a constant 25 mph and gusting to 45. I have tree branches down everywhere and my garbage can got blown around. I live out on farm land, with lots of open area and it sounds like a freight train has been going by all day. I don't know how anyone is out on the water today.

The Phoenix series is like comparing an A ball baseball team to an MLB team. No stars - just guys that love to fish.

The MLF Phoenix series is on Lake Oconee this weekend so we have a lot of the anglers at our hotel. I feel bad for these guys. The weather on Saturday morning is going to be 40 degrees with wind gusts 30 - 45 mph. We are under a wind advisory until tomorrow. Thunderstorms are rolling in today and they expect tornado watches and warnings to be issued. I would have to think that if the winds are that high tomorrow they might cancel the tournament.

@flatcreek fishes at Clark's Hill a lot. In fact, I think he's there for a week right now. Great guy if you get a chance to fish with him.

Finally! Now with fishing season and baseball back, life is complete. To me, the most interesting rule change is not the universal DH, but the fact that players are limited to 5 options to the minors during the year. That's going to pressure a lot of bullpens for the teams that use the AAA Express for relievers to keep their bullpens fresh.

And in a little while, if you see a new mound of dirt, leaves, and brush in the woods near your fishing spot steer clear. That's the nest.

Lake Oconee. Looking at the forecast, by next weekend my area should be back in it’s normal spring patterns.

As soon as you posted the upcoming forecast, I knew you were talking about Georgia. If it's this weekend you're fishing, it's not only the cold but the high winds you're going to have to contend with. In the area where I fish, the bass have started moving into the coves. But when a cold night hits (20's or 30's) they tend to vacate the cove for a few days. Cold, windy weather fishing open water is no fun on my kayak, so I'm packing it in for the weekend. I won't even bank fish. In fact, this weekend was supposed to be our first Fishing With The GM event but I canceled it due to the cold and wind.

It may look like a Cabela's website, but I would bet the URL is not the Cabela's website.

No. I'm just not a crankbait fan. I have them in my arsenal, but they are not even in the top 4 or 5 of baits that I would tie on when fishing is slow. But there are some days I head out and say, "Hey! I'm going to start of with a crankbait today!" Twenty minutes later I have a spinnerbait or chatterbait tied on.

Just Google 'Shimano Expride" and a lot of the first page results still have the A models.

I have last year's baitcaster model in a 7' 2" MH. By far it is my favorite rod of all time. It's not even close.