michaelb

Yes, it does. Fishing SUPs generally consist of a larry chair or cooler strapped to the top. This has kayak shaped hull on the bottom though for rough water and waves. As a design for fishing, a flat top you stand on is clearly better than a bath tub you sit in. I don't have one, but self rescue (the act of climbing back on the boat and also getting it back upright) is much easier on a paddle board vs a kayak, and can be a major safety issue with hobies, as they are so big and heavy that it can be challenge to get them to flip upright, and the more bath tub shaped the boat, the harder it is to get back over that side. You can stand on top of that lawn chair. You can also sit on top of the back and fish. No other boat (that I know of) offers that, so yes, that is the best designed kayak fishing seat that money can buy. Other brands have followed this design somewhat so there may be some other seats you can stand on and fish as an elevated platform (I don't know if Kaku really invented that idea, but seems to have certainly pushed it forward). That seat slides on track, which is a hugely important feature that many boats skip, and allows you to push the seat back and fish from the center, and adjust the seat and the boat trim if you have gear (or a dog or a kid) on board.

As i said above, i agree with the idea of trying renting and testing kayaks for fishing. Because we all have different preferences and needs and there are major differences in between boats. i think the kaku zulu is the coolest/best fishing kayak money can buy. I don’t have one though and would love to try one. It can come with peddles. There may be situations where a hobie pa is better, but i am not sure about that, and pa costs twice as much. A core question is how much are you going to stand (almost always better for the fishing) and how well suited the kayak is for standing and fishing. Flat and smooth and simple, like say a bass boat, is better for the fishing vs a heavy plastic bath tub.

Salt strong tested the gt vs the fg and the gt was much weaker. But the difference may have been the lines. I think the igfa results mentioned here are for 50 lb braid to 80 lb mono. Salt strong tested 10lb braid to 30. plus there can be variations in how skilled someone is at tying each knot. The gt knot doubles the flouro/mono line into a knot so it cant be as small as the fg.

I know everyone here is looking to spend your money, and I love shopping for more kayaks and these are all really nice boats, but I would much rather have you try some first before you drop $3000. Is there any way you can demo or rent to try some first? If you were nearer to me I would take you out in one of my five kayaks (Highland silver lake looks really nice and just perfect for kayaking). Everything is a trade off in terms of cost and weight and speed and size and features and I can change my mind back and forth about what I think while I am actually sitting on my boat.

Maybe not, but it can be hard to tell too. When trolling on the kayak, lots can go wrong, so I have to put the paddle down and get the rod out of the holder and not have the boat spin the wrong way, plus sometimes the fish decides it is going to charge toward me and I think it is off. So while I may lose fish at times, that may be user error. When I first started swapping, I would leave the front treble on, leave the middle empty, and just put the single on the back. That works great too, and I have caught tons of fish that way, pike almost always on the front treble (and bass often on the rear single). Last summer I did the swap on the big pike/musky lures, so suicks, but did use them very much and didn't really catch anything. For casting, I mostly use single hooks too, so senkos, swim jigs, spinnerbaits, and those catch and hold fish just fine. But for releasing, the singles make a huge difference. Way easier way safer. Pike usually release themselves once in the net, and so there is nothing I have to deal with. But for me, a mouthful of trebles + tail hooks slinging around + teeth and gills and other nasty stuff + endless tangles in my net= not going to use multiple trebles again.

Koz is giving lots of good advice. Your budget opens up most of the best kayaks but what is available this year may be limiting. However most pedal kayaks weigh a ton and getting even a 80lb kayak on a roof rack can be very hard (alone). The types of water you are fishing are small right? And so you don’t need to travel far to fish and wont be dealing with wind and waves. so you may want to think about getting a boat that could be converted to peddle later. Maybe you will prefer a trolling motor instead. I would look at the nucanoes. I like the jackson yupik and the bite. Generally i like open boats with clean simple decks and rails for rigging.

Maybe not really a jerk bait anymore but have you tried husky jerks? I mostly troll them on my kayak. Like you i cant stand treble hooks slinging around so i swap them out for inline singles. You get a beefier hook without extra weight.

I deal with wind all the time. The main problem generally with drifting in the wind on the kayak is that it tends to turn you sideways. I got a windsock and that only slows the boat somewhat but attached to an end it puts that end up wind and that helps a lot. i do both ends but prefer the front so i am drifting backwards and casting up wind. My primary technique is a paddle tail on a jig head since that is moving bait but benefits by the varying wind and waves and drift. Weightless options like senkos don’t work as well if the drift is too fast. spinnerbaits are also very good particularly if the wind cranks up and the boat is moving fast.

I don’t think a kayak moves enough to matter on the hookset and so would not matter on the rod power or action. Use what you have and what works. kayaking is a more dynamic environment than standing on shore or on a bass boat. For example, I may think i am fishing in one direction and then find myself spinning in the wind or current. So a rod long enough to sweep around the front of the kayak is helpful and a reel fast enough to pick up slack line also can be useful.

One of my goals is to hook up with a bowfin sight fishing on shallow flats on lake Champlain on my kayak. That should be quite the ride (and I probably lose that battle). They cruise along the shoreline. Yes they love spinnerbaits and will break or straighten them out. They love senkos and always 100% of the time break my line on my senko rig. we catch off them our dock/shore using cut bait like a fish head on treble sitting on the bottom. Leaders/braid heavy rods. Since I rarely keep fish to clean i also use a piece of hotdog wrapped in bacon.

A fly rod is different. Not saying 8’ cant work but is also nice to be able to reach the tip of the rod when seated, so essentially your wing span. Also, when landing a fish you are likely to have your rod hand extended away from the boat side with the fish; the longer the rod the more likely you are to high stick it at that last second to bring the fish in; if it has the size and motivation it can break the rod under the kayak if it dives.

I have a pole but can not get it to stick in the bottom on lake Champlain. Even putting all my weight on it. So there must be rocks that prevent getting that in. There is a serious risk that when you push the pole in you extend just far enough off the kayak that you cant get back (don’t ask). i bought a wind sock last year and are a big believer in the value of that.

I need a new net but am confused by what a rubber net means or which net is going to tangle in treble hooks the least. I think i have a rubber mesh net now: https://www.dancopliers.com/ORANGE-FLOATING-NET but I mostly use that for pike and it will twist and tangle treble hooks into an impossible mess. I want a larger net for my kayak but would want something that didn’t tangle (looking at an ego head and gandle). Wouldn’t the largest openings tangle the least?

Skinny dippers on a vmc jighead are one of my goto options and always tied on. I do find color matters and so like the white best (but black and green work too). It may be that I would have better luck on the keitechs if i tried a bright and flashy color. Rigged weedless on a weighted hook also works but i like the exposed jig head better.

You have gotten out of those boats on a muddy riverbank in several inches of water alone? Faceplanting is a fun end to the trip.

If it floats u can fish from it but as i said before, that boat is too small. I can paddle my small kayaks but fishing invariably involves turning to the side and that will feel unstable. Also have you ever squeezed into a boat like that? Or even worse, out of a boat like that? I am good at these things and i would dump myself regularly getting out of that boat. Plus i would throw my back out each time.

8x2 is too small for an adult and not sure you really mean 2’ wide. I have a tarpon 100 as one of my old boats and that is 10x33” or so and that is fishable. I am thinking of getting a fishing paddle board though to add to my fleet. Those can be inflated so easier to store and transport. Those will be 12x 36-40” inflated and can be rigged with a larry chair or cooler to sit on.

The water is very cold but the ice should be out. Prespawn and the fish may be harder to find. The weather is variable and can be bad. I stay near shore in April and so don’t target sm at that time i am looking for pike. Mid may is the start of peak. April is more of a challenge but still worh trying.

I have had a fish finder on a kayak before; I have two fish finders right now, one old and one new that I could rig up for my kayak. I mostly fish waters I know very well, focusing on shore features; I look down and see the weed edge or the rocks and fish that spot. When I am out in open water or new water, I understand the benefit of having a fish finder. My hummingbird has SI and I think that is cool, but I haven't really found it helping me locate places to fish. SI requires moving steady in a straight direction, so I wonder how jagged that display image would be paddling in wind and waves. I mostly would want to know depth (and I can drop my anchor and guess pretty accurately the depth too); GPS and nautical maps would be good (my FF has those too). Anyway, the OP has a new kayak. I know we want to rig them out with all the new toys, but my recommendation is to fish with it first. Maybe you will be like me and take 2 or 3 years to decide if you really want more stuff in your way:

I have been kayak fishing for a long time but don't have a fish finder. How deep are you going to be such that having a fish finder will really matter finding and locating structure? I find the space on the front of my boat to be precious, and fish finders are bulky and do get in the way. If you are standing, you have room below you, but if you have to sit and fish, at least for me, anything that gets in the way of working the rod side to side is in the way (I do have a rod holder up front, but I have the option to remove that or move it). My other issue is running a 12v battery and having to deal with that onboard. There are some portable lithium options if you want to spend the money. I have a hummingbird 5 si I could mount on my kayak if I could get over these issues (of space and battery). Plus drilling into the boat if I want to store the battery inside. Running the transducer over the side is not that big of a deal using the various mounts shown here, but it is another thing in the way and so I have wondered about mounting that off the back of the boat or far to the rear (but that means running cable or drilling holes). There is the option for a FF that runs on AA batteries, including hawkeye. I don't have one and not saying that these are that useful, and would mainly show depth which is the most important thing, but wonder if something smaller and simpler like this would work for me. I have looked at the deeper and the other iPhone connected options, but running my phone and seeing that screen on the kayak also has been hard to get right (I do run marine charts on my iPhone and do mount that on the boat). https://hawkeyeelectronics.com/collections/fishtrax-series

Loving the love for kakus here. I like the sup+ a lot and the price is pretty good. But the seat just straps down to tie downs and is not fixed. So adjusting that will take fiddling and it wont be rock solid. Probably not great for serious or extended paddling say in rough waves. Its a nice sup with a strap on seat. in contrast the voodoo and the zulu have awesome seats that mount and side on track. So much more stable and adjustable.

I would take 2 rods each and put them in a hard case. To much risk that something shifts or drops and you end up with 24 “rods”.

I paddle my kayak as a stand up paddle board fairly regularly. So just using the kayak paddle and holding it near the end (sometimes holding one paddle) and paddling around. It would be better if I could trim the seat back and stand in the middle. So my kayak isn't as good as my paddleboards for paddling because the center of balance when standing is forward of center. But it is much better for fishing. I haven't actually fished off any of my paddleboards. I have two that would be stable enough to fish, but they don't really have any set rigging for storing gear or rods, so I haven't actually tried just grabbing one rod with one rigged tied on and fishing off one of those for a bit. I am planning on getting another paddle board and I think I will get big enough for fishing (inflatable or one of the brands mentioned above) so I would have that as option. My goal is to sight fish for a bowfin in the shallow flats, but they have been hiding from me this year. I did catch a nice sized bass though in the spring that was hanging out in 6" of water.

I usually sit down. It takes balance and practice to not crash. I sit when the fish is at the boat and you do have to keep pressure on the line. Easier to put the rod down and lip the fish and remove the hook. Plus i only sat on the kayak for the first 15 yrs so i am use to that.

If weight is important have you looked at crescent lite?