michaelb

etrailer has the malone bunk kit? https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/Malone/MPG561.html

You have a nice kayak trailer, so you are set with that. I want one of those. I have a converted utility trailer but the suspension is very bouncy; I use yakima round bars, and I have the malone kayak seawing mounted on those. Are you only carrying one kayak, so you can mount it on the center of the trailer? The malone wing is nice and substantial, but the surface is 6" wide and is tacky with a thin pad. That means it sticks slightly when dragging a heavy plastic kayak from the back up on to the top of the rack on the trailer. It may be very hard to do that from the side (I climb up on my trailer and drag it that way). The roller systems would make this much easier, and they come in two pieces so you can adjust the width. Dragging up on bunks would also be easier (malone sells bunks for its trailers). The total width of the wings, so around 25", is not nearly enough to reach the edge of our fat fishing kayaks. So the slots for the straps are under the boat and can be tricky to reach to thread through. If centered on the rack, you may want to strap to the bars, so that if the rack failed the boat would still be strapped down. Plus, I use bow and stern tie downs even on the trailer to ensure I don't lose the boat.

Did you book this trip? I am a bit worried about "late april". Lake champlain is very cold then; I don't track ice out, and it varies by location, but the water temps will be in the low 40s. The water level naturally fluctuates by up to 7 ft each year; so even if we aren't in a flood stage, there will be 4-5 ft more water in the lake, which can submerge lots of rocks and other features (generally this is good for fishing, but makes navigation more challenging). If there has been a lot of run off, the water can also be very murky. I target pike in April, but I do catch bass. The bass fishing really picks up in mid May. But I am way up north and the lake is very large, so the southern part of the lake is likely a better choice for bass in late April. I would also look for skinny water, so bays and inlets and swamps, and not focus on the NY or VT side (so stay away from the broad lake, since you probably won't be out fishing that anyway).

Yes, I have a ugly stik cat fish rod that I pulled back out of the shed last year and I put my abu c3 on it. This is going to be my pike trolling rig, since I like the big thick long handle in my kayak rod holder. I don't like that handle so much for casting but it does work, for swim baits and for suicks (which weigh 2 oz as well). I don't fish for catfish, but I bought this rod as my bowfin rod a long time ago, and the fishing is the same idea, and bowfin put up a huge fight. I also have a black max as one of my other rigs.

awesome, the 10.5 kaku wahoo? I think that will be a great boat. You will appreciate the added speed and paddle ability in the wind and going upstream and covering distance on the flats. On a smaller river, you may be sitting much of the time, at least when paddling, with twists and overhanging branches and other obstacles to run into to. When you can stand you can use the pole as needed.

I also had my kaku shipped by Austin Kayak. I am happy you are looking at their boats. My main point was that if using a power pole is a key feature, you should focus on kayaks that are built for that. I see that there is a transom mount for the power pole, so square back kayaks that are set up for that are also an option. What kind of rivers and water are you planning on fishing? With its aggressive shape, I think the wahoo is ideally suited to paddling open water with waves and wake, so a boat made for open water. The 10.5 would be good on many rivers, but it would not be my first choice river kayak (it is an ideal boat for mixed lake and river use). In the kaku lineup, I would look at the voodoo instead (I would love a zulu though as my next boat). I have only fished on a river a few times with my wahoo. I would slid up perfectly to an overhanging bank that looked very bassy. I would quietly put my paddle away, pick up my rod and stand. And in those few secs, the swirling current would have me spinning. Maybe I got one good cast in. Otherwise, I spent a lot of time facing the wrong way around. So I think the perfect river floating fishing kayak is one that is wide enough and roomy enough that you can easily and confidently turn sideways to fish and even turn around and face backwards. Obviously, your powerpole will fix you in the proper position, but I do think you are going to want to drift and fish too (since that is fun and what rivers are for). The wahoo is stable enough to stand, and do that even in rough water, but I am not walking around the deck and fishing from different positions. I think you want to be 35-36" wide or more to really have that level of stability.

I think the Jackson Bite is a really nice looking kayak and a great deal, but if you want to mount a power pole, shouldn't you look at kayaks that have inserts and dedicated space for such a mount? There are other boats with power pole/trolling motor mounts, but as an example this boat is preconfigured with that mount area: https://kakukayaks.com/collections/voodoo/products/wahoo-10-5 I have the 12.5, but the 10.5 would be better for rivers and more comparable to the bite. I don't have a micro power pole, but do have the pole, and I have not been able to get that to work on my kayak, so I can't get enough purchase on the bottom to hold the kayak. I am also not sure about using a power pole in a river, unless you have no current?

I have this one from Danco. It floats, which is nice because I can work on and release the fish floating on the water (in theory) and it can clip to my anchor line if needed. the short handle (not expandable) works for a kayak because I can easily reach into the water sitting. This net does not have a 30" opening, more like 20", and the whole net including the handle is under 30 total. https://www.dancopliers.com/ORANGE-FLOATING-NET?page=1 I don't need or use a net with bass for the most part. I bought this for pike. I don't know if the rubber is better on any of the other nets, but at least for me, I struggle to get trebles untangled from any net including this one. So I caught a nice size pike (say 30"+ ) trolling a super shad rap; I got the fish out and released it, but it took another 20 minutes of careful surgery to free the hooks that had been twisted and tied and wrapped endless times in the net. I really should get a musky sized net, but can't or won't really carry that on my kayak, so that is a further problem.

If you are paddling a double canoe solo, you should be in the front seat facing backwards. So yes you paddle a double canoe backwards when solo. This is primarily because of the effect of "weathercocking" or weathervaning which spins the boat so the heavy end is into the wind. Even without wind though, it can be difficult to control the spin of the canoe if you are solo in the rear, because of the natural tendency of the boat to spin with each stroke. That effect is reduced when you are backwards upfront paddling solo.

I haven't tried all of the lines mentioned here, but at this point seem to be buying sufix lines (so 832 in braid) and of the monos, I do like Advance best overall. Elite feels and casts great, but is stretchy. Siege is really tough and strong, but does have memory (similar to, but maybe better than pline cxx). Advance handles pretty well and casts and fishes nicely (I am going to respool my reel that has advance, so after a season it did develop some memory; but that is also because I am running out of line). It seems like there are endless good choices and options on line though, and only so much time to fish.

I have had two inflatable kayaks in the past but never tried to fish out of one. The Intex Excursion Pro looks like a nicer boat, but I still have the same concerns: you won't flip, but it will be terrible to paddle and your back will be in pain if you try to sit and fish in that + you will get wet. My boats did not have a skeg, and this does, so maybe that will help, but basically the tracking was impossible and the boat would spin like a top; any wind was hopeless, plus the large side tubes and bathtub seating position means you can't really even get a good paddle stroke. The tracking problem was compounded by lack of inflation, and so even the slightest bow in the center from your weight where you sit and the boat "tacos" and you will spin around. So this needs to inflated to be rock hard and rigid to work. I have an inflatable paddleboard now that does inflate to be solid and paddles great; I rigged it with a larry chair to sit, and I could almost maybe think about fishing it (I would get a larger wider paddleboard for fishing). With all that said, if you are paddling 500 ft and fishing for an hour or two, yes this could work. But, any plastic bathtub kayak off craigslist that someone is dumping for $100 bucks would be better for fishing and paddling (I had one of these for a while too).

The RS 117 looks like a nice boat and great choice. Enjoy.

Fishing smaller lakes and ponds, where you don't have to paddle longer distances (whatever that means to you) or deal with waves and wind and open water crossings, seems like where the shorter and fatter fishing kayaks may really shine. So the 40" wide nucanoes for example and boats like that, that may not paddle as efficiently but are likely a joy to stand on and fish. So everything is a trade off, but here you may want to trade off paddling speed (or peddles) for stability and fishability.

I think weight and size is a big difference, so I do think this matters. I have a tarpon 100 (that is 10') and going to the 12.5' kaku was a major change. I primarily wanted the larger boat for paddling open water, so on a large lake with wind and waves, and the kaku is much better for that. I felt the tarpon was too short for me and I got thrown around in waves and took a lot of water over the front. The kaku cuts over and through those same waves with ease. But for paddling small lakes and ponds, the smaller boat has advantages, and you don't need the longer bigger boat. The shearwater looks great, but it is not really a pond boat. Can you stand in the academy? standing a game changer, and I would look at the 10' or so boats that are designed for small water. In terms of weight, you have a trailer, so maybe this doesn't matter. I can sling my 75 lb canoe on the roof rack with effort, but I underestimated how heavy and awkward a 75 lb plastic fishing kayak can be, and I can't really do that with the kaku (i have a trailer but want a better one). The tarpon is much lighter and easier to load and carry around.

Is that boat local for you so you can see it? I haven't looked at that boat before. At a glance, it looks like a pretty nicely designed boat, so I like the stadium seat (but would like you to get to sit in it) and the open deck and the gear tracks. At 12' 4 and 34" wide it is a lake boat and not a river boat, but otherwise that seems reasonable. It shares a lot of similarities to other kayaks mentioned here, so my kaku wahoo or the jackson bite. The Bite seat itself is on gear track, so you can adjust the seat and therefor the trim forward and back; and that could be a useful feature (but most folks probably never do that; so that is something you would want to do if you are loading it for camping, or carrying a puppy, etc). I don't see an obvious way to mount a trolling motor. Is that important. If you look at the back of the wahoo, that kayak and many others have "power pole mounts" built in, and there are trolling motor mounts that can bolt there, in order to mount the motor. Some other boats have pods that can hold a trolling motor too.

If you are paddling, and not peddling, I think there are a lot of great kayaks for under $1000. But I am not sure there is one "best" because there are many different considerations about what you want and trade offs and compromises in design. What kind of water are you fishing, how about wind and waves and surf and tide? How many miles do you need to paddle/peddle to fish? Rivers? standing vs sitting? Trolling? How are you carrying the boat, so car top or trailer and do you need to be able to lift it? I like many kayaks and wish I had more, even though I have 5. I am particularly attracted to the trend that merges paddleboards and kayaks since paddleboarding is fun. I have a kaku wahoo 12.5 as my fishing kayak, I think it is great and one of the best choices, but particularly if you need to prioritize the actual paddling part, so it paddles well and is not a barge. But the larger/wider kayak barges may fish "better" ie be more stable with even more room. I would love kaku's new zulu too. I like the look of the ATAK 140, the moken 12.5, the bonafides. I like the Jackson Bite, but their new YuPik is the first new designed kayak that almost looks better than the Kaku (but the YuPik is $1299).

In terms of "Should I buy cheaper and get it better equipped or the other way around" I would buy the better/proper kayak now, and worry about outfitting later, even years later. All of those boats are very nice and ready to go, and "outfitting" is fun and something you may change your mind on, after you fish and use it for a few months or even years. What kind of water are you primarily going to paddle? Does this include rivers? Big northern lakes with wind and waves? I like my 12'+ kayaks better on big lakes and waves, but they would not be as suited to moving water and rivers. Ottawa offers both of course so maybe you want it all (and everything is a compromise). Unless I am missing one that is a reasonable weight, all of these are going to be a beast to roof top. Have you done that? It is shocking how much harder it is to flip a 75lb kayak up to the roof vs a 75lb canoe; mostly lack of grip and leverage and balance. If you are looking at local, paddle them and stand on them, and buy the one that offers the best overall feel and performance.

I don't see that the Big Fish has a built in mount for a trolling motor? I don't need more kayaks and shouldn't be shopping, but have you seen the new Yupik? this is the first new kayak I have seen that makes me yearn for a new kayak (it is very much similar to the style of the Kaku's, in terms of open deck and uncluttered options for rigging). This costs a lot more than you are looking. My one question about the yupik would be about how well it paddles and tracks, particularly in rough conditions (it would be fine on flat water). It has a micro pole mount, which should work for a trolling motor adapter, but I would check that detail first to make sure. https://store.jacksonadventures.com/jackson-kayak-yupik/

I like anything that floats, so yes this looks fun. I have had inflatable kayaks before (and maybe even an inflatable raft like this before), and my guess/assumption is that this would row or paddle badly. But that may not matter if you are fishing and don't have to go far. You could certainly get out on the water and fish and hopefully don't have to deal with waves or wind. Do you have direct car and parking access to the water, or are you carrying all this for distance with an approach? I am not sure I would want to deal with hauling this down a trail and setting it up and inflating it and loading everything else, etc; so that seems more doable if you can be right at your car or truck for most lakes/ponds. The other obvious option is a "pack canoe" so a short fat hopefully light boat 10' or so; those are designed to haul to remote lakes (on your shoulder mostly) and would be pretty good for fishing and would probably paddle much much better (but may not fish better). You may not have storage space though for even a small canoe.

Is she looking for a fishing SUP, or a recreational SUP for paddling around and swimming? Budget? there are a lot of choices and considerations, so its too hard for me to just pick something for her. To the OP, have you looked at Diablo and their hybrid boats? https://www.diablopaddlesports.com/store/p3/Chupacabra.html#/ I have a Kaku Wahoo so am biased towards the voodoo too (or the Kahuna), but all of these boats look really fun. I just bought a Larry Chair and am going to rig one of my paddle boards with that, and maybe try fishing off it at some point. But my SUPs may not be wide enough to really be suited for fishing.

You may also want to think about trolling (the weed lines) and how to set up your kayak for that and what to use. I catch a lot more pike trolling than I do casting. I am paddling, and so I am always looking for lures that are good for trolling, and floating helps, because you cast the lure out, get the rod set, and then start paddling, and you don't want it fouling with weeds before you start. This year I have been trolling a J14 husky jerk and that has been working, at least for pike. I hate treble hooks though, particularly anything with more than one, and so subbed the hooks for inline singles (that has been working, but I am not 100% convinced). + daredevil spoons, mepps, spinnerbaits and the other obvious choices mentioned here by others.

I'm going to give you an incoherent opinion, but I was also just reviewing my paddle upgrade options, and coming to terms with that I would have to spend $200-300 to make it worthwhile. I like the look of the FS Ace; why do you want to upgrade and what are you looking for? I currently have 5 paddles I use (and 5 kayaks) have broken several others over the years. I have a carbon shaft Werner skagit that I like a lot (at 230) and another one that is like 210 that is nice; both purchased used on consignment several years ago. Both of those have low angle blade shapes; I have other paddles with more of a high angle shape and I don't like those as much. But my paddle style is high angle. I want to lower my paddle stroke though, both to paddle easier (so to go slower and longer) and to reduce stress on my shoulders. And, critically, because high angle paddling pours water all over your legs and that is really cold when the water is cold. So I am a high angle paddler but I prefer the shape of low angle paddles (and have no trouble powering them hard and high). I was looking at the Werner Camano (carbon for $285) or the bending branches angler Ace (carbon $200). I didn't really like the look of the aqua bound fishing paddles though. When fishing, and the paddle is stored, I really prefer flat blades that tuck in close to the boat, so I don't like paddles that are cup shaped, and I think from memory and from pictures the AB paddles are cupped (but the Mantra Ray in Carbon may be nice?). I hate hitting anything with my rod or getting tied up on anything or the paddle getting in the way of landing a fish when the fish decides to go to the wrong side of the boat. edit to answer your question: I think it is the opposite: so a low angle paddle is better and more efficient for cruising along, but can be powered up if you need it; a high angle paddle is less good at cruising, but may offer more top end power per stroke (but really you can ramp up your stroke rate anyway). So the high angle paddles are better for moving water, surf or river, where you get one stroke to move and turn the boat on that spot. But really the length matters as much here than the paddle shape: a high angle paddle would be shorter, maybe much shorter. I want to buy a 240 or 250 paddle to "force" myself to paddle lower. Once a paddle gets long enough, you aren't going to be able to get on top of it enough to paddle high angle.

I don't have either, peddle or a trolling motor, so take this for what it is worth. But it seems like there are still lots of questions for you to answer for yourself before you get to picking out a specific boat. What kind of water are fishing (open vs protected); how far you planning to cover; do you want to fish and/or troll to get to your spots; do you want to stand and fish; are you going to use a trailer to haul it or a kayak cart to get to the water? My kayak (a Kaku Wahoo) has inserts on the back to hold a mount for a stern mount trolling motor; since used trolling motors are so cheap and available all the time, I am tempted to get the mount just to fill those holes and try a motor out. But my primary use for the trolling motor would be to extend my range from the launch spot. I will paddle .5 - 1 mile to fish usually; I could paddle far than that if I needed to; but not sure I would want to regularly paddle 3+ miles to get to spot to a fish (that would be 1 hr of solid paddling in each direction). If a trolling motor cruised at 5 mph, that would extend that possible fishing range to 3-5 miles from the launching point, and also would be somewhat less at risk due to wind (the main reason I would not want to paddle 3 miles to fish is the risk that I would face strong headwinds and waves on the paddle back). While I think you could use the trolling motor to putter along and fish, or even use spot lock instead of an anchor, I still think the primary use for a trolling motor on the kayak is to get from point A to B more efficiently. As you noted, the motor adds a lot of weight and you need to haul that with you and set up on shore, etc. Peddle kayaks seem particularly attractive for fishing while you are going. So not working that hard to peddle, and just cruising along casting or trolling. The peddle adds efficiency too and so makes crossing open water with wind hopefully less challenging (the rudder and steering system would also help there); so 3+ mile trips one way are possible and maybe even easy. I assume you can leave the peddle system installed when trailering and carting it, so makes getting to and in and out of the water easier. But with all that said, while your boats all look nice, I would look at the kayaks that offer either or both options, so having an option for a motor to mount in the place of the peddle system. That way, you buy the boat (maybe with neither) and try it out, and then make a decision on which system makes more sense for you right now, with the option to switch or even have both in a few years. So something like the wilderness system radar. The motors that are mounted in a port on the boat may also be stable enough to trailer or haul with the motor attached (I don't know and haven't look into that as a possibility, and may depend how far you going); but not messing around with setting up a motor each time seems like a plus (since you are having to mess around with the batteries already).

The Abu vengeance is MH and 6’ 9” and is a very nice budget rod.

Best is going to be pretty subjective and there are many considerations. I am biased, because I bought a kaku wahoo kayak, and am attracted to open decks and the look of hybrid kayak/paddle boards, but to me the most interesting peddle kayak on the market is the kaku zulu: https://kakukayaks.com/collections/zulu/products/kaku-zulu The zulu may or may not be sold out right now, and is brand new this past year. But it seems like you should demo some of these boats and get a feel for what you like and what will work best on the kind of water you want to fish.