michaelb

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.

Does the Cuda come with the trailer? then yes on the price. Otherwise, there are plenty of new boats in the 8-1200 price range new. How old is this boat? The rigging is not worth that much to me; no idea how old the stuff is or its condition, but all used; the rudder is nice but only if you plan to paddle open water with wind and waves? I haven't paddled one, so don't have an opinion, but lots of reviews online. At 31" wide it seems like it will paddle better than most but be less stable for standing probably. Is it better than a brand new $800 bite though?

I agree with the general idea that they all work, and have often bought the cheap $3 versions that are on the counter at the tackleshop, and those work and do catch fish. But there are some differences. I prefer spinnerbaits that have a closed loop to attach to the line. This is primarily because I have a leader with a snap on the rod I use for spinner baits. But those spinnerbaits are also usually the better and higher quality options (like the Booyah Pikee) and are much harder to find. I am not sure why spinnerbaits generally just have a bend in the wire and what advantage or reason for that style exits. But last year I switched to the megastrike "strikeback" spinner bait. This is significantly different, in that the hook swings freely. I think the owner of Megastrike may participate on this forum, or used to. I haven't used them long enough to really know for sure, but I think hookups are much more reliable with the swinging hook, but even more so: you are much less likely to lose the fish after you hook up. the swinging hook reduces the fish's leverage on the hook and prevents them from shaking off. Pike love spinnerbaits and I often target pike, and so this factor of "staying on the hook" is more important for pike that love to thrash widely at the side of the kayak than for bass. Before trying these, I used trailer hooks, and trailer hooks on normal spinnerbaits definitely help with hookups. https://www.megastrike.com/bigbassspinnerbait

i'm not sure it makes sense to buy a paddle kayak if you want a peddle kayak. Unless you want to have two boats down the road? $700 is also right in between cheap and used ($200-$500) and the bottom tier of pretty nice for a paddle kayak ($800-1000); so my temptation is to look for used and/or spend a lot less, or think about spending more; and also demoing some paddle kayaks including nice ones so you get a change to paddle some boats, and ideally peddle some boats, before paying $700 for something you may not like.

I just got a black max too as an extra reel for an extra rod (I like both and will use them a lot). So just to cover a dumb question, to adjust the brakes on the side, you turn that dial counterclockwise to "tighten" the brakes to go up to max. That seems counterintuitive to me at least, and there aren't numbers on the dial or a clear indicator of what setting it is on. For my first 10 casts or so, I couldn't figure out why it was trying to backlash, when I had the brakes on max (I actually had the brakes off and set and at 0 or the lowest/least setting).

Thanks for that; these look great, but I am targeting and want to catch pike. I just don't need to buy any more anything right now + I can't pick what color I would want if I was buying something (I do have a musky killer and it will be interesting to see if bass hit that too).

I think the abu vengeance is a nice rod and you can find that for $50 (and comes 6' 9").

I think the snap style you are picturing here is called a "coastlock" snap. Yes, I like these and that is what I use. The "mini might" part may be referring the material, and the sizes you are talking about may be the size of the swivel. So this can be confusing. I buy the coastlock snaps separately from the swivel, and I put them on opposites ends of my flouro leader (this is for Pike, and I am using 80 lb flouro now). I like this version of snap best for leaders, because I like the closed loop for attaching the flouro with a crimp, and that can't get tangled with the lure/snap part. In the coastlock snap sizes, I like the #34 rated for 90 lbs. The smaller #33 rated for 75 are small, and hard to clip at times with my fingers and eye sight, particularly on larger lures, and I could bend and deform them with my fingers. But if you want a smaller snap for bass, that may be a good choice. I also bought the larger #35 rated for 150 and they are very strong and stiff, so much so they are hard to open (probably a good choice for musky).

I have no idea if bass can see lines or if line color matters. I do worry about this too. It seems like light thin line will at times catch more fish, but that may be how it impacts the motion of the worm more than being invisible. But, in terms of coloring the braid. How do we have any idea this is better? doesn't that just make the last 10 ft "black" and wouldn't that potentially make that line more visible, or at least possibly more visible?

I think I prefer shorter rods for my kayak (I only have kayak rods, so I don't have any "long" rods). The main reason for that is that it can be helpful to able to reach all the way to the tip while still holding the reel, in case you need to clear a loop of line or a weed, etc. This only matters if and when you are sitting (when standing, it is easy to lower the end to the ground and reach the tip); with my 7" rod, I miss this reach by a few inches, and/or have to work hard to reach; at 6' 6" I can easily reach to the tip. The other reason is that shorter rods stick up less, so less likely to catch on overhanging branches, and stick out in the back less. This may not really matter and few inches isn't a big difference. But I have one light 5' 6" rod and I like how that takes up basically no space when stored in back. Generally, on the kayak, you don't have to cast far, so any gain from a longer rod really may not matter much. But that is your preference. I agree with the others that if you can mostly stand you should use what you like. The rod handle length matters too, since you will be wearing a life jacket, and it can be easier to maneuver a rod around in front of you if the handle length is reasonable and not too long.

All of these seem like great choices, but wacky rigging is also a technique where the rod may matter the least. You are on your kayak, so can approach anywhere you want to be. For the most part, you don't want to cast far, the key is the initial "drop" and you want to put that on the spot, so accuracy is key. Although you will catch fish reeling it back, wacky rigs are notorious for getting snagged, so t-rigging is much better for that. I like using circle hooks, since bass will absolutely swallow wacky rigs, and with a circle hook you don't really need to set the hook (ie any rod will work). I also prefer shorter rods on the kayak, and so 6' 6" or even less would be fine; you can go 7" but you don't need to for this rod.

Nice boat, I love the look of the ATAKs. Are we supposed to be posting pictures here?

Thanks, it looks worth trying. This page shows this knot and others and shows knot strength, and seems to list this one for mono (same as san diego jam). I am taking "polyfile" to mean braid, but I don't know that, since it doesn't seem to use consistent words to describe the same things on that page (so "multi" or "multifilament" could also mean braid, or it could mean several types of lines?). http://www.angelknotenpage.de/WebApp/festmacherknoten.html edit: I see that they do show different wraps and so that suggests "multifile" may reference braid there.

Thanks, not much of a name even in german (I don't speak german at all, but does that translate to "multiple knot"? It seems like it is listed as a knot for mono, not braid, but I am not sure the word for braid in german to even know that. So the question for me is whether that is easier/stronger than then san diego jam. I was thinking of trying to tie a knot in a flouro leader, and I haven't had much luck tying knots in heavier flouro in the past.

Does this knot have a name? It seems easy to do but hard to find online. I like the idea of knots that double up through the connection.

If your goal is actually catching fish (and not changing techniques for the fun of doing that), you can probably spend $38 on senkos and hooks (in variations black + 1 pack of some other color like watermelon) $12 on spinnerbaits (allowing you to buy two hopefully) Probably enough for 2 years, unless pike destroy your spinnerbaits.

That looks like an awesome project, thanks for sharing. How does it handle wind or rough water (the lake looks small and protected)?

I just rebuilt my kayak trailer using yakima bars I had from long ago, and had been thinking about mounting old ski racks I have on the bars next to the kayak. It seems like a great way to repurpose stuff and so I am happy to hear you like how that works.

This is probably user error, but I haven't really caught much of anything on realistic looking swimbaits; the ones I have are weedless and have the hook hidden, so allow you to throw them into weeds and other heavy cover which also seems like a bonus. I did catch my first and only musky on a pike looking swim bait. At some point I may try swimbaits in bright and flashy and unrealistic colors to draw more attention to them.

The kayaks sound awesome and very well rigged. I also want to see pictures of them on the trailer that you have to build up next heading to Vermont to fish. Are your lakes shallow generally to use power poles? i would think most small lakes (and large lakes) in Vermont are generally pretty deep quickly off shore.