For those of you who transitioned from a kayak to a bass boat, what has your experience been?

I'd already done the boat thing before getting into kayaks. But when I got my first boat after kayak bassin', I put on 15 lbs. or so. 

7 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I'd already done the boat thing before getting into kayaks. But when I got my first boat after kayak bassin', I put on 15 lbs. or so. 

Hahaha! I believe in the industry that's known as your Ranger 15!

Ha, I’m going from bass boat in the summer to kayak in the winter now.

I like both platforms. I think the opportunity with a larger boat is to fish bigger water. That said, a lot of the fish any given day in a larger body of water are off shore. I would personally really struggle without good electronics and a maxed-out trolling motor.  
 

I would potentially sacrifice certain things boat and/or gas motor-wise to have a trolling motor that lasts all day long in waves, spot-lock, mapping, and if affordable - Livescope and/or 360 Imaging. Just my .02

As a kayaker, I can struggle on larger bodies of water simply due to the time it takes to find the fish - especially on new water. It may take me a day or two just to find spots with bass.

 

The other thing that I could really appreciate with a bass boat would be a large rod locker that would let me rig up multiple rods. Since I do not have room to transport multiple rods rigged in my truck when I am bringing one of the kids with me, this would mean we could get to the lake and hit the water, saving some time.

I went the other direction, from boat to kayak.  The three biggest drawbacks for a kayak, and biggest pluses for a big boat, in my opinion, is being able to take friends and family, being able to quickly traverse and explore large expanses of water, and being able to more easily fish in rough winds.  I also miss having a trailer and the ease of load-in/load-out that that provides, but that's something I could buy for my kayak if I really wanted to.  

 

Things I don't miss: bills.  Between the initial cost, maintenance, repairs, gas, registration, storage, etc... it's a serious investment for someone like me.  And I actually catch more fish, more consistently in my kayak.  But I equate that to having more angling experience than anything to do with the boat itself.  My point being, a big boat might allow you to catch more fish but only by allowing you to spend more time on the water fishing than moving.  But it won't, in and of itself, make you a better fisherman.  

 

There are some other minor things, like more storage space (especially for rods), space to walk around, a platform for bigger and better electronics, a livewell, and a cool factor in owning a big boat.  But all of that is stuff that I'm pretty much indifferent about.  

2 hours ago, KSanford33 said:

For those of you who transitioned from a kayak to a bass boat, what has your experience been?

This is a fairly broad spectrum question and could elicit a 10 page response depending on the detail included.  Here's my wide brush answer. 

Not a kayak, but I fished from a canoe for a full 10 years before getting into my current rig;

Lund Pro-V Bass boat. 

My experience has been good - ok maybe even great.

I was fortunate in that I had some experience running and maintaining a powered vessel, as well as towing one.  So I sort of knew what to expect in those areas.

If this is your first venture into power boat, motor & trailer ownership, there's definitely a learning curve.  And compared to a manually propelled craft it can seem like quite a bit at first.

As mentioned in a previous response here, clearly the costs of ownership are more than an unpowered paddle boat.  And storage can be a problem if one doesn't have or make the space for a full sized rig.  Either way a capable towing vehicle will be required as well.

On the other side of all of that and while I still love and do fish from the canoe,

now I've got the option to safely & easily access bigger water ~ that has bigger fish.

Which is exactly why I ventured in this direction.

I'm calling that a win.

 Finally, fishing bigger water can be intimidating. 

Even with a fully equipped & decked out bass rig, finding and catching fish is just as challenging for me, as fishing from my canoe; perhaps even a little bit harder.

  So worth it though . . . . . . 

A-Jay

 

 

 

I have a fairly high end kayak (Old Town Big Water 132 PDL) with a nice Hummingbird fish finder.  I enjoy it, but would rather have a 17 or 18 foot bass boat any day.  The boat gives you greater range/speed, can accommodate more gear, and is a much more stable platform to cast from.  Flipping, pitching, and skipping are tough on a kayak.  I had a Tracker 17 foot aluminum bass boat in the past, but have a smaller garage after a divorce so got the kayak to fit in my garage.  I have fun in the yak and catch a lot of bass, but miss the boat.

I went the other direction and wouldn’t go back. Fully into my Titan 12 I’m around 7.5k with trailer, side imaging electronics, torqueedo and gear. I have to spend zero dollars on my boat beyond registration until I buy a new rig. 

Didn’t go from a kayak to a full size bass boat, but did go from a kayak to a Jon with a 15 hp on the back.

 

Biggest takeaway by far is the ability to get to your spot. An hour of paddling is a 5 minute trip with a motor. Helpful both in getting started and moving throughout the day.
 

Also eleminated wind concerns to an extent. In the kayak I’ve had a time or two where the wind picked up while I was on the main lake and debated going with the wind to a different ramp than where I parked and then calling in Uber because I truly wasn’t sure if I would make it back.

 

Having a trolling motor allows me to actually stand and cover water while fishing vs in the yak I had to pick between staying seated to pedal while fishing or standup but lose the ability to move around.

 

You can take more rods, tackle, bigger cooler, a buddy etc. in the boat that you just can’t put in a kayak.

 

More space allows you to actually takes a few steps here and there which I feel is easier on the body. With that being said I’m in pretty decent shape and have spent 16 hour days in the kayak so for me this wouldn’t be a deciding factor but depending on age and physical ability it may play a role.

 

Water depth is a non-factor to me. I can run the main motor down to a foot and trolling motor to 8”, about the same depth my pedals could get to. 

 

I don’t hear this often but I actually believe trailering the boat is easier than loading/unloading the kayak. I can put the rods and tackle in the boat at the house, be in and out at the ramp in about 5, and get fishing. The kayak typically took me about 20 minutes to setup/breakdown at the ramp.

 

The flip side to trailering is you have two more tires that could give out, hubs to grease, trailer lights to monitor, brakes to keep an eye on depending on the trailer, and you may or may not be comfortable towing. I do it so often for work it’s a non-factor (plus my boat is pretty light with a small trailer) but if you’ve never trailered before it can be nerve wracking trying to merge in traffic or getting yourself “stuck” in a gas station parking lot. You also have to have a vehicle capable of towing whatever it is you’re trying to pull.

 

The boat also requires gas ($$$), mines a 2-stroke so it needs oil ($$$), trolling motor batteries and a charger ($$$) registration for boat and trailer ($$$), a storage spot ($$$), and parts that will occasionally need to be replaced ($$$). I’m of the opinion you should have all required safety gear regardless of if you’re in a boat or kayak but it’s actually required by law in the boat so you’ll need to buy flares, an air horn, signaling device (technically a cell phone covers this in most states I believe but there may be exceptions), and depending on the state and size of the boat you may need a throwable life preserver if you don’t already own them ($$$).

 

I’m not sure if this is the case in freshwater, but in the salt if you don’t run your motor at least once or twice a month, then flush it with freshwater, be ready to take it to the shop. You can hang a kayak up for a year then put it back on the water with no issues at all.

 

Cleaning the boat takes quite a bit longer than cleaning the kayak, particularly if you use in salt.

 

The other main advantage of a kayak is if you river fish. I’ve definitely done some shoal hoping in a kayak I would never attempt in a boat. This is really the only area where I feel a kayak can go somewhere a boat can’t, I’ve yet to find another situation where this is the case.

 

To me, the boat is far and away more enjoyable. I feel it’s like comparing a bike to a car. The kayak (bike) is cheaper, maintenance free, and can go some places a boat (car) can’t. You’ll never be able to cover the distance or carry the same amount of gear in the kayak as you can with the boat.

Edit:

 

I grew up in boats so I’ve already got a decent knowledge of safety, maintenance, and know how to operate one possibly better than I can drive a car. Also already had a boater’s license.

 

If that’s not your case, there’s a decent amount of homework you would need to do to be sure your legal and can limp back to the ramp if you have a small mechanical issue.

Growing up, I often dreamed of owning my own bass boat. I thought about it a lot as I got older and moved from school into the work force. My dream came true with the financial help and support of my wife in 2015 when I bought my own boat.

 

If I didn’t have the financial means, storage space, or towing vehicle to own a boat, I would for sure have a nice fishing kayak.