I'll preface this by saying I think they are VERY difficult to flip over.  Very difficult.  but they do.

 

yesterday, after a very fun and fairly successful fishing trip.  (me and two friends, in the middle of a cove with dumber bass) My one friend and I decided we have had enough fun and started towards the ramp.  I have been on my Outback for a year now and my landing routine is the same.  pedal towards ramp, get close and pull up rudder, yank up pedal drive and place on deck.  grab paddles  and stand up and arm-pedal the final stretch to land.  once I get close, I walk out on the nose and step on terra-firma, grab handle and pull kayak up partially on land. 

 

yesterday, I did just this, and I look back at my friend.  I had to do that cartoonish "rub my eyes" move because I couldn't believe what I saw.  I saw an upside down ProAngler.    I immediately push off again and paddle out.  my buddy had ZERO shot of flipping his kayak back over.  it looked like a floating whale.  really tall reverse freeboard.  he would need to be a penguin to squirt up that high to belly slide across the top to try to flip it back over. (which is how I right my Outback) some dude in an alum boat and trolling motor dragged him to an adjacent beach.  once he could touch bottom, he flipped his kayak.  I am going to insist he float his ProAngler in his swimming pool to figure out how to flip it back over.  if we were in Clearlake or some other big lake, we were EFFED.   he is 100% PFD, thankfully.  he did learn he needed to cinch down his PFD tighter..it kept floating up over his neck.  

 

total strangers came and we dredged for his rods.  1 oz bullet weights and poached trebles from big swimbaits.  really good dudes.  we had to leave and they stayed.  they found 3 out of 5 rods after we left!!  good good dudes.  my friend is there now trying for the remaining two.  the guys left a marker buoy where they found the 3.  did I mention, "Good dudes".  a bunch of Curados deep sixed in a lake is a jagged pill.  

 

Practice flipping those big kayak guys!!  I think some rescue straps you can unhook and toss to the other side as a handle would be my first start.  

 

oh, I put on goggles and went overboard.  I dont know how a bass sees my worm.  7-8 feet down is pitch brown.  pitch brown.  I couldnt see my elbows.  Bonus, I got to reaffirm my own ability to get back on board in deep water.  check!!

With a rescue strap you can have it hooked to the opposite side of the boat and run it over the ‘top’ of the capsized boat. Then start climbing up the foot straps. It will pull the boat over.

 

absent straps, you have to go the the stern to roll it or climb up on it. 
 

how did he flip it in the first place?

 

1 minute ago, casts_by_fly said:

With a rescue strap you can have it hooked to the opposite side of the boat and run it over the ‘top’ of the capsized boat. Then start climbing up the foot straps. It will pull the boat over.

 

absent straps, you have to go the the stern to roll it or climb up on it. 
 

how did he flip it in the first place?

 

he said he was reaching back to lower a landing gear wheel.  he just got the wheels and is working out a routine.  I assume he can cross this one particular method off the "Try" list.  

it sucked and was scary to see.  

 

I think scramble up the nose, set foot in one of those raised bars on the side of a pro angler and put entire body weight on it would flip it back over.  but you will end up underneath for a few moments.

My policy has always been get to dry land is step 1 after flipping, no wasted energy trying to flip a boat over until you’re out of the water. Granted, I don’t paddle in the middle of wide open lakes, I always stay somewhat near the bank in a small vessel.

 

big water= bigger boat

 

ive flipped right here probably 6 or 7 times with two days of camping cooking and fishing gear, recovery is not plausible haha.  The picture is a screenshot from a video, we made it upright that time 

 

 

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

My policy has always been get to dry land is step 1 after flipping, no wasted energy trying to flip a boat over until you’re out of the water. Granted, I don’t paddle in the middle of wide open lakes, I always stay somewhat near the bank in a small vessel.

 

big water= bigger boat

 

ive flipped right here probably 6 or 7 times with two days of camping cooking and fishing gear, recovery is not plausible haha.  The picture is a screenshot from a video, we made it upright that time 

 

 

Whoa……?

16 minutes ago, GaryH said:

Whoa……?

I bet there’s 100 fishing poles in there on the bottom wedged in rocks. And a few dozen camp stoves 

 

that’s me in the front of the boat 

46 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I bet there’s 100 fishing poles in there on the bottom wedged in rocks. And a few dozen camp stoves 

 

that’s me in the front of the boat 

You ain’t all there brother. ? you got some big kahunos

When I first got into kayak fishing I wanted to see how hard it was to get back right if I flipped. I'm a very strong swimmer and used to be a lifeguard and it wasn't a huge deal to me. It was a 13' pedal drive kayak. I have a Hobie PA 12 now and they're roughly the same size except the Hobie is about 3" wider.

 

What I didn't count on was how much harder it was with the kayak fully loaded to fish. My H-Crate is strapped down and I put some old Plano boxes in there and zipped it up and some old lay around cheap rods/reels I had and lashed them down like you're supposed to. MUCH more difficult to pull off the recovery. Everything strapped and secured makes all that weight bottom heavy. So, I don't want to lose my stuff 'cause my main rods and reels aren't cheap and my plano boxes aren't usually empty but you just have to know it is more difficult.

 

First off if you're in less water than the length of rods they can bend and when that stress is relieved they "whip." Nice little welp on the ole inner thigh. Second of all you do need pfd at the right tightness and to top it off, no matter how good of a swimmer you are, without the help of that pfd it is VERY hard to tread long enough to get your bearings, release the adrenaline dump and get right to get it back upright. It's very tiring and without a pfd can get sticky, even if you flipped intentionally to practice.

 

If you have rod tips digging into the bottom they can work against you as well. I no longer use leashes that secure my rods tight into the holders. I use a single line leash that hopefully they come out and float or sink but stayed connected. When I get upright I'll worry about dragging them in.

Glad to hear everyone made it back to shore. I got a pro angler 14 and immediately practiced flipping it back in warm water (with no pfd and basically nothing in the yak) and got it quick each time. I knew that was dumb to be confident in those conditons so that winter I tried with dry top, pfd, gear strapped down, in windy conditions and it was a different ballgame. In perfect conditions, I climbed right up the side and grabbed the far rail and leaned back. In the dry gear, I was able to do that once, but it was easier to climb on the back and crawl to the middle. No matter how much practice the surprise factor makes everything tougher when it actually happens.

 

After a few too many times doing dumb things and getting lucky, I take more precautions now:

- never take off pfd, even in warm weather

- dress for immersion

- bring dry clothes and towel in dry bag

- hand pump in hatch near seat

- extra foam in hull

- remove ropes and leashes (got leg wrapped up in a leash once, didn't like it)

- leave one side clear of holders and fish finder

- healthy fear of cold water

great insights.   if it got bad, I would release all my gear into the deep waters.  me > gear.