A Beginner’s Guide To Choosing The Best Fishing Kayak

Are you curious to know about the right ways to choose the right fishing Kayak?

If yes, you are here at the right place. Before discussing ways and techniques to find the right fishing kayak, let us first give a closer look to, what exactly does Kayak fishing mean? Here we go…

What is a Fishing Kayak?

Kayak or Canoe is a small, yet effective way of fishing watercraft. You must have heard about using Motorboat for fishing.

Why would anyone go for Kayak Fishing?

Well honestly saying, Kayak Fishing is one of the cost-effective and adventurous ways of fishing. In Kayak Fishing, Kayak is driven with the help of peddles.

There are different types of Fishing Kayaks. Usually, Modern Fishing Kayaks are designed using latest tools and technologies.

For instance, CAD (Computer aided software) are used to design the kayak for naval use. You can also find small to fast-moving kayak designed for special purposes like touring, racing, and much more.

Kayaks have been classified according to their use and means of transportation. Let us now look at different types of the fishing kayak.

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Types of Fishing Kayaks

Recreational Kayak as the name suggest is for the recreation or refreshment of the paddler. One can choose this recreational Kayak when looking for fishing as an adventurous game, for photography reasons, and for enjoying a peaceful time. This type of Kayak fishing is done far away from high tides or ocean ways.

It is considered best for beginners and people who want to relax themselves from everyday stress and pain. It is almost similar to touring kayak.

Touring kayaks are quite longer than recreational kayaks. Their lengthy and slim design helps paddler to put fewer efforts to move the kayak at a faster rate.

These kayaks are quite unstable in the beginning so if you are planning to take a Kayak for a very short duration, you can go for recreational Kayak. Otherwise, try these Touring Kayaks to experience a comfortable and long-range fishing trips. Most of the time, these kayaks have cockpit so the paddler can easily control the kayak system without any hassle.

As the name of these Inflatable Kayaks, they can be easily carried from one place to another. Usually Inflatable Kayaks are made up of hypalon, Nytrylon, PVC, like-material.

You can either inflate this Kayak using electrical pumps or use your foot and hands to inflate it.

These kayaks are best advised for fishing on river or at places where the water is calm.The best part of trying these fishing kayaks is that they are portable and can be easily carries inside your luggage bag. The design is rugged so that it can withstand the pressure of white water as well.

This is one of the recreational kayaks that you would never forget once you sit inside it. Tandem Kayak gives you one of the best experiences of your life. These are stable, more comfortable, spacious, and easy to load and unload you, build from long-lasting material.

Tandem Kayaks contains a storage bag as well so you can easily store your valuable stuff inside it. This Kayak is a mixture of all other forms of Kayak like a perfect inflatable kayak that is best suited for recreational purposes.

There are sit-on and sit-in Kayaks available. You can choose this type of Kayak depending upon your mood of fishing. The only difference between both of these kayaks is that sit-on fishing kayaks do not contain cockpit enclosed within the kayak.

The Sit-on Kayak contains holes for drainage of water so that when you are fishing, no water comes on the board and in case, it comes, water is drained automatically through the holes.

These kayaks are economical. Their design is rugged. Just like Touring Kayaks, you can try these kayaks when you plan to do fishing for longer duration.

Kayak Materials

Today Fishing Kayaks have become a trend. Traditionally, manufacturers’ built it for their own usage but now Fishing kayaks are made for commercial reasons. They are sold in market and the actual maker of these kayaks never sits and feels the comfort level these kayaks have.

Now we always talk about comfort, robustness, durability, and other parameters. Have you ever given it a thought to from where these qualities come from?

The only answer to this tricky question is the material used in the manufacturing of Kayak. Usually three types of material is used to make a kayak. Polyethylene, Composite, and Soft Shells.

PE is one of the common materials that is used to make a Kayak. PE Kayak are budget-friendly and considered best choice of beginners. It is a wonderful material that protects the paddler from any kind of abrasion. No doubt, it has limited life period. Sun exposure isn’t good for this type of material as it makes the Kayak hard.

This PE material softens in sun but cools down quickly. Once damaged, it is quite difficult to repair this kayak and bring it back to the original state.

The best part of using this material is that it is easily available in the market. It is readily available for a very low-cost.

Composite is a material formed by mixing one or two materials together. These materials are used mixed using resins or epoxies.

Fiberglass is a polymer-glass material used to make kayaks. This material is mostly used for making recreational kayak and kayaks for commercial use. This polymer-glass material formed by using epoxies is passed through a catalyst in order to improve its strength. Lighter but expensive material when compared to Polyethylene. The strength of this material is better so you feel safer inside the kayaks made from Fiberglass.

Most of the inflatable and other folding kayaks are made from soft shells. Usually, glass and PE made kayaks are referred to as hard shell and inflatable kayaks are referred to as soft shells. These kayaks can be used on a regular basis. They are free from any kind of defect and in case of any ambiguities; manufactures give a considerable warranty period over them.

Now that you know about different types of Kayak and the material used to make them, its time to look at simple things to consider while designing Kayaks

Kayak Design Considerations

1. Depth of the Kayak should be checked. Most of the Kayaks are of regular size. But if you have a good height; you should go for a kayak that is deeper enough to hold your legs safely. More depth means more storage area to keep your belongings. The only negative impact of deeper kayaks is that they can catch wind easily and may block your way and decrease your speed.

2. Length of your kayak matters a lot we it comes to moving your kayak in water. Kayaks that are shorter in length are easy to move. Longer Kayaks takes time and need ample of space to move from one location to another. So, you should choose kayaks that are shorter in length but have good depth to provide comfortable spacing to your body.

3. Weighing capacity should be checked before loading the kayak. Every kayak has set its weighing capacity according to the material used in its construction. You need to check the weighing capacity of the kayak before you board it.

4. Width of the kayak. Narrow kayak are more stable in the initial run as compared to wider kayaks. If you want to take a short trip, you can consider narrow kayaks but if you are planning to take a longer experience, prefer wider kayak only.

Kayak Paddle Sizing Guide

The actual size of paddle depends on the type of kayak and the location, you have chosen for yourself. For example, paddle that you would use in the river water may not work well in the open water. There are two main styles of paddles.

1. High-angle paddlers: These are comparatively higher-end paddlers. These paddlers need experience and energy. A paddler must learn advanced techniques to use these paddles.

2. Low-angle paddlers: Low-angle paddlers are the ones used for touring kayak fishing. This is one of the best styles of paddles. It is mainly advised for the people who want to do the fishing for longer-distances and do not want any kind of muscle or leg fatigue.

Wrapping Up

In this guide, we have discussed how to choose the right fishing kayak. We have given our readers’ lots of choices and technique to find the right kayak according to their interest and budget-area. You still have time to think on the type of kayak that you buy or take for experiencing a really great time with Kayak fishing. Your dream of doing kayak fishing is just a few distance away from you. Just adore this and live your dream to the fullest.