Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Small pond kayaks

Looking through a few options on small water crafts that would be easy to transport pond to pond. Anyone using a hobie kayak? or if someone has better options I`m all ears.

Snakebite, for the size of fish you catch ya might wanna consider a 15 or16' canoe.

This would be more for BCP, LMB, and BG fishing. I dount I would do any catfishing from it, they slime the boats too much.

SB, we've have an Ocean Kayak for 4-5 years now, and it's been great. Fairly priced, and very easy to transport in the bed of a truck.

A plastic coffee can with concrete and an eye bolt make a perfect light anchor for yaks.

Thanks Al. I'll have to look through the different models. Let me ask this are you running any accessories trolling motor, fish finder, live wells, etc?

I have a Heritage Featherlite 9.5'. Very stable.

I've been drooling after a Hobie for years now...just can't pull the trigger on that price point. Specifically this one:

http://www.hobiefishing.com/mirage/mirage-pro-angler-12/

I also can't force myself to settle for the lower quality models.

So I don't have a kayak.

I have an Ascend 12 footer, sit on top. Very stable and extremely versatile on a small body of water. Can really move. It can get interesting if there's wind and/or waves. You can get spun around while you're working a lure. A lot of guys have customized their kayaks and something they like to use are plastic crates. Tie them down and you can stow a lot of gear.

Very cool kayak. The video shows how the pedal system works.

Looking through these kayaks, I would need it to be a sit on not a sit in. That Ascend looks good, hard to beat that price. The other I like was the Hobie mirage 17t which a two or single seater.

A draw back is the single seat thing. There are plenty of times I'd love to have my son or wife along, but just can't with this. I actually traded a two person aluminum canoe for it. That canoe was a terrible accident waiting to happen.

Have you looked into float tubes as well? Depending on the size of the pond, that might be something to consider.

No we're not. My wife wanted something that was easy for her to handle, and we could just leave on the patio, so no accessories.

dlowrance, I'm right there with you. I like the NuCanoe and Jackson models, but I could never pull the trigger on yaks that cost that much.

I favor the sit-on-top models for a pond and fishing.

I have a couple of lower end Pelican brand kayaks....a 9' and an 11'er...11' is a double sit on top. The 9'er a sit in. Not the most comfortable to fish out for any length of time if you've ever had back issues. They are very sensitive to fish out of...frustrating when throwing a spinner or crank bait can affect your steerage path....I'll never attempt to fish two people out of a double again.

Al, go borrow one from Brian so your wife can test one out to see how she likes it first.

Sometimes canoe and Kayak stores have field days at local lakes where the public can try out different boats. You might want to see if there will be one in your area in spring.

Definetely sit on top

There are several brands that have a fishing oriented model.

Have fished saltwater grass flats in one, great b/c you can get off/ on boat relatively easily. Wade the flats for a bit, then pop back on. The one I used had rod holders a small cooler a place for tackle and a bait well.

That is the problem in general I have with kayaks. My wife has one that she tools around the pond in and I have been in it, but for me they are just uncomfortable. It has a rod holder but I think she only actually fished out of it once. Usually just joy rides.

We have an aluminum 4 person pontoon paddle boat (Paddle King), but they are also a significant expense. Need to add a couple of rod holders, but otherwise it works well to fish out of in our pond. It is not light to drag in and out like a plastic kayak though. Ours stays in the water moored to the dock except gets taken out and put in the shed for winter. It is stable enough I can walk all the way around it. Sucks using it in the wind though. Sits up very high in the water so the wind blows it around badly. We put a half dozen permanent moorings in our pond so if it is windy we just paddle to the area we want to fish and tie up. When it is not windy it handles very well.

Not what most people would want to fish out of, but for us it sits up high in straight backed seats like sitting in a chair (we got the optional padded cushions). With my back that is what I need. Can also move around easily from the front to the back seat. It serves dual purpose for pleasure when we have guests and yet the flat platform works well for me fishing. We have the optional front table which works well to hold drinks and tackle box. We are kind of wimp anglers.

PK4400

Paddle King.com They also make small pontoon fishing boats.

Like I said, probably not what most people would want, but for our varied uses it suits us.

Snrub with that boat, I can see it would a pain going pond to pond. It does look comfy and with a trolling motor would be a enjoyable experience.
What I've learned pond fish get spooked too easily, up too high wearing bright colors and they run for hills. That's why I'm leaning towards a fishermen's kayak to be quieter and stealthy. I would like to have a few rod holders, a place to set a tackle box, fishfinder and a few back up rods, but also give me the option to stand up to make cast further if need be. As for a livewell or bait bucket I can do without, more or less use a floating fish basket possibly. If I plan on taking 3 friends then I would also need to look into something larger that everyone could enjoy.

Understand.

Wifes kayak is an Emotion Stealth Angler 11.

Might be more to your liking.
Emotion
Seemed a little better built and thicker bottom than some we looked at. She likes it.

I've submitted my letter to Santa for one of these, but doubt if it'll fit in his sleigh - or budget.
Regardless, it would be awesome for pond or lake fishing.
http://www.thrillon.com/tag/ultraskiff-360-one-of-the-coolest

Thats a awesome unique find Kelly. Thanks for the post. I would be very interested with some more testing and of coarse a price and product list of this of the fishing donut.

It depends on what qualities you need your boat for at the pond. I've had 6 boats at the pond which is 600 feet from the house. Two kayaks that are a pain to transport to the pond and too nice to leave there year around and too tipsy to be really comfortable in. Three flat bottom boats, one plastic that deteriorated from the sun, one fiberglass that was deteriorating from the sun and just to heavy to turn over when upside down for winter storage at the pond or to keep the rain out when not in use. And one wood that rotted from being turn upside down.

The boat that turned out best for my use is a light weight 12 aluminum john boat that I leave at the pond all of the time, won't deteriorate in year around weather, can be turned over with one finger, is extremely stable in the water, can hold several people if need be, and something I worry about is if someone or pet should fall through the ice I can move on the ice pushing the boat for rescue.

I have a 10 ft aluminum that I keep at the pond. I flip it over quickly and jump back. It is a great place for snakes to hang out. I haven't had any really close calls with them.

I once flipped it over and a young skunk came out. I lit out running with it right behind me. I don't think it was really chasing me. When I looked back it had stopped and was turning around and around spraying. Had to laugh.