Kayaks

[Rob]

I know I have posted about using kayak before !
But I just can't say enough about how great they work for getting you into places that other boats can go . We use them for Duck hunting and fly fishing and just for fun.

Cody and I went out last week to check out a local lake and the fish were
on fire. We paddled our kayak thought some tree into a area were a small stream comes into the lake. The water was boiling with bluegill and a few bass. Cody used a foam beetle and I used a small soft hackle that one small bass just could not resist.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/rgkempton/Fly%20fishing%20Utah/cropped.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/rgkempton/Fly%20fishing%20Utah/closeup.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/rgkempton/Fly%20fishing%20Utah/DSCN0010-2.jpg

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I think that getting "on the water" in something that floats you is really cool.

It opens up huge areas to fly fish.

[JT]

I'm new to kayaking, but fishing from kayaks can be a blast. My wife, brother-in-law, and I went out a few times last summer and caught tons of bluegill and bass from kayaks.

[Rob]

The thing I like about Kayak is that you can cover a lot of water compared to a float tube or pontoon boat.
We use them here in Utah to get Wipers and small mouth bass on Willards bay .

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/rgkempton/Fly%20fishing%20Utah/resized.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/rgkempton/Fly%20fishing%20Utah/DSCN0010.jpg

[Hairstacker]

Rob, Great pictures! That 1st set of pictures really illustrates well the type of situation where a kayak absolutely excells. Can't envision a better approach for tackling that kind of water so closely and quietly. I too often seek out water where neither a boat or a person on foot can get to. :D

[Rob]

The area we are fishing in the first photos you can't walk in because of private property . Also the trees are so close together you cant get a boat or float tube in . The kayaks are the only way in unless you swim.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/rgkempton/Fly%20fishing%20Utah/cropped.jpg

[SuperFlyGuy]

dangit.... okay.. Im buying a kayak as soon as I get my bonus from work.

[Rickey Noel Mitchell]

Hey Micah,
Hey Rob you have pretty much named all the virtues of the sit inside. For hunting they could be the best way to go. I tried fly-fishing out of a sea kayak spry skirt, Eskimo Roll, the whole nine yards. It can be done but it’s not for the unskilled.
However when the time comes that you do capsize in a sit inside particularly a recreation sit in side kayak, (bigger opening) that kayak will weigh three times more than what it did empty. For any waters but rough and windy waters and the ocean they can be a good way to go.
Micah…I find sit on tops are the way to go for me because of the rigging and sit up options they give you, particularly now that they are making them out of composite (check out my post New Year New Yak)
If I were going to buy a plastic kayak it would be one of the WS Tarpons or their new Ride for those that want to stand and cast.
In a plastic yak a good combination of speed and stability is hard to find unless it’s a composite body.

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n265/paddle-and-flies/BlackhawkAlturacopy.jpg


If you can afford the $1699 for the Alture, you won’t be sorry.
About the Hobie. First of all I am sponsored by Current Designs Kayaks. I mention this because I don’t want anyone to think I’m just attacking the competition. What happened is fact and it happened before I ever worked with Current Desighs.
I used a Hobbie adventure for a year. Between being a guide and a fishing addict I probably paddle at least 15 days a month. After a few months the hobie started leaking. At first it was a slow leak. which I didn’t feel was anything to worry about.
The last time I used the Adventure was on the Delta at Franks Track I’d had a pretty good day of fishing, and I was heading back when I noticed the Adventure was paddling and peddling a bit sluggish. When I reached open water I also notice the water was up to just under the logo on the side of the kayak. It was a good thing I wasn’t far from the launch, because when I got there I took off the hatch and looked inside the hull was almost half filled with water.
When I got the Hobie Home I it filled with water in hopes of finding the leak… no luck. I took it out to a local lake the next day and peddled it with the hatches off. Within minutes I heard the water coming in.
It was leaking from the seam line the opening where you put the drive in and it leaked when I peddled. To be fair to Hobie this was the first year for the Adventure model. They have repair kits they will send out for this problem because it did happened to other people ,or they will honor their warranty by replacing their hull.
(the body).
This was a subject I felt needed addressing.
See everybody at the expo.