Kayak

[tycomps]

Originally Posted by msgdan

Spend 30 minutes with Jon Shein at "the kayak fishing store" in Fairfield and all your questions will be answered. If he doesn't have something in your price range, you will still walk out of the store with thousands of dollars worth of information and then you can decide what to get.

My first kayak was a 10 foot sit in side and I caught plenty of fish with it and even had it out in the ocean on perfect condition days. I have a couple different one's now, but still catch plenty with the 10 footer.

Danny V

thanks dan, I was waiting for your input as in my opinion you're the kayak king here

I had sent John a question previously but didn't receive an answer, I think I will make the trip to his store now.

[tycomps]

just heard something regarding comfort level of sit ins vs sit ons, ability to bend knees for comfort, hard to imagine sitting at a 90 degree angle for hours....true?

[acabtp]

Most fishing sit-ins will have a big enough cockpit that that isn't an issue. I can sit indian style in my Dagger Delta for instance. Some touring and whitewater kayaks have a tighter cockpit fit where that may become a problem.

Either way though, sit in or sit on, when you are paddling, you are always in the same position because you brace yourself in the boat, knees slightly bent, feet pressing on footrests and back against backrest (and thighs against knee braces with a sit in). You will properly adjust this before using the kayak and it should not be uncomfortable for long periods of time. Without a well braced position in the kayak, you end up using your arms instead of your whole upper body and that wastes a large portion of your paddling energy.

Floating around out of brace position there are plenty of ways to move. I am a fan of the "dangling my feet in the water" but not really this time of year.

If it floats it'll help you catch fish. For all around fishing in this area a 12' SOT is hard to beat. It's small enough to still fish small waters and can be put on a cart and wheeled into a remote location but it will also handle large impoundments and saltwater.

At this time of year there's some terrific buys available so you can often get more kayak than you thought. I know a place that has a few models clearing out at cost.