Kayak?

[jbridered]

I am thinking of buying a kayak but dont really know the first thing about them. Does anyone here have experience with a kayak. Sit on top or sit in? I dont want anything over 12ft.

[Trask]

Me and Caddis ( Jeff ) did a few very memorable hunts in his Kayaks...He flipped his on the maiden voyage

I really like the sit -on top for open or slow water.

[willybee]

hello-i live in southwest missouri, and logged 400 kayak miles in 2010. i hunt arrowheads by kayak. this year, i have floated the red river in tennessee, the peace river in florida, and many, many streams and creeks and even HUGE rivers and lakes here in missouri.

i have two boats, both nine feet 10 inches long. i have tried longer boats, but they are both too heavy and too long to be maneuverable. length gives you better tracking straight ahead when paddling. shorter boats will move left and right as you paddle. if your boat is long you track like a dream, but will end up in the drink in many situations where you will be unable to maneuver in swift currents and small spaces. long boats are for lakes and big rivers. they work fine there. but forget about length when it comes to streams and creeks.

my boat weighs 38 pounds empty. add 10 pounds of gear, and thats all you want to lift-easily anyway. hope that helps you, by the way, i am five foot 10, 170 pounds, and i am the maximum height that fits to the pegs in a 9 foot 10 inch boat.

good luck, its awesome fun, wear your lifejacket. sit on top is great, but you have no protection on cold days. if you float only warm days-sit on top is fine. my best floats are fall winter and spring, summer is the worst time for floating, believe it or not.

I tell this next part to all the newbies i have trained to kayak-take it as a joke if you want, but i remember it every float- its something that may save your life:

- remember the river is full of trolls. they live under the water, and will grab your boat, flip it, and then grab you, and keep you there to live with them-under the cold cold water.......never float alone, always tell someone where you are going and when you will be back........and live to float another day.
willy

[douglas]

sit on tops are best, it's better to practice gittin in and out of one in about 1 & a 1/2 foot of water that way when u spill the bottom is not far away. willybee gave some good advice, although thats our favorite time of the yr to kayak is the summer when the dirt is too hard to dig, their handier than a third arm! a good 10 footer will run u about $350 bucks, life jacket and paddle is extra, make sure u git the extra long paddle with paddles on both ends so u dont have to alternate and keep switching sides like with a traditional boat paddle

[jbridered]

Thanks for all the help. I am gonna mostly be using it on a lake. This lady wants to sell me her old jeti sit inside for $75.

[Bonehunter]

Originally Posted by jbridered

Thanks for all the help. I am gonna mostly be using it on a lake. This lady wants to sell me her old jeti sit inside for $75.

I have Two kayaks. One is about 9' and was my first. All it took was one trip on a windy day on a small lake to make me realize I had made a mistake. What makes them easy to maneuver on a small creek or bayou is their downfall out in the open. My second trip, I went with a friend on the trinity. He had a 13-1/2 ft Wilderness Ride 135 Sit-On-Top. He was constantly way ahead of me both with and against the current and winds. Wiothin a month, I got one of the same and have never looked back. The Ride 135 is super stable and tracks beautifully. It's not the fastest, but it will hold its own and you have plenty of hull for storage. It coulf be lighter (at 70 Lbs.) but what they hey.

My advice is to go to a reputable dealer, one that allows try-outs, and decide which you feel most comfortable in. One piece of advice. Start doing deep knee bends and limber yourself up. Squatting down to get into those thngs takes some getting used to for us old farts. For yoou young 'uns... well, that's another story.

Keep in touch, You have my number, and maybe on one of my trips over we could do a float on one of the creks north of you and hunt some gravel bars.

[jbridered]

Ok that sounds good. Thanks for the info

[Shannon Graham]

Willybee & Bonehunter - Thanks for sharing that great advice. I'm looking as well.

Shannon

[cgode]

I second that Shannon, thanks to all for their input as I too, am in the market.

[Brian Higgins]

Thats cool Willybee I didnt know that about the lenght the smaller the boat the better it handles but what about the width I would think that the width would make it more stable.