Kayak Advice

[martom]

Thinking of buying a kayak. Was wondering if the anchors are working yet. Also, would like to know about maintenance costs vs rental costs. Any opinions on Kayak DLC vs buying one in the store? Any other relevant info would be appreciated.

[Maj.Tryhard]

Personally, I love the kayak. You can reach all the YouTube farming/uni spots without one, but there's tons of good fishing spots that can only be reached with the kayak. You just have to find them.

100% not required, but it was a complete game-changer for me. Not to mention, not every rod can cast far. With a kayak, you don't need to set everything up to maximize cast distsnce, which gives you a lot more freedom in what you use.

I also bought the 35k one, just because the price difference between them is small. Thirty grand is a lot of money, but I bought mine before I did my 30-day in NY. It would have cost me 30k just to rent a kayak there for 30 days, so I felt like it immediately paid itself off.

And as was said, positioning is huge with a kayak. In NY, for instance, the casting angle on the weeds to the right is shallow from the dock. With a kayak, you can anchor yourself in position to cast out and retrieve right along the edge of the weeds the whole way. You can also reach the area in the back left which is full of saucer, as well as some others.

New York is just the tip of the iceberg. The bigger the lake, the more fish are hidden out there; out of sight, out of mind for most people. If you like searching for all the 'secret' spots, like I do, the kayak will be your best friend.

And yes, I used mine extensively in Alberta. The lake looks simple enough, but there's a lot of good fish to be found along the far bank. I did a lot of fishing around the outlet, myself, and it can't be reached at all without a kayak.

[Juzt_Lernin]

Honestly didn't read all the comments but want to make sure somebody mentioned that if you are going to a lake that doesn't allow kayaks, which is more than 1/2 of them, put it in home storage. They charge you repair costs even if it can't be used(makes zero sense).

[Maj.Tryhard]

Originally posted by Juzt_Lernin:

Honestly didn't read all the comments but want to make sure somebody mentioned that if you are going to a lake that doesn't allow kayaks, which is more than 1/2 of them, put it in home storage. They charge you repair costs even if it can't be used(makes zero sense).

This is true, always best to avoid unnecessary expenses. I've always felt like the kayak maintenance is pretty low though. I've accidentally taken my kayak on a few long trips, and the repairs have never been significant. Seems like they don't take much 'damage' when you're not using them.

[Lenny Rat]

Originally posted by Maj.Tryhard:

Originally posted by Juzt_Lernin:

Honestly didn't read all the comments but want to make sure somebody mentioned that if you are going to a lake that doesn't allow kayaks, which is more than 1/2 of them, put it in home storage. They charge you repair costs even if it can't be used(makes zero sense).

This is true, always best to avoid unnecessary expenses. I've always felt like the kayak maintenance is pretty low though. I've accidentally taken my kayak on a few long trips, and the repairs have never been significant. Seems like they don't take much 'damage' when you're not using them.

So do you find that they allow you to reach areas that cannot be reached from shore at every location that you have used them? Or do they just give you different angles for casting?

[Maj.Tryhard]

@Lenny Absolutely. Even in NY, which is a very small lake, there's a section that can only be reached by kayak.

On larger lakes like Oregon and Alberta, there's a lot of spots that can only be accessed by kayak. Oregon, for instance, has a lot of weed beds out in the middle of the lake. They're great for catching smallmouth, and no rod can cast far enough to get anywhere near most of them. In Alberta, all the good spots I found for whitefish were unreachable without the kayak.

If you're the kind of person who's content just farming the same spot all the time for uniques of a lake's 'money' species, then a kayak might seem like a waste of money. If you like fishing around, to find your own spots not crowded with other people, then I think you'll love it.

You can always rent a kayak, to try it out, but at about 1k per day, I quickly chose to purchase my own. I've never regretted it. I just wish you could use one on every waterway. As it stands, they seem to only be usable in lakes, but not any rivers.

[Lenny Rat]

Originally posted by Maj.Tryhard:

@Lenny Absolutely. Even in NY, which is a very small lake, there's a section that can only be reached by kayak.

On larger lakes like Oregon and Alberta, there's a lot of spots that can only be accessed by kayak. Oregon, for instance, has a lot of weed beds out in the middle of the lake. They're great for catching smallmouth, and no rod can cast far enough to get anywhere near most of them. In Alberta, all the good spots I found for whitefish were unreachable without the kayak.

If you're the kind of person who's content just farming the same spot all the time for uniques of a lake's 'money' species, then a kayak might seem like a waste of money. If you like fishing around, to find your own spots not crowded with other people, then I think you'll love it.

You can always rent a kayak, to try it out, but at about 1k per day, I quickly chose to purchase my own. I've never regretted it. I just wish you could use one on every waterway. As it stands, they seem to only be usable in lakes, but not any rivers.

Excellent reply. Thank you for the advice. I plan on getting one for sure!

[Falcon]

Originally posted by Lenny Rat:

Originally posted by jazebiker:

Kayaks just make life better on all waterways where you can use them. There are a few uni spots only accessible by boat in CA, NY, and OR. I won't ruin the fun for you by naming names.

Pro tip: get the green one. Well worth the $35k or whatever they charge in the shop if you're at a place where you're not in a cash pinch. That's less than a top level reel, and adds quite a bit to the game, imo.

Great response...since I could not easily see what the heck the difference was between the models.

They all seemed to be pretty much the same aside from their weight. What makes the green one superior in your opinion?

There is a huge stamina difference between the green kayak and especially the silver one. Ican paddle all the way across St Croix without resting in the green one. Oh, and i almost forgot to mention the uni spots in Alberta that are only accessible by kayak.

[OldAces-noneya]

Originally posted by jazebiker:

Originally posted by Lenny Rat:

Great response...since I could not easily see what the heck the difference was between the models.

They all seemed to be pretty much the same aside from their weight. What makes the green one superior in your opinion?

There is a huge stamina difference between the green kayak and especially the silver one. Ican paddle all the way across St Croix without resting in the green one. Oh, and i almost forgot to mention the uni spots in Alberta that are only accessible by kayak.

Yesterday I Caught Unique Lake Trout and a Unique Splake from the Dock. Just for the record

[Falcon]

Originally posted by OldAces-noneya:

Originally posted by jazebiker:

There is a huge stamina difference between the green kayak and especially the silver one. Ican paddle all the way across St Croix without resting in the green one. Oh, and i almost forgot to mention the uni spots in Alberta that are only accessible by kayak.

Yesterday I Caught Unique Lake Trout and a Unique Splake from the Dock. Just for the record

Yes. They can also be caught from shore. There are spots you can't cast to from the dock, and some unis live out there.

[Marshall_maz]

Originally posted by jazebiker:

Originally posted by Lenny Rat:

Great response...since I could not easily see what the heck the difference was between the models.

They all seemed to be pretty much the same aside from their weight. What makes the green one superior in your opinion?

There is a huge stamina difference between the green kayak and especially the silver one. Ican paddle all the way across St Croix without resting in the green one. Oh, and i almost forgot to mention the uni spots in Alberta that are only accessible by kayak.

Originally posted by jazebiker:

Originally posted by OldAces-noneya:

Yesterday I Caught Unique Lake Trout and a Unique Splake from the Dock. Just for the record

Yes. They can also be caught from shore. There are spots you can't cast to from the dock, and some unis live out there.

I would like to know where exactly these spots are at Alberta. Like I mentioned yesterday I have yet to find a good spot back there. I would like to use my Kayak more , but couldn't find anything else than some whitefish and pike at the back and pike I can get from shore.

[halladay]

The whitefish are the main target by boat in Alberta. I've never found a reliable shore spot for them. Also people seem to do better for pike with boats. Finaly I know some players use boats to extend their reach when going for lake trout. I do not see the need but other than to help people not break gear I do not tend to challenge other people's play stlyes

[OldAces-noneya]

Just go buy a Kayak

[Falcon]

Originally posted by Marshall_maz:

Originally posted by jazebiker:

There is a huge stamina difference between the green kayak and especially the silver one. Ican paddle all the way across St Croix without resting in the green one. Oh, and i almost forgot to mention the uni spots in Alberta that are only accessible by kayak.

Originally posted by jazebiker:

Yes. They can also be caught from shore. There are spots you can't cast to from the dock, and some unis live out there.

I would like to know where exactly these spots are at Alberta. Like I mentioned yesterday I have yet to find a good spot back there. I would like to use my Kayak more , but couldn't find anything else than some whitefish and pike at the back and pike I can get from shore.

One is to the left of the left campfire if you're facing the far shore. Pulled a uni out of there last time. Best way to fish it is park about 50 ft out of the campfire facing the ice sheet and fish parallel to shore. There is also a uni brookie spot right up next to the ice past the cliff. Got my PB brookie out of there.

[MarktheMuffin]

Alberta, my fav place to get double Uni Trouts, still working on the triple catch, hardley ever fish from shore now, buy from shop.

[Lenny Rat]

Dang it.

I now see that I cannot buy the Silver version until I'm L36! At L19 I'm pretty limited to the blue model or wait a bit for the green.

Not wure if it is worth dropping 30K for the blue one when the silver is only 35K; but it will be a long wait.