My son got exposed to kayak fishing at a friends house a couple weeks ago. He messed around in their cove fishing for shellcracker and he is hooked! Where can I get started gathering information on kayaks. Ideally I would get one for me and one for him(and his brother eventually). I’d probably like to buy used to start with. Any particular brands I should avoid?
The best way to find out which kayak works best for you is to test them. There are many contributing factors in choosing the right kayak. Where do you plan to fish? The perfect boat for a calm creek probably isn’t going to be ideal beyond the breakers. I recommend going to Time Out sports and talk with the staff. They have rental kayaks as well. You and your son could rent two different boats and take turns paddling them.
If two wrongs don’t make a right, try three.
I would echo that same advice. There is nothing like paddling a few boats to see what really fits. There is an East Coast Paddlesports and Outdoor Festival every spring here in Charleston where you can go and paddle just about every type of kayak made including a huge variety of fishing kayaks. But that’s a long way off and the guys at Time Out are great. They sell several of the leading brands of boats, lots of related accessories and are eager to help. The rental idea is a great one and not only gives you the opportunity to try out different boats, but gets you and your son out on the water and spending time together which is what it’s all about anyway.
Hobie Outback
WS Ride 135
There is a lot of info out there on the interwebs as far as the types/sizes/etc…if you are in the area, come out to Folly Landing this Saturday morning at seven…we’ll be meeting there to go fish around the area. You can see what a number of the guys are using to fish out of - maybe that can give you some ideas to research for you and your kids.
Besides this site also check out yakangler.com. There is a much of information there along with kayak reviews and other products.
