Are sit on fishing kayaks worth having?

[Paikea]

I saw a lady paddling a sit-on fishing kayak at Narrawallee Inlet yesterday. Looked very smart with 5 rod holders, waterproof containers, a paddle retaining cord, all the bells and whistles and only $369.00.

The lady claimed to be very happy with it and had caught a decent bag of Whiting from it the day before.

Looking at the internet there are dozens of these kayaks for sale, all priced around $350.00 to $450.00.

My question is, are these just a toy or a serious fishing craft for limited travel fishing estuary flats and oyster leases?

Just how comfortable and stable are they?

The Chairperson of our family has offered to buy me one for an upcoming birthday, are they worth having?

Thanks for any advice from someone who has one.

Cheers

Paikea

[reese]

seems cheap for fishing kayak (but im not a Kayak owner) father inlaws was alot more exspensive.

can you try one and test it out see if it suits you?

[Onajewagain]

I used to bring them in from China. They are a good craft, suited to estuary (not offshore) and as always, wear a pfd. I'll pm you the seller with the same as we used to bring in.

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[stormy]

Well, I have an opinion . I owned a Prowler 4.5m which was great, but then fished out of and bought a Hobie Outback for fishing. Wouldn't go back. It is stable, well designed, holds it's value, made for fishing. You can add $2k to the price you are looking at though, Paikea.

I will try and get down to drop off some hooks to you soon......

Edited February 9, 2015 by stormy

[Scratchie]

Paikea,

They are awesome. Very stable and pretty tough. I use mine around the lease up here but also chasing bass on some fairly rough terrain. Not great for offshore fishing but rivers and estuary, no problem!

Cheers scratchie!!!

[Time28]

I got one a couple of months ago and after always being land based find it a great way to get to places that were normally out of reach.

I fish Brisbane waters(central coast nsw) .Have caught flathead,bream,whiting and blue swimmer crabs.

Just fished Terrigal haven Sunday morning caught 12 calamari.

Lip grips and a net are handy(not easy to deal with flathead and crabs without them).

I put an esky behind the seat and a keep net over the side.

Longest I've been it it is 5 hours.

Legs and bum can get little sore but there are plenty of places to pull up to for a stretch.

Stability I find to be really good.

[Witha]

Mate I've got the larger cousin of these, same deal China mass produced and sold under different names. I love it. Not the highest quality fittings but can't really screw up rotomoulded plastic. Got mine in a similar bundle deal for 700 and mine is suitable for offshore. Bum gets a bit sore after 6 hours on the water but it's a great way to fish without the hassle of boating.

Probably wouldn't go as far as buying a hobie although I would love one. Could get a tinnie for a bit more.

But it gets me off the bank and I've had some cracker catches

[bennoz]

ive got a stealth kayak, which i take offshore. Its great. kayak fishing in general is great !

those cheap chinese fleabay kayaks are okay. they are for estuary ONLY. any swell or shop and you will find it tough

but to get you started, and if your only fishing estuary / not going long distances then theyre a great

from memory they're wide which = stable, but wide also means harder to paddle.

they also dont have a rudder, so your going to need a bit of practice or you'l end up paddling around in circles

theyre short too which means theyre slower, but more manuverable

[GreyNurse]

Mate,

Tick all of the above. Hobies are the duck's guts of the kayak world in Australia, and have been for a good few years. The cheap and cheerfuls are fine, but, like all craft, consider where you will be fishing from it before choosing which make, model, size, etc. Mine's a 3m cheap and cheerful and I fish estuaries and lakes. I wouldn't risk going offshore in it.

Being rotomoulded plastic, there's no end to tricking them out, especially if you get creative with PVC. Check the owners' pictures in the pinned entry in this forum to get some ideas.

It's a different, but excellent and fun way to fish. Or just hit a system explore those areas that you can't get the boat into. Either way, I'm sure you won;t regret having a 'yak as a back up craft.

Edited February 11, 2015 by GreyNurse

[Paikea]

"Mate I've got the larger cousin of these, same deal China mass produced and sold under different names. I love it. Not the highest quality fittings but can't really screw up rotomoulded plastic. Got mine in a similar bundle deal for 700 and mine is suitable for offshore."

Thanks all, my mate has just bought one and is going to let me try it out when I get back from Tassie. If my bum is too wide to fit I may have to look at the bigger model that Witha mentioned.

What size/brand/weight is the larger model?

I am just looking for something easy to throw on top of the car and fish the flats or throw some lures around the moored boats in Port Hacking for a couple of hours late afternoons without having to put my big boat (5.6 Tournament)in the water.

Thanks

Cheers

Paikea

[Witha]

"Mate I've got the larger cousin of these, same deal China mass produced and sold under different names. I love it. Not the highest quality fittings but can't really screw up rotomoulded plastic. Got mine in a similar bundle deal for 700 and mine is suitable for offshore."

Thanks all, my mate has just bought one and is going to let me try it out when I get back from Tassie. If my bum is too wide to fit I may have to look at the bigger model that Witha mentioned.

What size/brand/weight is the larger model?

I am just looking for something easy to throw on top of the car and fish the flats or throw some lures around the moored boats in Port Hacking for a couple of hours late afternoons without having to put my big boat (5.6 Tournament)in the water.

Thanks

Cheers

Paikea

Hey mate it's 3.85m bout 30 kilos. Not the absolute easiest to load but she's big and stable.

I bought mine from C-kayaks in taren point under the name "Scorpio terrapin xl"

For bigger blokes it's perfect taken it out on the hacking quite a few times got my pb snapper and loads of bream out on the flats. Main reason I really like it compared to the smaller ones is the foot controlled rudder! Its priceless. So easy to turn and makes tracking straight in current easy as

[Paikea]

Thanks Witha, googling it now.

Cheers

Paikea

[Camo1808]

Yeah tjey are awesome for estuaries. Mine has 4 rod holders and a 360 degree swivel rod holder. Comes with drink holder. Seat. Oar and very stable and durable hard plastic. I know a bloke in sydney gets them shipped in for only 280. Cheap as and awesome quality. Sorry admin if i cant say that. Cheers. I love mine and the fact its great exercise

[fisher_ash]

I got a sit on top for $300. No complaints, 4 rod holders + 1 swivel rod holder in the middle and a couple waterproof compartments. I fish estuaries with no issues. Chuck a milk crate on the back of the kayak and you're good to go.

[quochuy]

I have one of the cheap ones. Great for estuary. They are very stable and even without rudder it’s kinda ok to paddle with. I can also stand on it while fishing top surface lure for bream. Took it to Terrigal once and went a bit out, was small swell so all good.

When you have yours try to practice re-entry in case you capsize, not that difficult but if you manage to get back on it a few times then you’ll be more confident. Also sit on the yak and tilt your body to the side until you capsize this is to learn when your yak will let you down.

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[GreyNurse]

So Paikea,

Any update on obtaining a yak for your ownsome yet?