Short Whitewater Kayaks?

[talldude33]

Has anyone on here ever fished out of one of those little 7 or 8ft whitewater kayaks? I recently moved up to Boone NC for school and have no where to keep/use my 14ft coleman scanoe that I use on the lakes back home. Ive seen lots of people up here that are into white water kayaking and it seems like it would be something fun to get into, however I would like to get a boat that I could also fish from. I am aware that a boat like this doesn't offer as much space, but with minimal gear could one of these work as a decent fishing platform?
Thanks for the insight,
-Talldude

[mb4850]

Never been in one but would imagine they aren't very stable.

[bfish]

Whitewater kayaks are made to be on edge to cut through current. On flat water they would be awful hard to fish from.

Since your limited on space, consider a U-shaped float tube with flippers or kayak paddle OR a small inflatable kick boat with oars OR they do have 10-12' long fishing kayaks (Jackson Coosa, Jackson Daytripper, Wilderness System Tarpon100, Native MantaRay10 etc).

[talldude33]

I know there are better fishing specific options, I was just wondering if it would be reasonable to try and fish out of a smaller whitewater kayak if I got one for rapid riding.

[2KanZam]

As Bfish said, Whitewater kayaks, squirt boats and creek boats are awfully hard to fish from and rig for fishing (I've tried)

When I got tired of borrowing yaks and went to buy my own, I had similar needs: Some whitewater ability, compact, decent fishing platform....but I also wanted alot of carrying capacity to camp in and room one or two paddlers. I ended up with an inlfatable whitewater duckie (Sea Eagle 380x) and it covers all my bases....It might be a little slow in flatwater and get blown around a little bit on a lake but other then that it has served me well. It rolls up into a 3x1.5 foot pack, 45 lbs (so it is easy to move and fits in trunk/out of the way) has a 750lb capacity, is stable enough to stand on, handles class IV whitewater well and I have even made a fishfinder mount and rod holders. There's tons of room to move and carry coolers and it is made of outfitter grade 1000 denier nylon with two layer of 32 gauge pvc, so puncturing is not much of an issue.



The duckie is the one on the left...the other is my "4 man" raft...There are other whitewater duckies, but this was more versatile than any I could find, was a drier ride when I wanted it to be and quite frankly better quality for less money (how often does that happen?).....so.....just a thought?!

[talldude33]

As Bfish said, Whitewater kayaks, squirt boats and creek boats are awfully hard to fish from and rig for fishing (I've tried)

When I got tired of borrowing yaks and went to buy my own, I had similar needs: Some whitewater ability, compact, decent fishing platform....but I also wanted alot of carrying capacity to camp in and room one or two paddlers. I ended up with an inlfatable whitewater duckie (Sea Eagle 380x) and it covers all my bases....It might be a little slow in flatwater and get blown around a little bit on a lake but other then that it has served me well. It rolls up into a 3x1.5 foot pack, 45 lbs (so it is easy to move and fits in trunk/out of the way) has a 750lb capacity, is stable enough to stand on, handles class IV whitewater well and I have even made a fishfinder mount and rod holders. There's tons of room to move and carry coolers and it is made of outfitter grade 1000 denier nylon with two layer of 32 gauge pvc, so puncturing is not much of an issue.



The duckie is the one on the left...the other is my "4 man" raft...There are other whitewater duckies, but this was more versatile than any I could find, was a drier ride when I wanted it to be and quite frankly better quality for less money (how often does that happen?).....so.....just a thought?!

Nice looking boats definatley something to think about, were the kayaks that you tried to unstable to fish from or just not enough room?

[2KanZam]

Nice looking boats definatley something to think about, were the kayaks that you tried to unstable to fish from or just not enough room?

The squirt/playboats definitely lack the stability you want fishing, and NO room. Every cast feels wobbly...and I want to relax more than that when fishing. The Creekboats and general whitewater boats are more stable, but there is just not enough room to hold gear.....a lack of tie-downs, modifications like rod holders and stuff were going to be difficult to place......in general not enough room to grow as your fishing needs/wants change. IMO they will just end up taking away from the fishing experience.

The jackson Coosa will handle some minor whitewater (class 2+ and what I call "squishy 3s"-no rocks) and are very nice boats, I almost bought one.....but I wanted even more stability, whitewater ability and cargo capacity than they offered. I'm still thinking of getting one for my more flatwater runs...

There are also alot of inflatable catamarans out there....seen some go through some major class 5 rapids and will carry gear well. But they can be pretty brutal in flat/slow water, like my 4 man raft.