Thread: Anyone using inflatable Kayaks (duckies)?

Originally Posted by bfish

Just my opinion, but based on 25 years of fishing from canoes and kayak and 20 years as whitewater raft guide in the southern Appalachians, an inflatable boat such as yours, is very poor crappie fishing platform for 99% of the people out there. Kayak and canoes can be had new for about half the cost (up to almost equal cost) and have much better performance, easy of use, etc. If portability is an issue, float tubes or solo inflatable pontoons would be a better option for most people.

That said, your boat is fine for floating rivers with constant flow (not the best, but good enough). As I stated earlier, if it works good for you then that is great. I am thinking it would make a better smallmouth and/or trout water boat, rather than crappie.

Some suggestions for rigging your boat:

tracking-- Aire and others have fins you can add that will help with tracking. Use on rivers will knock them off. I assume the outer layer is PVC (I think that is what I felt on the SE pontoons that i have seen), so it should be easy to glue on.

I would also add a raised seat by laying a 1x8 wood or plastic cutting board across the boat. You will need to add d-rings to strap the board down. Once mounted (near center or slightly forward if you store a lot weight behind you), you can then strap your seat on the deck board. This elevation will make it easier to see, nicer on the ole knees, and gets your elbows out of being trapped in the boat (making for easier casting). Don't raise too high, as it might affect you center of gravity, but being a 3 ft wide boat, I sort of doubt this small of an increase will be noticeable.

With the elevated seat, you should be able to use a shorter paddle and more vertical stroke. Faster cadence and more vertical stroke will help with tracking, and a shorter paddle is not only lighter but stiffer.

Next I would add a pvc frame (strapped to d-rings) to provide tie down areas for coolers (one for minnows and another for drinks/food). This would be behind the seat but with in reach. I prefer soft-sided for food/drinks. This area can also be used for dry bag/pelican box to store emergency supplies (including dry clothes in fall/winter/spring plus rain jacket).

Third I would add another pvc frame up towards the bow (again strapped to d-rings). This is to provide stiffness to the sidewalls (needed since your weight is now on the sidewalls rather than the floor). Also the crossbars can be used for tackle storage and a place to rest your rod tips (add a rod holder (foam gripper style) to the crossbar.


I have not attacked you, sorry you feel that way. However, some of it may stem from the nearly constant barrage of thinly veiled advertisements from SeaEagle pontoons on another local to me board; always with gusto that they are the best. Decent yes, but best--not even close (IMO).

Hopefully some of my rigging tips will help you out.

PS bluestone is a pretty one, been about 18 years since I was on it. I don't recall any class 3 other than the old mill dam, but my memory may be slipping.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I guess the point is I wasn't asking if anyone thought it was a good crappie platform or not. I got it to run whitewater and camp. Although I think this works well as a fishing platform for me.........(you are spot on, bass and trout are my primary targets)

I do have a skeg (the boat has a mount) which helps its tracking, but far from perfect. The seats have me pretty high up already, I tried them a little higher, but am more comfortable where they are at and it provided no appreciable benefit.

If you read earlier in the thread you'll see that I have already come up with a solution and I'll post the pics. I think it works well....


Yep....Bluestone is beautiful (see link). The old mill dam is at the very end of what's considered upper Bluestone and the dam is MAYBE a 3...maybe. From Eads Mill (the town) down for about a mile to just past brushy fork are the biggest rapids and not coincidentally where the class 3s are (even 3+ at some levels).....from there on down to the lake is pretty much 1s. It's gorgeous down there and I just made a mistake taking in too much scenery. Water will sneak up on ya like that sometimes!

American Whitewater - 2. Eads Mill to Bluestone State Park, Bluestone West Virginia, US

2KanZam I've not done much whitewater rafting but what little I did was fun. I'm sure you can fish from your raft quite well. I'm just not sure how to help you rig it, but what I learned when I started kayaking was to start slow on the rigging.

Ive never done any whitewater rafting, but I'd sure be interested in seeing how you set it up. Post some pictures.

Originally Posted by kb2112

Ive never done any whitewater rafting, but I'd sure be interested in seeing how you set it up. Post some pictures.

I keep forgetting to take pics of it but here is one I cropped so you could see what I did....The velcro on top holds the FF itself, and the two black straps below hold the battery snugly into two little wedges cut out of the PVC and an extra supporting plastic ledge. The left Pole mount is cut for a spinning reel or baitcast and the right one is larger to facilitate the ole' lady's spincast zebco or a spinning reel. A strap hold the whole thing to the front seat (as pictured), a cooler or it can be tucked under the bow bag.

I made it from a plastic trash can, pvc and two shelf brackets top suuport the top tray. I think I'm going to add a little mount to hold my handheld garmin GPS as well.






(sorry about the poor quality pic)......

Oh...and here's a pic of the fleet at the boat ramp the otherday...



I just bought the larger raft....it has a solid floor that I can stand on and is almost as nice as my whitewater duckie. I did a little re-arranging on the new boat once we got on the water...I moved the seat with the back (the one closest in the pic) to sit ontop of the cooler to give me a nice high vantage point while fishing and one of the small benches was moved to give me back support while rowing and more floor space. The thing hanging off the rope is my 2 minute on-the-fly solution to mounting the transducer for the FF....I'll figure something better out.

There is more about the new boat in a thread I just posted here.

2KanZam,

New here too. I fish from a Hobie i12s. I bought the boat solely for fishing & had no previous kayak experience or real interest in kayaking. I own a compact car and live in a townhouse with no garage & limited basement access, so inflatable was the only way to go.



The i12s folds into a 4x4x2 case, so my rule of thumb was whatever goes on has to come off and fit in a milk crate. I also wanted to limit the number of hard points added to the boat. The crate has a 3 rod holder on one end and a Scotty rod holder mount on the side (where the silver baitcaster is in pic). There is a small Lowrance unit and another rod holder w/ extender arm (blue baitcaster) mounted on a 8x10 poly cutting board forward of the seat. The board is attached with 3 straps to a forward tri-eye, the handle, and the seat tri-eye. The board sits on 2 Hobie accessory mounts. I use these for feet rather than gluing them to the boat. You could accomplish something similar with rubber feet or skids. The transducer is mounted on a folding/swinging arm made of 1/2" PVC (it's folded up in the pic).

So...to get on the water I bungie down the crate, connect the 3 board straps, swing down the transducer and start fishing. The battery is a 10 cell AA holder stuck in a small dry bag. I usually throw it in the forward hatch. The power lasts for at least a full day & you can always just stick fresh batteries in it if needed. The Scotty mounts can be adjusted for trolling if desired.

All in all it works pretty well. The transducer arm creates a little drag. It also will interfere with the anchor trolley I'm getting ready to install. I've seen guys mount the transducer on the rudder or use the suction cup mounts so I may look into that. I'd be a little nervous if I hooked anything big with the rod in the forward holder, but that's a good kind of nervous .

Hope this helps.

That looks like a really nice rig. I have an Outback and this looks kind of like an inflatable version. What type of fishing do you like to do and what game fish do you chase, bass, crappie, ect.? Do you fish lakes, reserviors, rivers?

mb4850,The Outback is what I would have bought if I could transport & store it. I like to think the i12s is kind of an inflatable Outback.I've had the boat since April. I've spent more time modding it than fishing from it! I've only had it out 5 or 6 times on small local lakes & tributaries of the Chesapeake. July 4 weekend will be the maiden voyage on the Chesapeake, conditions willing.I mostly fish for bass & panfish. I want to target more salt species like stripers, blues & croakers that I've been restricted to catching from piers & shore. Planning a trip to Virginia Beach in September so I need to hone my yak fishing chops by then!