Using a kayak for fishing is becoming increasingly popular, and it’s easy to see why. Because of the many benefits associated with kayaks for fishing, they are also more cost-effective than other vessels such as boats or canoes.
1) Kayaks offer incredible versatility when it comes to fishing.
When you’re fishing, it’s great if you can shake things up from time to time and do things a little differently.
After all, fishing the same place every time can be comfortable and enjoyable, but sometimes it can get boring, especially if there are no good fish.
Owning a kayak allows you a wonderful change of scenery because it offers you amazing versatility. You can easily position yourself in almost any type of body of water, and you can pick the fish you want.
With a kayak, it doesn’t matter if you want to fish the ocean, a large lake, a small pond, or a lazy river: you can choose exactly where you want to be, and your kayak will get you there!
Fishing in a certain place at a certain time of day is not always possible because of the position of the sun or the direction of the wind. Stationary fishing requires that you occasionally have to pack up your gear and leave the location when the sun starts to shine in your eyes or the wind starts to bother you too much.
Kayaks allow you to change position when you find the sun getting annoying, and you may find that you can stay fishing longer, which is definitely a big advantage!
2) They are much more compact and portable than other types of boats.
If you ask any fisherman who uses a kayak, they will probably tell you that kayaks are much better than canoes, even if you only consider how compact and portable they are.
Their compactness and portability make them easy to take with you while you’re looking for the perfect fishing spot. Many fishermen transport their kayaks in their cars and store them in their home garage when they run out.
It’s also quite possible that you won’t need outside help to lift and carry your kayak, and you’ll do quite well on your own.
The smaller size of kayaks also means that you can easily fit into narrower waterways and smaller ponds if you want.
3) Kayaks offer more stability than canoes.
Looking at the shape of canoes and considering how stable they are on the water, you’ll need quite a bit of skill if you want to stay high and dry over the water.
Fortunately, kayaks are much more stable, and the chance of them tipping over is virtually eliminated. The paddles, in particular, make them very stable on the water, so you never have to worry about being thrown into the water, even when the waves are pretty choppy.
4) You can use your kayak in smaller bodies of water and deeper waters.
As every fisherman knows, fishing from shore can be pretty limited, and you can really miss out on good fish because you are not optimally positioned right in the water.
With a kayak, this is simply not a problem, and you can easily access both smaller waterways and deeper bodies of water. The vast majority of kayak owners state that they will never go back to a fishing boat or canoe because kayaks offer them much better access to previously unseen fishing spots.
When you go into deeper waters, you have a better chance of catching top-notch fish, which depends on the safety of deeper waters.
5) You are spoiled for choice kayaks!
The kayak market is literally exploding these days, and manufacturers are constantly coming up with new and more innovative designs and features.
6) You don’t have to spend a fortune on a good quality kayak.
Another big advantage of buying a fishing kayak is that you don’t have to rob the bank, and your budget doesn’t have to be very high.
By investing as little as $1,000 to $3,000, you can easily afford to buy a premium quality kayak with a modern design.
7) Kayaks are incredibly easy to launch.
If you’ve ever owned a boat or canoe, you understand how difficult it can sometimes be to launch your craft.
Kayaks don’t pose that problem, and you don’t even need a ramp to launch them! You can launch them from almost anywhere along the shoreline, and you don’t need the water to be particularly deep. It’s basically just a case of dump and go!
Plus, you don’t have to pay expensive launch fees every time you use a boat ramp on the local waterway, which will save you even more money in the long run.
8) They offer you an element of adventure.
With larger boats and canoes, you are limited in where you can go, and your fishing experience can sometimes get a little boring.
Kayaks, on the other hand, don’t give you the same problem, and you can go wherever your adventurous mind leads you. Moving around in a kayak is fun, exciting and unusual, and you never get bored of looking at the same old scenery (as with canoes and boats).
Of course, fishing is your main concern with a kayak, but if you can explore new and amazing places at the same time, why not?
9) If you fish, a kayak can help you make more money.
As mentioned above, kayaks allow anglers access to more waterways and bodies of water than traditional watercraft. They also allow you to stay fishing longer, and that can lead to more fish caught and more earnings if fishing is your job!
Combine that with the relatively low cost of buying a kayak and not having to pay insurance premiums, launch and registration fees, and you can make even more money!
10) Kayaks are more economical to operate than fishing boats.
In these tough economic times, people are trying to save money wherever they can. If you’re worried about the cost of fuel you’re spending to operate your fishing boat, you might consider switching to a kayak instead, which doesn’t need any fuel at all.
The cost of a fishing boat is also quite high compared to a kayak, and the money you will save on the direct cost of your kayak and fuel may mean that you can afford better fishing supplies and equipment.
In fact, a new kayak will cost you about $500 to $1500, and it will last you for years, if not decades. You can save even more if you choose a kayak that is used gently and is readily available and advertised in most fishing groups and social media publications.
When you consider the fact that you don’t have to insure the kayak (which is not bad for a fishing boat), and you don’t have to pay any registration fees, it’s an additional savings.