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Kayaks were meant for fishing and hunting
By:Paul G. Jacobson
Date: 12/13/2007, 6:20 pm

: I've been looking around the internet for a few days for a s&g design for a
: fishing sea kayak without much success. I think I need an experienced
: person to let me know if it is even worth getting a sit in kayak if i want
: to fish with it.

Abandon all doubts. Kayaks were conceived with the idea of having a stable boat to hunt and fish from.

Modern designs have stressed the "play" aspects of these boats (surfing, racing, bouncing in rapids, etc.), so look at some of the older--maybe MUCH older--designs. The older designs have wide open cockpits which give you room to move around

As a start, try Clark Craft. (www.clarkcraft.com) They have a few designs which were meant to be covered with canvas, but which could just as easily be covered with thin plywood. Just bend a panel of plywood over the frames, mark where it fits, trim to the marks, and screw the pieces onto the frame. They also have some which are meant to be built with plywood panels over a frame (actually, exactly the same idea as above) and stitch and glue. Look at their
"Roomy open double 15--canvas", (http://www.clarkcraft.com/cgi-local/shop.pl?cart_id=99d145eef252510d3a6ab494ce084b5d&type=item&categ=014&item=934915252 and the "hartley" series. For a solo adult I'd say the Hartley 14 footer would be about right. These boats are going to be wide and stable, but still, they will have covered decks to keep out mild splashing waves, and they will be narrower than most open canoes, so they'll be easier to paddle and go a bit faster.
Glen-L (www.Glenl.com) has the "canyak" design (http://www.glen-l.com/designs/canu-row/canyak.html) which is a similar concept.

: I dont mind towing a mesh crate behind the kayak to keep fish i have caught
: in, so live wells arent really necessary, and im sure i could rig up a
: moving, removable table to use to cut bait and fix lines etc.

: Mostly im worried about the tendency to roll over :/

That tends to be an unfortunate perception about kayaks. With your weight down in the bottom of the kayak, under the surface of the water, you have a lower center of gravity, and less tendency to tip, than you would have with sitting on a seat in a canoe, or sitting 5 or 6 inches above the water on a sit-on-top.

The large open cockpit gives you room to put in a cooler or two. One for the fish, and one for your lunch.

: to sum up, is there compelling reason not to get a sit in for fishing, and
: will a design like a guillemot s&g or a night heron, etc, be so unstable
: as to make it very hard to fish?

Read the info on the Guillemot and I think you'll see that it was designed more for playing in the waves than for fishing. The Night Heron is more about speed and touring. You need neither attribute. They are not too unstable for fishing from, but other designs --particularly wider ones--will tend to be more stable. Look for a "boxier" boat. It may not have the fast, sleek lines of these fine boats, but it will be a lot better for what you want.

: (oh yeh, i will, of course, be using this alot for non fishing purposes too!)

Not a problem. Learn and practice recovery techniques.You may find the added stability of your boat makes you the hero when someone needs to be pulled out!

Besides the two plans companies mentioned, you may be able to find reprints online of the plans of the Ply-Yak, or some of the plans printed in Popular mechanix, or similar magazines. check google searches.

The older plans tend to be less expensive than more modern plans, but with modern plans you get some support from the designers over the internet.

Hope this helps

PGJ

Messages In This Thread

S&G: Advice on a design to be used for fishing
quaziman -- 12/12/2007, 9:30 am
Re: S&G: Advice on a design to be used for fishing
Quaziman -- 12/18/2007, 4:59 am
of course you can 3 *Pic*
Pete Notman -- 12/14/2007, 4:53 pm
of course you can 2 *Pic*
Pete Notman -- 12/14/2007, 4:51 pm
course you can 1 *Pic*
Pete Notman -- 12/14/2007, 4:48 pm
Re: Are You Certain?
Charlie -- 12/15/2007, 4:07 pm
Size does matter
Pete Notman -- 12/15/2007, 11:10 pm
Re: Size does matter
Mike Savage -- 12/16/2007, 8:02 am
great jumping fish bat man
Pete Notman -- 12/17/2007, 3:51 am
Re: great jumping fish bat man
Mike Savage -- 12/17/2007, 6:24 am
Re: Size does matter
Charlie -- 12/16/2007, 1:14 am
Kayaks were meant for fishing and hunting
Paul G. Jacobson -- 12/13/2007, 6:20 pm
Some of the boats Paul was thinking of.......
TOM RAYMOND -- 12/15/2007, 12:42 pm
Ooops! *NM* *LINK*
TOM RAYMOND -- 12/15/2007, 12:43 pm
Re: S&G: Advice on a design to be used for fishing
Don Lucas -- 12/13/2007, 10:33 am
Re: S&G: Advice on a design to be used for fishing *Pic*
John Monroe -- 12/13/2007, 6:36 am
Re: S&G: Advice on a design to be used for fishing
Bill Hamm -- 12/13/2007, 1:54 am
Re: S&G: Advice on a design to be used for fishing
Michael McCluskey -- 12/12/2007, 8:01 pm
Re: S&G: Advice on a design to be used for fishing
Charlie -- 12/12/2007, 6:31 pm
Re: S&G: Advice on a design to be used for fishing
Chuck Clark -- 12/13/2007, 5:57 pm
Re: S&G: Advice on a design to be used for fishing
Mike Braun -- 12/13/2007, 9:06 pm
Re: S&G: Advice on a design to be used for fishing
Mike Savage -- 12/14/2007, 5:36 am
Re: S&G: Advice on a design to be used for fishing
John Monroe -- 12/14/2007, 3:23 am
Re: S&G: Advice on a design to be used for fishing
george jung -- 12/12/2007, 7:16 pm
Re: S&G: Advice on a design to be used for fishing
Charlie -- 12/12/2007, 11:24 pm
Re: S&G: Advice on a design to be used for fishing
Mike Braun -- 12/12/2007, 6:30 pm
Re: S&G: Advice on a design to be used for fishing
Mike Savage -- 12/12/2007, 12:40 pm