kayak question

Ive been looking at jd7.62 pics of the kayak fishing trips as well as reading other posts about kayak ffishing and it sounds like alot of fun. I have never been in a kayak in my life and i have some questions. My first concern is ive trimmed down to a mere 285 pounds .....is this too big for a kayak? Second question...what kind, length, brand would i need to look at for fishing, no whitewater, no touring, just fishing. Also is there a kayak that would let me float the cumbetland river one day and throw it in the back of the truck and head to florida to fish the beaches the next. Or would that be like the difference between a bass boat and a striper boat. Sorry but if you reply you will really have to "dumb" it down, i dont have a clue. Thanks in advance for any help you can give

I've been looking at them myself because I wouldn't mind having one down the road. It looks like the Ride 135 has a 550 lb capacity, so you should be good in that one with plenty of room to spare for gear.

[URL]http://www.wildernesssystems.com/product/index/angling/angling_kayaks/ride_angler_2012/ride_135_angler_2012/[/URL]

The other good one is the Tarpon.

[QUOTE=stripernut;495084]Ive been looking at jd7.62 pics of the kayak fishing trips as well as reading other posts about kayak ffishing and it sounds like alot of fun. I have never been in a kayak in my life and i have some questions. My first concern is ive trimmed down to a mere 285 pounds .....is this too big for a kayak? Second question...what kind, length, brand would i need to look at for fishing, no whitewater, no touring, just fishing. Also is there a kayak that would let me float the cumbetland river one day and throw it in the back of the truck and head to florida to fish the beaches the next. Or would that be like the difference between a bass boat and a striper boat. Sorry but if you reply you will really have to "dumb" it down, i dont have a clue. Thanks in advance for any help you can give[/QUOTE]

You might want to look at these yaks: Jackson Coosa which is what I have. Its great for river and small lakes and streams. But not long paddling because it wavers a little. Jackson Cuda which is a longer yak and is good for lakes and rivers. Paddles straighter than the Coosa. Both have about the best seat for any kayak going and would hold your weight and gear with no problem.
The Wilderness system as mentioned before. The Wilderness Ride 115 or 135 has the track system with them for easy mounting rod holders or fish finders.
Hobie kayaks with is a little bit more expensive but had the mirage drive foot pedal system.

The other would be the Native watercraft with the Propel drive foot pedal with it.

These 4 brands would be the best to look at for the Cumberland river or Elkhorn Creek or the Ohio or any small lake. If I was to pick one out now from my experience I'd go with the Cuda or Native Propel system but you can't really go wrong with any of the ones I stated above. Just do some home work and look them up. Plus Canoe Kentucky should have all these free to demo at there store in Frankfort. Just call them. Hope this helps.

And also if you need any more info on Kayaking or fishing from a yak head on over to Yakangler.com

Great info, thanks a bunch

My son and I had a chance to fish with jd7.62 while we were in Florida and we had a blast! He's got some nice kayaks for gulf fishing.

I've got some cheap kayaks, but if I were buying a new one, I think I would buy the Jackson Coosa. I muskie fish quite a bit and that kayak allows a person to stand up and fish.

I think those guys from [URL]http://www.stonesthrowadventures.com/[/URL] guide for stripers on the cumberland river with coosa kayaks. That might be a good way to check out the striper fishing from a kayak to see if you like it.

My dad isfifty four years old -sorry my number keys are broken- and weighs about two fifty at five foot eight inches in height. He is fairly active given his size/weight and he has no problems putting in a few hours in his Wilderness Systems Tarpon Onetwenty.

I'm not going to get into specific brands or anything like that but when shopping for a kayak you need to consider what is more important to you, stability vs speed. A shorter and wider kayak is going to be more stable then a longer narrow kayak. The longer and narrow kayak is going to be much faster and track easier.

Do you plan on paddling several miles straight to get to your fishing spot or trolling all day? Or will you mostly paddle short distances, fish, paddle a little more, fish, etc?

Around here, Hobies are the most popular, that is mainly because we cover lots of distance, carry lots of gear and lets face it, being able to move around hands free while tangling with large salt water game just has its advantages. Hobie offers many different boats from the narrow and swift Revolutions to the big and wide Pro Anglers. I fish out of an Outback which is kind of in between the Revos and the ProAngler in size and agility.

The best thing to do is find a dealer and call them up and ask if they have any demo days so that you can try out as many as you can. If not, look for a local group of guys around you that have different kayaks for you to try out. If youre ever down this way I have several you could try.

Demo.... Demo......Demo.. did I mention Demo :-) Serriously you should definitely get some seat time in whatever yaks you might be interested in. I jumped in and bought one from ****'s Sporting Goods and after one trip new it wasn't the answer. Owned a Coosa for a while, and it was an outstanding creek boat... but had two major downfalls for me. I take my daughter a lot and she is not quite ready to float a creek and fish in her own kayak. The other problem .. I fish some smaller lakes and the Coosa is absolutely awful in the wind (my opinion). I sold the Coosa and now own a NuCanoe Frontier. Has scuppers so works great on the creek and with two bass style swivel seats it is super comfortable for two of us. When she doesn't tag along the cast and blast deck is easy to stand and fish all day. You can even put a trolling motor on it if you need to make long trips. My biggest advice is to try several and don't buy without trying.. what is good for somebody may not be good for you.