I am looking to buy a sit on top kayak for under $1000. I would mainly be using it to fish out of, but I travel a lot and would love to try it out on some whitewater as well. I know I’m trying to blend two kayaks into one, but has anyone had any experience with this? Or have any advice?
I have done hours upon hours of research on this. So far, my favorite is the 10.5" Kaku Wahoo. Any comments are greatly appreciated!
10.5" Kaku Wahoo is good. Solid body and 66 lbs,great while traveling.
You are trying to to do very different jobs - white water and fishing. But it matters what type of white water you are looking to do - do you have a white water class level in mind?
For sit on tops, there are only a few that are made for use in white water. The Pyranha Fusion has a sit on top version. And Dagger Torrent is a sit on top boat made for white water. You could take a look at them and see if they would meet your need for fishing. These boats don’t come with bait wells, rod holders, gear tracks, etc. - things fishermen often like.
You may want to consider inflatable. Something like the Advanced Elements Strait edge Angler is made a fishing boat that can also handle up to class III rivers: https://www.advancedelements.com/kayaks/inflatable-kayak-ae1006ang/
Looking at the Wahoo, there is nothing in the specs saying that it can handle white water, nor does the design look like it. Most would be fine in class 1 (but expect to flip), advanced paddlers in class II (but this is true for most any kayak).
If you’re a minimalist fisherman as I am, you should choose a kayak that will work in the whitewater. That is, I’m not the kind of fisherman who carries several rods, a big tackle box, etc. I have almost everything I need on my Stohlquist fishing vest:
So I can use a SINK that isn’t intended for fishing:
