I went fishing in a small lake last weekend. When I get to the lake I see 6 boats, 2 men in each boat. I set up my kayak and launch near the ramp. I paddle 30 feet then cast.WAMMMM a largemouth Bass. Two guys in one of the boats take notice and one guy said “you just launched!” I yell back “lucky I guess” I paddle about 30 more feet and cast. WAMMMM another largemouth Bass. Another guy takes notice and asks what are you using. I paddle over and show him my setup. I then continue around the lake doing a lot of the same. WAMMM,WAMMM,WAMMM. I get back to the launch after circling the lake about three hours later. As I am taking my gear and kayak back to the truck. One of the guys yells from a boat “Over $10,000.00 worth of boats and equipment on this lake and you come in a plastic boat and out fish all of us! Good job”. I yelled back, I love fishing from my kayak. and we both had a good laugh.
Grat Marketing by Powerboat Manufacturer
AS a Kid I remember many fishing trips in a 12' semi-V with a 9.9 hp engine. Bass tournament sponsers have pushed the ideal that you need a 20' boat and a 250 hp engine(s) to catch fish. Also the sponsers have pushed the ideal that fishing is a competitive sport instead of away to relax and have fun. Too Bad!!!! I too love fishing out of my kayak and sometimes my square stern canoe with a 3.5 hp engine. I confess that I hate the smoke and noise and usually take my Necky Sky and my flyrod for a relaxing quiet time. Bass fishermen seem insane. Racing around like crazy in expensive boats catching fish to release. They should slow down relax and enjoy life more.
Agree
that fishing from a kayak is a lot of fun and I also laugh at the over powered gas guzzlers that spend more time running around the lake then fishing.
A lot of my best fish have come from with in 100 yds of the boat ramp.
Bass fishermen have been sold on the
need for the electronics and the speed to find the pattern, then move to other areas of the lake to replicate the pattern. They’ve also been sold on the comforts of the bass boat. As to the latter, yea, the boats are comfortable fishing platforms. But, they get seduced into believing bass are located only in the pattern they find that particular day. If that’s suspended 12 ft deep in 30 ft of water, that’s where they fish.
That leaves the rest of us the other 2/3rds of the river or lake to fish, thankfully. It does take us a while sometimes to identify patterns that suit our way of fishing, but we also have the advantage provided by small craft and the willingness to try our luck close to where we launch rather than 4 miles away.
Cool.
That’s what it’s about. Not showing up others, but getting out and having fun catching.
- Big D
True . . .
(the not showing up others part).
But the possibility of converting a powerboater into a paddling partner is always a good thing too . . . .
;~)
YoS
Yep.
I’m not AGAINST showing up powerboaters, it’s just not a point of going out. Powerboating for fish is fun too, on someone else’s nickel.
- Big D
I look at it a little different
I didn’t show up all them power boaters. After being asked what I was using, I paddled over and showed the two guys in that boat, my setup. They caught two bass each after changing their setup. I was fishing for smart power boaters and found one out of six that day. I didn’t show them up, I showed them how. 
outfishing myself
I think there is a stealth factor to yakfishing too. I regularly outfish myself when fishing from the yak against fishing from my technical poling skiff in the same place with the same conditions. Can’t say how many times I have floated my yak over what appears to be sleeping saltwater fish.
i hear ya
I’ve actually come close to bumping into redfish!
IMO, I think yak fishing makes you become a better angler. Reason? When we launch we can’t run from spot to spot hoping to find fish. We are limited on our distances so we must learn to work the water right in order to find and attract any fish around. When you’re on a boat you can simply take one style of presentation and hope around till you find fish that like it.
my $.02
Bullseye
Djohnalyn, You hit the nail on the head…Kayak fishing takes away all the distractions of a powerboat and forces the fishermen to study the water around him and become aware of the bait,tides and structure in a small area. This knowledge you pick up can then be used wherever you go. In our yak shop I dont like putting fishfinders and other gadgets on begginers yaks because all the bells and whistles some customers want installed will take away from the above learning process.
Barrell