Kayaks and Paddles

Sunrise Paddling on the North Canadian River

Popular Fishing Kayaks on AKFF

A kayak is a very personal thing. Your height, weight, available funds, and intended use will all play a part in determining what yak is right for you.

If you're looking to navigate tight, mangrove-lined waterways, and need quick turning power, then a short, nimble Kayak like the Australis Squid, the Malibu Mini-X, or the Feelfree Nomad, might suit you down to the ground. For something that performs well in open rivers, and can take on a little ocean work, perhaps a Viking Espri or Hobie Outback might be more your style. For the big game hunters amongst us, perhaps something like a Perception Swing, Hobie Adventure, or Ocean Kayak Prowler may be what you're looking for.

There are many, confusing options - but as a starting point, you may be interested to know what sort of Kayaks tend to be the most popular amongst the AKFF community as of June 2007. This list shouldn't be considered an indication of what yak might be best for you - but perhaps these will give your research a kick start, and help draw you in to the addictive world of Kayak Fishing.

We periodically run a an analysis of the kayaks brands and models that AKFF members said they owned. The last update was in October 2008. We summarised the kayaks that over 2900 members said they used for kayak fishing.

Link to a treemap that represents kayak ownership data: http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/view/SgjIIQsOtha6RyUNTyRLQ2~

Manufacturer/Model	Number of Owners
None Specified	733
Hobie Outback	210
Hobie Revolution	114
Ocean Kayak Prowler 13	105
Ocean Kayak Prowler Elite 4.5	87
Perception Swing	83
Viking Tempo	79
Hobie Unspecified	58
Hobie Outfitter	52
Hobie Adventure	50
Viking Profish	44
Hobie Sport	42
Hobie Quest	41
Viking Espri	39
Wavedance Kingfisher	39
Australis Bass	30
Ocean Kayak Scupper Pro	29
Viking Unspecified	27
Viking Nemo	22
Viking Tempo II	21
Cobra Fish N Dive	19
Malibu X Factor	18
malibu mini x	17
Perception Minnow	15
Pacer	14
Scrambler XT	14
Australis Squid	11
dagger voyager fx	11
Stealth	11
Viking Predator	11
Ocean Kayak Prowler 15	10

You can find the entire results here

http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/view/SgjIIQsOtha6bmEDOnLKQ2~

Manufacturers and Models

Adventure Kayaks

Adventure Kayaks Venus

Australis

Cobra

Dagger

Dagger Cayman
Dagger Hula

Emotion

Emotion Fisherman
Emotion Mojo Angler

EMOTION GRAND SLAM ANGLER EOTION STEALTH ANGLER

Eric's Canoe (fishing ski)

Evolution

Evolution Debu

Finn

Finn Dolfinn
Finn Gizmo

Feelfree

Nomad
Gemini

Fluid

Fluid Synergy

Heritage

Seadart 14

Hobie

Howe

Howe Extasea

Malibu

Ocean Kayak

Perception

Perception Freedom
Perception Minnow SIK
Perception Swing
Perception Pescador

Rosco

Rosco Cayat SIK
Rosco Tidemark SIK

RTM

RTM Disco

Viking

Voyager

Voyager FX

Wavedance

Wilderness Systems

Wilderness Systems Pamlico SIK
Wilderness Systems Tarpon

Freedom Hawk Kayak

Freedom 14

Stealth

Express
Evolution
BFS

Build Your Own

Paddles

Here are several threads on paddle selection:

A great guide on how to use a paddle and paddle selection.

Transport

Australian Air Express will transport Kayaks and surfboards, airport to airport for very reasonable costs. To give an example, one AKFF member was quoted $110 to transport a prowler13 from Melbourne (Tullamarine) to Hobart airport. Of course, you have to be able to deliver it to Aussie Air Express's premises at the airport of departure and have someone collect it from the destination airport.