I am a big fisherman and actually co-own a boat with my dad. However, I have fallen in love with fishing from a kayak. You can pretty much sneak up on the fish and go places a bigger boat could never get. Plus in a kayak, most things are much easier than using the larger boat. For instance, if I decide one morning that I want to go fishing I just throw the kayak in the back of the truck and get going. I don’t have to worry about the batteries being charged or if there is gas in the truck. Plus to launch it, you just set it in the water and hop in!
By far the best part about kayaking is how low the bar of entry is, my kayak was well under $200 and it included a paddle! The only other thing I need to get on the water was a cheap life jacket. So I probably only spent about $200 and I was ready to go.
Now it is worth mentioning that this kayak is probably the most basic kayak you can buy. It is a 10’ sit in style kayak from none other than Walmart. It has a very basic plastic seat and that is pretty much all. All that being said, this boat is still great and yes, I do use it for fishing. I have found that I can store my fishing rod in the area where my legs go and then once I am in, I can get it out and allow it to just sit in front of me while I am paddling. At anytime I have had 3 or 4 rods in the boat at one time with no issues. I know now to just take one because I found I do not use very many rods when I am in the small boat.
Even though this is a very cheap kayak it is still extremely stable and tracks pretty straight on the water. I and 6’ 6” and I fit in it with no discomfort. Shortly after I bought my kayak my wife had to have one. So we bought her an even cheaper 8’ one since she is smaller than I am. She absolutely loves it! She is not as into fishing as I am, but she is super happy to paddle around and explore while I am fishing. Sometime she will even do a little fishing.
Many people will say that cheap kayaks do not perform as well as other more expensive kayaks or that you should buy the best kayak you can afford first. I do not agree with either of those statements, my cheap kayaks both work great and are not any worse than the other more expense kayaks I have used. I also believe that if you are not sure how long you will stick with kayaking or if you do not think you will use it you should not buy a very expensive kayak.
If you are like us and you are not sure if you will use one constantly or you just do not want to spend a ton of money. Then I believe a cheap kayak is a great place to start. You will be able to quickly get on the water. If you go out and decide you love it then you can sell the one you have and get an upgrade. If you decided “meh this is not for me” then you won’t be out nearly as much money. Another great option if you are not sure if you want to buy a kayak is to find a local place you can rent one. Many lakes and rivers have places where you can rent one for the day for pretty cheap.
I personally love my cheap kayak and I do not see an upgrade coming anytime soon because it just works for me. All this is not to say that expensive kayaks are not worth it. Many of them offer really cool features, but before you think you can not get on the water without spending over $500 remember a cheap kayak maybe exactly what you need.
