I often ask myself “…why kayaks?”, and truth be told there isn’t just one simple answer. When you look at fishing as a whole you might be tempted to view it as a story of the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’. The guy with the shiny new boat rigged out with all the latest toys. He can buzz around the lake at 60 mph to make sure he wastes no time going from fishing hole to fishing hole and has fish practically jump into the boat. Compared to the guy who likes fishing, maybe not enough to take out a second mortgage, but would love to spend his free time in the outdoors catching fish. He’s resigned to slinging a pickerel rig, baited with salted minnows as far as he can off the bank and more often catches snags than fish.
Is this example a bit extreme? Probably, but I think one of the biggest misconceptions people have is how affordable and accessible getting out on the water and catching a ton of fish can be for everyone. Just look at ice fishing here in Manitoba in the last 5-10 years. These days on an average weekend in January until March you might see a couple thousand vehicles venture out onto Lake Winnipeg at the drive-on access points Chalet Beach or Balsam Bay. How did ice fishing get so popular here? Yes, it probably has something to do with one of the world’s best walleye fisheries being in Winnipeg’s backyard. But more so I think it is that for the average weekend guy or gal, they can spend less than a thousand bucks on equipment, drag out a few buddies and have a realistic shot at drilling on top of the best day of walleye fishing that they’ve ever had. The accessibility of ice fishing is amazing in terms of getting all the gear needed for relatively cheap and having the ability to get off the bank, drive out and fish all the hot spots that your buddy told you about.
So why can’t we have that for the other half of the year where there isn’t a three foot frozen barrier separating you from the fish? Truth is, open water fishing can be just as accessible and you can have just as much success as the guy in the brand new boat without breaking the bank and I will share my story of how I got started.
After graduating high school in 2012, my brother and I picked up ten foot sit-inside kayaks (mine orange and his green) for 300 bucks. We slapped a couple 5” Humminbird Piranha Max fish finders onto them with suction cup transducers on the hull of the kayak. We had fished a bit growing up, but this was our idea to step up our game while getting some good exercise and explore some of the creeks around our house (Cooks and Devils for example). You will not believe the fun we had drifting down those creeks, getting into places where no boat would dare venture and getting tugged around by monster channel cats and jumbo walleye, not to mention the white bass run in the spring. As we got more into it and expanded our lure repertoire beyond the trusty jig and crawler, those poor kayaks got dragged into every back country lake in the Whiteshell until all the plastic was rubbed off the bottom of the keel. I ended up having to repair them several times by melting strips of plastic from milk jugs to fill in the many holes we put in these boats.
Around 2016 I started to hear about kayaks that you could operate by pedalling instead of paddling, allowing you to keep your hands free so you could fish while you move. I ended up picking up a used 14 foot Hobie kayak for a couple grand and this opened up so many more opportunities. The ability to cover so much water (comfortably able to hit four to six mph by pedalling), the ability to stand and fish, and the ability to carry a bunch of rods and tackle really opened up the possibilities and really there were no limits on where or what I could fish. Especially with these bigger kayaks, the stability in rough water is unreal, I’ve been out in some big water on nasty days and had no real issues other than getting a little wet. In 2021 – peak Covid season, the Manitoba Bass Anglers decided to go virtual with their tournaments, requiring a single boater per vessel (unless from the same household) and fish were be weighed, recorded and released by each angler to preclude the need for a weigh-in gathering and to maintain social distancing. While for most this was probably a huge pain in the ass, for me it opened the opportunity to test what I had been feeling for a while. I felt fishing could be just as effective from a kayak as a fiberglass bass boat that might have orders of magnitude the price tag. I ended up having a good day, I won’t say a bit of luck wasn’t involved, but I ended up with just under 20 lbs of smallmouth, just missing out on the victory to Mr. Uncut Angling, Aaron Wiebe, by about half a pound.
Shortly thereafter, I moved to Texas for work and my eyes were opened to just how big and popular kayak fishing could be. They say everything is bigger there and I grew to appreciate that dumb saying. I soon learned that there were several kayak fishing clubs close to the area I lived, I joined one and in my very first tournament I was up against 180 other Texan kayakers. I did alright in it and walked away with a bit of American lunch money. Over the course of the next year I fished a ton of regional and even a couple national level tournaments against the best of the best, sometimes doing well and sometimes getting my teeth absolutely kicked in. But overall, what really stuck out to me was the community. Maybe it’s because kayak fishing comes with a lot of challenges that bring people together, physical, mental, or those dadgum’ fish aren’t cooperating, but whenever I have seen a kayaker who needs help or advice there is no shortage of experienced folks that are happy to lend a hand. There was definitely the more serious crowd, along with a ton of guys that were just getting into it and wanting to learn. To them, they were there to hang with buds over a beer after the event, maybe learn a bit from those who caught ‘em that day, and just have a group to share their hobby with. After experiencing this and coming back to Canada, I strongly feel that there is a serious void in our angling community that I hope can be filled by kayak anglers.
While I understand that kayak fishing isn’t for everybody, the advances made in fishing kayaks in the last several years can’t be ignored and make it all that much easier to have a successful day on the water. Trolling motors with spot lock on a kayak? Or electric transom motors that can push you close to 10 mph? Kayaks with LiveScope? Some of the best fishermen in the world are beginning to realize the appeal to kayak angling and I actually competed against a couple Bassmaster Elite Series anglers in one of the national tournaments. My hope with this article is that price no longer is used as a crutch for why you can’t get into good fishing, whether it be competitively or miles from civilization in the middle of an untouched backcountry lake, tow rides from giant fish are to be had.