[pstar]

Hello all,

I'm new, in fact so new that I do not even own a kayak yet. I have been getting back into fishing over the last years after a rather long hiatus and do most of my fishing land based in Townsville.
For a while I had my mind firmly set on buying a tinnie and even got my boat license, however over the last few months I have started to steer away from this.
I used to do a fair bit of rowing and the odd kayaking in high school in Amsterdam, Holland and reading some kayak articles in fishing magazines have really made me think about getting a kayak instead. My wife would also be very interested in this which obviously is a big bonus.
I have been doing some research in regards to fishing kayaks and have all but settled on a viking espri. From all the reports that I have read they are a very good kayak to start out with and are also in the price range that I would like to spend.
I was wondering if there are any members in Townsville that have experience with the viking or similar and who could perhaps give me some feed back.

Having never fished out of a kayak as well are there any major differences with fishing from land or fishing from boats (obviously the position is different ).

Thank you all for reading this and looking forward to any comments !

Cheers
Paul

 

[Barrabundy]

Hi Pstar, welcome to the forum.

From memory, I think the difficulty of casting from a seated position was one thing I noticed when I first started. Another was the mobility you have when in a kayak. Because I don't anchor, I'm free to go wherever I desire to have my next cast. If there activity "over there" it's very easy to just head over there and have a go. When you're in a boat or on foot it gets to be too hard to keep moving on a whim.

Another thing that's different is the sponteneity of getting organised to go out with a kayak compared to a boat. Fishing on foot is even better but I guess you can't have everything.

 

[pstar]

Hello Barrabundy,
thanks for the reply, you bought up another thing I have been wondering about:
anchoring
Typically, when fishing in a tinny we would cruise up a creek with the tide and drift back out with the tide, using an electric motor to position.
Are kayaks pretty stable in this regard or is it a question of constantly adjusting ? This obviously depends a lot on the tides and the creek / river as well !
I have seen morresey's absolutely still on one day and flowing like mad the other... (I guess I have partly answered my own question here).

 

[HAWKEYE3]

Hi Pstar,

I am over on Magnetic Island and I have a Viking Tempo 2 with 55lb thrust Watersnake for sale.

Send me a pm if you would like to have a look at it.

Regards

Ian

 

[HAWKEYE3]

Hi again Pstar

See my post Saturday 11 December 2010.

It shows the kayak.

Regards

Ian

 

[Barrabundy]

The tide is one thing you will need to consider when fishing depending on the location. In some places you can go and do whatever you want but in some places the tidal flow will be strong enough to affect how you fish or where you can fish/go. Once you know the limits of you and your equipment you will know what you can handle and what you can't. If I'm going out when the tidal flow will be strong, I go against it to start with, that way I have an easy run back if anything goes wrong or I'm tired.

Call me spoilt but my hobie is great for keeping stationary against the current to work over a snag etc. I've been out with guys in paddle kayaks and they don't seem to be dissadvantaged so I'm sure you'll work it out.

The most important thing is to keep safe. There's a safety section here somewhere which has some good tips.

 

[pstar]

Thank you for the reply ! I had a good read of the safety section as ultimately I would like to head to, and perhaps, past Maggie one day soon.
My plan is to start of slow however, probably in the Ross for the first months or so until I get my bearings and hopefully start to remember some of the old kayaking I used to do !
A couple of weeks ago I went fishing at Alpha Beach and noticed a couple of guys yak fishing in the gutters which looked like a lot of fun as well.

 

[Barrabundy]

A couple of weeks ago I went fishing at Alpha Beach and noticed a couple of guys yak fishing in the gutters which looked like a lot of fun as well.

Oh, did they have matching Hobies? If so, I think I've spoken to them before, they're "poachers" from up your way :lol: They come down here and pinch "our" fish :lol:

 

[pstar]

Hello all,

I now am the proud owner of a Viking Espri and have taken it our in the Ross River.
Yakk fishing is definitely different than land based or boat based fishing !!
I think I'm hooked.

 

[Barrabundy]

Good to hear, get out there and enjoy.

Now that you have your kayak you might want to check out the safety section just for kicks, lots in interesting stuff in there viewforum.php?f=9

 

[HAWKEYE3]

good onya pstar.

Regards

Ian

 

[dru]

Welcome Paul, that first yak has got to be the best! Tight lines.