It is interesting that kayak fishing only has recently turned into a popular sport, because hunting had historically been one of the most common uses of a kayak by the Inuit who designed these boats. But fishing wasn’t something they did with kayaks, therefore it was not until much later that sport fishing found kayaking.
As can be imagined, by far the most stable and comfortable of modern designs are utilized for kayak fishing. This necessity has lead to the introduction of such handy novelties as twin-hulled, or catamaran, kayaks, which are steady enough to support anglers standing upright. This is a very important advancement because fishing generally requires long hours, and the strict confines of a conventional kayak will make for some rather sore butts!
These kinds of designs let the modern angler to have both speed and stability. However conventional boats may still be more or less stabilized by the use of outriggers. Kayak fishing nowadays also often contains such conveniences as propulsion via foot-pedals that work flippers below the boat.
While not as fast as an electric or gas motor on board, these kinds of flippers offer much more power than paddling – and free the fisherman or woman’s hands, which can be quite a useful feature when it comes to such common tasks as fighting game fish pulling the kayak through the water!
In fact, it is precisely for such excitement that many anglers basically launch their fishing kayaks from a larger boat, playing game fish from the kayak and fighting it as it pulls the kayak through the water.
Other conveniences catering to the kayaking fisher contain specially designed hatches, built-in rod holders, and mounts designed for catch bags and equipment. These traits on boats customized for the sport seems to have helped increase the sport’s popularity, a happy case of enthusiasts petitioning the manufacturers successfully.
