small kayak recommendations

[jbdba01]

I'm looking at possibly adding another boat to the fleet. This one will be used primarily as a boat in the mother ship - my 17' skiff. I've managed to get a 15' kayak in her and launching really isn't that big a deal. Getting my commando in there is doable. Problem is they take up a bunch of room and are a bit heavy - photo below.

However, I was considering getting something much smaller - like 8'. The main intention is to a) get the kayak to a different location fast, and b) have the second person in the boat launch so we can cover more water. Think mothership and flats drifting or mothership and tarpon fishing. Not a lot of paddling going on. Maybe a mile for the day. With that in mind I'm thinking sit on top. Something cheap and light...nothing fancy.

Before I do that I figured I would get some feedback. Something along the lines of:

a) is taking a 8' kayak off Anna Maria even wise (I have no idea on the stability of the boats); this is a loaded question as that's open water, but the vision is to be within 50-100 yards of the "mother ship"; if you hook up everyone pulls up lines and consolidates
b) are these boats comfortable enough to sit in for hours (I can transfer another gel seat I have)
c) can you stand up in these boats
d) what are the drawbacks to these small boats
e)What recommendation/model would you have or steer clear of?

Thoughts?

[The Below Average Angler]

Take a look at the Malibu Mini-X.

[yakrat]

The mini x & redfish 10 are both excellent choices. The redfish 10 is easy to stand in.

[Todd]

My biggest question would be why go through the hassle? In our area there is rarely a fishing location that is not easily accessible by paddling. This coming from a guy who owns both a boat and kayaks.

[jbdba01]

Couple few reasons...

Covering more water - kinda self explanatory, but...say you have 2 rods in the water with 2 anglers - if you're in the skiff for the most part you're covering the same water. Split up - cover more water.

Portability - fish ain't there, just get in the power boat and leave.

Safety - Given the scenario of being off Anna Maria fishing for poon and things get ugly I can hop in the power boat grab the other angler and take off. Most storms are isolated. Frankly either boat quasi supports the other.

Too many anglers - my boat is kinda tight with 3 anglers - toss in a kayak and it's a piece of cake.

[Rik]

Safety - Given the scenario of being off Anna Maria fishing for poon and things get ugly I can hop in the power boat grab the other angler and take off. Most storms are isolated. Frankly either boat quasi supports the other.

A half mile off the beach is a long way out when fishing for tarpon off the beach. Rarely do I ever go even a quarter mile. Use a drift chute and the tarpon doesn't take you far when hooked. IMO, a boat just complicates the whole process of catching tarpon from a kayak off the beach.

[jbdba01]

Understood - my experience last year off Anna Maria was that were really two lines where the fish were running. One pretty close - the close one being 1/4 mile out. The other probably 3/4 - 1 mile out (maybe more). It was pretty consistent. So I'm guessing these are the highways.

I def agree it's more complicated - however, given my booty-call schedule it's probably the best alternative. For me to make it with some fellow kayakers means getting +3 to go. Otherwise I might hose the second guy with a no show.

Course there's the ever present crazy idea of running to the Marquesas/Dry Tortugas in my cousins 28' solar boat - which means we need kayaks. 8' is easily transported/towed - 15' not so much. We'll probably be doing an dry run at Elliot Key trip in Feb/March. Last year we we're blown out.

Dunno...just another one of my get poor schemes. I have a million of them.

[jbdba01]

This is what I need...runs skinny runs fast.

I'll be on the look out for 5" Super Spooks as I screw up someone's fishing.



Either that or go for the low end model and add this to a Hobie ProAngler.