Canoe or kayak

[FTW]

Have traded the tinny for a canoe (17' Canadian) about 4 years ago. I have found this great for fishing/crabbing..
The last few months my wife has become involved in kayaking and there is only so much room on the roof racks. Do I trade my canoe for a fishing kayak or get bigger racks.
Fishing is mainly estuary, broadwater, dams and the passage. I generally do one or two runs a month for redclaw, a crabbing trip or two and rest is fishing. The wife and I also paddle together.
What thoughts have people got on crabbing/redclaw from a kayak and what kayak to get. Prefer to get the right outfit rather than be cost driven.
Or do I just buy a kayak to paddle with her, keep the canoe and get larger racks?
Thanks for any advice Kev

[randell]

get a box trailer, with a steel frame , canoe on the bottom and yak on the rack.

safer than trying to load everything on the roof.....
There's my outfit, with a 3.3 merc.
You can tow a kayak if their arms get tired.......
cheers
randell

[FTW]

get a box trailer, with a steel frame , canoe on the bottom and yak on the rack.

safer than trying to load everything on the roof.....
There's my outfit, with a 3.3 merc.
You can tow a kayak if their arms get tired.......
cheers
randell

The problem starts when we take the trailer camping as everything has to go on top. Her Kayak, the 3 kids have surf skis and Kayaks and me well canoe or yak.
Am leaning towards a frame for the top on the camper. Takes 3 kayaks on bottom and canoe with the surf skis under on the second level.. Still lower than roof of car and can watch in mirror to see what's happening.

[GBC]

Crabbing out of a kayak is painful compared to a canoe. Everything is at water level and there's no room for anything. Generally the pot ends up in your lap, and sorting multiple crabs ends up a return to shore affair (in my case anyway,). I've got a couple of nice yaks, but I don't ever see myself getting rid of the trusty 15ft rosco - it's what I started with 20 years ago and I reckon it'll be what I end with.

[FTW]

Crabbing out of a kayak is painful compared to a canoe. Everything is at water level and there's no room for anything. Generally the pot ends up in your lap, and sorting multiple crabs ends up a return to shore affair (in my case anyway,). I've got a couple of nice yaks, but I don't ever see myself getting rid of the trusty 15ft rosco - it's what I started with 20 years ago and I reckon it'll be what I end with.

I'm tending the same way canoe is too useful and does everything a small tinny does. Just much more practical for me. Thanks

[Gigantor]

GBC is spot on about crabbing from a kayak.

Regarding your question. Here is my story. You might see some insights in this that you can use?

I started with a 15ft Rosco canoe in the very early 2000s and it seemed the perfect vessel for me and the wife/mates. But then their interest dropped off and I found it difficult to paddle the canoe by myself – particularly when there was a breeze around. Also lifting and unloading was a real drag, particularly after a long day out on the water. I then bought a 1 person sit-in kayak as well – so I could head out whenever I wanted, which was a good move. Then over time the canoe rarely got used so I sold it and got another (better) sit-on-top 1 person Hobie kayak (Outback) and never looked back. A couple of years on I got another 1 person kayak (I actually won it) and had 2 of yaks, which was good and allowed a mate and I to head out for a fish, but this required both our cars to get them anywhere. So eventually sold one of the kayaks and put the money towards a 2-person Hobie Oasis kayak, which I could also paddle/pedal on my own or use with mate/wife etc. I’ve essentially continued on with this arrangement ever since 2009. I think this is a good arrangement overall, though the 2-person yak is heavy (32kgs) – but I’ve now developed a good way of getting it on & off the car by myself without killing my back.

I generally fish in the rivers/creeks and the dams. And these yaks are perfect for that. The yaks I have also have very good capcity as well - so plenty of opportunity for gear etc.

Cheers, Pete

[FTW]

Pete thanks for the insight, my canoe is only a few kgs heavier than 32kgs but maybe a little more cumbersome. I fish estuary, rivers and dams but also crab and chase redclaw. What is your ideas on using the double for this?
I have a loader set up on the racks so canoe is easy to load, will probably make a trailer to take multiple kayaks once I decide which way I'm going as my whole family kayak or canoe.

[Gigantor]

Kev,

My double yak has proven to be very good to fish the rivers and dams in. I've only once or twice taken opera house traps out on it - I didn't have any real issues transporting these out and back and checking them across the day. Redclaw are generally small and don't present the same challenges as say mud crabs (nastier, bigger claws and bigger pots) would on a yak. One fellow yakker I know made a floating raft out of PVC down-pipe to put his crab pots on, which was tied to the back of his yak and worked fine - so there are ways to transport larger crab pots around. You can always put into shore to deal with getting mud crabs out of the pots and to tie them up etc.

The 15foot Rosco canoe I had really suffered from the side winds and really pushed you around whenever I paddled it on my own. This was probably my biggest issue with the canoe. But the canoe could take way more cargo/gear than the double yak. I guess it's all about a trade-off hey?

The Hobie Oasis double yak suits me, as I generally only fish from it and rarely take pots.

Cheers, Pete

[kingtin]

Agree with Pete, I had a canoe and it was great because of the room, but a bugger in wind and got blown all over the place.........I now have a Viking Tempo fisherman with leccy motor. Bit of a beast weight wise but almost impossible to tip...........also have a malibu mini X for skinny water, again, almost impossible to tip. I can carry 8 redclaw post and bait in the tempo, no problem and even when i had one snagged, no amount of pulling resulted in mefeeling at any stage like I was gonna tip...............had to cut it free in the end. Like Pete says, a simple frame of pipes can easily be towed for crab pots, but I find that the tempo has all the room I need to carry 4 and a large bucket.................I sit the bucket between my legs whilst pulling a pot and emty the crabs/crays into it, then stow it up front once the lid is on.

[FTW]

Thanks am going to give kayak crabbing ago this Saturday. Not keen on them in my lap but its all an adventure :-D

[Tom Ruff]

Hi. I don't think i would like to try crabbing from a kayak as i get wet from pulling the nets up on the jetty, but then again you did say it would be an adventure, good luck and stay dry. Richard