New to kayak fishing

Hi,
My name is Mauricio, I moved to Oregon in 2010 from Venezuela. Before coming to live to this beautiful state I use to free dive/spear fish for over 25 years, once here, I started looking for places/people to go out spear fishing with, honestly, to me the fact of getting into ocean waters with water temperatures that cold it did not seem very appealing, specially coming from a tropical country, besides, it is also illegal to spearfish for Salmon/Steelhead so I decided to switch gears and venture myself into another type of fishery, the art of rod and reel fishing.

Anyway, In 2012 I bought the gear and headed out to local rivers near the Portland metro area to fish off the bank, rivers like the Sandy, Clackamas, Wilson and Deschutes during summer time, now I think it is time for me to get a floating device so I can go to more places that I do not even know about (I do not mind driving long distances) and also so I can cover more water, I am also looking forward to meet kayak fishing enthusiasts using this site as a bridge  . Back to the floating device,  the first thing that came to mind was getting a boat or a pontoon but I am on a budget, so a kayak is the way to go, just don't know what type of kayak to get. I have been doing some research on-line in order to narrow down all the choices, any suggestions as to what fishing kayak to get?, please keep in mind that, if possible, I would like to get a kayak that would perform in different types of waters, something that could offer me a little bit of both worlds (calm and relatively moving water), I am thinking a kayak that I can take to local rivers such as the above and also if possible to the ocean, something maneuverable for relatively fast waters, maybe a sit inside with a skirt or a sit on top being self bailing, how about those Canoe/Kayak hybrid?. Also, is there a place where I can rent one before I buy?.

Thank you!.

Hello I am Kevin Kuper just purchased my first Kayak mirage 12' living in Alaska my life I wanted to try something new and thought this would be great for Halibut fishing. I love fishing and spend time between AK and San Diego.

Welcome guys!

Kevin,  We fish halibut all of the time!  Take a look at the Alaska forums.  It doesn't have any where near the information this site has but you might take a look at my website that is a little more soutchentral Alaska specific though!  AlaskaKayakFisher.com.

It's a blast!!!!