Kayak drift boat?

The PA does have the hand rails on the side that could either be used as a mounting point for oar locks or they could be removed and replaced with a rowing frame of sorts.  Similar sized oars that are used on small pontoons would work well. 

Now get out your welder and tubing bender and show us some pictures

good comments, thanks everyone.  I need to experiment with installing the mirage drive backwards and see if that is a viable way to generate reverse thrust...

The problem with this idea is that a reversed Mirage Drive would push the kayak towards the rudder.  It would be like mounting a rudder on the nose of a kayak.  I suspect that the rudder would catch the water and spin the kayak sideways and around.  It would be similar to building a surfboard with the fins at the front of the board, rather than at the rear of the board, which wouldn't work very well.  And if you pull up the rudder, Mirage Drive kayaks tend to turn uncontrollably.

It doesn't work well...I've tried.  No gradual turns.  You either go straight or quickly off to one side.  It's fun though

what if, instead of two normal oars, you just used one oar at a time on each side. and, what if if you cut the handles off each of the oars and fastened the ends of them together?

what if, instead of two normal oars, you just used one oar at a time on each side. and, what if if you cut the handles off each of the oars and fastened the ends of them together?

Whoa!  That's a novel idea!  You should apply for a patent for "two bladed oars."

what if, instead of two normal oars, you just used one oar at a time on each side. and, what if if you cut the handles off each of the oars and fastened the ends of them together?

Someone needs to paddle your oars for that comment 

what if, instead of two normal oars, you just used one oar at a time on each side. and, what if if you cut the handles off each of the oars and fastened the ends of them together?

That's a wonderful idea! Someone should totally do that.[emoji16]

what if, instead of two normal oars, you just used one oar at a time on each side. and, what if if you cut the handles off each of the oars and fastened the ends of them together?

LOL...the problem here is the goal is to have both blades in the water at the same time so as to 'feather' them and obtain reverse thrust and directional control at the same time.  I am just not sure you can get the same result with a standard double bladed kayak paddle, I haven't tried it yet but seems like trying to slowly back down a run pulling a plug would result in the kayak zig zagging to the left and right...

as for oar locks, I already can run a downrigger off the rail on one side using a Roberts/Atwood mount, adding one of these mounts to the other side would be easy, they will be 36" apart on the PA12, then find oar locks that can be attached to insert end from a couple of rod holders, lock them in, locate a couple pontoon oars, head to a lake to test things out... (Note: no mention of welding or tube bending.. )

regarding Mirage drives, our spare still has standard fins and from locking pin to tip is 13"; the drives with turbo fins are 19" from pin to tip, so for shallow river work I would definitely use the standard fin drive (especially since I have a spare set of those fins laying around somewhere...).

stern on PA is swept up and looks like it would do fine while moving slower than the current...

last would be rudder, I am assuming it will be retracted mostly since the oars provide quick directional control at any water speed.  It would not be difficult to attach a twist-and-stow rudder to the front of a PA but I doubt that be necessary...cheers, roger

I have zero kayak fishing experience, I'm just getting started, but, I do have kayak experience on rivers, although I'm now WW expert or even advanced. You can get an awful lot of control as far as speed and direction with your paddle. Might be worth your time to go to one of the kayak shops and have a talk with one of the WW instructors down there as to controlling a kayak going down a river.

I have zero kayak fishing experience, I'm just getting started, but, I do have kayak experience on rivers, although I'm now WW expert or even advanced. You can get an awful lot of control as far as speed and direction with your paddle. Might be worth your time to go to one of the kayak shops and have a talk with one of the WW instructors down there as to controlling a kayak going down a river.

In a back bouncing situation, you have a lot more positional control with oars than with a kayak.  Think about how many strokes it will take you to come around on a kayak vs just spinning on a dime in a driftboat with one paddle in forward and one in reverse.

-Allen

I have zero kayak fishing experience, I'm just getting started, but, I do have kayak experience on rivers, although I'm now WW expert or even advanced. You can get an awful lot of control as far as speed and direction with your paddle. Might be worth your time to go to one of the kayak shops and have a talk with one of the WW instructors down there as to controlling a kayak going down a river.

cdat-  my question would be does that include going significantly slower than the current for long stretches of water (100 yards or more)...cheers, roger

I have zero kayak fishing experience, I'm just getting started, but, I do have kayak experience on rivers, although I'm now WW expert or even advanced. You can get an awful lot of control as far as speed and direction with your paddle. Might be worth your time to go to one of the kayak shops and have a talk with one of the WW instructors down there as to controlling a kayak going down a river.

cdat-  my question would be does that include going significantly slower than the current for long stretches of water (100 yards or more)...cheers, roger

Yeah that too!  It is difficult to maintain without spinning out all the time.  DAMHIK.

-Allen

As I said, I have zero kayak fishing experience doing this, so can't speak to being able to do this for long periods. I got to the point where I could "hold" in a hole long enough to be able to look down the river and plan my path down the next set of rapids, I imagine you could do the same thing at the beginning of a hole, although "holding" in a set of rapids, I would imagine would be very difficult. I am no expert waterman, and don't want to come across as one, just suggesting it might be worth talking to one the WW experts at a kayak shop and see what can be done with a little bit of practice. Good luck whatever route you take.
John

In a paddle kayak in moderate current, it's easy to hold yourself stationary or reduce your speed with respect to the bottom and banks of a river by paddling or back-paddling upstream. It's also easy to ferry across the river by setting your kayak at an angle to the current and paddling or back-paddling upstream.  It's a bit easier to do these things while facing upstream and paddling forward, because you can see the angle at which the current is hitting the bow of your kayak.  When back-paddling into the current, it may help to look over your shoulder occasionally to confirm the angle at which the current is hitting the stern of your kayak.  When whitewater kayaking, I sometimes use back-ferrying or back-surfing maneuvers to move from one side of a river to the other, or to avoid obstacles or hazards.  Back-ferry maneuvers in whitewater involve more finesse than spinning your kayak and paddling like a monkey away from a problem.

However, it isn't easy to fish at the same time that you are back-paddling, because most of us have only two arms.  In order to fish while back-paddling, you have to keep switching from paddling to fishing, which is a hassle.  And the current will tend to spin the stern of your kayak downstream when you stop paddling.

On the other hand, it also isn't easy to row a drift boat or a raft while fishing at the same time.  That's why most people who fish from drift boats or rafts have one person paddling full time, and one or more other people fishing full time.

On the other hand, it also isn't easy to row a drift boat or a raft while fishing at the same time.  That's why most people who fish from drift boats or rafts have one person paddling full time, and one or more other people fishing full time.

That's not entirely true, especially in a backbouncing/backtrolling situation in which the guy on the sticks has a much greater influence on the fishing than the guy in the chair watching the rod bounce in a rod holder.

Or, tell that to all the single pontoons out there.

-Allen