Kayak colors

I'm thinking the orange/mango and yellow kayaks are the best from a safety standpoint, both to help powerboaters see you better and to help locate if you ever need rescue. I can't imagine that boat color would affect targeted fish in any significant way. Anyone have any different thoughts on the matter?

Boat color can spook fish, but I'd rather have power boaters see me.  If you never plan on going out in the ocean or any heavily boated areas, having a dull colored boat is a great choice.  For example there are a lot of crystal clear lakes with a restriction on motorized boats.  In these places a dull colored boat would be nice.

Brian

Boat color will spook fish. You can wear bright colors to make your profile more visible.

Boat color will spook fish. You can wear bright colors to make your profile more visible.

Says the man in a Camo Trident 13 with the camo paddle.

It really depends on where you fish. In the ocean, a bright kayak isn't going to spook many fish and the safety benefits are apparent.  On a small lake, a bright kayak is going to spook some fish.

I recently changed from a green kayak to a yellow one. I had a few situations last year where boaters had a hard time seeing me. After you've had a boater turn hard to dodge you, spooking fish doesn't seem to matter much anymore. I actually have a darker boat for non-PB/smaller/clearer water.

Z

Ok, so who's gonna make the dark colored wrap for the bottom of the blaze orange boats?

Add a fish patten and your a bait pod! Doesn't somebody sell those for stinkpots?

Actually, a dark profile is going to be more visible from below, than a light one. It will contrast with the bright sky. Heck, back on the east coast, we used to use black plugs (surf casting) at night, because they were more visible. It worked, too.

IMO, best kayak color combo would be a white bottom (like a fish) with a colorful topside.

At dusk the difference in visibility between my orange OK Big Game and a green Big Game is amazing.  You can wear bright colors, but there is no way to make your profile as large as that as a 13' long kayak.  I'd go with a bright orange or bright yellow boat.  

I am not too worried about spooking fish.  When trolling for springers from a power boat, I've caught fish less than 20' away from a two stroke Johnson kicker motor, and when it is running it sounds like a bag of hammers being kicked down the stairs.  If that doesn't spook them, a silent (but orange) kayak shouldn't be that big of a deal.

If you are worried about it, scuff the bottom of your boat up with some fine grit sand paper, then paint it with a rattle can of the green Krylon plastic paint.  I'd rather spend the $10 bucks and 1/2 hour it costs to do that than get hit by a drunk jet skier on the Willamette.

This was dusk in the Willamette with a clear sky.
When that sled heading toward you is racing back to the dock, which boat would you want to be in?

This was dusk in the Willamette with a clear sky.
As that sled heading toward you is racing back to the dock, which boat would you want to in?

Nice pic FFTW. This one of me on the Willamette around mid day ain't much better.

Z

read recently in sea kayaker magazine about an unfortunate incident in the carribean where an outfitter [beach rental fleet ] lost a client because the water turned rough, and the color of the boat [ red] wasn't bright enough to be seen by a 53 foot sport fisher that ran over them.

the outfitter was despondent enough that they conducted their own visibility tests and found that the best color was the OK lime green, followed by the yellow, then orange [or mango as some mfr's call it]. not saying this is true and scientific, just relating what i've read in a magazine thats been very informative when it comes to safety concerns.

basically what've i've seen in print is to lean towards the brighter colors, including the paddle jacket/ dry top and that PFD..

i've added reflective triangles to the bow and stern flanks of my yak. basically i took a pair of paddle reflectors, cut them in half, and applied them to the boat after rubbing the sides down with rubbing alcohol.

i'm liking the fact the new T13 i picked up at the ferndale has lots better reflectivity on the rigging lines than my T15 does..

just my $.02
Rich

Sounds like a yellow/orange top and white bottom would be a good combo. Kind of like a floating Creamsicle ...

A chrome middle with two chartreuse ends would attract big Chinook.

A chrome middle with two chartreuse ends would attract big Chinook.

lmao

Actually, a dark profile is going to be more visible from below, than a light one. It will contrast with the bright sky. Heck, back on the east coast, we used to use black plugs (surf casting) at night, because they were more visible. It worked, too.

IMO, best kayak color combo would be a white bottom (like a fish) with a colorful topside.

I agree completely with this. Like he said, fish are white on the belly and dark on the top for a good reason, its their camoflauge. Also, if you go diving and look up, most anything that is on the surface just looks like a dark shadow. So white would be best in that regard. I am going to default to safety from now on. The next yak I get is going to be a bright color. I should've listened to the lady in the first place and bought a bright color. She's right again!