new member

 Hey all! At present I do not own a kayak but am in the market for a beginner model that will allow me to stand up in for the pursuit of largemouth and sm bass in the lake washington area. I do not however want to buy a low end kayak/canoe only to need an upgrade soon after the first purchase. I have seen the nucanoes and they look fairly decent for a tandem sot model with the ability to mount an electric trolling motor on. Do any of you take your craft on the rivers in the pursuit of steelhead and salmon. The skykhomishs' banks are where I primarily tread. I also live near Shilshole so once I become comfortable, EB trips will be forthcoming.
 Thanks for any input.
Troy

Hey Swop!

Welcome aboard (so to speak).  Tried and true sage advice for looking for your first kayak... try before you buy!  A lot of us have spares where you could tag along on an outing and use a guys extra kayak to get the feel of different models.  Second best to going on a full blown outing would be to test paddle at one of the dealers.  That can be really hard to do for a lot of the models and brands cause they're certainly not all represented right here in Wa.

Do we use them on rivers?  You bet!  Here's a link to my recent big float down the John Day in Oregon:  http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/bb/index.php?topic=225.0  It had rapids and all.  Do we go after steelhead from the yaks in the rivers?  Me personally, not yet.  But I think I'd like to.

Now for the specific advice you're asking for... Although I certainly wouldn't want you to go out and buy anything based on my one-persons opinion.  I road down the John Day in my Ocean Kayak Prowler 15.  Would have used my Cobra Fish-n-Dive for that job, but I loaned it to an out of state guest so he could float with us.  Yeah, I made it down 48 or 49 miles of river without losing my gear but I wouldn't recommend it to anybody.  That long skinny P-15 is more for going smoothly (relatively quickly) in a straight line like out on the sound or straight or maybe even the open ocean.  On the river you need something more nimble, which probably means shorter, and in my opinion something that has more primary stablility.  The F-n-D performed like a champ in that respect, and it carries a TON of gear to boot.  Then again that F-n-D will never keep up with the P-15 on open water.

I'm sure you get the general idea:  short and wide = nimble and stable but slower; long and skinny = faster, straight tracking, but a little more tippy.  Okay, one more opinion rendering.  IMHO, I think the Malibu X-factor might make a really good compromise for what you seem to be talking about.  It's pretty doggoned wide, has hard chines for that really good primary stability, but it's long enough to track really well too.  It's heavier than some, but like the F-n-D it'll REALLY haul a load if you ever need to.

Having said all that, I can't help but re-emphasize that you need to try before you buy all that you can if you expect to be happy with your sizable outlay of payday.  So watch this forum for "hookups" and come on out with us whenever you can.

Fishin-T

Hola Swop, welcome!

Good advice from Mr. T.  In addition to the Malibu XFactor, I would also check out the Wilderness Systems Ride 135 and the Ocean Kayak Prowler Big Game.  These 3 kayaks provide decent platforms to stand up on.

Not sure which stretches of the Sky your talking about, but I've been thinking of floating the Snohomish for pinks or silvers when in season.  And I think the upper Snoqualmie (Plum's landing to Fall City) looks very doable in a yak.  Of course it depends on water flow.  If you've never floated a river I would highly suggest taking a few classes on it (probably in whitewater yaks) just so you get a feel for currents, hydraulics,  and the like.

-Allen

 Thanks for the welcome and advice on gearing up. I definitely do not want to regret buying something that doesnt suit my needs. A stable fishing platform for bass is my primary concern at this time. After the spawn they are harder to come by from shore but with a kayak I can reach those other hot spots that I am just itching to pitch into or swim a frog across.
Thanks again and I will keep an eye posted for a future outing with some of you.
Troy