Your Yak fishing Vehicle of choice?

I'm thinking about upgrading my 2 door hatchback to something a bit more yak fishing friendly. It works well for solo trips but when fishing with another yak angler it fills up pretty fast. I thought it would be interesting to see what everyone else is using to move their plastic around. I'm leaning toward a Subaru Forester or Outback, as I'd like to have the 4wd for the beach but still get 22-25 MPG on the drive out there. Plus I commute about 35 miles a day. I'm planning on buying used and would like to spend less than 10k. Eventually I'd like to get a trailer so I can haul 3 boats, anglers and gear.

The current yak hauler on the beach at PC after a day of fishing and crabbing. It's a 2002 VW GTI with the 1.8 liter turbo. It's been a pretty good car but has had some electrical demons.


So what do you got and how do you like it?

I've got a big 4x4 pickup.  It's way overkill for the yak.  If we buy a minivan in the near term the '97 Camry will become my daily driver.  I'll probably get a roof rack for it and use that instead of the truck.  As long as I stay off soft sand it should work reasonably well.

Packing a Civic with 2 adults, 2 kids, camping gear, kayaks and gear, became a bit much for Marie and I.  It was really uncomfortable and a pain in the ass, and even then, we couldn't go far with 4 kayaks strapped to the roof (wasn't comfortable going over 30 mph like that).

So I upgraded to a Tundra double cab, with 4.6 liter V8.  I can hook up a trailer if I decide to go that route, but for now, got this cool guy working on an aluminum bed/hitch extender setup.  We'll be able to carry 4 kayaks, and 3 totes full of gear with room to spare. 

As for mileage, it's rated at 14/19.  I've typically found I get 25% better than the hiway mileage with how I drive.  LingLady's car is rate for 39 mpg hiway but I get 46 to 47 with it  (that's our commuter car btw)

I had other factors weighing in on that too though.  I took the civic to waaaaay too many places where we bounced the frame off the road, and pulling so much weight in that tiny car was hurting the transmission as well.  But the new truck has 10.5 inches clearance, 4x4, tow package, and 310 hp.   

Obviously, this isn't gonna fit the 10k budget, but it's not too hard to find a decent used truck that has similar characteristics.

I have a 2012  Subaru Outback....my old 2007 Subaru Outback roof rack allowed for easy Hobie Outback roof transport using Yakima crossbars, mako saddles and a show boat roller.
Since the 2012 Outback roof rack only allows for a 28" spacing...from to back......I ended up buying a Hobie/Trailex aluminum trailer......in the end, the trailer is really nice for both transport and storage.....it's quite light weight...under 250pounds when loaded.

I'd just get the trailer now if you can pull it.

I love my 2007 Outback! I can haul two kayaks and a surfboard plus all our fishing and camping gear with room to spare. With that much on the roof milage is about 23 highway with just one boat I get about 26. The AWD is awesome and it goes everywhere. Get bars that are wide enough to fit two boats flat. I have 60" bars and could have gone an extra inch or two more. Watch out for Subarus with over 125k the head gasket likes to go out between 125 and 200k. My 97 Outback made it to 175. They are an awesome car.
I don't have any yak on car pics but here is a pic of the last load I fit in it.


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Thanks for the replies guys. I'd like to get a truck but I'd put too many freeways miles on it. The quad cabs look pretty sweet, but they're out of the budget.

The V-dub could pull a trailer but it doesn't have enough room on the inside to carry three passengers. Plus I want to get rid of before it explodes. And it can't get down the ramp at PC during the winter, not enough clearance.

That's a nice look buck, Bill! I've got 56" bars now and they work perfect for a Revo plus outback combo.

I don't think 56 inches is going to hold revo + outback man.

Revo is 28.5 and Outback is 33.  That's 61.5 inches. 

I don't think 56 inches is going to hold revo + outback man.

Revo is 28.5 and Outback is 33.  That's 61.5 inches.

It does, I've done it multiple times. Those measurements are at the widest point of the yak. I run them upside down and the rails of the kayaks are wide enough to let them both fit. It's tight but it works. And actually the bars might be 58. I'll have to remember to measure.

I don't think 56 inches is going to hold revo + outback man.

Revo is 28.5 and Outback is 33.  That's 61.5 inches. 

I think If you offset the boats so that the widest parts aren't aligned, you can get them to fit. (2 inch overlap equals 4 inch net gain) The Outback is a bit tail heavy so sliding it forward helps to balance it out as well.

I use an old salvage-title G20. She looks good enough, gets decent gas mileage, has decent power,  is easy to load, can make it down the PC ramp, but gets stuck in the soft sand (doh!).  Funny enough the kayak is worth about as much as the car on the secondary market.

Not quite a truck but I have a Ford Escape Hybrid AWD. It holds both outback and revo on top - one in J-racks and the other on saddles. I have a video on my YouTube Channel on how to load the outback on top by yourself. I made the mistake of not having a tether rope and tore a hole in one of the scupper holes - got a video on how I fixed that on the channel as well. I picked up my 2006 model for less than $10k almost three years ago with 88k miles. I get about 26 mph going to the beach or Puget Sound with both boats, gear, crab traps, wife, child and dog. Got the same going to Merrill Lake with two yaks and pulling a drift boat and three guys total. It's a little tight when weekend camping. I get nearly 30 mph in town. It has 130k on it now. Still doesn't burn oil. Oh, and I pull my 16 foot jet sled if I stay in the metro area and don't go over any serious hills. On sand, you need to put the AC or defrost on to kick on the gas engine to support the electric one, if it goes into electric mode. I have been impressed with the quality. You might get basically the same mileage with the four cylinder model. 

I drive a Suzuki SX4. 2 J-hooks and a rocket box on 58" bars- have traveled several hundred miles like this.

Got sick of lifting two heavy Pro Angler 14's into the back of my long bed truck.  One is easy to load and unload for local launches.  The trailer on the back of my Prius is great for longer hauling - though it's as long as a motor home. 

I have a Yakima Roof Rack with a roller bar that mounts on the side.  It slid off the roller one day and my passenger back door still shows the scar of a dent I put in the side.

I love my 2007 Outback! I can haul two kayaks and a surfboard plus all our fishing and camping gear with room to spare. With that much on the roof milage is about 23 highway with just one boat I get about 26. The AWD is awesome and it goes everywhere. Get bars that are wide enough to fit two boats flat. I have 60" bars and could have gone an extra inch or two more. Watch out for Subarus with over 125k the head gasket likes to go out between 125 and 200k. My 97 Outback made it to 175. They are an awesome car.
I don't have any yak on car pics but here is a pic of the last load I fit in it.


Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Nice deer, still have blood stains in my car from a deer a few years back.   
I second the Subaru outback.  It is a bit under powered at times but mine has yet to let me down.  I am not sure how the engine in the 2005+ models are but, the older ones definitely tend to have head gasket problems.   

I love my Avalanche.

No way it's meeting your mpg requirements though.

A pickup of some sort is nice because you can just hose out the bed.  It keeps the stink down.