Funny I ran across this thread. I am in the process of trying to sell my boat now and find a nice used kayak to use. Seems like y'all have been happy with the switch. I will still miss the boat, but since I have a lot less free time than I used to I think a kayak will get a lot more use. Taking the boat out was always an entire day adventure and I usually had to prep it the night before too.

The grass is always greener

Love fishing from my kayaks; but you really need to plan where you are going to fish depending on the wind forecast/water conditions. Then you have to commit to that area.

At times, I imagine it would be nice to run and gun to find actively feeding, aggressive fish instead of grinding it out on the location you chose. Also, the freedom to fish wherever you choose, no matter the wind

Then, I think of all the maintenance, titles, insurance, gas prices, engine issues, onboard chargers, multiple graphs, etc, etc

Well, I still have my boat. And I have a couple of kayaks. I use all of them regularly, and I enjoy them a great deal. All are paid for. I pretty much built my boat from a discard. Because I could. It doesn't cost me much to own it, because I do all of the service on it myself. I'm about to build a SUP, because I can. They all have different uses, and I use them appropriately. I'm 58, and I'm not getting rid of any of them anytime soon.

I sold my Ranger bass boat to get into kayaking. I do miss riding around in the bass boat from time to time. I enjoy both kayaking and the bass boat. I just couldn�t afford the gas/oil/inspection/upkeep with the bass boat.
I have thought about getting a small V-Hull or a skiff to fish out of too.

I bought a new Z18 in June and am using it quite a bit. Then a friend talked me into getting a yak to fish smaller waters and am loving it. I will also not try to take my new boat up the creeks so the yak will be used instead. Each one has it strengths and weaknesses but I can never see me being without either.

I have both and prefer fishing out of my kayak. Something about being closer to the action and more in tune with nature. Hard to explain, but you'll know it when it happens.

I bought a used bass boat several years ago and thought I had fulfilled my life's dream. I had looked at kayaks previous to that because I didn't think I could justify the cost of a boat (i.e., explaining it to the wife). I sold the boat within about two years after constantly having to spend money on it. And multiple times I would get to a lake and have problems with the boat that would prevent me from fishing. After I sold the boat I figured that each fish that I caught from it that I took home and ate cost me many hundreds of dollars per fish. If I had hired a guide every time I wanted to go fishing, I would have been able to get out at least twice as often, caught many times more fish and spent half the money. I learned that I should not be allowed to own a used boat. It was a very expensive experiment that had to be done as now I no longer have the craving. So I took what little money I had left after selling the boat and bought a used Outback. New vs used didn't make a lot of difference for a kayak. And there is a limited ceiling on how much you can spend doing things to it. After that, virtually no cost for maintenance, storage, upgrades. Get out more often, enjoy it more and catch more fish.

I moved down to Austin from Dallas about 8 years ago. When living in Dallas, I fished out of my Champion almost every weekend (both for fun and in tournaments). Once I'd been down here a while I bought a Jackson Coosa and my Champion sat forever until I sold it. It's so much easier to throw some plastic in the back of your truck, and not have to worry about filling up w/gas. Fishing on rivers (vs lakes) is much more enjoyable to me, plus you have the added bonus of the exercise. I would advise getting a yak you can stand up in.

No regrets.

For any former boat angler making such a move to a kayak, evolution44 is spot on regarding standing and fishing from a kayak, its value. Even for those of us who are not coming from a fishing boat, this still applies. Then in the transitioning, all one is doing is trading some spots on the lake where a boat has an advantage . . . for those where a kayak has an advantage. For those out-deep areas where a boat might be preferred, there are all of those shallow areas off limits to boats. Then, add the rivers and small ponds and more. It becomes a matter of where one fishes a bit more since standing in each case makes presentations about the same. Brad

Just eliminating a trailer, outboard, and trolling motor basically rids you of the 3 biggest maintenance items... Kayaks don't have carpet either. Also eliminating the need to own and maintain a tow vehicle is huge for true expense. The hidden soft costs of boat ownership are really higher than cost of entry to almost any other hobby, and cheap boats make for horror stories. By nature they sit unused a lot and are generally a person's last priority not first.

For me personally, it comes down to wether I have a fishing buddy or not. The boat is a lot of overkill solo when the kayak is a lot of fun solo. Plastic boats take up a lot less room as well, and never require a mechanic either lol... No matter how many lies you may tell the wife to buy/keep a boat, convincing other boat owners kayaks don't have a huge advantage in ownership cost is a fools errand. There is no cheaper way to get time out on the water. They don't even have to be registered or titled, so they are even cheaper to buy and sell, and have one less (bi)annual upkeep item.

That said, you have to get to the lake to fish either way, so if the problem is that you don't go, a kayak won't make that better unless the only thing keeping you from going was paying for gas in the boat.

I have both but I have been kayaking longer. I thought I�d go to the bass boat and never look back at kayaking but I was wrong. I do enjoy the boat, but as others have mentioned it is more involved than a simple kayak. I think there are pros and cons for each and it really just comes down to what is more important to you. As for the boat you can cover a lot of water fast, fish with several people together, and manage harsher conditions easier. I find that if I don�t have at least 4 hours or more it is difficult to get out on the boat without being rushed. I can get out on the yak from the couch to the lake in under 40 mins. I enjoy fishing alone and being more in tune with nature. The kayak will make you more patient and focus on fishing vs. running to different spots. I�m fortunate to be able to have both and I like each in a unique way but if I had to pick one over the other it would be the kayak.

Hmm...I would have to be able to stand, for sure...really love my century 1801...am about to add a cougar marine sb160 scooter next Wednesday! I gotta get in the flats on the coast...

They both have their place.

I did, only because I was unsure how much I was going to be able to use my boat starting a new career. At first the kayak was great, new water and what not. But you were limited on where and weather conditions are a much more important factor. I still have the yak, it doesn't get used much, but it's cool to have for the chances a group wants to go somewhere and I can pull it off.

As for ease of use, probably about the same. Being able to keep everything in the boat was nice, just hookup to the trailer and go. No doubt I could get in the water and be fishing faster with the boat vs kayak. Maintenance really wasn't a big issue, even being an older boat, you're going to work on whatever it is if that hobby is your passion. As long as my FF, TM, big motor, bilge & live well pumps worked, I was good to go. It didn't have to be clean or pretty. Gas expense is probably the biggest con if you're going to compare the two.

I owned an older, small aluminum bass boat for several years. I fished out of a kayak for five or so years before owning the boat. I do not enjoy working on engines and the like. I can see why guys enjoy piddling with boat maintenance and repair and I would get pumped up and tell myself that I was going to really get into it, but I never did. Just not my thing. I also hated fighting the wind in the little aluminum bass boat. My kayak was an OK Scrambler that didn't track very well and was terrible in the wind. I was incredibly frustrated that the boat was a pain in the wind as well. I made plans to rework the boat a bit and significantly upgrade the trolling motor, but it didn't seem worth the money in the end. I was very happy the day I sold the boat. I went back to fishing out of my kayak, but was still a bit frustrated, so last year I upgraded to a much better, more modern fishing kayak with a nice seat. The wind is way more manageable and I can fish for six to eight hours or longer in comfort. I am incredibly happy. I would love to have a boat someday in the distant future, mainly so I could fish with family or friends and be able to hit fishing spots that are miles apart, but I would only want to own a newer boat that will have fewer problems and be able to afford the maintenance without getting uptight. That will probably never happen!

Bug-e and others make a valid point about getting a "modern" fishing kayak. If someone is used to fishing from a boat, a cheap or uncomfortable kayak is too big a step down.

It entails a decent outlay of cash to get a good kayak fishing platform, get it set up correctly. If someone drops out of the boat world and ends up in a new $300 kayak, they are going to have dreams about the good old days in the boat, nightmares about their current state of affairs.

But, we are getting very close, now. More and more kayaks are appearing that are stable enough to stand in (a big deal for many of us), pedal or paddle, some are super light (thermo-formed), many will have available power options for those out there who want a TM or small outboard. If battery technology can make one more decent paradigm shift increasing amp hours to weight ratios (and bring the price down!!!), kayaks are going to attract a lot of attention.

Kayaks that can be tossed on the back of a truck bed, rolled down to the water with little effort, that can be stood in . . . they are starting to appear on the market.

*** I'd like to see more marinas update their facilities and add some dedicated kayak launching areas. Numbers may soon support this.

Brad