So, my 4 year old niece is visiting on vacation right now, and she got wind that her favorite uncle goes fishing in a kayak. Naturally, she loves this whole idea and wants to go with me. Two problems were immediately presented - she needs to learn to fish, and she needs somewhere to sit on my Ride 135.

Teaching her to fish was the easy part - one purchase of a Disney Princess spincaster pole later, and the kid has learned the technique and is casting away quicker than I could figure the thing out. She's got the power to throw that thing well beyond the swimming pool we practiced on, but her aim requires a little work. Seeing as a few family bystanders got whacked with the rubber practice plug, I decide to forgo the hooks and leave the plug on for the duration.

Getting her into the kayak was a lot harder. First, we had to jury-rig an old kid's carseat into the rear storage area of the yak using bungee cord and camstraps. Once that was secure and stable, we launch the boat and draw it up next to the nearest thing we have to a berth on our neighborhood lake. Of course, she won't get in. Little Miss Fussy decides that the turtles might eat her, and so she can't go into the water...her loss, we tell her, as I paddle slowly away from shore. The next fifteen minutes were spent showing off in clear view of the little one; ducks were chased, high-speed turns were made, and a dink bass was caught with much dramatics and noise. Finally, I saw the signal from my brother - return to shore, someone wants to board!



Taking it slow for a few minutes was all that it required for the tot to get comfortable on the water. She was casting her pole left and right, gleefully dragging it back in for the next cast. When we passed the lake's nearest fountain, however, our fishing expedition suddenly changed focus. "Through the waterfall, Uncle, go through the waterfall", my new captain yelled. Who was I to question? I don't know how long we spent paddling back and forth around and under that fountain, but it certainly made my niece's day. When we finally returned to shore, soaking wet and giggling, I knew that although I hadn't created a new fisherman, I might just have planted the seed for a future yakker.



Good times.

This. Is. Awesome!!

That's awesome, kids eat that kind of stuff up!

I'm pretty sure I have her "Uncle Of The Year" award sewn up for the next couple of years now.

Thats an awesome idea, my daughter wants to go on the kayak with me and we have a spare car seats. Looks like we going to try this soon.

gonefishin, I'm sure you've already got the kiddo's safety as top priority, but I want to state the most important things I took away from the experience:

- Make sure that seat is secure. The passenger WILL lean out to touch everything that looks interesting, and the seat has to handle that movement!

- PFD! We bought a Walmart special in case she dunked. She's a swimmer, and the lake was only 3ft deep where we went, but I consider flotation devices a non-negotiable.

- Consider ballast. I noticed in the photos that my nose rode high as the passenger weight sunk my tail. Not much of an issue as I'm only 150# and the Ride is a big beast, but I'd think about putting some weight in the bow hatch next time.

Post some pics when you get it set up, I'm sure your daughter will love you for it!

Very cool!

Do you have any idea on what she weighs? My daughter is also 4 and weighs roughly 45 lbs. We've got PFD for her and she is a fantastic swimmer. I have to make sure her seat fits in my ascend and that I can get it secured good. I will update tomorrow, I'm going to see what I can come up with tonight.

Awesome, WTG.

Thanks for the read! Awesome story

Thanks for reading - I'm glad everyone has seen this as the sacrifice for my niece that it was, and refrained from making fun of my new pink-seated yak!

gonefishin, I'm sorry but I have no idea what she weighs - feels like 110 when she elbow-drops me during uncle nap-time on the sofa, but that's probably not accurate. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with - getting something like this to work is definitely unique to the yak/carseat combo you have to work with! In case it helps, mine was restrained at the rear with the tankwell bungee, strapped down using a camstrap around the hull, and braced up front by camstrapping it to the back of my yak seat (which itself is pulled forward by my seat adjustment strap). Everything seemed to balance out and give the necessary stability.

I do bet that seat matches your purse, I mean tackle box nicely. Lol

That awesome and a great idea to boot. My son has claimed my yak as his and he wants to go out every day. He is only 3 but sets right in front of my seat but I may have to steal your idea.

Well unfortunately it looks like I'm not gonna be able to put the actual car seat in the back without adding mounts to tie it down to, so I'll just block the scupper holes back there and let her sit back there for a quick paddle and see how she does.

That's awesome

That is very cool. One of the best posts of 2014 IMHO!!!