14-06-2006, 10:15 PM
If you are intending to fish out of your kayak you want a sit ON kayak, which is very different to the traditional style of kayak which are known as sit IN kayaks.
The cayman is a sit on kayak by Dagger (best known for white water and touring kayaks), I don't have any experience with this model, and don't know anyone who fishes out of a cayman, but I do know a guy who fishes out of a dagger drifter (sit in kayak). The cayman looks ok, but may be a little narrow for its length (wider kayak = more stable, bigger carrying capacity, but less fast), so might be a little unstable. The Cayman is 3.7m x 0.73m.
Viking make a lot of different kayaks, the one I'm most familiar with is the Viking Esprit (2 mates fish out of Esprits and love them). Very stable, and heaps of room for gear storage, the Esprit is 3.5m x 0.79m. Viking have also just released a new model designed specifically for fishing called the predator (4.65m x 0.73m). It's a MUCH bigger kayak than the Esprit but has rod holders fitted as standard and a fishing-friendly layout (it's also probably much more money than you want to spend). Another guy I know started out fishing from a Viking Ozzie, he used it for about 2 years then traded it in for a Perception Swing. Ozzies are small compared to all the other kayaks I've mentioned (2.7m x 0.79m) but are fine if you're not going to paddling really far or carrying too much gear. My girlfriend has been fishing out of a very similar kayak to the Ozzie for about a year now, we have customised it by adding a paddle keeper and 4 rod holders, plus a crate which clips on the back to hold gear, she is very happy with it and outfishes me a lot of the time!
My kayak is a Cobra Fish and Dive, it's massive (3.82m x 0.92m) and very stable but a little slow compared to others. I love it because it can carry HEAPS of gear (I sometimes end up carrying other people's gear they can't fit on their own kayaks), and it is big and stable enough to SCUBA dive from, which I do in the warmer months. Due to its size I wouldn't recommend this as a starting out kayak.
Considerations you should think about if you are looking for a kayak to fish from (I assume this is the main reason you are buying it?):
-How much work does it need to make it into a fishing friendly craft? (ie/ does it come with rod holders or do you have to add them yourself - if you are planning on fishing a lot from your kayak at least 2 rod holders are a must).
-How stable is it?
-How far will you be paddling on average?
-How much gear will you need to carry?
-A lesser consideration is how fast the kayak is, depends if you want to race to your fishing spot or not.
The cayman is a sit on kayak by Dagger (best known for white water and touring kayaks), I don't have any experience with this model, and don't know anyone who fishes out of a cayman, but I do know a guy who fishes out of a dagger drifter (sit in kayak). The cayman looks ok, but may be a little narrow for its length (wider kayak = more stable, bigger carrying capacity, but less fast), so might be a little unstable. The Cayman is 3.7m x 0.73m.
Viking make a lot of different kayaks, the one I'm most familiar with is the Viking Esprit (2 mates fish out of Esprits and love them). Very stable, and heaps of room for gear storage, the Esprit is 3.5m x 0.79m. Viking have also just released a new model designed specifically for fishing called the predator (4.65m x 0.73m). It's a MUCH bigger kayak than the Esprit but has rod holders fitted as standard and a fishing-friendly layout (it's also probably much more money than you want to spend). Another guy I know started out fishing from a Viking Ozzie, he used it for about 2 years then traded it in for a Perception Swing. Ozzies are small compared to all the other kayaks I've mentioned (2.7m x 0.79m) but are fine if you're not going to paddling really far or carrying too much gear. My girlfriend has been fishing out of a very similar kayak to the Ozzie for about a year now, we have customised it by adding a paddle keeper and 4 rod holders, plus a crate which clips on the back to hold gear, she is very happy with it and outfishes me a lot of the time!
My kayak is a Cobra Fish and Dive, it's massive (3.82m x 0.92m) and very stable but a little slow compared to others. I love it because it can carry HEAPS of gear (I sometimes end up carrying other people's gear they can't fit on their own kayaks), and it is big and stable enough to SCUBA dive from, which I do in the warmer months. Due to its size I wouldn't recommend this as a starting out kayak.
Considerations you should think about if you are looking for a kayak to fish from (I assume this is the main reason you are buying it?):
-How much work does it need to make it into a fishing friendly craft? (ie/ does it come with rod holders or do you have to add them yourself - if you are planning on fishing a lot from your kayak at least 2 rod holders are a must).
-How stable is it?
-How far will you be paddling on average?
-How much gear will you need to carry?
-A lesser consideration is how fast the kayak is, depends if you want to race to your fishing spot or not.