Kayak or Drift Boat?

Paulson

Paulson

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Joined
Jan 13, 2012
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241
Im looking at getting a kayak or a drift boat to fish the Brandywine predominately and probably some lakes and reservoirs locally. Craiglist seems to have a few good options readily available for Kayaks in the $300 range.

What I'd like to know is what gives me more versatility overall? How hard is it to cast from either?
 
two man drift hands down, yesterday i spent 7hrs on the Allegheny river. and it was a blast, but even running a switch style rod from my kayak i could get my fly where i wanted but between getting the boat where i wanted to be and casting and retrieving streamers i would be through a riffle in a hurry. then i had to paddle back up stream, very tiring ordeal.

then top that off with my buddies in the drift(2 man pontoon), slowly back paddling through the whole thing the guy fishing, has the advantage of standing, a way better perspective on seeing in the water and way more time to fish. plus if you work with someone who has paddled before, the rower will know how to keep you where you need to be. far more effective.

though the kayak does win on flat water, way more rowing resistance on flat calm water. but i myself want a drift boat just for how efficient they were fishing vs me. but luckly i was there for photos and a bit of fishing, so it sort of worked.
 
to clarify, do you really mean drift boat? kayak and drift boat are just soooo far apart i am thinking you mean pontoon or something.

regarding flat water drift boat ....... trolling motor!
 
I own a driftboat and would never recommend anything else, however - if you are specifically asking for use on the BW river - I have to tell you that a driftboat is not feasible. I own 2 kayaks that we run on the Brandywine from D'town to Delaware with no problems - yaks are your best bet for this stretch of water.

Rafts and other pontoon style boats are options to fish out of but for the BW, I would stay away from them. They are not necessary and you'll just spend unnecessary amounts of time forward rowing...

This is my opinion. If you need any other info on this or the BW, give me a shout.

TB
 
I own a native watercraft ultimate angler tandem 14.5 feet. It's a great boat. If you plan to fish with a partner most of the time, the 16 footer is the better model. I fish alone most of the time, occasionally bringing my wife or a friend. I stand up and fish from it routinely when floating rivers for trout and smallmouth. It's extremely stable.

The big advantage to a kayak is that you can put it in almost anywhere. You need to be able to access a ramp to put a drift boat on the water, and that will limit the stretches of water that you can fish. With a canoe or yak you can go just about anywhere.

The times I wish I had a drift boat are when I'm throwing streamers in big water. This was never much of a problem in PA, but I live in the south now and the rivers tend to be quite a bit more brawling down here. You don't really want to run through 4-foot standing waves in what I have, let alone try to fish.


 
Thanks for the help! Looks like a Kayak will fit what I am looking for. Does anyone float through the winter?

TDB, that would be great to meet up and float the BW once I get situated.
 
Let me know - I'd be glad to meet up. I usually target that water from mid-June through September.

Best of luck in your hunt for a watercraft.

I went cheap with the kayak - I have 2 Old Town Otters. They are NOTHING special, but they are fine for 4 hour floats.
 
Cool, that's probably when I will end up purchasing a kayak. Yeah I'm not looking for anythig special as long as it is a 10ft boat.

Maybe a BW float trip for smallies?
 
BW Smallie float Jam is what I meant to say
 
I regularly fish from my kayak, fly and bait/spin. Takes a little work getting used to casting from your *** but it's not a ton different. If you really wanna get creative some deck rigging or straps and some improvised floats would even allow you to stand.

I float and fish the perkiomen below green lane with it for smallies. Sometimes in the heat of the summer we will load all our nightfishing gear in it and use it to float down and paddle back up to our cars. It's a hell of a lot easier than carrying coolers and rods through the woods.

I'd be down for a meet up and float if you wanna give it a shot sometime. I've got an extra you could try out if you wanna give it a shot before you go all in and make a purchase. I've got an 11.5 foot old town with rod holder that I use and a cheapo 9.5 foot rec boat from Dicks that I started on. I'd let ya try either and take the other if you wanted to give it a shot.
 
oh and yea I float through the winter. A quality skirt is about 100 bucks, but a nylon would work and is cheaper. A dry top paddling jacket, while uncomfortable(neck and wrist gaskets), will keep you bone dry and you can put thick layers under it. I got a drytop from NRS for like 70 bucks i think.
 
Good advice, what do you mean by skirt? I'm only familiar with the Ladies skirts; short and tight please :)

Sure, I could take you up on it. I've only used a kayak once. It was a 9 footer and I found it difficult to keep straight on flat water (I was on Oct Res). So Id prefer longer based on that, but it was still fun.
 
Skirt is the thing that goes around your waist and connects to the cockpit so no water splashes in while paddling or going through rapids. In the winter it helps to keep the legs warm by closing overything off below your waist.

Anytime you want man, have boats will travel. Hit me with a PM if you're interested. Deep creek is up here by me or I'm always willing to see new water so if you wanna take a float on the brandywine I can come down your way whenever, I'm pretty free all the time(no wife, no little-uns).
 
Nu-Canoe
great way to fly fish !!
 
Yea what sandfly said NU-CANOE
Oh yea I think sanfly sells them !
 
There is no place in PA that I'd use a drift boat, especially if you think you're going to fish on an impoundment. On big water you waste all your time rowing through long slow water and not fishing. I know this because my friend had a drift boat and used it for the Upper Delaware, it would take us all day to travel from our put in point to our take out point, when we could have done that in a couple of hours in a kayak or canoe. The difference is in the amount of time left for fishing.
 
You could row from one place to another faster by kayak but it's also a hell of a lot easier to stand and fish in a drift boat.....not to mention bringing a cooler and picnic basket boo boo. Each craft serves a purpose though.

"it would take us all day to get from the put in to the take out". If you want to fish for 2 hours, don't get in a boat. Once you launch, you're in for the duration even if the fishing or the weather sucks.
 
Thanks again for the advice everyone, much appreciated. I think a kayak will be the best for overall and everywhere. I can get used to sitting down and casting.
 
Chaz wrote:
There is no place in PA that I'd use a drift boat, especially if you think you're going to fish on an impoundment. On big water you waste all your time rowing through long slow water and not fishing. I know this because my friend had a drift boat and used it for the Upper Delaware, it would take us all day to travel from our put in point to our take out point, when we could have done that in a couple of hours in a kayak or canoe. The difference is in the amount of time left for fishing.
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trolling motor
 
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