TRENDS
PARADISE BY THE DASHBOARD LIGHT. PHOTO: LUKE LABREE
PLUG AND PLAY A
KAYAK FISHING INDUSTRY RACES TO MAKE SPORT EASIER, MORE ACCESSIBLE, MORE PERSONAL
little more than a decade ago, there were no fishing kayaks, no kayak fishing accessories and only a few hardy souls who called themselves
kayak fishermen. My, how times have changed. Today, there are hundreds of fishing kayaks for anglers to choose from. Dozens of companies pro- ducing accessories and tools for kayak fishing and 1.6 million anglers have taken up the paddle. According to the Outdoor Foundation’s 2014 Outdoor Participation Report, kayak fishing is the second fastest growing sport in America. To meet this demand, kayak manufacturers are looking for new ways to
get anglers on the water faster and easier. To that end, motorized kayaks are gaining speed. While retrofit motor kits have been available for several years, major manufacturers have introduced new boats designed around advanced motor systems. This year, Old Town Canoes and Kayaks introduced the Predator XL,
which features a removable console that houses a Minn Kota trolling motor. David Hadden, product manager at Old Town explains, “It all comes down to hands-free fishing.” For most anglers, fishing is the most important part of kayak fish-
ing. “Try this boat in the wind and current and you’ll never go back to a traditional kayak,” says Hadden, adding that the boat was designed to get more people on the water. “The Predator XL gives
78 KAYAK FISHING || Annual 2015
you the ability to get farther away from the launch than other kayak anglers and the traditional motor boat owner gets a first-class motorized fishing boat at a fraction of the cost and minimal maintenance,” he says. Another obstacle to kayak fishing is rigging the boat with the
accessories that fishermen require. To make rigging even easier, kayak manufacturers and accessory designers are installing plug-and- play pods that can be installed quickly. For Grant Montague, owner of New Zealand’s Viking Kayaks, the removable pod was a solution to a common problem. “I was tired of loading and unloading all my gear each trip,” he explains, “so I invented a pod that I could pack with gear and quick- ly install and remove.” In the past three years, Wilderness Systems and Old Town have also added removable pods to new and redesigned models. Accessory manufacturers have also jumped on the convenience bandwag-
on with new products that make kayak fishing easier and faster. YakAttack hit the scene providing solutions to the challenge of rigging a fishing kayak. “Now there are a ton of products developed for kayak fishing, rather than anglers having to adapt products that were developed for other watercraft,” explains company owner Luther Cifers. YakAttack’s GearTrac revolutionized kayak rigging by allowing anglers to add and remove accessories with the twist of a bolt. “Other companies now design accessories to fit our GearTrac,” Cifers says. For 2015, YakAttack is working on a new track that will allow rod-hold-
ers, electronics and other accessories to be dropped into the track for even faster rigging. For Cifers, the challenge isn’t keeping up with the industry, it’s staying ahead. “Each set of solutions creates its own set of challenges and opportunities and the quest to be the best is driving technology in this sport at a blinding pace,” he says. In the race to make kayak fishing easier and more accessible, kayak anglers come out winners. Ric Burnley is the editor of Kayak Anglermagazine.
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