Standing in a Kayak

[Mark]

I've been reading recent posts about kayak comparisons and the topic of standing up in a kayak frequently arises.

I've wondered how prevalent standing is.

I have to say that in probably 20 outings of kayak fishing in the Bay and its tributaries last year, I never once had a notion to or felt a need to stand-up to fish.

What is the purpose of doing so?

Thanks in advance,

[MetroMan]

I've done it a few times. Never out of necessity, but purely out of boredom on calm, protected waters. Nice to know I can do so to comfortably urinate.

[Cowpokey]

I've been kayak fishing for a long time, never had the "need" to stand up. Often here about people thinking it's necessary when fly fishing, don't understand why. I fly fish from a kayak and while wading. When I'm wading, I'm usually about waist deep...pretty much the same hight above the water as sitting in a kayak.

[PigPen]

Mark,

I stand in mine pretty regularly but in calm water. Typically in lakes or flat rivers while sight casting in the weeds, structure, or lillypads. I'm hoping that I'll be able to stand and sight cast in the marshy areas of the bay over towards the smith island area. I flyfish as well and the extra height helps get more line out and present a better cast and keep me from getting tangled in my gear. Standing does give you more of a 360 degree casting area without having to reposition the boat. Standing also comes in handy when nature calls or stretching. I've seen a number of articles talking about the need to stand for shallow reds and carp. The RAM catalog has some nut job on the cover with a casting platfom mounted to his kayak holding a permit somewhere salty and probably windy. Who knows if the extra stability to stand is worth the extra weight and being slower than the tippy boats....

[archeryrob]

I only do it in fresh water and in shallow water to get a better look at the bottom structure. I have no need to stand up in deep water and the bay.

[rdevaughn]

Sight fishing

I think anyone interested in sight fishing from a kayak wants to know whether or not they can stand on it.

The farther you are from the surface of the water, the larger the area of it you can see as you scan around, and the steeper the angle at which you are looking down into the water, the farther you can see into it.

[RavensDfense]

+1 rdevaughn

It depends on what type of fishing you are doing. For example, when sight casting for reds, standing obviously offers you an advantage because you can see the fish before you cast to it. When they are spooky, blind casting in the middle of the school will scare em off, but placing it just in front of the school and twitching it when they are over it will draw a strike. You can't do this sitting down low to the water with much success.

When your on the water for 9-10 hours its also nice to stand up and stretch. Not to mention its pretty awesome fighting a fish while standing.

[Mark]

Thanks all.

Good points.

I’ve never “sight-fished” other than casting to breaking fish. I hope I get the opportunity to do that this year for reds. But it won’t be standing in my kayak. I don’t want to take a dip.

I fly fish and have no problem tossing enough line from a seated position. In fact, I’ll deliberately shorten my fly casts on occasion because I find if I have too much line out I’ll miss surface strikes.

[archeryrob]

You should be able to stand in that Coosa, you have listed.

[chimo]

+ 1 on everything listed above. I mostly find myself standing when bass fishing. Whether its sight casting or just flipping and pitching baits to cover the added height helps a lot.

[Mark]

Yes, I know the Coosa is rated for standing.

But my tolerance for falling in is not!

And yes, flipping would be very difficult without standing. I've only done that a few times and I was in a bass boat.

[Runnin]

Everything has it's good points and bad points. You need to pick a yak that supports how you want to fish with it. I would think that ANY kayak that allows one to stand would paddle like a floating brick. I can't think of a hull design that would be fast and stable enough to stand reliably. To me, ease of paddling is more important. I don't need to stand much, and there are often times on the rivers I fish, that I beach my yak and wade or cast from rocks.

[Nitefly]

I like to stand when fishing in the muck on the Mattawoman for visibility. Standing in the NuCanoe is easy from the high seated position and I will continue to use that yak when I go for Snakehead. I don't think Ill do much in the way of standing in the Outback, but it is pretty stable. I feel I can cast farther and with more accuracy standing, but I'm not very good at casting yet from any position.

[Memory Maker]

Standing gives you a big advantage .......... especially when casting the pads in Mattawoman because it allows you to see over the weeds, allows you to work a frog at a greater angle so there is less fouling w/pads etc and more leverage to get the fish over the pads. For hunting Reds on flats it allows you to see farther.

The Pro Angler has an accessory called the H bar that allows you to stand and balance easily ....... for the balanced challanged fat old guys like me, I've built a set of outriggers that I plan to try ......... If they aren't good enough, I have a set of pontoons the will guarantee a stable platform.

I've even rigged a mount for my Torqeedo controller on the H Bar so I can motor around the flats looking for reds. I am working on a steering extention to use while standing and motoring but that isn't finished yet ........ neither is the pole holder for the H bar to hold the poling/stakeout pole.

Oh and also there is a video on this Kayak Angler of someone Spey Casting while standing in a Pro Angler.

So ....... yeah ...... standing is becoming more common place.

[Mark]

Eric,

I remember the snake (not snakehead) you caught last year at Mattawoman. I nailed a LM bass that day at the edge of the pads. I saw a fish jump after a dragon fly. I tossed a fly rod popper right over the spot where it jumped and immediately hooked up. I'm guessing it was the same fish.

What bothered me the most at Mattawoman was the undergrowth of vegetation that kept fouling my Mirage Drive. I had to sit outside the line of pads quite far and loft casts into them. Next trip back there will likely be in the Coosa.