Rudder on paddle yak?

[jet]

on the water and kayak kevins dvd, i noticed a lot of guys dont have rudders installed on their non hobie kayaks. is there a specific reason or advantage to not having a rudder?

[chimo]

One more thing to get your line / fish to get tangled around ... Personal preference

Chimo

[J.A. Veil]

I don't have a rudder on either of my paddle-type kayaks. Occasionally I wish I did -- especially in a strong breeze when the waves try to force the kayak into a particular orientation. I like to keep my ride simple with as few moving parts as necessary.

[MetroMan]

From what I hear, if you've never had one, you don't miss it at all. You just learn to paddle accordingly. But once you get one, you never want to go back to not having one.

I felt a rudder was a mandatory accessory on my first kayak, as it tracked horribly without it, and was succeptible to weathervaning in the slightest of wind.

[OBX_RAT]

I don't have a rudder on either of my paddle-type kayaks. Occasionally I wish I did -- especially in a strong breeze when the waves try to force the kayak into a particular orientation. I like to keep my ride simple with as few moving parts as necessary.

I am on the same page as J.A. Veil. There has only been a few times fishing the CBBT where I needed one, but I got through it.

[ictalurus]

A lot of the guys on kayakfishingstuff.com recommended them. It's nice to be able to control the orientation of your drift. There have been a couple times when I used the Revo's rudder to stay in an eddy, but that likely depends on the wind and current direction. Lately, I've been tangling mine a lot, so I've been rethinking the need for one on my Tarpon. If I covered the same distance in the Tarpon as in the Revo, I would probably get one because the Tarpon weathercocks, which is annoying. They also help longer yaks turn faster, I think.

[DOGFISH]

It is a personal preference. However, when paddling any distance in the bay a rudder has always seemed to make things easier for me. I have always liked to be able to keep my paddle cadence, with use of the rudder for direction.

[moc]

I have a rudder on my Revo and my Tarpon. My Tarpon was my first yak, so I wanted everything and the kitchen sink. For a 12 foot boat you can get away without a rudder, but as it was said earlier, a rudder is great in strong currents and controlling your drift orientaton. My revo it is mandatory to have a rudder on a peddle kayak because of the way it is designed to turn with very little need for a paddle.

[surfdog]

ive had yaks with and with out and i liked having a rudder especially in the wind and chop. its also is a big help setting a drift

[mmanolis2001]

Kevin is an expert paddler. That is probably the main reason he does not use one. If your good you have no need for one.

I on the other hand will not own another kayak without a rudder.


Very helpful in wind and cross currents.

[ComeOnFish]

I prefer a paddle kayak without a rudder. I didn't use the rudder on my T140 at all. I kept the rudders up on all rental kayaks that were equipped with rudders regardless wind and chop.

Joe

[CB kayak 02]

Yeah I didn't have one on my Prowler Trident 13, and I thought it tracked well. But then again I did try to get a hobie asap

[jet]

I prefer a paddle kayak without a rudder. I didn't use the rudder on my T140 at all. I kept the rudders up on all rental kayaks that were equipped with rudders regardless wind and chop.

Joe

why do you prefer no rudder though?

[chex]

Try paddling on a Hobie Mirage yak without the rudder and you'll be doing 180s all day. It's the one thing I don't like about my Revo11. The only time you put the rudder up is in shallow water... and that happens to be the only time you're paddling too!

[jet]

i'm not talking about hobies. hobie revo tracks horrible anyways without a rudder, but other non pedal kayaks track pretty good without rudders, BUT with wind and current, dont see why anyone would not want a rudder, so again, looking for the cons and reasons why people dont use them. has to be more reasons than a fishing line getting caught on it