# Surf and BTB Kayak



## bigfost (Oct 11, 2004)

There have been questions on here about what is the best kayak for running baits, BTB fishing, etc.

I learned a long time ago there is no absolute best of anything for everyone, but this link may put things in perspective for what has proven to be a great all around surf kayak.

http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=126854


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## Anderson111 (Nov 26, 2012)

Mmmmm i just want to say you here as a Rider that i am a Kayak rider and also Surfbaord rider and catch the fishes but the best and easy way to catch the fishes from the Kayak because yoyu just hold your paddle and the fish finder camera will automatically find out the fishes so i think you should prefer to Kayak fishing...


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## jagarcia10 (Mar 10, 2011)

Anderson111 said:


> Mmmmm i just want to say you here as a Rider that i am a Kayak rider and also Surfbaord rider and catch the fishes but the best and easy way to catch the fishes from the Kayak because yoyu just hold your paddle and the fish finder camera will automatically find out the fishes so i think you should prefer to Kayak fishing...


What?


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## That Robbie Guy (Aug 11, 2009)

WHAT said:


> What?


Maybe he's foreign?!


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## histprof (Oct 30, 2011)

Gollum? Fishes tastes better than nasty orcses.... yes, they does, my precious.


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## BullyARed (Jun 19, 2010)

That Robbie Guy said:


> Maybe he's foreign?!


Undocumented 2Cooler!


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## bigfost (Oct 11, 2004)

Tough crowd here. You guys don't want to start sounding as mean spirited as the "in crowd" at Extreme Coast.


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## jagarcia10 (Mar 10, 2011)

Wasn't tyring to being mean, I was just wondering if he/she was agreeing or disagreeing with you. 

I actually like the way he/she uses the word "fishes".


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## JOHNNYREB (Apr 20, 2006)

The guy probably "massacred" the Fishes every time he goes out!


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## justletmein (Feb 11, 2006)

So back on track. I've paddled baits in a FnD and that's not something I would ever desire to do again. BTB, yes love that yak very stable, but sure was fun trying to punch that tank through the breakers. lol

Stoooopid hobbit, he ruins it! Give it to me raw and wriggling!


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## Devin 85 (Jul 19, 2012)

i have a 12' OK spec and a 13' OK scrambler....out of the 2 i perfer the spec to run my baits out... its much eaiser going out btb and coming back in...


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## justinn (Apr 8, 2011)

I have a WS t160 and a OK drifter both with rudders. While the 160 I'll take out there on a calm day and fly across the surf to put baits out, I usually stick with the drifter with it being stable yet unfortunately slow and wet. I've used a buddies WS ride 135 to run baits out on a couple of different trips. It did not have a a rudder, but I felt I sat much higher and very stable. Big positive was staying dry, especially on the long drops at night. 

I was able to demo a Hobie outback for a week and use it in a tournament in may. It's hard to go back to paddling after using that mirage drive. I have yet to btb down here as no one really does, but I have a few other yakers showing interest. With no rigs down here the plan is to start out at the jetties, work the jetties and then do a long 6-7 mile drift with the south wind along or past the 3rd bar until we pass all of the hotels until we reached the drive-able beach access where we would have a vehicle waiting. Worse comes to worse the island is short and we can beach somewhere and get picked up.

I'm looking to sell my two yaks this spring and upgrade to a hobie revo or outback. It will be my bait deployer and my bay/btb yak. I'm 5'11" and about 160-170 pounds. I know the outback is slower yet stabler along with the wave slap. While the revo is a speed demon with turbo fins, but not as well balanced. My two main concerns are:

1. Is the outback to slow to power through the waves in rough surf when trying to drop baits? 

2. Is the revo to tipsy for BTB? With the speed I should be able to break through heavy surf on the bars during drops, correct?


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## bigfost (Oct 11, 2004)

justinn said:


> 1. Is the outback to slow to power through the waves in rough surf when trying to drop baits?
> 
> 2. Is the revo to tipsy for BTB? With the speed I should be able to break through heavy surf on the bars during drops, correct?


I don't know anyone who uses a Revo for BTB, so I can't address it, but the Outback is fine for BTB. You can get the turbo fins for the Outback, so speed shouldn't be an issue either.

However, everyone I know who uses pedal drives paddles through the surf before putting the drive in. That was learned the hard way by a couple of people who messed up fins crossing sandbars. Same thing coming back in.


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## hellfighter76 (Feb 7, 2006)

*btb kayak fishing*

I have had no problem with my ocean kayak torque not only is it safe and very stable it also enjoyable not having to battle the waves with a paddle


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## txteltech (Jul 6, 2012)

I used my Hobbie pro angler 12 last summer and went btb several times at bob hall pier to the stand pipe rig. It works great especially in the bays. Hard to go wrong with the Mirage drive

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2


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## JOHNNYREB (Apr 20, 2006)

A friend of mine has the outback and has no prob in big surf or strong current, and like big fost mentioned, he has to hold up in the 1st gut, pull the drive system, and paddle in. Another thing ya gotta watch out for is getting your leader/mainline caught in the rudder system....wich is no big deal, just reach back and hold your leader up outta the way. One thing is for sure...Using the hobie has cut our deployment time in half!


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## surfguy (May 17, 2011)

JOHNNYREB said:


> A friend of mine has the outback and has no prob in big surf or strong current, and like big fost mentioned, he has to hold up in the 1st gut, pull the drive system, and paddle in. Another thing ya gotta watch out for is getting your leader/mainline caught in the rudder system....wich is no big deal, just reach back and hold your leader up outta the way. One thing is for sure...Using the hobie has cut our deployment time in half!


JR, are you using the Hobie for both bait deployment and BTB or something else for bait deployment?


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## JOHNNYREB (Apr 20, 2006)

Since phil got his hobie i havent had to deploy anything LOL, But yeah he uses it for both....with the hobie, theres no need to paddle baits out any longer...now when im by myself, i have to resort back to my XT.


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## HuntinforTail (Mar 29, 2011)

Hmmm I might be saving up for a Hobie next....


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## surfguy (May 17, 2011)

JOHNNYREB said:


> Since phil got his hobie i havent had to deploy anything LOL, But yeah he uses it for both....with the hobie, theres no need to paddle baits out any longer...now when im by myself, i have to resort back to my XT.


It's nice of Phil to do that! I was thinking of getting a Hobie with the mirage drive when I can afford it for that very reason. Can't beat the dual capability :cop:


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## justinn (Apr 8, 2011)

JOHNNYREB said:


> Another thing ya gotta watch out for is getting your leader/mainline caught in the rudder system....wich is no big deal, just reach back and hold your leader up outta the way. One thing is for sure...Using the hobie has cut our deployment time in half!


Lol yeah... ran into that problem in the beginning haha. I now have a bungie system on the left side of the yak near the seat. We bungie the weight down and leave the baited hook in the tank well. We start about 50 yrds down from the rod holders and then begin paddling out. Makes it a lot easier vs paddling diagonal across the surf against 20+ south winds and it keeps the leader out of the rudder. Worse comes to worse you can drop the anchor so you won't drift and use your paddle to get it out of the rudder.

I figured the hobie would really cut the time down, especially in high winds.


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## justletmein (Feb 11, 2006)

I wouldn't want to run baits with anything but a smooth bottom on that yak, no rudder nothing. 

My last bait running kayak was a surf yak that had a replaceable keel skeg on it. Doesn't look like much but there's a tiny crease where it attaches. Well surfing the waves back in after dropping a bait I ended up rolling over one of my previously deployed lines, that line caught in the crease and made a mess. Of course then there was drag in the rear of the yak and a breaker rolled me. Next thing I know I was all rolled up in cobwebs and lines wrapped around everything everywhere. Had I had my dive knife with me I would have started to cutting, but I'd lost it so I sat out there floating while attached to about 5 different shark baits/weights. Good thing none of them got hammered while I was acting as a float.


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## JOHNNYREB (Apr 20, 2006)

Ron...its nice having a good crew( especially a young crew)...but with that said, noone gets off scott free, everybodies gotta pull thier own weight....being the camp B**** isnt full of glory...but hell....i aint proud lol


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## surfguy (May 17, 2011)

johnnyreb said:


> ron...its nice having a good crew( especially a young crew)...but with that said, noone gets off scott free, everybodies gotta pull thier own weight....being the camp b**** isnt full of glory...but hell....i aint proud lol


lol lol


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## JOHNNYREB (Apr 20, 2006)

justinn said:


> Lol yeah... ran into that problem in the beginning haha. I now have a bungie system on the left side of the yak near the seat. We bungie the weight down and leave the baited hook in the tank well. We start about 50 yrds down from the rod holders and then begin paddling out. Makes it a lot easier vs paddling diagonal across the surf against 20+ south winds and it keeps the leader out of the rudder. Worse comes to worse you can drop the anchor so you won't drift and use your paddle to get it out of the rudder.
> 
> I figured the hobie would really cut the time down, especially in high winds.


Pretty much how we do it....One thing i will add is even though its awsome launching out....its just a regular kayak when your on your way back in!


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## HuntinforTail (Mar 29, 2011)

Ron, you buy the hobie and I'll run the baits!


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## surfguy (May 17, 2011)

HuntinforTail said:


> Ron, you buy the hobie and I'll run the baits!


You got me there..


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## justinn (Apr 8, 2011)

JOHNNYREB said:


> Pretty much how we do it....One thing i will add is even though its awsome launching out....its just a regular kayak when your on your way back in!


That I figured haha. Justletmein reminded me with the rolling. I do cut wine corks in half and place them over the hook till I do the drop just in case of a roll over. Last thing I want is to paddle back in with a 20/0 through my calf.

That sounds like a awful situation justletmein. I was clothes lined coming in one night after a bait drop. I was blinded by the car lights and I thought I had passed all the lines. The one I just dropped didn't set up and tumbled from the south side of the beach and setup on the north. The last wave picked me up, the line wrapped around my face twice, around my right arm and around my chest and under my new radio (1st run with it). I was praying there wasn't a pick up or my girlfriend didn't pick up the rod haha. I almost cut it with my dive knife but I finally broke free, but I didn't realize it was under the clip of my radio. As I pulled it off my chest my radio dumped into the surf. I got back in to tightened up the slack and in less that 2 minutes after I was untangled we had a big run!


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## HuntinforTail (Mar 29, 2011)

justinn said:


> That I figured haha. Justletmein reminded me with the rolling. I do cut wine corks in half and place them over the hook till I do the drop just in case of a roll over. Last thing I want is to paddle back in with a 20/0 through my calf.
> 
> That sounds like a awful situation justletmein. I was clothes lined coming in one night after a bait drop. I was blinded by the car lights and I thought I had passed all the lines. The one I just dropped didn't set up and tumbled from the south side of the beach and setup on the north. The last wave picked me up, the line wrapped around my face twice, around my right arm and around my chest and under my new radio (1st run with it). I was praying there wasn't a pick up or my girlfriend didn't pick up the rod haha. I almost cut it with my dive knife but I finally broke free, but I didn't realize it was under the clip of my radio. As I pulled it off my chest my radio dumped into the surf. I got back in to tightened up the slack and in less that 2 minutes after I was untangled we had a big run!


Haha definitely an "oh ****" moment. I learn something new each time i'm out there and try to be a little safer. I need to start corking my hooks too. I heard a story of a guy getting smashed in the face by his yak breaking some facial bones and the 20/0 went through his cheek.


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## justinn (Apr 8, 2011)

HuntinforTail said:


> I heard a story of a guy getting smashed in the face by his yak breaking some facial bones and the 20/0 went through his cheek.


eeeek! That is rough.


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## Anderson111 (Nov 26, 2012)

Anderson111 said:


> Mmmmm i just want to say you here as a Rider that i am a Kayak rider and also Surfbaord rider and catch the fishes but the best and easy way to catch the fishes from the Kayak because yoyu just hold your paddle and the fish finder camera will automatically find out the fishes so i think you should prefer to Kayak fishing...


You should Visit here " Mr WHAT ".....
surf ski paddling techniques


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## JOHNNYREB (Apr 20, 2006)

Ok...my bad! It was brought to my attention ( thanks phil) that i had said phil has the hobie outback...Turns out i had the model wrong....its a revolution. :spineyes:


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