When it comes to fishing, kayaks work, that is why there are tens of thousands of them being used every day to pursue our favorite sport – fishing. Now I know there is a big difference between a ‘ normal kayak’, and one with a motor, and purists will scream all sorts of things but that’s ok.
Things evolve- computers, fishing poles, fishing reels, and kayaks, yes kayaks.
Now I know many cringe at the thought of putting a motor on a yak – scream all you want and keep paddling, because the rest of us understand the benefits and will head out with the ultimate in diversity.
A motorized kayak gives you the power to :
- Fish where we want – regardless of distance
- Ability to move to different locations quickly- with no concern to distance / time
- Option to leave in a hurry – when it’s getting dark, or bad weather, or someone pulls up on your spot
- Fish longer – spend less time getting there and going home
A motorized kayak will take you places like this far in the Florida Keys back country
All these yet without giving up what makes kayaks awesome- the ability to go anywhere.
Now this being the Solo Skiff site, we obviously are talking about the Solo Skiff here. There are lots of motor attachments for kayaks, but at the end of the day, a Solo Skiff is in a league of its own.
In an article / review on fish The Future website, the author he made a small description of a Solo that said,
“The Solo Skiff is a power boat that paddles, not a paddle boat with a motor”
He hit the nail on the head with that statement. The ability to paddle the craft is one of the reasons Solo Skiff is so awesome. Because getting there is a big part of the battle for sure, but moving around afterwards is as well.
If you have ever tried pushing a larger boat thru lily pads, you know what I am talking about !
The nature of Solos hull is a paddle craft and it acts like it when your moving through weeds, pads, stump filled areas, or just paddling along. I have used my Solo like a stand up paddleboard many many times. Does it paddle as easy as an SUP – not quite, but what it lacks in ease of paddling it kills it in conveniences like storage, and not worrying about losing stuff, and powering home…I hear people say it wont paddle and I just laugh- they say it because they have not tried it lol. I ask myself what are the major advantages all the time of a motorized fishing kayak… there are many- so many. I also ask what are the disadvantages ?
- Extra weight
- Extra cost
- Extra launch load time.
Lets a look at the above…
Weight. Look at the larger fishing kayaks like some of the Hobie PA’s, larger Jacksons, etc…these kayaks are not light people have been carrying them on trailers and using bed extenders for years- just like we do with Solo’s, so kayakers are used to it.
Cost. The cost of a Solo Skiff is about the same as the higher end Hobie PA’s-
Launching and loading. Is it harder to launch a kayak with a motor. ? Not much in my opinion. Watch the video on our video page called launching you will see- EASY. So you spend a few extra minutes in launching/loading (maybe) and look what you gain !
A motorized kayak gives you a LOT more time to fish since you do not paddle out, or paddle the yak back. This feature alone is worth the price of admission.
I say this to many – so you may spend a few extra minutes loading up a Solo, and launching it..MAYBE 5 extra minutes- ok…now you get to your spot 30 minutes sooner, change positions a few times saving countless minutes/ hours, and head back to the ramp again saving 30 minutes or hours in many cases.
A huge wahoo on a solo skiff will make you aware of the advantage of a motorized kayak !
Motorized fishing kayaks make sense, lots of it !
For the guys that troll, a motorized kayak is truly the icing on the cake. Trolling for walleye, wahoo, salmon, or kingfish in a yak is awesome but add a motor, and you can cover MILES of water,..it’s just awesome. It does not matter what your fishing for, the motor allows you so much more opportunity to troll baits in productive waters. If you are deep trolling the motor takes the work out of it. Trolling a couple of baits in deep water (below 50′) starts to add more drag than most kayakers want to deal with, but using a motor its a no brainer, who cares about drag now. While you are trolling a very cool thing a motor allows you to do is chase down surfacing schools of bait / fish..I can’t say how many times I have seen birds working something a ways off and took off after them. Once again, the motor allowed this opportunity
Solo Skiff is different for sure, and it is the definition of a motorized fishing kayak. I say that with confidence as I fish one all the time and the longer I use one, the more I think about another quote I read someone say about Solo Skiff , they said ; “It is the state of the art”.
I tend to agree.
