Pacemaker Fishing Forum

Sitting On Top by Peter Pfotenhauer

Many smallmouth chasers love fishing top water baits, but their choice of boats often don’t take advantage of being on top of the river. Did you know that the fastest growing segment of the paddle sports industry is fishing kayaks? Most of the new boats purchased are sit on top style boats, yet many river anglers still feel sit on tops are only for saltwater or lake environments. Not so. For the last three years I’ve been using a sit on top (SOT) kayak instead of my older sit inside kayak (SINK) chasing smallmouth on many mid-Atlantic rivers year round. I’ve found a SOT a superior fishing platform, and prefer it now over a SINK or even a canoe. Jeff (Yakfish) Little, owner of Blue Ridge Kayak Fishing LLC, and a kayak fishing instructor, also made the switch to SOTs. “In June of 2004,” said Jeff, “for the first time, I spent all day paddling a sit on top kayak. Since then, I have acquired a total of five sit on tops to teach kayak fishing, and sold off all of my sit in kayaks.”

A SOT kayak has all the advantages kayaks hold over canoes for fishing, and is a better choice than a SINK as well. Kayaks are usually easier to paddle than most canoes. First, they catch less wind, and can attain, or move upstream, with more ease than a single paddler using a canoe. Next, because of their lower center of gravity, kayaks are more stable than a canoe, making the boat less likely to spill you and your gear into the water. Third, on land, the kayak is a lighter, shorter boat, making car topping and portaging easier tasks. Fourth, fishing from a kayak allows each angler in the group the independence to fish wherever he wants, no longer depending on the guy in the back seat to know the water. Have you ever flipped a canoe because you and your partner didn’t react the same way to a situation? If you both have a yak, this issue is no longer a problem, and if your buddy does flip, you are still in a boat and better able to assist him as he recovers his boat and cleans up the yard sale. If you own a kayak you probably already know all those advantages, but switching from a SINK to a SOT has just as many benefits. SOTs are a perfect match for the way many smallie anglers chase these feisty fish. They make wading easier to manage, are often more comfortable, allow easier access to gear and supplies, provide better visibility, both of your craft for other boaters and of fish and underwater structure, and SOTs have several significant safety advantages over a traditional sit in style kayak.

In the water a SOT seems ideally suited for smallmouth fishing, for many reasons. First, the boat is easier to enter and exit. “When you are floating a low, boney river and need to get out to drag six times in a mile,” says Yakfish, “getting in and out of the sit on top is effortless. When you see a sweet hole you want to set up on, you [can] hop out.” Sometimes wading is the best way to approach a hole without spooking the fish, and the SOT makes doing so much easier. If you like to wade frequently to focus on prime water, or just to cool off on a hot summer day, a SOT makes more sense. Or perhaps, like me, you just need frequent breaks to answer nature’s call. Think about how often you would like to enter and exit your kayak on a typical float; do you stay in your kayak because of the difficulty involved in exiting and reentering?

Exiting a SINK means beaching boat and often using gymnastic-like contortions to free your feet and legs. To exit a SOT, just turn and hang your legs over the side, place your hands to each side of your hips, put your feet on the bottom, and push off with your hands if you need help standing up. Even in water up to belly button deep, exiting the boat is easy from this position. No beach needed, and how often is there a good beach around when you need one? You can also sit sideways to give sore bottoms or backs a break, or just stretch or shift slightly on a SOT to ease cramps or kinks. Being able to move around on the boat means more comfort. Many SINK boats lock you into paddling position, and if the boat has a foam wall up front between the foot pegs stretching your legs inside the boat can be tough.

When it’s time to get back in the boats, well, there is simply no graceful way to enter a SINK, and trying to get your feet under the front deck with the tackle that’s usually crammed under there can require a circus show of flexibility. Of all the times I have seen an angler flip a kayak, most were when getting in or out of a SINK style boat. When I reenter my SOT, if I am in waist deep water, I simply hop up off the bottom and sit down on the seat, and then pivot my legs around and into the foot wells. In knee-deep water, a cowboy reentry is easier; simply straddle the boat and plop your butt down on the seat.

Another major advantage of a SOT is that your gear is easier to reach. Jeff noted that “If you want to get at some gear stored behind you, there is no need to hop out and go digging under the deck. Just sit side saddle on the kayak like it is your couch, and your gear is readily accessible.” Kenny Langston, former Potomac River Smallmouth Club vice president, also said, “Access to gear is much easier since most everything is on top of the yak as opposed to inside the SINK. But, you also have dry storage.” Most tackle is within arms reach in a milk crate in the boat’s tank well. Newer SOTs often have mesh gear pockets along the sides of the cockpit within easy reach for frequently needed items like hot lures or pliers. Delicate gear like lunch and a bag with spare reels and spools goes inside the front hatch. Many SOTs have enough interior room to permit rods to be stowed inside the boat when the fishing is over or you need to run difficult water. Though many SOT anglers can open the front hatch while on the boat, usually, a shallow spot allows getting out and popping it open. Did I mention how easy it is to get on and off of a SOT from that side saddle position?

Sitting side saddle also allows for more freedom and safety in stopping the yak. Kenny recently switched to a SOT kayak and observed, “When you’re about to hit a shoal or rocks, it's easy to just drop your legs over the side and stop yourself or push your boat free.” Many SOT anglers will float down the river sitting side saddle, using their feet to hold position on a rock to fish downstream areas thoroughly before floating into prime fishing spots. SINK anglers have two poorer choices: anchor or wedge. Anchoring ANY kayak in moving water is dangerous and best avoided for that reason alone, not to mention the noise the anchor makes when hitting bottom or bouncing along before catching. Wedging a boat on a rock makes a racket any trophy fish will hear, and often leaves scratches in the hull that eventually wear a boat out.

Sitting side saddle, I can use my feet as shock absorbers. I stop the boat by catching any rock that’s even just a few inches below the surface. My foot holds the boat in place to make as many casts as I need to carve up a hole. I know I’ve caught fish I otherwise would have floated past or spooked from biting using this technique.

Another SOT advantage is visibility. Says Kenny, “With a SOT you are actually sitting a few inch's higher above the water level, thus increasing visibility.” Better vision means faster reactions to avoid rocks or underwater objects, and better odds of seeing fish to cast to. I’ve caught several fish in the last year that I saw from the SOT, whereas in my old kayak I would have floated close enough to spook the fish before seeing them. The higher seat also makes it easier to fly fish, as casting is easier with the line and fly further off the water. In some SOTs a skilled angler can stand in calm water to cast. In addition, sitting in a boat that rides higher in the water makes it easier for power boaters see our small
plastic craft, which is a huge safety advantage in some popular stretches of water.

Finally, and most important, a SOT is a safer boat than a SINK for two other reasons. Jeff places a huge emphasis on safety in his kayak fishing classes, and he noticed the safety advantages of a SOT immediately. “In a sit on top, when you take a standing wave across the bow and to the chest, you don't spend the next few minutes getting the water out of the kayak. They are self bailing.” “When you crash a wave and get water over the bow, the water runs out through the scuppers,” says Kenny. More importantly, in a pinning situation there is no worry about leg entrapment if the deck collapses. These advantages are in addition to the safer means of boat control when stopping to fish. Anchoring isn’t needed to stop a SOT. Also, there are no complicated self rescue techniques to worry about, and learning a roll is not needed. Jeff did have some concerns about using a SOT in whitewater, but found, “Thigh straps solved the whitewater issue. My 10 foot Wilderness Systems Tarpon handles up to class III water very well. If I have to wet exit, getting back on top doesn't require bailing.” Reentering a SOT can be easily done even in deep water because there is no cockpit to bail out and crawl into.

SOTs are easier to use, safer to paddle, increase vision of underwater objects, are more comfortable, and just seem a better fit to the way many smallmouth fishermen attack a stream than a SINK. Maybe it’s time you got out of your sit inside kayak for good. If you do switch, make sure you keep sunscreen on your legs, or wear a pair of long pants! You don’t need me to elaborate on how Kenny, Jeff and I all learned that painful lesson.