"He'd get tipped over by a 4 pounder"

An observation from yesterday's trip on Lake Almanor: I was drifting and jigging near Rec Area #2 on the west side of the peninsula, and this aluminum boat comes trolling past me.  The lake was dead-calm, so I could hear the three guys in the boat chatting from far away.  Of course, they started talking about "that guy on the kayak."  .  One of the guys said "I wonder what the hell he'd do if he hooked a 4 pounder from that thing."

I overhear stuff like this ALL THE TIME on this lake.  Surely I'm not the only one, right?  All the powerboats up here seem totally clueless when it comes to kayak fishing.  Pulled over by a 4 pounder?  Have these guys heard of such a thing as "center of gravity"?  Gotta love it when dudes spout off "wisdom" on a topic they know NOTHING about  .

Gotta love it when dudes spout off "wisdom" on a topic they know NOTHING about  .

  eh, it happens all the time 

I guess maybe they don't read much, but you would think by now one of 'em would have at least seen a picture of a kayaker with a fish over 4 pounds

I guess maybe they don't read much, but you would think by now one of 'em would have at least seen a picture of a kayaker with a fish over 4 pounds

I know right??  Case in point: your avatar  .

well if you've never been in a kayak before, and was under the assumption that they are tippy and uncontrollable, what would you think? 

Or, next time you hear someone say something like that, stand up and pee off the yak. 

Or, next time you hear someone say something like that, stand up and pee off the yak.

If there was a "like" button on NCKA, I'd click it many times for this  .

 

  Only thing I think you could have done to shut them up was to land one right in front of them!

  Only thing I think you could have done to shut them up was to land one right in front of them!

I was really, really hoping for a hookup while they were passing by, but it didn't happen.  Actually, the bite almost completely shut down once they showed up.  Fast action in the morning with 3 browns and a 18 inch landlocked Chinook to the boat, then it died by noon.

well if you've never been in a kayak before, and was under the assumption that they are tippy and uncontrollable, what would you think? 

Or, next time you hear someone say something like that, stand up and pee off the yak. 

Ha, I'll have to try that next time!
 

well if you've never been in a kayak before, and was under the assumption that they are tippy and uncontrollable, what would you think? 

Or, next time you hear someone say something like that, stand up and pee off the yak.

Last time I stood up to pee - almost fell off. I got a tarpon 100

tuan

The reaction of boaters to kayaks ranges from curiosity to pretension to disdain to contempt. Usually in that order.

i mostly fish lakes, but the boaters always seem pretty cool to me, maybe they're impressed by the fins!

I've had power boats roaring over to the spot I was fishing and give me the look like I don't deserve to be there in my "plastic toy". I actually would have shared the sunken tree with them if they were somewhat quiet about it. Crap music playing, big waves coming off a plane, loud talking, out of tune outboard motor spewing smoke and half burnt fuel.

I probably look like some alien Tour de France type bicycle rider taking up half the road to these Top Fuel "racing fishermen". They just don't get it. I can understand it though. It took me years to realize the utility and advantage of the kayak for fishing.

To many of the shore fishing people, we're rock stars. To the horsepower worshippers on the water, we're floating pool toys that get in their way.

Conversely, I have run into many power boats who give me almost too wide a birth though. I want to tell them it's fine, you can go by me on a plane as long as we're not too close to each other and I have room and time to adjust.
   

I always get a kick out of overheard conversations floating over the water. 

"Is that a fishfinder??"
"Yeah, I want one of them some day, look: he's all set!"

Typically it's the guys in the $30,000+ fancy-schmancy boats with a dozen downriggers and all the bells and whistles that'll be commenting on my kayak.  They'll talk as if I can't hear them, even though on a calm day you can hear EVERYTHING on that lake.

The typical gems I hear from these guys include:
"He must be cold."
"He's got that thing decked out."
"It must be a bitch landing a fish in that."
"Wow, he's fishing from a kayak."

Which is totally fine.  But I've never like "know-it-alls" who attempt to speak wisdom on a topic they know nothing about.  I enjoy those comments even more when those guys see me hook up and land a phatty brown trout or smallmouth.  When that happens, I want to holler at them "How much did you spend on that boat and all the shit you put on it?"   

They can be even worse on the ocean.  A used-to-be friend of mine spouted on the VHF at Shelter Cove last July, "Oh no, the kayakers are back" regarding me trolling with the fleet two miles out.  I couldn't restrain myself - "Kiss my ass, Bill!" I quickly transmitted.  "Kiss your own ass, buddy" he replies.  "Bring it for a reason" I ended it.  I caught my pacific halibut that day, so karma appeared to be on my side.