Holding Position in Kayak

Hi all.  I recently bought a Xfactor, rigged it out and have been trying to fish some of the local lakes.  having fished a lot out of a Bucks Bags Bronco kickboat, I really like how you can move around the lake in a yak, not as easy to do in my kickboat.  Unfortunately, I find it really tough to hold position on say a point, piece of structure, etc when trying to fish the area, especially if theres a little wind.  Seems like Im spending more time paddling/adjusting position than fishing - wind comes up a little, boat goes sideways and really moves past the area I want to fish unless Im constantly paddling.  Wind affected  me in my kickboat too, but with legs/fins in water I could hold position and fish away.  Not so in the yak.  At least not so for me.  Any tips would be appreciated as Im thinking about offing the yak and going back to my kick boat as this issue is really getting frustrating- I want to fish more/paddle less!  Short of throwing out an anchor, is there any way to slow the drift of the yak down?
Thanks,
Walter

This is the great lament of kayaks among bass fisherman.

Long story short, you are never going to have the positional control in a kayak that you get in a float tube or kickboat.

One solution is to buy a mirage drive equiped kayak (hobie) so you can provide forward propulsion with hands free.

To slow down your drift you can utilize a drift sock, but for serious structure fishing you are going to have to anchor.  A rudder system is fantastic for helping to adjust the angle of the boat during your drift also.

Sorry to say it, but that is just the way it is.

MolBasser

thornley tried swimfins and reported it working decently. I think this has potential.

Thanks for the info, sort of suspected same, although one guy told me he sometimes used those little mini training swim fins, dangling his legs over the sides.  Not sure how it would work in an Xfactor as some of you probably know its a big, wide boat.  Moving it against current wind etc with little mini fins probably wouldnt work.  Rudder would probably help, may try that.  Will look into that drift sock as well, thanks.  Dont really mine drifting some, just not so darn fast!!  Maybe I just got too much boat for mostly fresh water fishing, I do plan on spending some time in the ocean, but in reality will probably be in fresh water more than not.  Im thinking the Xfactor is maybe more of a big water ocean type boat?  
Thanks, Walter

woops, didnt see the swim fin reply,  yes, they may work for a smaller more nimble boat.  Im finding, compared to my wifes destroyer like Caper, the Xfactor is maybe more like a battleship?  I like it it though, with all that size, stability, and weight, it just takes a little more to manuever around.
Walter

Repeat after me:

"Swimfins don't work with kayaks, and you just look more like a seal"
"Swimfins don't work with kayaks, and you just look more like a seal"
"Swimfins don't work with kayaks, and you just look more like a seal"
"Pay no attention to the man in the grey Scupper Pro"
"Pay no attention to the man in the grey Scupper Pro"

Scott

I've had the same drifting problem while bass fishing. It can be very annoying trying to fish one spot as the wind pushes you away from it.  I didn't want to use my good anchor and loose it in the lake, so I found something else.

This is a track pin off a Cat dozer. I found 3 or 4 of them in the scrap bin at work and thought I would give it a try.
It is 2lbs 15oz and about 5 inches long. I drop it over and secure it with a loose knot. So far it has worked well at slowing or stopping my drift. I wouldn't use it in the river, but it works for the shallow water lakes and ponds.

woops, didnt see the swim fin reply,  yes, they may work for a smaller more nimble boat.  Im finding, compared to my wifes destroyer like Caper, the Xfactor is maybe more like a battleship?  I like it it though, with all that size, stability, and weight, it just takes a little more to manuever around.
Walter

I think the object is to ride side saddle with the fins so any yak should be able to do it if you could ride it side sadle.

MolBasser

thornley sits sidesaddle. I would not I would not. I would have my back to the wind and
a foot on each side of the yak. I think small fins would be enough.

mol, if you have your rudder down, you know how the wind puts you bow downwind anyways.

fins in the ocean might look tasty to mr. whitey, but how do paddles look anyways?

J

I do not worry about sharks.

In my opinion it is a waste of time and an unneeded stress.

MolBasser

ESPECIALLY for somebody who doesn't fish in the ocean up here! 

thornley tried swimfins and reported it working decently. I think this has potential.

how about using an old ping pong paddle 

Speaking as a Hobie Mirage owner, I have the same problem with boat positioning (and fishing with all the tubers gets really frustrating sometimes when it's a flip bite).  If you are facing into the wind you can use the pedals to some advantage to hold your ground; if the wind's at your back, forget it!  Wind from the side is OK if you want to work the shoreline by casting, trolling, or dragging a worm, but requires constant adjustment of the rudder.  To truly hold your position you would need to double anchor.

the tubers have fins and a slow boat. no more. but that seems to be enough.
so that's why I think fins and maybe some kind of single anchor would
work.

I surf, and I sit on my board and wait for waves. I have a foot on either side. After many years of waiting for
waves, my feet can spin me around either way, or move forward and backward slowly without any real thought.

If you fish with a foot hanging off either side, then there is a lot of similarity to this.

this is why I think that fins on a kayak, possibly a slowed down kayak through some kind of simple sea anchor or
regular anchor would work.

It would take a little practice and experimentation, it would not work perfectly first attempt, but I think it would
work.

I wish I had time to try all my own crazy ideas, but I don't. right now I have to figure out how I am going to
rig my new sonar unit. sigh.

J

have you ever hear of a stak out pole very easy 2 make here is a pic of the one i made

i have use the one i have in the bay