Inflatable kayaks for river fishing

Hi all - My old "river kayak" was an OK Scrambler, but I sold that before I moved to Oregon and my current armada of boats are not the best for small rivers (Hobie Revo 13 and OK Trident 15).  Now that I'm surrounded by fishy rivers on the Oregon coast, I'm looking into buying an inflatable kayak to help access river sections that are inaccessible by foot.  I mostly want the inflatable for easy portaging and potentially some solo floats (the type where I'd drop my mountain bike off at the take-out).

Anyone have suggestions for an inflatable river kayak?  There are way more options out there than I originally thought and I've only paddled an inflatable once, many years ago.

I might be selling my Hobie i11s if you're interested let me know. I've never had it on a river so no help with info.

I might be selling my Hobie i11s if you're interested let me know. I've never had it on a river so no help with info.

Thanks for the offer, but the rivers I'm looking to float are not really Mirage Drive-friendly.  Too shallow.  Looking for a paddle inflatable that has decent tracking and (ideally) could be packed and transported in or like a backpack.

Bearing in mind that I'm not much of a paddler or very knowledgeable::::

A few years ago I tried out a few inflatables at a demo day, I was more impressed with all of them (than I thought I'd be)

The one that stood out was the Advanced Elements (Advance Frame?). Anyway if was the 10ft red/gray, paddled better than I expected for a 10ft airfilled boat, really easy to climb in and out of OTW as I was looking at in part as a dive boat, and the construction appeared really stout and durable (I have no knowledge on rough use). All of which seems to be reflected in the price.

Bearing in mind that I'm not much of a paddler or very knowledgeable::::

A few years ago I tried out a few inflatables at a demo day, I was more impressed with all of them (than I thought I'd be)

The one that stood out was the Advanced Elements (Advance Frame?). Anyway if was the 10ft red/gray, paddled better than I expected for a 10ft airfilled boat, really easy to climb in and out of OTW as I was looking at in part as a dive boat, and the construction appeared really stout and durable (I have no knowledge on rough use). All of which seems to be reflected in the price.

You mean this one?

http://www.outdoorplay.com/Advanced-Elements-Strait-Edge-Angler-Inflatable-Kayak?sc=7&category=154766

Looks pretty cool and within my price range.  That bar in the front could be handy for a rod holder if I wanted to backtroll plugs for steelhead/salmon.  The more I look into these inflatables, the more amazed I am with the variety.  There are tons of them on the market.

The only thing that gets me about the inflatables is that when fishing on a river I tend to wear felt soles with carbide studs.  I'm not sure how durable an inflatable would be with the studs.

This is probably not what you had in mind but it worked well for a friend and I back in the 90's.  We used a cheapo rubber raft with a piece of 3/4 plywood  laid on the floor for both raft protection and protection of our knees while floating through the shallows.  We used the raft mainly as a means of traveling downstream from take out to take out.  The vast majority of our fishing was either from the shore or in shallow water somewhere mid stream which was wadable.

The beauty of the raft was the ability to bail in our out with ease.  It also had so little draft that we could jump out mid stream in some shallows we wanted to fish and just clip the lead rope onto our wading belt without it wanting to drag us downstream.  Pull it back upstream to us and jump in to continue.

We sure as hell weren't going to back backtroll with it and it certainly wasn't as agile as a kayak but for our purposes it worked exceptionally well.  Best of all, it was around $40 brand new.

We used it primarily on the Yuba river between Englebright dam and the hwy 20 bridge with a few trips through the narrows for good measure.  We also did an all day float on a section of the Sac between Redding and Red Bluff.

Again, it sure as hell wasn't like a kayak but for our purposes it was hard to beat.  The only real difference I can see is price, ability to backtroll and a little bit of mobility.  Ummm cool v redneck ghetto fab as well 

I'm considering an inflatable for traveling. I checked out the Sea Eagle web site last night.

Don't know much about the quality. Still looking.

Al

The only thing that gets me about the inflatables is that when fishing on a river I tend to wear felt soles with carbide studs.  I'm not sure how durable an inflatable would be with the studs.

This is probably not what you had in mind but it worked well for a friend and I back in the 90's.  We used a cheapo rubber raft with a piece of 3/4 plywood  laid on the floor for both raft protection and protection of our knees while floating through the shallows.  We used the raft mainly as a means of traveling downstream from take out to take out.  The vast majority of our fishing was either from the shore or in shallow water somewhere mid stream which was wadable.

The beauty of the raft was the ability to bail in our out with ease.  It also had so little draft that we could jump out mid stream in some shallows we wanted to fish and just clip the lead rope onto our wading belt without it wanting to drag us downstream.  Pull it back upstream to us and jump in to continue.

We sure as hell weren't going to back backtroll with it and it certainly wasn't as agile as a kayak but for our purposes it worked exceptionally well.  Best of all, it was around $40 brand new.

We used it primarily on the Yuba river between Englebright dam and the hwy 20 bridge with a few trips through the narrows for good measure.  We also did an all day float on a section of the Sac between Redding and Red Bluff.

Again, it sure as hell wasn't like a kayak but for our purposes it was hard to beat.  The only real difference I can see is price, ability to backtroll and a little bit of mobility.  Ummm cool v redneck ghetto fab as well 

Some great info, thanks.  I don't wear studs in my wading boots--it's either all-felt or Stream Tread on my boots, so puncturing the boat with studs isn't a concern of mine.  But it's a good thing to consider for sure.

I guess it comes down to whether I want to back-troll plugs or not.  From the looks of it, I'd be paying at least an extra couple hundred bucks just for the option to pull plugs.  Is that worth the extra money?  I'm not sure.  Back-trolling plugs is just one tool in the massive toolbox that is steelhead/salmon fishing techniques.

Have you checked out the Outcast Commander or Water Master Inflatables?

I had a Dave Schadden/North Fork outfitters pontoon for years.
It was too heavy to be carrying around without wheels but it was super maneuverable, pulled plugs easily and got me into spots that were too tight for driftboats.
I looks like he's making inflatable kayaks now too. Might be worth checking out.
Don't trust his ratings when it comes to whitewater though. He's full of shit

Another option is a Jackson Kayak Coosa. It isn't inflatable but it's a badass Steelhead Slaying Kayak.

I have an Aquaglide Blackfoot SL that I like, but I have not used it on rivers, just reservoirs.  It has a removable skeg which helps tracking.

I looked at those Advanced Elements IK's, but the reviews seemed to say they take forever to dry out, or else you have mildew.  The thing I like about mine is that you can remove the drop-stitch floor for drying after washing, which helps air out the nooks and crannies.

A number of IK's and iSUP's have drop-stitch floors now -- they are extremely stiff and require a high-pressure pump.  The sea eagle explorers also looked interesting, but I liked the aquaglide package more (scotty mounts and so on), plus I found a deal this past autumn.

I might have ended up with an NRS Pike, but at 51 pounds it's probably too much for me to handle solo.

I have an inflatable (Intex Explorer K2, ~36 lbs) that I use to go to hike-able places.  A cheapie, but it worked well for me, never had issue with branches or rocky landings.  Setup, waiting for it to dry, and folding are a pain.  So the idea of simple setup and pack-n-go are not working for me.

But if I am to do it over, I would look at modular kayak.  Also, NRS has a kayak sherpa backpack ....

I've got a West Marine K-1, which is a rebranded Sevylor Rio (the single person version of the Colorado). It's got a lot of good going for it (not too heavy, packs small, heavy nylon skins over inflatable bladders (2 real chambers, one pool toy chamber for the seat, another for the floor), decent seat, came with a 4-piece POS paddle that packs into the stock duffel bag. The only thing was I had to add a skeg to get it to track for a damn. Once I did, it's a pretty solid boat for quiet-ish water, and a lot of fun to fish out of. Kinda feels like a floating hammock. If you can find one, it's a silly cheap way to go. (I paid $100 used).

That said, if access more than fishing is your endgame, I'd be tempted to give the Oru stuff a spin for light/small, and that Advanced Elements looks solid.

This is the one I tried out, even tho it's a closed deck, that zipper down the middle in front can be zipped down for a more open yak, I think the zipped up closed deck is one of the things that made it feel so solid. 

http://www.austinkayak.com/products/691/Advanced-Elements-AdvancedFrame-Inflatable-Kayak.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping:%20ACK%20PLA&scid=scplp691_2498_1&sc_intid=691_2498_1&gclid=CMj01JCv8NICFRBEfgodF-UPpQ

You should get this one.

You should get this one.

Looks solid, nice deck space, sail ready, and a canon to boot.