What got you into Kayak Fishing?

I am not sure if this was posted before, but, I am curious with such number, I'm trying to see how many of us have similar reasons getting in to kayak fishing.

I used to bass fish using float tube, Pontoon kick boat and bass boat. Till economy hits the fan in 2006. Whenever I wanted to go RCG fishing I usually take a charter boat. These days those arent getting cheaper, I've been thinking of trying the Kick boat on the bay, knowing those when wind picked up and how they deflate for no reason, thought it was beyond dangerous, I was at Sport Authority and saw this Pelican 120 kayak, I thought I should try it. Went online and search for any related kayak fishing, NCKA came on the search, checked it out and seen the pics and video of GSIII. I decided to join the club (lighttacklemeister) and boy what warm welcome I received, I was pumped! I did not purchase the kayak yet still searching for the right one. I've had my share of frustration on Craigslist, I remember making a deal on Tarpon 140 to someone from SACTO, I told him I am leaving the house and will buy it, 30 min away from Sacto I called the guy and says 30min away, by the time I turned on a corner of his address I saw a car has Kayak on top looks exactly the same posted on the AD. Wifey saw me turn red, still hoping not the one, I doorbell and the guy open the door and I said Hi! I am the guy who called you earlier coming from SFO to pick up the Kayak, he told me he just sell it few minutes ago for $50.00 more. Trust me I was so close on loosing it. Wifey told me he aint worth it. Got PM from Chadrock he will sell me his RIDE135 thats the start. Love it!

Whats your story?

Abking videos, circa 2007. I had just moved back to Humboldt and was searching online to get back into fishing after about a 7 year hiatus.

I wish I'd gotten back into it sooner. I loved across the street from the Jefferson st bridge and west sac locks, although access sucked back then. I could have made it work.

This.................

I was a waterdog since I was a kid.  Hiking the Lost Coast chasing abalone on minus tides led to an increased interest in shore fishing in the late 90's.  Hook and lining some monster cabs from the rocks and spearing some lingcod inshore got me thinking more and more about heading offshore.  Picked up a Hobie Pursuit (paddle Hobie) in July 1999 and it's been all yak ever since. 

This sport rules.   

I was the same as you.. float tubing lakes n ponds.. great in the wind, but painfully slow.. I also used a sailboat dingy I re-glassed that was basically a bathtub that floated.. One day I was at the local thrift store in my area paying for my items and i see a brand new Necky Sky 2 with seats... sitting on the floor in the store.. I asked the cashier how much they were asking and she said 100 dollars.. Needless to say  I replied "ill take it" and threw a Franklin on the counter faster than you could say "seriously???" The yak was literally brand new.. I have no idea why someone would donate a 700 dollar kayak to a thrift store, but I wasn't complaining.. To fish out of it, I just slid the front seat back and threw a rod holder / cooler on the back seat.. Many a bass/trout/carp fell to my rod the following decade..I still have it hanging in storage and am currently looking for a SOT for the ocean and bays around my area.
Peace
RG

Growing up, my dad would always try to get me to go fishing with him.  Being the impatient kid that I was I never went because I thought it was boring.  I would rather skateboard or hang out with my friends.  In 2007 my dad passed away from a massive heart attack.  While helping my mom clean the garage out a few years ago, I ran across all of my dad's gear and decided to give fishing another shot.  Being in my early 30s and with family of my own, I started to appreciate the sport and finally experienced why my dad loved fishing so much. 

With that said, fishing from shore AND learning everything on my own via the internet forums, books, and youtube I completely SUCKED.  I couldn't catch a damn thing, but I still enjoyed being outdoors and the whole experience.  In January of this year we took a trip to Catalina Island because my brother-in-law wanted to take charter boat and fish for sand dabs for his bachelor party.  I was blown away by how easy fishing from a boat was.  We didn't even go far from shore.  That got the gears in my head turning.

I wanted a boat!  I knew a power boat was out of the question because A.  I didn't want to drop that much coin and B.  I did not have space to store a boat.  Then out of the blue I see my cousin post pictures of his new fishing kayak on Facebook.  BOOM!  I had to have one.  Picked up my first kayak late February of this year and 4-months later I have 3 kayaks sitting in my garage.  I am addicted!

I have been fishing my entire life. Freshwater & saltwater from shore, boat, floattube, kick boat, canoe, raft, charters, six-packs, or whatever else worked. I kayaked in Monterey a few times but never considered FISHING from one until my friends Mahito and Chris (MByakker) introduced me to kayak fishing.
9 years and ~14 kayaks later, here I am. Still stoked.

Storytime!
Quote below is from this thread:  http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=5842.0

We were friends in college and then I didn’t see him for a few years, when all the sudden I see a post on NCKA by a member w/screen name “mahito.” I didn’t even know he was a fisherman! But we reconnected and started fishing together. I had been lurking NCKA because I wanted to buy a kayak & learn more about it.
It turns out he’d just bought a used Malibu 2 from MBK.
So...with some encouragement from Chris Mbyakker (who’d been telling me fantastic tales of catching 30+ fish per day from his kayak—he usually told me about that while we sat on the shore catching 3-4 fish per day lol) we decided to go for it!
First trip we went from Coral St in PG and the 2 of us must’ve looked like the SS Kookship w/the 2 of us pushing 475lbs on that tandem in board shorts. We both caught some rockfish and I ended the day with a nice ling. At the time, it felt great because it was something exciting and new...fishing the kelpbeds from a 12ft plastic boat in the Pacific ocean with my buddy Mahito. Most of my other friends thought it was crazy; I thought it was badass. 

I truly had no idea what I was in for...from that day the Madness grew as I discovered a new passion: kayak fishing! I wanted to go kayak fishing every weekend. But I didn’t have a kayak yet, so Mahito would generously lend me his yak. He was a generous guy like that...if he couldn’t go, he would almost force me to take his yak out. And he never asked for anything in return. Heck, it seemed like every time I returned his yak, he’d also feed me some BBQ and a beer! He loved to Q.
Thanks to Mahito, I have found a new passion in life and made a ton of friends who also love kayak fishing. As a member of this community, I have grown as an angler and as a person. I owe him a lot.  Although, he’d never accept credit for something like that.  A bunch of his friends got together last night and we raised a glass in his honor. Thanks again for helping me remember a close member of our family who was taken away from us so early and unexpectedly, Cheers!

I loved fishing on a boat, not as fun on shore. But the cost was inaccessible. I wondered about a canoe, but they seemed a bit much for my needs. Tried a kayak, felt it was too wobbly. Saw a Predator, and knew it was what I was looking for. A way to fish off the shore in comfort!

My first kayak was a sit inside back in the 90s. Fished out of it A few times. Was tippy. Then in 03 got a SOT and signed up shortly after here. Learned a lot those first few years. Wasn't as crowded on the water.
I can remember driving on the freeway and seeing a kayak and wondering if they were a member here. Now I see kayaks every day on the way to work, sometimes as many as 8-10 on 80!

I was always a fisherman, but surfing got me into kayak fishing.

I was surfing in Linda Mar one time when the party boats were working stipers right in the surf line--right next to me.  I thought, man, if I took a longboard out here and a spinning rig I could get into some of these.  The next weekend I did and caught some.  Then I thought I needed something better, but at the time there were no sit on top kayaks except for the old fiberglass Malottes and Royaks.  I bought a used Malotte and fished and dove out of it for quite a while.  But when Ocean Kayak came out with the Scupper (no pro then), we were stoked!  I got one right away and have been doing this ever since.

I got sick of fishing with crazy people on the docks/banks and wanted to fish in peace .  I got an inflatable boat (Sevylor Fish Hunter) then upgraded to a yak after watching Halibu77's vids on Youtube.  Bank fishing taught me how to have patience but with yakfishing I have none - if I don't like a spot, I move. 

94 or 95...used to float tube for bass in the lakes around Tucson, and shore fish down in San Carlos...GF and I rented a yak one day, and I got into a massive school Bonito with some mixed in yellows....after that it was all over.
As soon as i moved back here i bought a yak as there wasn't a convenient place to rent

Elric, the CRW (the crow) Leano aka Hobieoneknobe got me into kayaking (been fishing forever). Started out with a rental at Santa Cruz with Mark at Kayak Connection and then bought a Fish n Dive Cobra.  Basically, still a shore-liner, but when the bite is bad enough, I get on the plastic boat and head to the channel and find 'em.

-Red

I was always into fishing, as a kid I hung out on a lot of beaches and piers fishing with my dad. After years of scratching out only a few fish here & there I gave it up and didn't fish for several years. I tried a sevlor inflatable, but it didn't work well in surf and i was always worried I'd pop it with a hook.

In 1993 I went to Alaska for a couple months, and saw my first sea kayaks on Admiralty Island. I came home and immediately took a sea kayak class in San Francisco, and then spent a couple years guiding and running intro classes. I got a prijon yukon tour kayak and fished it a few times in SoCal kelp beds in 1997 before I eventually went back to AK with it. I brought a trout rod and landed my first silver salmon on a blue fox lure, fishing from my sea kayak in 1998.

I bought two SOT kayaks once we landed back in Santa Cruz, sold the Prijon, and brought in my first CenCal fish from a yak in the summer of 1999. It was a gopher RF

Got focused on crabbing from piers but got skunked more than anything. 

Figured that there must be a better way without paying for charter.... the interwebs led me to aYouTube video of ChuckE crabbing from a kayak... which led me to other videos of members crabbing from kayaks... which led me to NCKA. 

I'm addicted now.