: My brother, Mike, has finally talked me into building a kayak. Now I need to
: find a design. I'm a fly fisherman, so I want to be able to carry and cast
: my 9' fly rod in my new boat. I'm going to be using it in lakes, moderate
: rivers (the Yakima?), and Puget Sound. I'll also need to be able to keep
: up with him in his Arctic Tern or Putz Walrus when we go out paddling.

: Anybody have any recommendations?

You might be asking a lot from a kayak. You haven't said whether you have paddled your brothers boats or have any experience in kayaks. Think about whether a canoe can do what you need. It's more comfortable to fish from and should be adequate much of the time. I usually fish LI Sound from a 16 ft solo tripper I built and love it. It's not as fast as a kayak but it's no beater Grumman either. It's quick enough to beat most of the tides there and I stay where I know the water. That area is becoming pretty large now. That being said, when the sound blows up a little, say 3 ft whitecaps, I spend all my time with the paddle and fishing stops altogether. That being said, I am now building a kayak for fishing. It going to fill the gap where I feel that canoe is too slow and in certain weather when I would rather fish than have to paddle to keep dry. I am building an Endeavor but I know a couple guys who built Chesapeake 17's and swear by them for fishing, fast, seaworthy and fairly stable. I think the Great Auk would be a good fishing boat. You can't go too beamy and keep up with your brothers boats so suggest minimum 23 and max 25. The good part is you don't have to cast very far when you fish from canoes or kayaks. Keep in mind these designs are sea kayaks and not necessarily what you will want for fast rivers.