Hi Buck,

I too became interested in kayaks through an interest in fishing, so I've considered the same questions as you. basically, what will be easy to transport, paddle easily, result in me actually eating some fish, and not swimming with them;-)

Fortunatley (or unfortunatly?) for me, I became more interested in building kayaks than I ever was in fishing. So I ended up building a guillemot stich and glue, I havn't launched it yet so I've no idea how well it will be suited to fishing, it looks bloody fast tho!

If I were to have stuck with my original intention, I would have chosen a design that was short and wide. There are several boats marketed as suitable for nature photography, this would probably be the best way to go. Choosing a skin on frame boat may be asking for trouble with sharp fish hooks, knives etc, while a hole from a fish hook wouldn't be a disaster, it would be a pain in the ass.

I think the boat i'd choose for fishing would be the mill creek 13'. NPenny just finished one and posted his report on it here, it sounds like he did a good job of it too, just click on the link below.

A word of warning. If you take to long in picking a design, and spend to much time thinking about building kayaks, You will get hooked. Just like the rest of us.

good luck with it

Paul