Inflatable Kayaks, yay or nay?

I never been in a duckie but fro m my very limited perspective they do is allow someone with limited skills to get on the water

We ran a canyon with a couple of 3+/4 sections last sunday ,2 hard boaters (one being myself ), 3 rafts and 3 duckies

2 of the brand new duckie riders got in the raft for the knarly bits but the duckie did allow the one guy who had a couple of river runs under his belt to get on the water ,sure he flipped but he just got back on

no way it would have ever been possible in a hard boat ...just too much to learn

we had 2 commercial guides and the owner of a swift water rescue company so it was all reasonably safe

edit :Will i try one ?probably not

I've been pondering the IK idea as well; I would use it primarily for fly fishing in still water and occasional slow rivers and non-rapid sections (Big Laramie, North Platte, etc.). Any suggestions for a style/brand to use just for this application?

I'm familiar with two types: Aire and Hyside. They both are great for moderate Whitewater and fishing. One thing you may want to consider for fly fishing is the seat. The Aire's have a flat, foldable seat and the Hysides have an inflateable seat/seat-back. You would sit up higher on the Hysides and I think that would be an advantage for fly fishing. However, they are heavier so hauling them around is a little harder. You can also fold the Aire seats down and sit on the folded seat to get you up a bit higher off the floor, but still not as high as the Hysides. You can kneel in either boat just fine.

The Aire boats have better tie down loops for hauling gear and overall the Aires seem to be a better boat. The Hyside boats are wider and therefore better for running burlier whitewater.

Tributary is a budget version of the Aire, I've not looked closely at one to see what the differences are, but I bet it would be just fine.

I caught a decent catfish yesterday
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...an/fish1-1.jpg

but was heckled by other fish
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/Flaskman/fish2.jpg

Thanks for the info... I was pondering IK's -vs- sit-on-tops just for fishing. I may go a completely different direction and go in halfsies on a Clackacraft with my cousin, but haven't decided yet. A small kayak makes much more sense for solo trips, but in a Clacka I can obviously have more people along, gear, etc.

It sounds to me like you need both.

I like how you think.

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Originally Posted by 72Twenty

Thanks for the info... I was pondering IK's -vs- sit-on-tops just for fishing. I may go a completely different direction and go in halfsies on a Clackacraft with my cousin, but haven't decided yet. A small kayak makes much more sense for solo trips, but in a Clacka I can obviously have more people along, gear, etc.

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Now that I think of it, I've found inflatables to be a little annoying in regards to fishing. In any sort of moving water, they're always spinning and require active paddling to stay pointed in a particular direction.

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Originally Posted by ski_adk

Now that I think of it, I've found inflatables to be a little annoying in regards to fishing. In any sort of moving water, they're always spinning and require active paddling to stay pointed in a particular direction.

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wouldn't that make sense with any water craft if the water is moving ?

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Originally Posted by XXX-er

wouldn't that make sense with any water craft if the water is moving ?

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Yeah even my 16 foot raft will spin in the eddies. In the current you almost always need an oar in the water to keep the boat online. Don't have to do much but just a little all the time.

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Originally Posted by carvedog

Yeah even my 16 foot raft will spin in the eddies. In the current you almost always need an oar in the water to keep the boat online. Don't have to do much but just a little all the time.

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Actualy more than one person has commented I don't have both oars in the water

I went fishing from my IK today...floated right past this huge Bobcat...pretty beautiful beast.
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...an/bobcat2.jpg

No Shit! Did it just eyeball you as you drifted by? was it asleep? Cool!

At first I thought it was a cat, then when I made some noise and it didn't take off I thought maybe it was driftwood...but then as I got closer I could see it was definitely a cat...a BIG cat. He just laid there and watched me float by...I was talking to him the whole time and he just smiled and watched my go by...didn't move a muscle. It was an incredible experience.

After I got home I had to review some photos of cats to try to determine what kind of cat he was...definitely a Bobcat. But when I think of Bobcats I think of a 30-40 lb cat, this guy was easily 80-100 lbs, that's why I thought it was a Mtn Lion of some sort.

Sorry for trolling, but when they flip how do you just get back in? Or do you flip the IK over and then get in? What about bailing water?

They look awesome and make me wonder how seaworthy they'd be for trips up and down some local inlets..

Thx for sharing yer pics!

I have an Aire, and it's self-bailing as are all of the nicer ones. And yes, you have to flip it back over and then climb back in, but it's not hard to do. When I fish in mine I usually have quite a bit of gear and an icechest or flexible cooler, so I try real hard to not flip the thing which means it's not that good for big water. But if I'm just out for the whitewater then I keep the gear to a minimum so if/when it dumps me I don't lose all my stuff.

I've had mine in the ocean a couple of times and both times were with my woman on just a nice, lazy, paddle session around Malibu or Avila...though coming back in through the surf was a little rough. It's much wider than a cockpit type ocean kayak, and probably wider than most sit-on-tops by a little bit, so a longer paddle would be the call there. The wind would affect it more than a hardshell kayak so for short, easy trips it would be fine, but for longer trips it's not the right craft.

But it rolls up nicely and fits inside my subie with all my gear, so that's a plus.

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Originally Posted by Flaskman

At first I thought it was a cat, then when I made some noise and it didn't take off I thought maybe it was driftwood...but then as I got closer I could see it was definitely a cat...a BIG cat. He just laid there and watched me float by...I was talking to him the whole time and he just smiled and watched my go by...didn't move a muscle. It was an incredible experience.

After I got home I had to review some photos of cats to try to determine what kind of cat he was...definitely a Bobcat. But when I think of Bobcats I think of a 30-40 lb cat, this guy was easily 80-100 lbs, that's why I thought it was a Mtn Lion of some sort.

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Quantifying animals from sometimes sketchy photos was part of my job with the Alaska Dept of Fish and Game dealing with population dynamics and wildlife movements. I've looked at that photo up and down, and you are right, that is most definitely a bobcat...as derived simply from its tufted ears and facial profile. The hind area tripped me up for a bit, but I see that it does have the striations of a Lynx rufus...they have a a whole range of coloration and striation, from almost cougar-like to nearly ocelot-like.

You speak of 80-100 lbs. Based upon the vegetation in that photo, I derive a weight more in the range of 25-35 lbs. Based upon the setting and my experience, I can't really see 80-100 lbs in THAT particular specimen.

The weight you are talking about is so far out of range of the norm that I must wonder its accuracy, as it is about 2 to 3 TIMES the median range.

With that said, however, if you are CERTAIN that it was indeed in that aforementioned 80-100 lb range, I cannot definitively rule out the possibility of a very rare inter-genus hybrid between a cougar (Puma concolor) and bobcat (Lynx rufus), as they DO share territory in parts of California. While cross-genus hybridization is extremely rare...it is NOT unheard of. Note the case of the cougar/ocelot hybrid found rarely in South America. The cougar is in the Puma genus and the ocelot is in the Felis genus (same as the domestic cat, and ocelots are even smaller than SOME housecats!!), so one would not think their offpring would be viable, yet they ARE.

If it IS in that weight range, you MAY have come across an extremely rare cross-genus hybrid of cougar/bobcat...one that happens to take primary characteristics of the Lynx rufus, but takes the size and some coloration of Puma concolor.

So, in essence, you may have seen something altogether RARE!! Based upon the photo, however, it is my professional judgement that it is a bobcat in the 25-35 lb range, which puts it right in spec with a larger individual bobcat. Bobcats are known for widely ranging sizes in anomolic individuals, but NOT in multiples of two or three!!! That would be VERY odd indeed.

Nice cat, though...that's for sure.

Here's a bobcat of similar size in a similar pose...note the wde range of ear-tufting in this species, almost towards that of it's close cousin, the canadian lynx (L. canadensis).

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...23/Bobcat3.jpg

I bet THIS cat gets its can of tunafish WHENEVER it wants!!!

http://www.gotpetsonline.com/picture...obcat-0019.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...at_Cropped.jpg
Here is a different shot, it's zoomed out more and cropped so you can see more of the vegetation. I'll agree that the 80-100lb range I initially estimated is maybe a bit high(hey, I was excited), but my buddy has a 25lb cat (maincoon) it was more than twice as big as him. Plus, I've had a couple of 80-100lb dogs and this guy was very close to that size. My guess now is more in the 60-80lb range and that's well within the range for a large male Bobcat from what I've read. But hey, I didn't get to see him get up and move, so it was hard to really tell. If I could have gotten a photo from when I was right next to him it would be more obvious. What I can tell you is he was far bigger than the one in the shot you posted. When I was floating by I was within 40-50' and I had a great view and I was stunned/confused because of how big he was. I'm semi-familiar with Bobcats from seeing them over the years, but this one was MUCH larger than any I've ever seen in the past. But, his face was so close to the classic Bobcat look that I'm going to rule out any hybrid with a Cougar, he just didn't have that cougar look. He was just one huge Bobcat...and he smiled at me...it was awesome. Thanks for your input though!

:yourock:

Edit: Ok, now I can't find where I read they get up to 76lbs, that's why I said it was well within the range. But I also didn't see all the spots or stripes on the cat I saw like on the photos I saw when I googled "Bobcat", he was more plain colored, so maybe it was a hybrid? I'm not sure...he was a big cat, of that I am sure. Cheers.

(if you pm me your email I'd be happy to send the full res images if you are interested)

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Originally Posted by Flaskman

(if you pm me your email I'd be happy to send the full res images if you are interested)

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Sure...I'll PM you my email address. I'd like to see the hi-res pic. While I deal mostly with high latitude, sub-arctic wildlife, and bobcat are DEFINITELY out of that subset, I have a friend who works for the US Fish and Wildlife north of Eureka, Ca who HAS dealt with bobcat and cougars. I'd like to shoot the pix to him to see what he thinks about a possible hybrid.

Bobcat ARE one of the species that vary widely in size, and they have been known to be exist well outside the norm. Somewhere I'd read that the world record weight for a bobcat was 49 or 50 lbs, but that sounds a little light for a world record. And even if it was true, that doesn't mean bobcats larger than that don't exist.

Keep in mind though, that bobcat and lynx have a LOT of very dense fur, which make them look larger and heavier than they actually are. Ever see a soaking wet long-haired cat? Skinny as anything!

According to my Ca. US Fish and Wildlife friend, bobcats do vary widely in coloration and spotting/striping...some almost spotless like a cougar.

That don't seem right. i've ran with Golden mixes most my life, sheperd and samoyed retrievers that get 90lb to 110lb. Rather then the 55lb to 75lb gold retriever. THAT THING LOOKS BIG! I would luv to here how that thing came to be.

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Originally Posted by misfit toy

That don't seem right. i've ran with Golden mixes most my life, sheperd and samoyed retrievers that get 90lb to 110lb. Rather then the 55lb to 75lb gold retriever. THAT THING LOOKS BIG! I would luv to here how that thing came to be.

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Keep in mind, though, that those are bushes in the direct background, not full grown trees. Take a look at that picture again. No indigenous bobcats in Alaska, although there ARE a good population of Lynx as there is a good population of snowshoe hare...lynx are a species I just don't monitor, though. Lynx are larger than bobcat, and they appear even larger on first sighting because of their denser fur. But like I said, bobcat DO tend to vary in size much more than lynx, often greatly exceeding the norms. They DO have much denser fur than canines, so while they may APPEAR big, they won't have the same weight of a canine that looks the same size....unlike cougars, which ARE big and fairly heavy.
The reason the world record for bobcat is only 49 pounds or so is because of their fairly light bone structure. I'm sure with all it's fur, that world-record bobcat probably looked huge.

I'll wait and see the full resolution pix so I can speciate those bushes and then get a size off the leaves and other vegetation.

Another great float down the Kings River in CA. We put in just below the Pine Flat Dam, still got water flowing!
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/Flaskman/017.jpg

Got all the essentials...
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/Flaskman/018.jpg

Fly fishing the boulder section
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/Flaskman/021.jpg

Portage? To hell with that...run it!
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/Flaskman/035.jpg

The moment my best fish of the day got away...
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/Flaskman/051.jpg

Jeffry landed his though...a classic Kings River Lunker!
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/Flaskman/053.jpg
I love my Ik...

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Originally Posted by Flaskman

Portage? To hell with that...run it!
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/Flaskman/035.jpg

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But don't fuck up and get sideways CUZ that looks like a low head dam to me

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPaCXSwjLA4"]YouTube - Low Head Dam Dangers Boone Iowa[/nomedia]

Just want to point out that lowheads have killed many people who were not aware of the danger

Right on...we did initially portage, as we always do at a feature like this, but could see that the water was only about 6-8 inches deep.

cool ! I just wanted to make it clear to anybody seeing the pict that it is a low head and if the water was deeper it would be VERY dangerous

If you got sideways in that low head with only 6" of water you can just stand up BUT if you got sideway or were dragged back into a lowhead with 6 ' of water you would be stuck there ... and drown