Why fish from a kayak?

“Ma’am I’ve caught fish bigger than your boat before.”  I’ve heard that comment multiple times from well-meaning anglers at boat launches all across south Louisiana.  Why would anyone want to fish out of such a small boat?  It seems counterintuitive- you can’t travel as far to find fish, it’s harder to see fish, it’s not as comfortable as a full-size boat, and, newsflash, you have to power it yourself.


The answer is, as difficult as fishing from a kayak is, that’s what makes it so fun.  Sure, you may not catch 60 redfish like your friends in their bay boat, but the ones you do catch will pull you around the marsh on a Cajun sleigh ride like you’ve never been on before.  You may not be able to run to the far spots where everyone knows the speckled trout are biting, but you’ll be forced to learn to fish the area you are in, making you a better angler in the long run.  You can’t bring 50 pounds of tackle with you, so you’ll have to learn what works best in what conditions.  Kayak fishing will bring you back to the basics of fishing, simplifying your experience and reminding you why and how you started fishing in the first place.