How to Make a Fishing Kayak
Building your own fishing kayak is not only rewarding---it can also allow you to customize your style, design and visual components. There are many styles to choose from, depending on your personal needs. The kayak you build should depend on where you plan to fish, how far you'll paddle, how fast you'll need to go, and how much storage space you need for equipment and fish.
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Things You'll Need
- Research where you plan to fish, how far you need to kayak and how much space and storage is needed.
Instructions
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Building a Fishing Kayak
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Start with research. Before you start building, you'll need to pick the style that's best for you. There are many general styles of kayaks, including recreational, touring, whitewater and downriver. Learn more about styles and uses of kayaks from CanoeKayak.com.
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Decide on a building technique. Buildingakayak.com outlines the major building techniques for kayaks, including stitch and glue, wood strip and skin-on-frame. Picking a style will depend on your preferences, time frame and budget. See the resources section below for more information.
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Next, pick a length. There are several length options for kayaks, with advantages and disadvantages of each. According to Jimbo Meader with adventuretimes.com, longer kayaks go faster, making it easier to get to your fishing location. However, shorter kayaks are easier to transport and move around in. See the resource section for more help on picking length and shape.
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Plan your kayak design. You can buy or design your own kayak plans with special software available online, or you can buy an entire pre-packaged kayak kits with designs and materials. One well-known service is Guillemot Kayaks, which offers specialized designs.
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Get to work. Once you've finished your research, picked the style that's best for you and purchased your supplies, you can get to work. There are several books and websites that can help with specific building details---the best instructions will depend on the type of kayak you've chosen. See the resources section below to get started.
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