It’s always struck me that the closer bass fishing mimics the hunting experience of spotting and stalking, the more intense and satisfying it becomes. All methods have their day, but how much more exciting to actually catch sight of a bass following or striking your lure? Exciting and educational, because seeing a fish is an unambiguous data point in the great location challenge. I still get a little palpitated thinking about the big bass I spotted one afternoon at Crooked Creek Lake in western Pennsylvania tracking my swimbait through a quiet backwater. I didn’t catch it that day, but it was a morale booster and another step closer to figuring out where bigger bass like to hang out.

If I hadn’t been standing in my kayak at the time I probably would have missed the whole show. These craft are making steady inroads into the bass market thanks to a host of selling points: kayaks are portable, stealthy, comparatively cheap to buy and outfit and have no fuel costs; they’re good exercise, and just plain fun to mess around in. But they also position the angler so low to the water you’re fishing almost blind: not a hunter squeezing the trigger but a guy taking potshots. That low angle also impedes the mechanics of several bass tactics, such as fishing crankbaits and stickbaits, pitching and flipping, and swimbaiting – where it’s so essential to watch for followers.

Fortunately, kayak manufacturers have clearly got the message that fishermen want the option to stand up and fish, and there are now many models built with standability in mind. These custom fishing yaks feel noticeably more stable as you get into them but it’s their secondary stability that really counts. That’s the critical inner steadiness that kicks in when a kayak is tipped to one side or the other, and is achieved by using pontoon-style or tunnel hulls. This design puts the anglers’ feet down into the hull below the waterline in a more comfortable and balanced position than a standard kayak where the feet and hips are practically level. It’s the difference between straddling a bench with your feet planted on the floor compared to sitting on top of a bench with your legs drawn up and your knees together. It’s clear which position is more balanced. 

The tradeoff to increased stability is that shorter, wider kayaks won’t slice through the water the way traditional touring kayaks will. The new wave of fishing yaks are nonetheless aiming for that sweet spot that combines a stable fishing platform once you get to the spot, with a light and responsive means to get there. These five manufactures stand out as producers of serious fishing machines, any one of which will let you safely elevate your game. 

Wilderness Systems (wildernesssystems.com)

Chad Hoover, pro staffer at Wilderness Systems and host of Knot Right Kayak Fishing on NBC Sports, says that as more and more bass anglers take advantage of everything kayaks have to offer, their goal should be to “wear the kayak like a backpack.” And that means fully exploiting its possibilities as an efficient fishing tool while ditching any apparatus, gadget or non-essential item that comes between angler/kayak on one side and big bass on the other. Need to anchor up and thoroughly fish a channel in the weed? Wedge yourself onto an adjacent mat of weeds and use that as your anchor. A big fish takes and you need to follow it? Don’t fumble for the oars while holding the rod; reel down to the fish and use its weight to draw the kayak forward. Frustrated by sitting so low to the waterline? Adapt your tactics and use methods that play to a kayak’s strengths, or choose one of the latest generation Wilderness Systems’ models with an integrated pontoon-style hull, one so stable you won’t think twice about standing to fish. 

Consider: Commander 120 Angler or A.T.A.K 140.

Freedom Hawk Kayaks (freedomhawkkayaks.com)

Freedom Hawk Kayaks overcomes the tradeoff between stability and paddling efficiency with an innovative design feature that allows the angler to pull a lever and split the stern of a standard kayak into two outriggers that angle out in a “Y”-shape. This creates stability in the stern and combines with a deployable leaning rail positioned in front of the angler. One fan is former BASS Rookie of the Year Brandon Card who uses his for fun off-season trips to ponds and small lakes. 

Consider: Pathfinder or Freedom Hawk 12, models that allow the pontoons to open parallel or in-line to the kayak, increasing the craft’s maneuverability without having to retract the outriggers. 

Hobie (hobiefishing.com)

Hobie has been a leading brand within kayak fishing for years, is the title sponsor for national and international kayak fishing tournaments, and offers a range of well thought-out accessories useful to bass anglers. Live wells, leaning rails, molded cut outs for sonar units and trolling motors are all offered, but nothing is probably as useful to anglers as the company’s signature innovation, the Mirage Drive system. 

Mirage Drive is in essence a set of flippers that extend through the hull of the kayak and are controlled by the kayaker’s feet. They can either be used as a substitute for paddles or they can be pinned back while paddling, then engaged to offer hands-free propulsion, which is an obvious boon when you begin to actively fish and don’t want to stand up. Though Hobie kayaks are well suited to stand-up fishing, it should be noted that systems like Mirage Drive and Native Watercraft’s Propel Drive do somewhat reduce deck space, particularly on the smaller length kayaks.

Consider: Mirage Pro Angler 12 or Mirage Outback.

NuCanoe (nucanoe.com)

NuCanoe describes its Frontier range of fishing kayaks as “ridiculously stable,” and a combination of “the best of canoes, kayaks, and small boats.” True to that description, Frontiers have a minimalist but functional design (like a canoe) that leaves a wide uncluttered deck ideal for comfortable standing or customization. Even though the range is purposely designed for stand-up fishing, the company has put a lot of thought into seating options. The Freedom Track system allows you to slide the kayak’s seat back and forth along a 70-inch track, and the Max 360 Seat accessory is a deluxe elevated swivel seat. 

Consider: The Frontier 12, Frontier 10, or Solo Bass Angler/Solo Stand-up Angler packages.

Native Watercraft (nativewatercraft.com)

The Tunnel Hull design built into this company’s Ultimate 12 Angler and other models offers exceptional stability for stand-up fishing, so stable, in fact,  some anglers don’t think twice about sitting in it “side saddle,” with their feet dangling over the side when they’re fishing, or when they’re about to get into or out it. Native Watercraft also offers a hands-free propulsion system which they call Propel Drive. 

Propel Drive is a set of topside pedals that powers a subsurface propeller. The advantage of a pedal system is the ease with which you can go both forwards and backwards. When not in use, the system can be raised from the water and tilted forward out of the way.

Consider: Ultimate 12 Angler or Mariner Propel Angler 12.5.

Bring ’Em to You

One of the simplest ways to overcome the negatives of sitting so close to the waterline is to bring the fish into your plane of vision, rather than straining to see into theirs. And that means, of course, using topwater lures: you’ll be able to see the boils and wakes and splashes of interested bass and keep at it until one commits. Captain Ken Daubert, author of Kayak Fishing: The Revolution regularly puts some very large bass in his kayak fishing the lakes and rivers of central Florida. 

He fishes a range of custom frog lures he designs and builds himself. “I’ll trade you ten big bass on the worm for one on the frog and there’s no more effective way to fish them than from a kayak,” he says. Kayaks are the perfect one-two punch for this kind of fishing because, as Daubert says, “they have the ability to penetrate into really heavy weed and shallow water, places where frogs are particularly effective, and do so quietly. A lot of my strikes happen right next to the boat proving they don’t really care you’re there.” 

Another advantage: you can get away with using comparatively light line. Daubert uses 20lb PowerPro for fishing his frogs no matter the size of the bass or the ugliness of the weeds because he knows he can let the lightweight boat move with the pull of a powerful fish, like a back-up drag.

Accessories

If you don’t want to buy a new kayak, several aftermarket outrigger systems are available that fix to your existing kayak and provide the same service. A quick Internet search turns up choices such as those made by Spring Creek or the Hobie Sidekick Ama Outrigger Kit. While you’re browsing the online kayak shops, it would be foolish to even think about stand-up fishing without sorting out a good quality PFD. It’s the norm now for these to be no more restrictive than wearing a fishing vest, and there are several that double as both. One other accessory every stand-up fisherman should consider purchasing are paddle leashes to secure your paddle to the kayak when you’re not in a seated position – you, after all, will have your hands full casting and playing fish.