Kayak Ballast Weight - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

YakMedic · 07-07-2013, 07:52 PM

My dad also has an outfitter, I took him out last week for his first time solo and we found out a ballast is needed. Its an older outfitter and the rudder can only be controlled from the rear seat I'm not sure if it is different on the newer boats. While sitting in the rear seat the kayak was not on plane, we pulled on to the shoreline of the lake and threw a chunk of granite into the front seat and it made all the difference.

He now has a couple of filled sand bags he plans on throwing in the front seat the next time he uses it solo.

steveooo · 07-07-2013, 08:12 PM

On my Hobie Oasis, I filled the extra mirage drive plug with lead shot. Worked good to balance the kayak out.

I lost that one day and started just throwing a dry-bag filled with water up in the front. That worked a little bit better, because if I got a nice fish, I could just empty out the dry bag and toss the fish up front.

One thing I did like, was having no ballast up front during surf landings. Having the bow that high in the air made it nearly impossible to flip the yak in the surf on the way in.

07-07-2013, 07:52 PM	#1
YakMedic Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Wrightwood Posts: 623	My dad also has an outfitter, I took him out last week for his first time solo and we found out a ballast is needed. Its an older outfitter and the rudder can only be controlled from the rear seat I'm not sure if it is different on the newer boats. While sitting in the rear seat the kayak was not on plane, we pulled on to the shoreline of the lake and threw a chunk of granite into the front seat and it made all the difference. He now has a couple of filled sand bags he plans on throwing in the front seat the next time he uses it solo.

07-07-2013, 08:12 PM	#2
steveooo Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1,922	On my Hobie Oasis, I filled the extra mirage drive plug with lead shot. Worked good to balance the kayak out. I lost that one day and started just throwing a dry-bag filled with water up in the front. That worked a little bit better, because if I got a nice fish, I could just empty out the dry bag and toss the fish up front. One thing I did like, was having no ballast up front during surf landings. Having the bow that high in the air made it nearly impossible to flip the yak in the surf on the way in.