Due to the those pesky laws of physics, kayaks and all things traveling on or moving through water are necessarily a compromise in design. There are trade-offs required between speed, stability and maneuverability  to ensure optimum desired performance; in short, choosing the "perfect" fishing yak depends on what you want to do with it. Manufacturers are designing newer 'fishing' models to improve on the balance between speed vs. stability.

Speed

How fast a kayak is (i.e; how hard you have to paddle to maintain a given speed) will depend on many factors like hull shape, draft, resistance(drag), weight, width, length, etc.. To simplify things here, we'll condense it down to length vs. width. Basically, a long, narrow kayak will be faster than a wider, shorter one.

If you plan to regularly paddle long distances and/or spend a lot of time trolling, you will probably be happier with a faster kayak. If not, sacrificing some speed can offer advantages in other areas. Understanding the relationship between speed and stability is important in finding the right boat for you.

Since fishing from a kayak is a much more complicated task than just paddling one, a big consideration will be stability. In very general terms, wider kayaks will  tend to be more stable but slower than narrower kayaks. In terms of kayak stability, there are two types; initial and secondary.

• Initial stability (or instability) is best described as that "tippy" feeling that beginners experience when they first sit in a kayak. Initial stability becomes less important as you gain experience and learn a sense of balance in your yak.
   
• Secondary stability is the range of stability a kayak offers before you reach the capsize or 'flip' point. This is the type of stability that will be most important as you become accustomed to your boat. When you exceed a kayak's secondary stability limit, you are in the water!

Another factor affecting stability is your center of gravity. The lower you sit in the boat, the more stable you will feel. Touring models tend to have lower seating that improves stability, but because SOT's are self bailing, you may be sitting in some water. Using a seat pad can often make a 'wet ride' seem less of an issue. Other models that offer higher, drier rides, compensate by increasing the beam width and designing flatter hulls to improve stability. Higher kayaks are also drier in chop and around wakes but their high gunnels create more resistance when paddling into the wind. This may not be any big deal if you only paddle short distances, but if you travel several miles and are suddenly on the down side of an increasing wind, you will definitely care about wind resistance.

There is a very thorough explanation of kayak stability at Guillemot Kayaks, a company dedicated to designing, building and helping others build the best performing wooden SIK sea kayaks available.

If you tend to fish small lakes with lots of coves or along docks in bays and harbors, you may find that having a very long, fast boat is not everything. The ability to turn quickly in close quarters will also be important to you.

Kayaks over 14 feet long that don't have a rudder installed will generally require a fairly long, wide turning radius. Rudders are a big help, but keep in mind that rudders need forward or backward momentum in order to be effective. This becomes far less critical as you venture onto larger, more open  bodies of water.

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