The Best Fishing Kayaks in 2024

It’s a gorgeous sunny day at the lake, and there’s a cool breeze keeping the temperature at a near-perfect 70 degrees. You’ve been on the water for two hours now, and have already caught three sizable fish — a fantastic haul. To celebrate, you crack open a beer, sit back, and relax in one of the best fishing kayaks around. It’s a beautiful day to be alive.

Sound like a dream? It doesn’t have to be! Kayak fishing is a growing hobby among outdoor enthusiasts, and consequently there are plenty of excellent kayak models to get you going in style. Whether you’re a novice learner looking for your first kayak, or an experienced outdoorsman looking to commit to a swankier ride, check out our list of the best fishing kayaks of the year!

Our Top Picks: Best Fishing Kayaks

Pressed for time? Here’s the bottom line:

• Best Overall: Malibu Kayak Stealth 14. With unmatched stability, a spacious cockpit, and Malibu’s patented live bait tank, this is the perfect kayak for fishing. 
• Best Eco-Friendly: Eddyline Caribbean 14. Made of Eddyline’s proprietary Carbonlite 2000, this kayak is fully recyclable and made in an environmentally-friendly manufacturing process that minimizes waste and puts the planet first.
• Best Budget: Coleman Sevylor QuickPak. The Coleman QuickPak is here to prove that fishing kayaks don’t have to break the bank, and inflatable kayaks don’t have to be flimsy!
• Best for Beginners: Malibu Kayaks X-Caliber. Whether you’re new to fishing in a kayak, or new to kayaking in general, this ‘yak has all the features you need to take the stress out of your adventure.

Kayak fishing, even on large, calm lakes, isn’t always smooth sailing. That is to say, your fishing kayak needs to be able to handle all kinds of waters without breaking a sweat. Enter the Malibu Kayaks Stealth 14.

This 14-feet-long, 85-pound behemoth offers the kind of stability you need to fish comfortably, with your paddles stowed away. The wide cockpit is spacious, ensuring you’re relaxed and have plenty of room to bring all your gear with you. Both the hull and kayak itself are designed extra-wide, making the entire thing almost entirely tip-proof — even for anglers who prefer to stand!

Despite how big it is, the Stealth 14 tracks well and cuts pretty easily through choppy waters, so you won’t have any trouble controlling it. 

This baby’s crowning glory is Malibu Kayak’s patented live bait tank, which lets you bring live bait with you for the best fishing results! And, it’s outfitted with a plug for easy flushing at the end of the day.

Though kayaks are already one of the most environmentally-friendly water vessels, why not take it a step further? The Eddyline Caribbean 14 is a specially-crafted kayak made from their proprietary Carbonlite 2000, a high-performance, co-extruded plastic laminate with a UV-resistant exterior and performance that mimics fiberglass. With added qualities like abrasion resistance, impact resistance, dimensional stability, and reduced heat distortion, there’s nothing not to like. 

But if that’s not enough for ya, these kayaks are also 100% recyclable. Eddyline strives to manufacture with environmentally-conscious practices and recycles or repurposes all scrap plastic their processes generate, to minimize waste as much as possible.

Inflatable kayaks might seem like a “real” kayak’s cheap, low-rent underling, but they’re much more than the stigma lets on. The Coleman Sevylor QuickPak is by far one of the best sit-on-top kayaks available today, and still manages to be less than 300 dollars!

Visually, it looks a lot like what you’d expect from a hard kayak, but in practice, it’s a lot less bulky and much, much lighter. Made of durable PVC with a tarpaulin bottom, this inflatable watercraft is incredibly puncture-resistant. Even so, there are multiple air chambers to ensure your kayak remains floating and functional in the rare case a puncture does occur, and the included repair kit ensures your kayak still has plenty of life left to live. Set-up takes mere minutes thanks to the paddle that doubles as a high-pressure pump. Both air intake valves feature dual locking points to keep the air in when you want it and reduce inflation time. Plus, the paddle has its own storage!

The spacious design means there’s plenty of room to stretch out, while the padded backrest keeps you supported and comfortable. This kayak can support up to 400 pounds when fully inflated, but still weighs in at less than 20 pounds itself, making it easy to lug around — and thanks to the included backpack-style carry case, you can bring it with you hands-free!

If you’re just starting out and looking for a fishing kayak that has everything you need and nothing you don’t, look no further than Malibu’s X-Caliber. This angler’s dream features four rod holders (two in the front and two in the back), so you can fish from any position that makes you happy, and cast as many lines as you please!

There are also multiple additional seating options, so you can bring a friend, a partner, your child, or even your fur baby with you on the water. To be sure, the 625-pound weight capacity can easily handle the whole family in addition to all the supplies and gear you could need.

The robust design offers incredible stability and tracking, and you can maneuver on a dime without fear of tipping over. If you’re still unsure, Malibu is ready to convince you with their limited lifetime warranty. For first-time kayakers or first-time fishing kayakers, this craft is designed to take all hassle out of the day.

What to Look for in the Best Fishing Kayaks

With so many ‘yaks to choose from, be sure to keep in mind the features that are important to you.

For example, things like how comfortable the seats are, how long the nose is, what the on-boat storage looks like, what the weight capacity is, how well it cuts through the water, and what kind of water it’s made for are vital aspects of the best fishing kayaks. Remember that it’ll take some time for you to get used to any new kayak, and you might need to get some add-ons or accessories to suit your needs fully. 

Our Process

For this guide on fishing kayaks, our team spent 4 hours researching the most popular options from over 30 brands and manufacturers big and small. We then read about one hundred user reviews (both positive and negative) to discover what shoppers thought about each kayak. Furthermore, after comparing this data, we narrowed our list down to the top 4 fishing kayaks on the market. You can count on this research to guide you to a mindful purchasing decision.

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