fishing kayak prices: Is there a ceiling?
The “Iaconelli” Edition Hobie Pro Angler 14 360 is one of the most expensive fishing kayaks to hit the market retailing for nearly $6000 USD.
For the longest time one of the major selling points and advantages that kayak fishing offered over powerboats was cost. Kayaks offered an affordable means to liberate anglers from the bank. However, in the past few years advances in propulsion systems coupled with sky rocketing demand during the pandemic and inflation have driven up fishing kayak costs up to unimaginable price points. It begs the question is there a ceiling and at what point do fishing kayaks become non-competitive against powerboats?
A few year’s ago Jackson Kayaks attempted a kickstarter for an $8000 fishing paddle kayak made from space age technologies. The “Tyr” was a major flop failing to hit its fund raising goals. Anglers balked and mostly laughed at the outrageous price point. Yet a few years later, in 2021, Hobie released the “Iaconelli” edition of its Hobie Pro Angler 14 360 with the astounding retail costs of $5800. Rollout of the Ike Hobie was rocky at best but I see enough on them on social media feeds to suggest that there is demand for them, more than I would expect. Personally at the $6000 price point I am going to be taking a hard look at powerboats or maybe three months living high on the hog on some beach in Thailand before making that purchase. Is there a point at which kayak anglers both new and experienced will say enough is enough?
Is there a ceiling?
To find out I reached out my fellow kayak anglers thru a poll (on the left). I asked at what point did they consider the price of a fishing kayak to be too much. With approximately 450 responses what I saw didn’t surprise me. About half the respondents felt that over $2000 was overpriced whereas a whopping 82% felt that a fishing kayak over $3000 was too expensive. The vast majority of today’s paddle kayaks tend to fall under the $2000 price range and likewise the majority of pedal kayaks fall in the sub-$3000 category.
To better illustrate this I took the 30 most popular kayak models from a diversity of kayak fishing brands and ranked them by cost to better illustrate which models fell above and below the marks at which kayak anglers felt the cost was too much.
In this graphic (on the right) paddle kayaks are listed in non-bold face while pedal/power kayaks are bold faced. As expected the majority of kayaks in the sub-$2000 range are paddle kayaks with the exception of a few budget pedal drives most of which are thermoformed and less durable than rotomolded kayaks. Pedal drive kayaks dominate from $2000 on up. Interestingly the Hobie Outback, the most popular pedal driven fishing kayak on the market, falls well above the $3000 mark that most anglers considered too expensive. Its no secret that Hobie has been losing ground to its competitors over the past few years and based on my findings price point is likely a major reason for this. Below the Outback there are a number of well engineered pedal driven kayaks from a diversity of companies priced far more competitively for kayak anglers to pick from.
Another key component to remember is these prices reflect only the kayak itself. For new kayak anglers there is considerable start-up costs including: fishfinders, batteries, pfd, paddles, kayak carts, and more. Its not unreasonable to tag another $1000-1500 on to those price points.
Is there a ceiling? Absolutely but there will always be those kayak anglers willing to shell out the dough for the latest and greatest but the real question is are there enough of those serious anglers out there to make an industry dominated by $3000+ kayaks sustainable. I’m not so sure and Hobie’s loosening grip on the industry I think is very indicative of betting big on spendy kayaks. Attracting new kayak anglers with smaller budgets may prove more sustainable and effective as you can build brand loyalty with entry level more affordable fishing kayaks and later upsell those anglers into your more advanced models.
Why not just buy a boat?
This is something I hear almost everyday on the water and in my social feeds. If you are going to spend $3000 to $5000 outfitting a kayak why not just buy a boat? Its a reasonable question so I spent all last night shopping for powerboats. What I found is that a new powerboat with a trailer, motor, trolling motor, and electronics plus registration and upgraded tow package for my vehicle was still going to set me back $15,000 to $20,000 no matter how budget minded I was. If I shopped used I could gain considerable savings that could see me getting into a 14-16” aluminum boat with motor and trailer in the price range of a kayak. BUT there is a problem in this comparison. A 12-13’ sit-on-top fishing kayak is a far more capable fishing vessel than an equally priced aluminum v-hull or jon boat in the 14-16’ size.
Why fishing kayaks are still a better deal than a powerboat?
A sit-on-top fishing kayak can go more places than a small powerboat. Can you surf punch in a powerboat? Nope. Would you take a 14’ aluminum boat 5 miles offshore for Coho or bottomfishing? Probably not. Ponds, lakes, shallow rivers…yup kayaks can do that. That’s not to say powerboats won’t have more range or speed than a kayak but in terms of the diversity of water and safety a sit-on-top kayak wins hands down.
A major advantage of a kayak for is that I don’t need a trailer. Trailers are expensive. Trailers fail. Trailers destroy gas mileage. Trailers force me to deal with idiots at boat ramps. I hate them with a vengeance. For most powerboats you need a trailer. For most kayaks you don’t.
Kayaks hold their value better than powerboats. This is rarely discussed but nearly every kayak I’ve owned and sold I’ve been able to sell for nearly as much as I bought it for. You can find great deals on powerboats precisely because their value declines precipitously with time. Fishing kayaks, especially in regions with few kayak shops like the Pacific Northwest, hold their value extremely well.
Aside from motorized kayaks, kayaks don’t need to be registered nor do their absent trailers. Less money for the tax man…mo money for me.
All those reasons aside I kayak fish because I love it. I love the proximity to the water. The physical component of kayak fishing appeals to me as well which I why I find myself back in my pedal drives and less in my AutoPilot these days (that and my wife keeps calling me fat). If I had kids I’d be eye-balling a powerboat in a heartbeat because lets face it there isn’t much space for the family on a kayak. If I were nearer the coast I’d be exploring powered options to get out to the tuna or bottomfish in a hurry but I don’t live there so for now its just good to have friends with a powerboat.
The main point I’m trying to make here is that kayaks are still a far more cost effective means to get out and safely target fish on a diversity of water types than a powerboat. Yet common sense dictates that the ever rising costs of fishing kayaks is going to price out a number of potential kayak anglers. This concerns from a purely democratic point of view but also from a sustainability of the sport perspective. Time will tell but I have a feeling the bubble will burst at some point and it’s going to be painful for some kayak manufacturers.