I would love to rent an ultra stable pedal-drive kayak for a week on a lake like Lac La Croix or Saganaga. I just started looking, but does anyone know if an outfitter/resort will rent out say a 13 foot fishing kayak? I don't own one yet but may buy one next year. The thinking is that I could bring it to Crane Lake and get a tow into Lac La Croix and fish the heck out of it while being able to stand and maintain position a lot easier than a canoe. The only problem is the weight (no portaging) and the low cargo capacity compared to a canoe. I was thinking, for a weeklong trip with a friend, we would both having fishing kayaks with fishing gear and camping gear in them, loaded to the gills, and then each of us would tow a floating bag of gear behind us. Obviously we would be SUPER slow towing a big bag behind us and it would not be fun in windy/choppy conditions, but if we could towed to Fish Stake Narrows, we wouldn't have to go too far to find a site (assuming one is open). Then we could set up a week-long base camp and only bring our fishing gear with us when we go fishing.

So really it comes down to... does anyone rent fishing kayaks up there, or would I absolutely need to bring my own? I'm guessing, if anyone does, it's gonna be 1 or 2 outfitters in the entire B-dub.

Edit: Now that I think about it, I think the pedal drive would not be allowed in paddle-only areas. Could still use it on Saganaga and part of Basswood though (areas I'd be interested in).

Edit2: They would technically be allowed on the Canadian side of LLC though...... hmmmmmmmmm..................................

Sounds like a lot of work to me. I would just take a canoe if there are 2 of you and save the kayak thing for car camping lakes.

Staying in one place and being able to stand while fishing are huge benefits of a fishing kayak. It is a lot of work but I can imagine it being amazing in the BWCA given the fishing opportunities.

I see your edit about only allowed in the motor areas....kind of ruins your original plans. That's probably also why you might be hard pressed to find some for rent if there's not much area to use them in.

I stood in our SR Q17 a few times while fishing up there this spring. It's not quite as stable as my Jackson kayak back home but not too bad. If I was concentrating on fishing I'd put the extra weight and effort toward a depthfinder and battery setup than standing ability but that's me.

Maybe outriggers for your canoe?

I’ve never heard of anyone renting them.

Sorry but I only see negative things of a kayak in the BWCA. Kayaks have limited gear space, and that’s important to me. I don’t single portage. We bring a lot of gear along. Don’t get me wrong that I hate kayaks. I own one and I’m getting another one next year. I love fishing out of kayaks on the lake I live on, but would not consider it in the BWCA. Don’t forget about the issue of wind. I would rather be in a canoe fishing in waves than a kayak.

If you are sold on the idea of a kayak in the BWCA I would make a suggestion to you. Try out your tow a bag plan on a local lake with all your gear, as a test. See if you can paddle or too much drag.

Fishing kayaks are specifically designed to be extremely stable. You can stand in them, cast from them, set hooks and not worry about tipping. The whole point is to be a stable platform. I totally agree they don’t have nearly as much room as a canoe. And I do totally agree that they would a pure pain to portage. Pedal drive kayaks weigh 80 to 100lbs. They’re heavy. Some have a wheel built in. But if I could get them towed to Basswood or LLC, I wouldn’t have to portage them a single time. Towing gear would make me slow but if it’s only on the way to and from the tow, a couple miles max, it shouldn’t be too bad. Floats for a canoe might get me close to the goal of having a standing fishing platform, but using pedal drive and a rudder to keep position on the water, hands free, is something canoes just can’t do. You can rig a rudder but still. It would be pretty cool to have a legit sit on top fishing kayak with all of these features if I didn’t have to haul gear far and didn’t have to portage.

I would highly recommend testing out the idea of towing your gear before your trip. No experience towing gear but i had an enlightening experience towing from a kayak. We did a small river trip last summer and i towed my niece on a tube behind the kayak, it was a tube with a closed bottom. When paddling it was a SIGNIFICANT drag on the kayak. I was shocked by just how much effort it took to move with the tube behind me.

Pretty sure Piragis still rents kayaks but i didn't remember seeing any like what you are looking for.

AmarilloJim: "Maybe outriggers for your canoe?"

In 2012, I saw someone on West Lake in Quetico using outriggers while fishing. I couldn't imagine carrying those things over so many portages, but that guy evidently thought it was worth the effort.

I would also caution against bringing a sit on top kayak into the BWCA or Quetico. The benefits do not outweigh the negatives. My wife and I took a 5 day trip into Basswood where she paddled a kayak and I paddled my solo canoe. We traveled slower (and with more difficulty), I had to carry all of her gear because she had no room for it in her boat, had a harder time fishing, more difficulty on portages - the whole experience left me wanting for a tandem canoe (we recently did another trip in a tandem boat and she immediately commented about how much easier it was to paddle tandem than in separate boats). Your sit on top kayaks may be more stable in calm, protected water, but LLC, Basswood or any of the other large lakes in the BWCA will likely be windy 80%+ of the time. Trying to anchor and fish, or even troll (also, a lot harder out of a kayak because of the kayak paddle) will be all but impossible solo in a top-heavy kayak.

Also, +1 on recommending you try out towing something behind the kayak. This is almost guaranteed to frustrate the hell out of you and make your boat more unstable.

Sorry it's not what you want to hear, but there's a reason you rarely see anyone in the BWCA with kayaks...

Pedal fishing kayaks are heavy and don't portage well so you don't see them in the BWCA. I owned a Hobie ProAngler 12 for a couple of years and it is a great fishing boat. Easy to load/unload from a pickup bed. I also understand your urge to take a pedal kayak as your hand never leaves the fishing rod. You are fishing the whole time. Even in rough windy conditions, your feet are on the pedals, one hand is controlling the rudder and the other hand is working the fishing rod.

Your best bet is to rent a pedal kayak at home and haul it up there. I suggest the Hobie ProAngler 14 as it has a high weight capacity for gear (at least more capacity than most other pedal kayaks).

You need to ditch the idea of hauling a gear float behind your kayak. There are products that were offered but I think they stopped making them as they don't work very well.

I have a couple thoughts.

If you want to fish the BWCA you'd have to let go of the pedal drive idea. So first decision you need to make is whether that pedal drive is a make it or break it deal. If its required then you'll have to stay outside the BWCA. If you're outside the BWCA wouldn't it be easier to bring or rent a motor boat?

If pedal drive isn't required but some sort of kayak is and you want to go into the BWCA then what I'd do is paddle tandem in a canoe with your friend and then tow 2 kayaks behind you. You'll obviously be limited to no portage options but sounds like you already knew that. I've got to think those two kayaks will tow a lot easier behind a tandem canoe with 2 paddlers using kayak paddles then you'd experience with each of you towing a floating bag of gear. You'll still want to be mindful of wind and waves when towing the kayaks. If you're trying to tow a bag of gear I could easily see both of you giving up on the idea within a quarter mile of putting into the water. In my opinion its really a bad idea, the drag would be brutal. If you have a head wind and waves it will be just that much worse. If you go that route you won't really have a plan B as the gear won't fit into your kayaks and you won't have a canoe as a back up so you'll be out of luck if/when you realize how much drag you're dealing with.

Fishing from a dedicated fishing kayak does have its advantages but I don't think those advantages are enough to offset all of the draw backs that they have in the BWCA. There is a reason that most people don't use them. They just aren't that well suited for that type of trip.

If you do attempt the trip report back and let us know how it goes.