Kayaks, like boats, come in all shapes and sizes. Unlike boats though, it is relatively affordable to own a number
of kayaks that play key roles in various situations. Darren Tierney, describes his kayak fleet and recounts stories written by each.

It goes without saying that certain kayaks are better suited to specific locations, conditions and purposes than others. A big, glass, ocean-going kayak is not going to do too well on a boulder-strewn backwater chasing bass. Likewise a short little plastic kayak will be well out of its depth on the big blue ocean targeting pelagics. Neither vessel would be my first choice or the best option for estuary or bay work when chasing flathead or jewfish either.
This is not to say that it can’t be done and there are definitely some very versatile kayaks out there that make pretty good all-rounders. Like most ‘all-rounders’ in most pursuits however, they are often found to be left wanting in particular situations and they rarely excel in any one given field.
Over the years my kayak collection (‘the first fleet’, as my wife refers to it) has grown and evolved to include what I see as a number of what could loosely be described as specialist kayaks that excel in each of their given fields. The ‘fleet’ has morphed naturally over time to almost resemble a small navy and I use it just like any fleet commander would by deploying specific vessels for specific missions.

“Corvette” bass

MISSION ONE: INFILTRATE REMOTE RIVERS, GORGES AND BACK WATERS IN SEARCH OF BASS AND MURRAY COD
The navy has a category of small warship known as a corvette. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel to be a ‘proper’ or rated warship. The corvette in my fleet is a top little plastic kayak known as a Perception Arcadia. At only around 3.5 m in length it is short enough to offer great manoeuvrability but still possesses enough length to have plenty of speed for its given role. At the same time she has adequate ‘beam’ or width to offer great stability.
This kayak tracks well and has ample storage to even do short overnighters up remote gorges or mountain streams. My little corvette is predominantly deployed for hunting natives such as bass or cod. Tough enough to shoot through rapids and still light enough to drag back up them again if need be. Obviously I am quite fond of my corvette and she has plenty of ‘mojo’, having seen uncountable fish caught and released over the years.
I recently deployed the corvette on an overnight mission up through a remote gorge in the New England ranges. I was fishing with good mates Barnsey and Stocksy. They each have their own kayaks in the same ‘class’ as my Corvette. One is an Australis Bass and the other a Perception Emotion. The trip coincided with a cold snap of weather and the fishing was hard. We really had to work for our fish. The scenery was wild and spectacular and the little kayaks lapped up the conditions.
The river consisted of big, deep pools interspersed with shallow rapids. The corvettes proved to have ample room for all our fishing, camping gear and were just so easy to fish from. It took some time but we soon discovered the fish were holding deep. With this scenario in play, we found that big, rattling vibes worked slowly through cover produced the goods.
MISSION TWO: RECONNAISSANCE OF COASTAL BAYS AND ESTUARIES
The next vessel in my fleet is a Hobie Outback. Due to the Outback’s versatility and larger size I like to think of her as a cruiser, not as large as a battleship, not as fast as a destroyer. Unlike the Arcadia, the Outback is a Sit On Top (SOT) style of kayak and definitely not something one would want to attempt shooting rapids in. The cruiser really shines and comes to the fore in bays and tidal estuaries.
Judicial use of the pedals or Mirage Drive allows the angler to remain hands free and maintain station against the current. This is vital when attempting to work localised areas such as deeper holes when targeting jewfish on plastics. If the tide is attempting to drag the kayak up or downstream, away from the chosen hotspot, this feature is priceless. Working along weed beds or drop offs, the hands-free option allows an angler to maximise the time his lure spends in the ‘bite zone’.
One of my favourite techniques is to aim the bow of my ‘cruiser’ into the current and use the pedals to hold station while firing large plastics up ahead and slowly rolling them back along the bottom with the flow. It’s a method I’ve found deadly on estuary jewfish and it is in fact how I landed my first schoolie from a kayak…
The moon was full and a high tide was due in my local estuary just after dawn. Launching downstream closer to the river mouth my progress upstream was assisted by the flooding tide and I soon arrived at the first of several deeper holes. Small baitfish flicked nervously in tidal eddies among the snag-laden bank. Black cormorants and a lone pelican were working the area over and I saw this as a good sign.

“Cruiser” Jew

As the tide began to slow I tied a big five inch paddletail plastic onto the fluorocarbon leader. A couple of quick warm-up casts and soon I was in a routine working over what looked to be a very fishy area. I was getting plenty of ‘shows’ on the sounder and had already pulled a couple of decent flathead. About half an hour in and I was slow rolling and hopping the plastic back towards the kayak with the current when, bump, bump, slam! The rod jerked down hard and the drag screamed. Fish on.
The fish ran fast with crazy headshakes and tail kicks. This was definitely no flathead. I remembered I was only using 10 lb braid with 20 lb leader. The fish surged hard toward the snag-laden bank. She almost did me too but the cruiser’s pedals dug in as I pumped like mad and the fish was steered into the safety of clean water. Without the ability to pull this fish, hands free, away from danger, I doubt I would have landed it. Land it I did however and I was stoked.
Unless you’ve seen one of these golden, slab-sided beauties rise up from the depths, fresh from the water, I simply can’t describe just how handsome they are. The mission was a success and the cruiser, since that day has had many more successful stories.
MISSION THREE: PATROL THE OPEN OCEANS IN SEARCH OF ITS SUBMARINE DENIZENS
Every battle fleet needs a destroyer. Destroyers are fast, manoeuvrable long-endurance warships. The destroyer in my fleet is a Stealth Evolution 495. The Stealth has the power to bust out through breaking surf. She turns finely enough to troll lures around offshore reefs and has the speed to get those lures and swimbaits working just right to entice hunting pelagic fish.
With an ample hold, easily accessed through a central hatch, several rods plus all tackle and captured fish can be safely stored away prior to beach launches or landings. The Stealth tracks and surfs well and with surprisingly little practice it’s amazing the kind of swell she’s capable of handling. She is, in a word, a weapon.
This is my ‘go to’ kayak in the fleet. There aren’t too many offshore missions this kayak cannot accomplish and the biggest of all gamefish such as tuna, sharks and marlin have been landed successfully from these kayaks. One of my favourite outings with the Stealth would be launching from a beach before fishing remote sections of rocky, inaccessible shoreline in search of snapper. Recently I did just that prior to working an afternoon shift.
Conditions forecast for the morning were just too good to ignore. The beauty of kayak fishing among other things lies in its simplicity. One rod and a handful of plastics, some leader material and I was good to go. The Stealth got me out through the surf zone and around the cliffs in quick time.
Squinting into a rising sun, in no time at all I was throwing a plastic at the washes. The sun had barely touched the eastern horizon and I was only on about my sixth cast. The plastic was sinking slowly through the sudsy water and I kept a watchful eye on the line as it slowly rolled off the spool. Flicking the bail arm over the rod was almost ripped from my grip as something tore off with artificial bait. The backwash from the cliffs collided with the swell but the stability of the Stealth was up to the task. The fish then crash-dived; attempting to reef me, a sure sign of a kingfish’s dirty tactics. The rod bent through to the butt and I thought the line would part any second but somehow I got the fish’s head up and the swell worked in my favour as the surge and backwash pushed the yak out from the cliff face.

“Cruiser” Croc

When I finally caught that first glimpse of my opponent I was surprised to see a crimson glow in the depths. A lovely snapper rose up yak-side and as the sun lit up her pink and bronze flanks they were highlighted in sparkling iridescent blue jewels. Another successful mission notched up for the destroyer.
MISSION FOUR: EXTENDED JOURNEYS
In naval parlance, a flagship is the lead ship of a group of vessels. It is the ship used by the commanding officer of a particular group of vessels. My flagship is a kayak I’ve owned for many years. She’s a Mirage 580 expedition sea kayak. Not a fishing kayak by any strict definition, I use this kayak not just for long distance fitness paddling but trips of several days or even weeks and more. With over 150 litres of storage space in fore and aft water-tight compartments plus a huge day hatch I can travel in style when heading away in this kayak. The addition of a couple of rod holders was all that was required to transform the flagship into a fishing vessel of sorts.
This kayak has taken me safely on an extended trip of over a month through the remote Kimberly of Western Australia. She’s been bumped and bitten by sharks and landed on beaches sporting sun-baking crocodiles. She’s survived offshore island crossings through tidal rip currents and huge waves. She does not have the stability or accessible storage of the Stealth but can certainly make do when called upon to assist in providing a feed for the night.
Indeed a lot of the fishing I have done when using this kayak has been shore-based from the remote locations she has allowed me to reach. I also deploy the flagship when camping out for more than the one night on larger, still bodies of water such as inland dams or gorges. When rapids don’t exist and portages are not required she gets me to my destination in quick time.
One memorable moment in the flagship that will always stick in my mind occurred on the aforementioned Kimberly trip. Generally it was not necessary to fish from the yak on this trip until within sight and actually approaching the day’s ultimate destination. Rounding the final point between two islands, I dropped a large deep diving hardbody back behind the kayak and slotted the rod back into its holder. Within seconds the tip folded over to a lively fish which I soon had yak-side. Unfortunately it was a little reef shark that had nailed the diver. Not my first choice for a feed, it was unfortunate the shark had all but swallowed the lure and I would not be able to recover it without risking serious injury to either it or myself. Due to the extreme remoteness of my location on this trip I had decided that the safest way to deal with feisty captures such as this was to first gaff then stab the fish in the head in order to subdue it as quickly and humanely as possible. A serious injury in these parts meant you could certainly be in dire straits.

Flagship Gold (X 2)

Sharks don’t die easily. This thing thrashed and writhed and blood poured into the water and slowly pooled on my spray deck. I looked up to see how far it was to paddle into the beach with this thing across my lap on the spray deck. That was when I saw one of the biggest crocodiles I’d laid my eyes on just metres in front of the yak.
His head and back were out of the water. He was inflating himself in an attempt to intimidate me. He was definitely succeeding! I dropped the shark, gaff and lure in a heap and reached for my paddle. The crocodile obviously saw this sudden movement, exploded into action and with one enormous explosion of white-water disappeared below the surface. Crap! Was it about to attack me? I didn’t know what to do. I cut the line and threw the three-foot shark, lure and all as far from the kayak as I could get it before hitting the afterburners. I thought, at least with the paddle in my hands and some decent forward momentum I would gain stability. I made the beach safely and never saw the croc again. In hindsight I think he was possibly as fearful as I was. So yeah, we’ve been through a lot, this kayak and I, and I think we’ll have many more successful missions together.

The Ocean-going Flagship showing her versatility embarking on an overnight impoundment mission

MISSION FIVE: FAMILY FUN
The last vessel in the fleet is my Troop Carrier. She’s a customised old fibreglass canoe. With numerous built-in drink holders and comfortable moulded seats, plus padded footrests, she’s extremely comfortable to fish from. With enough rod holders for her to resemble a floating porcupine, she’s certainly an individual. This is the ‘ship’ we launch when the whole family is along for the ride. The family being my wife Sarah, our two boys, and our blue heelers Ozzie and Charlie.
The canoe weighs a tonne (owing to dozens of dodgy fibreglass repair jobs on the hull over the years) but is tough as nails and has plenty of room and stability to handle two adults and two very excitable dogs. I get as much enjoyment from their blatant delight as I do from the paddling and the fishing. Ozzie in particular literally yelps with delight when I’m lucky enough to bring a fish aboard. And isn’t that what yak fishing is all about?
As you can see, I’ve had a lot of enjoyment out of my fleet of kayaks, and I hope to continue to do so. While I don’t need as many kayaks as I own, I do love the variety and versatility offered by the selection. And success is by no means guaranteed simply by owning the latest and greatest. Whether it’s a purpose-built kayak for a specific requirement or a dodgy knock-off bit of plastic, all kayaks have their time on the water and will continue to bring joy to countless Aussie yakkers around the country.

Like many anglers, Darren Tierney has fished since he was a kid. Growing up on the coast he has always had an affinity for the ocean and worked for many years as a SCUBA instructor in North QLD, the Solomon Islands and Fiji. Along with game fishing and yak fishing he also enjoys underwater photography, videography and spearfishing.