[swanny]

Ty, unless you are willing to travel to jersey to visit kayakfishing stuff every time you want to go to the kayak shop, you will find your local shop caters to kayakers not fisherman. There are no kayak fishing shops around. Most have 1 maybe 2 employees that fish and even if you've been fishing a couple years, you've got more experience than them.
Rob makes great points and that is what it is all about. Options are never a bad thing. That being said I have never been in A SiK that I liked even remotely close to my SOT's. In fact, I will never travel again for a kayak fishing trip if I can't fish from an sot. I'll either bring mine or won't go. I've had too many trips ruined by the limitations of a sik. Rob has great points and every one has a counter argument except for the weight. There is no doubt that SOT's are heavier than comparable siks. Weather is easily dressed for, the best fishing SOTS are so stable that any extra stability that a SIK offers is superfluous. In terms of rigging, IMHO there is no comparison SOTS win by a landslide - that doesn't mean an sik can't be rigged properly you just need to be more creative. In terms of speed, yes comparably maybe but boats like a ti 160 or a prowler 15 are speedy enough for most and of course, when you throw the hobie in the mix well then you need siks that are not suitable for fishing to keep up with the pedal boats.