[Capt. Brian Daley]

Fishermen do something in a kayak that most people don't - they fish. Therefore having a relatively stable platform can be very important, especially to a person who is new to the sport and new to kayaks. When kayakers discuss stability they talk about 2 types. Initial and secondary. Initial stability is the side-to-side wobble that you feel when you sit in a kayak. Secondary stability is when the kayak is nearing its point of flipping and how much forgiveness it has before you actually flip.

Many recreational kayaks that are used for fishing have tremendous initial stability but have a very abrupt secondary. When they reach their secondary limit you're literally dumped. Conversely there are kayaks that wobble like mad but are very forgiving when they come to the dump point. Most recreational fishing kayaks have a good compromise of both initial and secondary stability.

Since you sit on or near the floor of a SIK they tend to seem more stable. In SOTs you sit on the kayak and since it has a double hull you also sit higher. This higher sitting position can initially make a SOT seem less stable. If you have a SOT and a SIK that are the same length and width the SIK will probably be more stable. Because of this SOT designers tend to make their kayaks wider. So no matter which style you choose there will be a model that you will feel comfortable in.

Initial stability can seem more important to beginners and secondary stability more important to seasoned kayakers. It makes sense. The beginner hasn't developed a sense of balance yet. It's a lot like learning how to ride a bicycle. When you start out it's new so you think about it more. After a short while it becomes second nature and you don't think about it at all.