So, you have a paddle kayak but you want to convert your craft to pedal drive or motor? What can you do? Buy a new kayak? Engineer a bracket for a trolling motor? Rip apart your kid’s old bike? Bungee cords, duct tape and a leaf blower?

Stop!

A new wave of aftermarket motors and pedal systems is making it easier to put down the paddle and hammer down the throttle. The boom in add-on pedals and motors proves that kayak fishing isn’t just a paddlesport anymore.

Person on a fishing kayak converted to a motor/pedal drive
There are a variety of aftermarket options for adding pedals or a motor to your paddle kayak. | Feature photo: Courtesy of Torqeedo

Pedal Drive Systems for Your Kayak

With the explosion of pedal-powered kayaks, it wasn’t long before someone offered aftermarket pedal systems. Now, it’s easier than ever before to convert your paddle kayak to a pedal drive.

H2Pro-Ped

H2Pro-Ped has been developing and manufacturing a bolt-on pedal and propeller system for six years.

Owner Dave Gater says the challenge of designing a system capable of fitting every kayak is prohibitive, so they’ve focused on a few popular boats. “Customers are taking the system and designing their own mounts,” he adds. He plans on increased power and offering electric and solar powered propulsion.

Riot Kayaks

This year, Canadian company Riot Kayaks is jumping in the race with their Mako kayak and Impulse Drive pedal system for around $1,000.

Best Pedal Fishing Kayaks For 2026

Sales manager Mark Hall says Riot’s new pedal drive can be configured to fit other pedal kayaks for owners who want to replace or upgrade their factory systems. As pedal systems wear out or break, Hall bets there is going to be a huge demand for a better set of pedals.

The Impulse Drive will have an open frame and corrosion resistant components allowing water to flow around the moving parts. The modular system makes it possible to adjust shaft length, pedals, propeller and gears to fit any pedal kayak. Hall expects they’ll soon offer a motorized option.

Trolling Motors for Your Kayak

Bassyaks

Steve Komarinetz, owner of Bassyaks, has been fitting electric motors to kayaks for 13 years. He started making mounts and outfitting boats and now he can’t build systems fast enough. “We ship all over the world and are usually backlogged,” he says.

While Komarinetz admits the growing number of pedal boats on the market has led to a change in business, he predicts production will pick up as more tournaments allow motor systems.

“Public opinion has gone from hatred to acceptance,” Komarinetz says. He’s excited about a new wave of Millennials who are getting into kayak fishing. Komarinetz predicts his motors will be popular with the generation of technology and convenience.

Improvements to batteries, controls and motor design make the latest generation of motors easy to own and operate. Komarinetz has designed a propeller better suited for driving a kayak. He hopes boat manufacturers will get on the wagon and develop a displacement hull specifically for an aftermarket motor.

Komarnetz says the biggest advancement is lithium-ion batteries and brushless motors weighing a fraction of the 12-volt systems. The new systems achieve higher speeds with longer run times. “Speed costs money,” he jokes, pointing to the high price of a lithium-ion power pack.

Below water view of person on fishing kayak Best Fishing Kayaks With Motors

Torqeedo

German company Torqeedo has been producing electric motors for marine applications since 2004. In 2009, they set their sights on the burgeoning sport of kayak fishing.

President of Torqeedo’s U.S. office, Steve Trkla, points to the rapid growth of the sport as a motivator. “There are already 2.5 million kayak anglers and the number could double in five years,” he says. Even though Torqeedo initially met resistance in the paddlesports market, Trkla says acceptance has been growing.

In 2015, Kayak Bass Fishing’s tournament series approved motorized kayaks in competition.

“We’ve seen a huge paradigm shift,” Trkla says. It doesn’t hurt Torqeedo is a major tournament sponsor. As competitive anglers move toward motorizing their kayaks, other anglers will surely catch up with the trend.

This year, Torqeedo is introducing a redesigned mounting system to go with their Ultralight 403 battery, throttle and motor. “We’re also working with other manufacturers to design brackets and controls for our system,” Trkla says. Eventually, you’ll be able to use Torqeedo’s mount or choose a specialty mount from another company.

Your Upgraded Dream Boat Awaits

So, if you want a motorized or pedal kayak, you don’t have to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Aftermarket power options make it possible to convert any kayak to a pedal drive or motor.

man catches ling cod from a motorized kayak with Helix MD motor drive Helix MD Pushes The Limits Of Motorized Kayak Fishing

Follow us on Instagram @kayakanglermag for all your updates on new gear.

There are a variety of aftermarket options available to convert your paddle kayak with pedals or a motor. | Feature photo: Courtesy of Torqeedo

 

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Ric Burnley
Kayak Angler editor Ric Burnley has been kayak fishing since the dawn of the sport. In 2007, Burnley wrote The Complete Kayak Fisherman, with chapters on how-to make a PVC rod holder and glue a fish finder transducer to the hull. In 2013, he landed his dream job as editor of Kayak Angler magazine. Burnley is a regular contributor to Salt Water Sportsman, Sport Fishing, Outdoor Life, In the Bite and other print and online publications. Burnley lives in Virginia Beach with his wife, adult daughter, daughter’s boyfriend and daughter’s two cats. Experience In 2004, Ric Burnley stole his first milk crate from behind a 7-Eleven and fashioned it into a gear crate for his Ocean Kayak Prowler 15. Many years and many milk crates later, Burnley has witnessed the rise of kayak fishing from a bastardized fringe element to a legitimate industry with millions of devotees. The journey to becoming an angler started early in Burnley’s life. His father, Eric Burnley, is a renowned outdoor writer and former fishing guide, so the boy grew up in the cockpit of a charter boat and in the pages of national magazines. After college, Burnley lost easy access to his father’s boat, but not his passion for fishing. Once he had exhausted the limits of land-based angling, Burnley decided to try out a new thing called kayak fishing. About the same time, Burnley was looking for extra work to pay for his expensive addiction. His father, editor of the Mid-Atlantic Fisherman Magazine, offered him freelance assignments for the weekly publication. That led to a position as regional editor at Salt Water Sportsman, publication of The Complete Kayak Fisherman and editorship of Kayak Angler. Meanwhile, Burnley and his partner-in-crime, “Kayak Kevin” Whitley were exploring the boundaries of kayak fishing. With the bountiful Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean as their playground, the two anglers were the first to target big red drum, cobia, trophy striped bass, monster black drum, sheepshead and many other species. Once inshore species were exhausted, Burnley loaded his kayak onto motorboats and fished for bluefin tuna, blackfin tuna, king mackerel and amberjack. All the while, Burnley shared his experiences and knowledge with anglers through print, photos, video, radio, seminars and online. Almost 20 years later, Burnley continues to fish obsessively and share the stories. His recent projects for Kayak Angler cover the latest trends in forward-facing sonar and remote-controlled electric motors. Over the past two decades, kayak fishing and Ric Burnley have come a long way from PVC rod holders and stolen milkcrates. Education ● Radford University: BA English; Virginia Teacher’s License. Highlights ● Other Interests: Mountain biking, traveling, hiking, surfing and skateboarding ● Day Job: High School English teacher at an alternative school for at-risk students Fun Fact Ric’s name is a contraction of Eric. Ric is named after his father, Eric Sr. To differentiate between the two Erics, Mrs. Burnley removed her son’s E. To this day, she writes the boy’s name ‘Ric, with an apostrophe replacing the E.

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3 COMMENTS

  1. Does “The Skimmer” after market electric motor not rate a mention due to concerns or just a limit on number of words for an article? I have been pleased with mine attached to a Chesapeake Light Craft Wood Duck 12. Cheers from a long time fan from The North!

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