TexasKayakFisherman.com

I've read lots on here about scupper hole plugs, which really makes me wonders why Scupper holes in the first place if everyone is plugging them up? Surely there is a reason behind them!

Scupper holes let the water that has splashed into your sit on top kayak drain out, keeping you drier than you would be if you had no holes. There's lots of different reasons why you might like to keep them plugged.

Most Sit-ON-Top (SOTS) have scupper holes to drain any water that enters the cockpit and/or tank well due to waves lapping over (think surf) paddle drip, heavy rain or whatever.

Anytime the top of the cockpit or tank well is under the water level the water won't drain or it might even flood the cockpit/tank well ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,this may be due to the kayak's design or it having too much weight in it.

When this happens some people plug their scuppers and deal with having water inside their kayak.

Most paddlers will tell you this is not the ideal situation for kayaking, but it happens quite a bit.

Thanks for the answers, it's kind of what I figured, recon I'll just plan on leaving mine unplugged, I did plug them on my first venture out last week with foam golf balls, but still ended up with some water in there, probably a better idea if I just lose that 30-40 lbs I need to lose!!!

They also provide structure and strength to the deck of the kayak so it doesn't sag under the weight of the rider.

I assume most people only plug the scuppers that actually let water in the yak when you are going through rough waves and such. What happens is the bow of the yak can often bob and the water squirts up through the holes when the bow comes back down. So on my yak I only have the two front scuppers plugged and the rest are open to allow any water that comes in to drip back out.

If you have the right yak that fits you plus your gear, there shouldn't be any need for scupper plugs, unless you get into situations like E54 mentions. If you need to plug your scuppers because you have water coming up through in normal paddling situations, then your yak is too small and doesn't have the proper capacity for you and your gear.

Plugging a scupper is just covering a symptom (water up through the scuppers), not fixing the root cause (too much weight in the yak). Getting the right yak is very important.

Man would a good question and info. Definitely helped me out.