“I’ve come to peace with the fact that my addiction is designing new boats,” says the creative mastermind behind the sit-on-top kayak. In the late 1960s, Tim Niemier wanted a boat that didn’t exist.

Modern kayak fishing was born on the ocean. Malibu surfer Tim Niemier developed the first sit-on-top kayak to paddle past the breakers and target fish in open water. More recently, kayak fishing ...