A few years ago I posted about wanting a canoe for fishing the backwaters and strip mines. The reviews were mixed as to the canoe as a fishing platform. I bought one and did a ton of fishing out of it, eventually adding side stabilizers so I could stand and fish, a trolling motor for grins and a few other little niceties. Eventually, I got tied of putting it on top of my truck and sold it. Bought a 14 foot Jon and called it good. My wife kept seeing me browsing the net and reading about kayaks and she did a little research and found this review.
http://www.kayakfishingstuff.com/com...ad.php?t=80502 I read the review and mentioned that that would probably be the one I'd buy if I was gonna buy a Kayak. Well, for my birthday on Tuesday, she got one at Dicks Sporting goods for $499. I've had it out twice now and I have to say, it's been fun...and a little frustrating at the same time. But mostly fun.
This Yak tracks perfectly! Into the wind, down wind, cross wind, you don't get pushed around. The nose and stern have deep keels that keep it on line. Against a 25 mph wind, I had no trouble making great headway with minimal effort...but stop the paddling and you quickly come to a screeching halt! On calm water, a single stroke and this thing won't stop!
She's not tippy...but it can be tipped.
The swivel rod holder in front is semi-useless unless you have arms like Michael Jourdan. I say semi, because my spinner has a long shaft and I can nudge it with my foot and it flips back so I can grab it as its the flip style. The two rear rod holders work well and keep the rods out of the way when paddling.
The anchor trolley should run the length of the boat, but only runs the rear half. I foresee a mod coming. I haven't used the anchor that comes with the boat, but can appreciate that it may come in handy some day.
Tore up the bass yesterday, but all were small 12 and 13 inchers. No lunkers yet, but even the small ones will horse the nose of the yak around during their brief struggle.
The seat needs to be thicker and higher for long days. I spent 6 hours fishing yesterday with a couple of beachings to stretch my legs and back. Other than that, it was reasonably comfortable. It's easy enough while drift fishing to let your feet dandle in the water to cool off and alter positions enough to take the strain off the back.
I fashioned a hand paddle out of another oar to use for minor position changes while fishing. It's near perfect. One small stroke often makes the difference and hardly any effort is needed to accomplish what you want, but the hand paddle is a must rather than trying to fish and use the full size paddle at the same time.
As it's a sit on top, the scuppers work well, but there are two beneath the seat, so you will get wet! I won't use this when the water is cold! In the summer, it's soothing, otherwise you'd freeze your nads!
There's a lot of stuff bolted to this yak, but when 6 hours on the water was over, there was about a quarter cup of water in the hull. It comes with a drain plug as well.
My last observation is that the department of natural resources puts the boat ramps on every lake in the country at the wrong locations. The prevalent wind directions in the summer will ALWAYS be against you when heading home!
Dan
