Kayak Fishing

[Nitram4891]

I had never been in a Kayak before and stood on the big game in the pool at the Outside World and was rocking that boat hard and it wouldn't budge. It felt extremely stable. Hoping to get my first Yak fish tomorrow afternoon! The big game also has a nice flat area right in front of the seat to stand on. A lot of the other boats I looked at didnt really have anywhere to put your feet.

Randy I told them to thank you for selling them another boat. The guy who sold me the boat was named Mike.

 

[Meriwether_Stalker22]

Do they make doubles? Two seaters? I have a twelve year old son? I guess he would need one for himself...

 

[ZachYak]

Do they make doubles? Two seaters? I have a twelve year old son? I guess he would need one for himself...

At 12, yeah he could probably handle one on his own pretty well but they make tandems you can outfit for fishing pretty well. Native Watercraft makes an 14.5 foot long hybrid canoe that can be used as a single or tandem. Ocean Kayak makes a few tandems and Wilderness has a 13 foot Sit on Top tandem that I know of.

In my opinion i'd get the little guy a 11 or 12 footer and yourself a longer kayak and borrow his for the river

 

[KDarsey]

Do they make doubles? Two seaters? I have a twelve year old son? I guess he would need one for himself...

Buy 2, tandems have a rep for making enemies....
You will be much happier with singles IMHO...

 

[FERAL ONE]

i have a tandem native magic and have paddled with my bride and it is nice but i agree with the others about getting one apiece. the beauty of native is i can move the seat to make it a true solo and it paddles great in that configuration. my son had an american angler but i just picked up a native ultimate 12 for him and that is a sweet boat too. my bride has an 11 foot sit inside that she likes. i don't have a "fleet" but i promise you, i would give up my carolina skiff before i ever gave up my yaks !!!

 

[BasserDrew]

Looks like some great advice has already been given but I did want to let everyone know that the kayak I've been designing with Jackson Kayak will be out very soon so if you are in limbo and can wait a couple months I would consider doing so because most of what I've heard on this thread about what anglers want in a kayak, we've built in this kayak!

It excels in the rivers, ponds and small lakes and even inshore. You can stand from it like you're on the deck of a bass boat and never even think twice about falling.

Here is what I wrote about it on River Bassin.

Ok, been getting bombarded with ?'s about the new boat so...

Many folks are interested in the new kayak I've designed with Jackson Kayak so I wanted to post something here that will answer some of the questions because it will be quicker than responding to PMs, emails etc.

The boat will be a sit-on-top making it versatile to go anywhere you need to go, be it class III whitewater down to lakes, ponds and inshore.

The first version is around 11ft long, but surprisingly will have a very high weight capacity (around 375 +/- a little) and still be about 31.5 inches wide so you can paddle upstream quickly when needed. Weight of the boat is yet to be determined but hopefully we can keep it between 50 and 60lbs. I like this length for the rivers and with the weight capacity and stability being what they are this will be a chance for many on here to get into a shorter boat, which I always encourage ever river angler to do - my philosophy has always been get in the shortest boat you can still feel comfortable fishing in. You do this to get into a lighter and more maneuverable kayak, both of which are keys to fishing rivers and access the hard to get to water.

It is built specifically to stand and fish from so that is one of its biggest draws. We all know how important having the option to stand can be when fishing. Some boats you can stand in, but they are too big and wide to effectively paddle quickly. Some boats can paddle quickly but are too narrow to stand in. We believe we have the right combination in width and hull design where both can be achieved. Many have already seen the hull prototype and video where I am literally jumping and doing 180s on the kayak, walking all the way to the front and pacing around like I am on the deck of a bass boat or something. I know I know you're saying what others have said, "well, that's you Drew but what about me?" Trust me, if I can do 180s and walk around on it without even coming close to tipping, losing my balance etc. then surely you can do the basic stand in it if that is the next part of kayak fishing you want to conquer. Many unique features to this boat only are going to help you too be able to stand and fish when you want to.

It will come in two versions - one with everything on it and one with it stripped down so it can be sold at a lower price point. I really can't comment too much on the price because we won't know what it will cost until we get it all rigged up and in production in order to do a cost analysis. I can say that we'd like to have the stripped down version somewhere in the $650-750 range if possible with the higher end version being around the $1000 mark (+/- $150) but all that could change so don't quote me on any of it!

You can certainly get boats for more and you can certainly get them for less but the way Jackson knows how to make a solid boat (from having an extensive background in whitewater) is really a positive for how long it will hold up to our type of abuse and save you money in the long run.

One example of this is the removable skid plate that it will have on its keel. Now, one of the most common areas for wear is protected so your boat will last longer.

The higher end version will come with a very comfortable framed seat that can be put in 2 positions - a raised position and lower position. The raised position will be very easy for you to stand and sit down from.

I really can't share all that I want to here and wish I could because there are so many cool, but simple features on this boat that it is killing me not to share the best ones. I can say that we have considered all types of fishing water when making this kayak, including rivers of course since that is what I enjoy the most. Obviously I've had a lot of experience to put into it and we've listened to the anglers about what they want, including river anglers and that is what makes this boat special, its a boat for us, made by us.

The kayak will turn very very easy making it a great choice for rivers since we often have quick technical turns to make. However, once you begin to paddle and the water flows under the hull it tracks extremely straight giving you the best of both worlds, a boat that tracks well and is quick enough to get upstream yet can turn on a dime when you need it to.

To compare it to other boats out there for reference it is faster than a Drifter or Caper and probably equally as fast as an Ultimate 12 and Tarpon 120. Stability wise it is more stable than the previously mentioned, which makes a nice balance between speed and stability.

We anticipate the boat to be in production around August 1st, so that means it will take a little time to start getting shipped out to your local kayak dealer. We're still working on our distribution so if you know of a good kayak shop in your town let us know and maybe we'll make a stop there to show them our prototype and see if they would be interested in carrying it.

Anything mentioned here is subject to change, although it is unlikely. I'll share more when I am allowed and I've probably already said too much!

If you want to see the questions and answers after I posted this feel free to click the link below to see the entire thread. I'll try to stay up to date on this thread as I have time to answer any more questions if anyone has any.

http://riverbassin.com/forum/showth...etting-bombarded-with-s-about-the-new-boat-so

 

[BasserDrew]

Oh, we also hope to see a lot of you out at the July 10th grand finale for the River Bassin Tournament Trail presented by Bass Pro Shops. RiverBassinTrail.com

Including the River Basser of the Year prizes we are giving away $27,000 in prizes at Macon alone!!! Including 6 kayaks and a new set of tires from the brand new Discount Tire store in Macon that will be open soon. So, maybe some of you can even win a new kayak! So far the trail has been a blast and it should only be getting better.