Can anyone recommend a quality fishing kayak?

Looking for a kayak that the seats sit up high, stable enough to stand and cast if my back gets sore, and with enough storage for 2 rods, a tackle box , and a cooler.
Pictures of yours will be soooo helpful.
Thanks in advance for your time in answering!

 

@Hobbs

 

Jackson makes a few that fit your description. I had a Jackson Liska and also fished from a Jackson Mayfly. Could stand in both and the seats were great. Both can hold a ton of tackle, rods, and gear.

 

Looking at a Pelican Catch 120 and a Native Watercraft Falcon 11. Anyone have any real world experience with either?

 

Probably not what you are looking for, but it was my answer to the same question.

 

Type of water you fish, distance you paddle and what you are comfortable with weight wise matter too.

 

I will be doing farm ponds, smaller lakes, and mostly the upper Allegheny river in Pa. I just had my right shoulder replaced and will be doing the left within a year. Fishing and paddling will be my physical therapy. I will be capable of dragging/lifting a 60-70 lb kayak and getting it out of my tuck wont be too bad. I will be retiring at the end of the year and looking to spend a lot of time on the water next spring/summer.
Hope this helps....thanks for your time.

 

Your in pretty good shape with a SOT in the 12' range then. Best suggestion I can offer is find a shop that rents ones that youd have interest in and try a few.

Also for the water you describe you could consider a canoe or Gheenoe as well

 

I just went camping with my son-in-laws and one of the fathers of my son-in-law.

Trevor, the Father-in-law, brought his own kayak and enjoyed his first adventure.





Soooo, shoulder replacements eh? I can't imagine how that would feel using your strength to handle kayak movements. You're confident! And that's great!!!

I can however, tell you that my bilateral knee replacements in Mar/Apr of 2018 have made a tremendous improvement for my walking.

Happy Retirement to you!

 

Thanks guys. Cant do a canoe...too hard on my back. Wish it weren't the case cause they are much easier to paddle. Plus.....I need to sit up higher and I much prefer something a bit more stable.
Those pictures are cool, TacoTime. I could feel the stress leaving my body just looking at them. Thank you so much for them...and THANK YOU for your service!
Gonna try out my buddies kayak...hopefully soon. He bought it for his wife to use in their farm pond but its been buried in his barn for I'm guessing 4 years. Its disgustingly filthy but he said he'd clean it up for me so I can use it. Its a Native Watercraft....Im guessing its a Falcon11 but its hard to read with all the filth. Its got the high/low seat which is now, after my initial research, is a must.

 

Whats the budget? Thats gonna narrow down options tremendously.

 

I am looking used right now. Just had a Pelican Catch 120 sell before I had a look at it(was listed for $650.....about my price range right now). I am not looking to buy new. I dont want to be one of those guys selling a kayak at a huge discount thats only been wet, twice.
Looking at a Native Watercraft Slayer 12 (maybe 7-8 years old)this weekend. It looks like it may fit my needs perfectly. Its only been wet twice and has been in my friends barn gathering dirt and dust) I do NOT want to spend a lot of money to find out I cant physically do it...yet.

 

This is a question that has been asked before. Buying used is a good idea if you can identify problems.

https://www.watermanatwork.com/KayakFishing/KayakBuyersGuide/KayakBuyersGuide.html

Nothing for sale, no ads.

 

Thats a great article. Thanks for the link.

 

Ended up with a Native Watercraft Falcon. Cost a shade under a grand. Had it out a couple of times before the weather turned and really enjoyed it. 4 more weeks left to work and really looking forward to spring.

 

Buddy got 2 of those old town fishing kayaks with the foot pedal cranks, one’s a 10’ and one’s a 12’.. We use them on the Susquehanna and area lakes and ponds.. the peddle crank set pivots up inboard with one hand when beaching, also has reverse . They are also fully removable if you want to paddle the upper Yough..LOL
Actually I find it to be very stealthy, and maneuverable over a paddle, not to mention you’re also hands free, so you’re fishing more, rather than fumbling with a paddle and a rod, which adds up to noise in the boat.... there is a rudder lever on the right side, and the rudder is behind the boat for quicker steering and also flips up when beaching ..
I forget what the top speed is, but you can crank, and not be sore… it’s slick as hell.. and he packs a lot on that 12’..
Old Town… it wasn’t cheap though, wanna say close to 2500, but he never looked back

 

I've tried all the kayaks, here is my take...

The Hobies use a fin system that is far superior to the propeller peddle drive common in the old town... in shallow water or water that has a lot of kelp or grass the hobie wins hands down...

If you are in deep water or water over 2 feet without a lot of kelp the propeller systems generate more torque for less effort. We used these bad boys out in puget sound salmon fishing with a downrigger... we fished 150 feet deep with the same massive trolling weights used on boats. After toeing all that shit around all day my buddies with the hobie would nearly die on the 4 mile peddle back... and don't get me started on tide flash.... when it's really cranking the hobies just sit treading water. I'd go blowing by them. The old country preditor is a beast. But it's stable, and has huge positive bouncy... you can add more Styrofoam if you want. Water is trapped in 2 spots so when you do tip the fucker you have a really good chance of surviving.

My vote is the big heavy tank... the predator. Unless your down in some weeds. Then you need a fin based drive system.

Both of these are solid in my book. It's just the predator has built in fishing features like the easy installed depth finder

 

Hey Steve ,
I have a wilderness systems tarpon 120 , thing is great for fishing , when you end up buying a kayak one thing I would recommend you buy to transport the kayak is a Haul-master truck bed extender , they sell them at harbor freight for around $65.00 and it works perfectly for hauling your kayak without having to deal with roof racks , it slides into your hitch receiver on the back , I have a 5 foot bed and it works great with my 12 foot kayak .

 

This is what the bed extender looks like ….( You might have to scroll the picture up to see it )