NEW TO YAKS

[VBGUNNER]

Good day all!! I am looking into purchasing a YAK, I have a big Boat (Z-19) and a 14ft Jon boat, I have converted into bass rig for local lakes that are HP restricted. I am going to sell the little boat and replace with a YAK, to fish these lakes and ponds and maybe some Saltwater/Brackish water ways here in SE VA n NE North Carolina.

I would like to be able to stand up and fish some when needed, but sitting hi up in some of the chairs I have seen are fine. Also, I am curius on thoughts of pdeal drive vs Paddle?

Thanks ahead of time for ANY input you all can give!

[Hydrasport80]

Greentop is having a sale right now. Look at a NUCANOE if you want to stand up and fish.

[fluke1987]

What's your budget? How do you plan to transport it? How much weight can you lift by yourself? How tall are you and how much do you weigh? What type of water realistically do you plan on fishing most of the time? All good questions to answer to help dial in what you should look at getting...

[richg99]

If at all possible, Try it before you Buy it.

All the factors listed above, by Fluke, come into play when finding a yak that fits YOU.

A few inches in width can make a major change in stability.

Wider=slower, but more stable.
Narrow=faster but less Stable, generally.

[richg99]

Oh, pedal versus paddle often comes down to budget and weight considerations/ limits.

[VBGUNNER]

Fluke, I will be selling my other boat, so I was looking around 2K.....I will be transorting in back of pick up, I am 6ft 235 and lifting is not an issue......will mostly be fishing small lakes n ponds...with some river fishing, but 90% of the time in HP restricted lakes.

[VBGUNNER]

Rich, never really thought about the speed aspect....stability is WAY more important to me I would think.....I never been in pedal yak.....but like the option of pedal and being able to remove it if need be and just paddle...watched a few videos on the Jackson Coosa, I think it is...

Gonna look around my area soon and see what I can find as far a test drive...lol

[Grizzly]

I you are going to fish out of it get a pedal one. I have two without and will be selling those to get a pedal so I have my hands free to fish.

[VBGUNNER]

Grizzly, that is kinda, how I was leaning, that way u can move n still have hands free...any recommendations on models to consider

[richg99]

I don't own a pedal yak, but have owned five paddle yaks. Seems to me that pedal yaks are much heavier and more costly. Yet, their great advantage is making fishing easier..and getting to the right spots faster and easier.

They won't go as shallow with the fins or prop down though. That may not be a concern for you.

[bksnaz]

Brand new in your budget range - I would test the Hobie Mirage Compass - Camo Edition(it comes with the 180 reverse drive)

[1stindoor]

I'll agree with bksnaz; the Hobie is in your range and will probably meet all of your needs. I purposely did not go with a hobie because the originally the price busted my cap. Now I'm looking at them again along with a Jackson Cruise. I currently have an Ascend FS128T which was a great starter. Very stable, but not very nimble. I've fished off of and tried several. I would definitely go with a pedal version to free up both hands and give you some flexibility. I would like to see the new Bonafide develop a pedal drive to drop into their access hole...I would probably buy that one out right.

[bassboogieman]

You could likely pick up a used Hobie Outback in your price range. One of the ones with the Advantage seat, the older models with the pad are not comfortable after a couple hours. Probably one of the best all-around fishing kayaks you can buy. I started out in one, if it had had the seat I would likely still have it. Have moved up to a PA-14 I love it.

[fluke1987]

At $2K you can either get a middle of the road pedal kayak or a really nice sit on top paddle kayak that you will be able to trick out a bit. There are tons of options out there now which is a good thing and a bad thing at the same time...it can get overwhelming. NuCanoe, Jackson, Hobie, Native, Old Town, Ocean kayak, Feelfree, Wilderness Systems, Pelican, Perception...and probably a couple more that I am missing all make pedal kayaks. If I had to settle on one style of pedal drive above anything else on the market it would be Hobie. The Hobie compass is probably within that $2K range...but doesn't have a ton of extras. For a little more you could get the 2019 Hobie Outback which is basically the same boat with more features. The Pro Angler 12 and 14 are creeping into the $3K+ plus range.

Keep in mind though, a pedal drive isn't the end all be all in every situation. If you have to lug a kayak that is already over 100 pounds without gear to a remote area its not going to be a fun time. Pedal drives can have issues with really weedy lakes or rivers that are really shallow in certain areas. At that point you have to pull out the paddle and have to paddle a wider than average kayak which can be tough. What if your pedal drive breaks from hitting a stump and you don't have a paddle with you? These are not major things to stray anyone away from buying a pedal drive but are things that have happened.

There are options out there to buy the kayak first and use it as a paddle kayak with the ability to upgrade to a pedal drive down the road. NuCanoe, Feelfree, Wilderness Systems, and Jackson for example have this option. The pedal drive alone on many of the boats does cost a good chunk of money. A Hobie 180 Mirage Drive for example is around $900. So buying the paddle version first to get your feet wet might be a good option.

No matter what, test drive as many as you can before making a decision. Is the seat comfortable? Is it easy to move around in? Does it paddle easily? Does it track straight? Does it have enough storage? Is it stable enough for me to feel comfortable in it?

If you need more info shoot me a PM.

[VBGUNNER]

Wow, thanks for all the responses. I agree there is allot of options out there and it kind of makes it confusing.....think I am going to try to find somewhere that I can Demo a few or meet up with folks and check out there rides. Thanks again!

[richg99]

I'd guess that any place near you that kayakers launch....you would find a friendly guy who would let you take their yak out for a five minute paddle/pedal.

[VBGUNNER]

Rich, I am gonna look into that, I have saltwater and freshwater both real close to me...lol

[richg99]

I'd join a kayak website, preferably a local one (or two), and start asking the same questions on it. You may get an offer to meet and allow you to try a guy's own yak(s). Most owners are pretty proud of what they purchased and would let you try it.

Also, some Facebook pages are there for yakkers in the same areas. Great place to make contact with fishermen.

[1stindoor]

http://www.greatoutdoorprovision.com...irginia-beach/
We have them here in NC as well. They have "test-drive" demo events all the time.

[jigging15]

Check out the NuCanoe Frontier 12 on YouTube. Lots of videos about them from stability test to walkthroughs and on the water demos. I feel it is the best all around kayak. They can be setup in so many different ways. Then can easily be changed to something totalling different in just a few minutes. So setup for bass fishing one day, then setup for catfishing. Then setup with the duck blind for a hunt. Then take everything out to make room for coolers, tents and cooking gear for overnight camping float trips. 650 lb ratting so you can load it down. All other kayaks have stuff built in for different things and you are stuck with that feature even if you don’t like or use it. The 360 swivel seat on NuCanoe is another cool feature. Should be able to get a deal right now on a 2018 model. Do your research and then get in them for on the water demos.