Kayaks

Species8472 said:
50-60 lbs is better than average but I wouldn't call it ultralight. My H20 Boundary is 17' 6" will carry 900+lbs and weighs a whopping 36lbs:

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I gotta ask, what did that cost you? Those specs are very nice, I'll probably go with a canoe for my next boat because I've got little ones, but the canoes I can currently afford are too heavy for me to deal with alone all the time (the wife is on disability, not much use for moving or loading onto the truck...) which is a major reason I went with the cheap kayak I did.
 
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Suther said:
I gotta ask, what did that cost you? Those specs are very nice, I'll probably go with a canoe for my next boat because I've got little ones, but the canoes I can currently afford are too heavy for me to deal with alone all the time (the wife is on disability, but much use for moving or loading onto the truck...) which is a major reason I went with the cheap kayak I did.
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List price at the time was 4K. Now is not a good time of the year to buy as you will pay list. I bought mine in early February last year (2017) when the dealer's cash flow is at its worst. I was able to save $500 that way.

Pic from the rear seat with my son and his 240 lb bear that we recovered using this canoe:

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You can see from the pic that there is lots of room. We have not had 900 lbs in it yet but have had 800 lbs in it. Still easy peasy to paddle with that much weight.
 
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Suther said:
My boost 100 is pretty light (44lbs I think?) stable enough for me to stand and fish (or use it like a SUP) and they don't come any cheaper.

I see CT has the pelican sentry 100 on sale right now. Comes with fishing rod holders and adjustable foot rests (the foot rests on the boost are kinda terrible). I'd check that out in store before I spent $1000+ on something better.
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Check the manufacturer's specifications for carrying capacity. Especially on boats like Pelicans at Canadian Tire. When the target market is people who will paddle around at the lake for a hour or so, you can make a boat inexpensive by not making it capable of anything else. If you want to go further afield and do something that involves carry any gear, you need the boat to have been built to do more. Pelican serves the former purpose quite well, but not necessarily the latter.
 
TheTooner said:
Check the manufacturer's specifications for carrying capacity. Especially on boats like Pelicans at Canadian Tire. When the target market is people who will paddle around at the lake for a hour or so, you can make a boat inexpensive by not making it capable of anything else. If you want to go further afield and do something that involves carry any gear, you need the boat to have been built to do more. Pelican serves the former purpose quite well, but not necessarily the latter.
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For big game hunting I absolutely agree. I consider myself pretty light and I'm still over 160lbs, which gives me only140lbs of stuff on my boost 100. Definitely not enough for a multi day big game hunt or anything. However I bought mine for three major reasons - trout fishing, playing around with the kids, and waterfowl retrieval. I haven't used it for waterfowl retrieval, but it's great at the other two.
 
All you have to do is paddle a Pelican....then paddle a real Kayak.... you will notice the difference.


As said above and on previous pages the quality is apparent.

IF you just want something for short "rec" trips staying close to shore or the cabin I would say o.k.

If your serious about trekking or hitting any rough water stay away from "Big-Box" anything.... especially watercraft.
 
^ That is a nice looking boat!

Hoyt, I catch what you are safer about a harder material cutting through the water better.

When I made my initial comments about our Pelicans, I should have been more clear that for our purpose, these are great. We float the McLeod River, and the water flow does the majority of the work.there
We mainly just have to steer the boat through some rapids here n there.
We make lots of contact with the rocks, and these Pelicans are durable as hell.
Extremely stable. I'm 6'3", 250 lbs and can stand in mine, no issues at all.
 
I have two Wilderness Systems Pungo 140’s and love them, they are perfect for me and what I use them for.

From the info that you provided I will do my best to help:
- if you have very serious shoulder issues, consider a kayak with a foot pedal drive option.
- if you would like to bowfish, you must consider a Sit On Top style kayak.
- now you must try to find a Sit on Top that is light enough for you to get on and off of your vehicle, but large enough to handle your weight and still be a pleasure to paddle.

Sit On Tops in my opinion are not lightweight and are not pleasant for long paddling trips, and can be a challenge to handle on/off a vehicle. They often are not smooth through the water, a short 10 foot sit on top may be good for small ponds but will not be pleasant to paddle any type of distance. They also can lend themselves to a rather wet ride if you are paddling through any type of wave action.

It doesn’t sound like you know kayaks very well and are not sure what you want, therefore you are shopping cheap thinking you might dump it after a season or two when you figure out what you actually need.

Take the time to find out what you like and dislike, there will be a lot of trades off, many pros and cons to each style. Kayaks also can be tricky to find the correct fit for some body types and weight. You need the kayak large enough and it must be able to carry all of your weight well plus some.

I would strongly encourage you to take the advise of the staff at Pelee Wings. Go to their demo days and try out upwards of 10 different kayaks each in the water for a decent amount of time. Try different style, both sit on top and sit inside, try different lengths from 10ft to 14ft.

We have plenty of water to explore around here but you can’t do it safely in a cheap 10 footer. To be able to paddle on the Detroit River and along the shores of our Great Lakes, I would consider a 12 to 14 footer with a hull design that can move through the water half decent.

Also, I would recommend that you take the drive over towards Oakland Mall and check out the large selection of kayaks at Field & Stream.
 
For the record I am a member (for whatever that is worth) on Yakangler.com, which has a great user review section.
Anybody looking at a kayak would be well served to visit that site, read all the different reviews on the boats.
Every single manufacturer, and every model kayak you care to investigate has a review there.

Prior to buying our Pelican Catch 120's, I checked out Feelfree Lure 13.5, Feelfree Lure 11.5, Jackson Coosa, Wilderness Systems Ride 115 kayaks, the Ascend kayaks, OldTown kayaks, Ocean Kayak, Sun Dolfin and those are just the ones I remember.
I read every review, watched every available video on too many kayaks to mention.
I really like the Jackson and Wilderness Systems kayaks.

But most of those are way more expensive than the Pelican, and for what we do, there's no reason to spend that kinda dough. The Ascend are actually cheaper and not as good as the Pelican from what I can see.

Plus where we live I was able to order my 2 Pelican Catch 120's through the local Cdn Tire, so that means FREE delivery. Another large $$ savings.




Go to Yakangler.com forum and check out those reviews, then go from there...



@Mount Sweetness, on the McLeod River, a footdrive boot is not an option, the rapids are much too shallow. Just an fyi for my purposes.
 
Anyone have any experience with the Sun Dolphin brand? I'm assuming they're on par with pelican? American Walmart has a bunch of options by that brand for pretty cheap prices...
 
Suther said:
Anyone have any experience with the Sun Dolphin brand? I'm assuming they're on par with pelican? American Walmart has a bunch of options by that brand for pretty cheap prices...
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Don't forget that Pelican is made in Canada, by union workers. I kind of doubt Sun Dolphin is. I'm hemming and hawing over one of their (Pelican) kayaks for use around here.

https://www.pelicansport.com/ca_en/explore/about/about-us
 
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My shoulder injury doesnt allow my left arm much motion at higher levels. Anything over neck hieght i have difficulties. I can still lift and carry weight. Im not overly strong anymore as ive kinda aged like milk.
A peddle drive wont work for me as i plan to go thru shallow water and rocky creeks. Also drag it over beaver dams.
I appreciate all the info and opinions in this thread and the offers ive gotten to borrow kayaks.
I have an 18' lund outfitter with a 40hp evenrude for big water.
I have difficulties paddling a canoe alone due to reaching up but have tried a kayak paddle and i have no issues with using one.
Ive been talking with several dealers including pelee wings i forget the guys name but hes extremely nice to deal with.

Old towne predator mx has taken the lead of the ones im interested in.
Speed is no concern. The furthest id go is likely less than a mile by water
If i do decide to cruise down the thames river ill go with the current and have a truck waiting at the mouth of the river
As for gear a dozen decoys a shotgun and ammo or couple ultralight fishing rods and tackle or my bow fishing rig are all id likely carry with me so weight capacity isnt an issue as im only 170lbs 5'10"
If i decide i want to cruise larger rivers id buy a kayak more designed for that purpose.
I just need to get along shorelines and across small ponds and down narrow rocky streams. The deepest water would be the occassional cut fishing for crappie or bass with my buddy. He has a cheap pelican and seems happy

I dont want to start with the lowest end but i wont have the need for the features of thetop end ones. Im not crossing lake erie or going into the ocean
I think the old town predator mx has everything i need even though its heavy and 12'
 
I use the Wilderness Systems Tarpon 120. I have used it for duck hunting, salmon fishing, river fishing, and will be riggin it up for a river bow hunt this fall. They may not paddle as fast as a Pongo, but will out run a canoe (I have a Clipper Tripper as well). A bit heavy for sure and you do experience some water on your legs when paddling (rain pants cures that). I do like the flat deck storage for hauling gear. These are more stable than most as they are designed a little wider.
 
I spent a few hours today going back through reviews on all those kayaks that interested me, apart from the Pelican Catch 120.
And I've come away convinced that I got the best value kayak out there.

This is comparing 12' class sit-on fishing kayaks, ok? So take that into consideration.

All of the so-called better quality kayaks out there, in that 12' class size actually out-weigh my Pelican.

Most of these higher priced boats come all kitted up with accessories, that didn't really interest me. My Pelican came with crappy built-in rod holders. Big deal, I made my own out of ABS pipe, which I mounted on a plastic crate that I stuck in the storage area behind my seat.
I then added a number of flush-mount Scotty bases; got a couple of those Scotty arms, one of which I mounted a DIY cupholder on, the other I mounted a Garmin 4DV fishfinder. Mounted the transducer for the Garmin on another cool little Scotty adjustable transducer mounting arm.

In short, one of the things about the Catch 120 that appeals to the DIY'er that I am, is it is a basic boat. I was able to customize with inexpensive, simple but practical stuff. A lot of which I built.

I also bought an 8" water-tight hatch cover, and added an extra rear storage compartment, for like $25 off Amazon. Got some stainless pullies and made my own anchor trolley system for it...

Finally, I built 2 identical kayak carts, one each for mine and one for the wife's Catch 120. We take those things out a lot, and those are damn handy to wheel the kayaks to-fro, river to truck vice versa...

And at $1000 including FREE CTC shipping, it is about $1500 to $2000 cheaper than those 'high-end' boats.
 
Brybenn,
You are on the right track, you will likely enjoy the Old Town Pred MX.
That is not a cheap option by any means, in that price range you have a few dozen choices so take your time.
Cheers!
 
I've been kicking around the idea of getting a kayak for a long time for fishing and for a workout. Every time I go on vacation I make buddies with the guys running the dive shack and they usually keep a kayak to the side for me for a morning workout out on the ocean.
My biggest concern is our lakes have a very large douche bagbpopulation and are usually heavily populated by drunk #######s in surf boats that #### with you on the water.
 
My wife and I have four kayaks two Old Town brand and two Necky brand kayaks. The Old Towns are 12 foot and 16 foot, mine is the 12 foot and I find it very well made and very stable, my wife's is the 16 foot and again is very well made and stable however the 16 foot kayak has some weight to it. They are both sit in kayaks.

The other two kayaks are 14 foot Necky brand kayaks one is a single person sit in kayak and the other one (mine) is a tandem (two person) kayak. I bought the tandem kayak when I got a pet dog, I removed the front seat so the dog has a place to lay down. Removing the front seat really opened up the Kayak and I have recently installed a fishing rod holder on the kayak and am looking forward to doing some fishing this summer. By taking out the front seat has sort of made the kayak into a half sit in and a half sit on type of kayak, might be something for you to consider.

Good luck in whatever design and brand you decide on. You can customize it how ever you desire.
 
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