SINK Kayak for Fishing

Question
QUESTION: I'm looking at the Pelican Pursuit 100 for fishing on a small lake that is about mile long and 1/8 to 1/4 wide.  Would this be a good kayak for the task?  I have an Academy in my East Texas area.  I've had a two seater SINK kayak before and it was great, but no one wated to fish with me when I said kayak ;)

ANSWER: I actually have a friend who is looking at getting the same boat!

But in my opinion, for a fishing kayak, it is much too short and I am not very impressed with it's weight capacity. It's short length will make it turn on a dime once you stop paddling to cast or drift. This happens even in the longer kayaks but you do have the option for getting a rudder and still being able to control the boat.

For a small lake, though, I would use the pelican over a "belly boat" for fishing any day. It's not my first pick, but for the price.....well it will float!

Matt

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the info Matt 8)
Pelican also makes a 11' 6" kayak along the same lines.


I forgot to add these boats...

SINK

Heritage FeatherLite 9.5 Angler
Length: 9'5"
Beam: 30"
Depth: 11"
Cockpit Width: 18.5?x 46"
Weight: 39 lbs.

Pelican Pursuit 100
Length: 10'
Beam: 28"
Depth: 13"
Cockpit: 19" x 39.5"
Weight: 41 lbs.

Perception Sundance 9.5
Length: 9'5"
Beam: 29"
Depth: ?"
Cockpit: 22" x 42.25"
Weight: 40 lbs.

Mainstream Sound
Length: 9'6"
Beam: 28"
Depth: ?"
Cockpit: 22" x 56"
Weight: 38 lbs.

Old Town Otter/Otter XT/Rush
Length: 9'6"
Beam: 28.5"
Depth: 12"
Cockpit: 19" x 38"
Weight: 39 lbs.


SOT

Ocean Kayak Scrambler XT Angler
Length: 12'
Beam: 29"
Depth: ?"
Cockpit: 29" x 12'
Weight: 51 lbs.

Pelican Castaway 116
Length: 11'6"
Beam: 30"
Depth: 14"
Cockpit: 11'6" x 30"
Weight: 57 lbs.  

Answer
These boats all seem much too short for me to really comment on their performance as related to my experience and expertise. My first boat was a Perception 揅hinook? and spec抎 out at  16?long and 24?wide. I bought it back in ?7 and really started making use of its full potential speed and weather handling capabilities by ?8. I really got lucky with this boat in that I was able to paddle an earlier version of it before I ordered it. But for all practical purposes, I bought it nearly sight unseen since I did not really know what to look for in a kayak adaptable for fishing. I do still have this boat and it is a capable fishing kayak that I mostly use for introducing other people to the sport.

My next boat (I mainly use now) was a Dagger 揗agellan?that spec抎 out at over 16?long and 22.5?wide. It is slightly faster than the 揅hinook?but retains the stability to still be useful for fishing. With regards to fishing stability please remember that with a boat 25?& under, you have to make that determination for yourself. And the only way to do that is to paddle the boat loaded as you would load it while fishing. If it feels really tippy or does not track well, you need to try some other boats.

My only wide boat is an Ocean Kayak 揚rowler 13? It specs out at 13?4?and 28?wide. It is a sit-on-top so is not really in the same realm with my other two boats but it serves its purpose. I use it out on the west coast once a year on vacation. By the time I had bought it, sit-on-tops were really being geared toward the angler instead of the diver. But for some reason the name 搕ank well?is still sticking to the back open storage well on sit-on-tops.
This boat is really nice to fish from since it has a rudder like my other two boats. It is slow compared to the 16footers but its short length makes it transportable in the back of a 6?bed pickup box with the gate down (I don抰 have a kayak trailer out on the west coast). The speed thing is not so much of a problem when you do not intend to go long distances, but I do miss it some times.

As I said before, the boats that you are looking at are definitely a step above a 揵elly boat?but they really do not make use of the full potential of a kayak for fishing. Also, I really do not think I stressed the usefulness of a foot controlled rudder in a fishing kayak. A rudder will make kayak more controllable for casting with out paddling than most powered fishing boats with a foot controlled electric trolling motor.

My only advice to you, if you are really set on getting one of these boats, is to go for a little more weight capacity and at least have a boat that is capable of having a rudder installed.

Good luck!