Dagger Axis 12.0 Review

This is not a paid review; in fact after reading this you’ll likely not want a sit inside kayak for a “fishing boat”. That said it serves me well and until I can find a proper sit on top kayak that I can use in class III Rivers, the Axis 12.0 will not be my only boat, but will be my river boat.

My second boat needed the ability to run up to class III white-water and track well in flat-water. Those abilities are designed into the Crossover line of kayaks; river runner boats with a drop down skeg for tracking. I looked at Jackson’s Rogue, Liquid Logics XP-10 and the Dagger Katana; those boats are excellent. If I were to put this into perspective I’d suggest they are 60-70% fast-water boats with the balance being flat-water capable.  They all track okay, but when the wind hits their white-water specific bulbous bow, they tend to veer off-course; and anyone who’s been on a river knows the afternoons usually bring on an up stream blast of wind, sometimes for hours.

My first ride in the Axis I found it took me a few minutes to go from the 33 ½ inch stable width of My Old Town Predator 13 to the 27 ½ inch width of the Axis. With the Axis 12.0 deploy-able skeg in its stowed position the narrow, rockered, modified “V” hull made for a bit of a tippy boat. I did not have the chance to demo the boat in fast-water; however with the skeg up she turned quickly and maneuvered well.

After becoming used to the boat I find the Axis 12.0 with the skeg up is stable enough; however with the skeg half deployed it tracks as well as any kayak I’ve paddled and fully lowered it is very stable, much faster and difficult to get even a tail wag while pouring on the paddle power. Skeg all the way down the glide per stroke is excellent and the tracking is quite true. GPS shows almost 3mph for a normal paddle cadence and 5mph and better when paddled hard.

Class III white-water ability of the Axis 12.0 has yet to be tested. She’s been in the Willamette and lower Santiam in some class 1 plus riffles where I found a small boulder to nose up to and surf a 2 foot wave (Yehaaa!). I’ve done peel outs in the fastest chutes I could find, nothing exciting, but very stable and controllable. So far I’ll suggest the Axis 12.0 is a 50% fast-water boat with the balance being flat-water capable. This could be the very best all-rounder ever made in a sit inside kayak.

Some productive areas I’ve found in lakes are a long paddle from a put in/boat ramp. The almost 90 pound Predator is just too heavy to do an improvised splash in a remote area, while the 55 pound Axis 12.0 can be shoulder carried down a makeshift path to the water, putting in very close to the action.

So far, nothing but good news about the Axis 12.0; it is light, fast, tracks great, has lots of glide, handles very well and works just fine for the reasons I added her to the stable. Notice how I qualified that?

I’ve added a YakAttack Mighty Mount & Tracks and a YakGear Anchor Trolley. Scotty rocket launchers, rod holders, Lowrance depth sounder and a Visi-Carbon Pro light to round out the possibilities of this being the best it can be. The mounts and trolley are of course dedicated to the boat; however everything else is borrowed (removable) and will be transferred from boat to boat.

Now that I own a SINK, I can say without reservation: Sit inside kayaks are not a good fishing/catching/keeping platform for large fish. Once a big fish is hooked it is not readily feasible or safe to bring it aboard inside the cockpit as is done in a sit on top kayak. The last thing I’d want is a big pissed off fish flopping about, between my legs, with a hook still embedded looking for a leg to get attached to. If I ever got caught with a fish I cannot lip or tail I have to make choices. I may at times bring a landing net stored in a rocket launcher, but I will always have a nylon plastic, Norton Fish Grip, as a dedicated accessory on every float trip.

In a crossover kayak if you don’t like the position you are in, you do not have many options. Standing in the Axis 12.0 is out of the question, other positions to try are measured in inches, there is just no room largely because she is only 27 1/2“wide. However; to make this a whitewater boat, one needs a narrow boat to be glued to the bulkheads so as to not shift around while in technical maneuvers.

The Axis 12.0 was difficult to customize; there is very little flat real estate to add tracks and accessories. I tried to install flush mount rod holders then found the waterproof bulkhead was in the way. I tried 8” YakAttack Tracks, but there is just too much curvature to the deck to use them and instead used 4” tracks.

Not much room to spare in a sit inside kayak. Fortunately the Axis has the stern dry compartment. If not for that, this boat would be incapable of overnight river trips and of less use to me. Since it is so narrow there is just no place to put gear when sitting in the cockpit. I have room for one small tackle bag and a water bottle but most of the other items like line cutters and the Fish Grip I’ve got tethered to my PFD as opposed to the boat. Other item I may bring are stored in a zippered mesh bag in the stern compartment; easily reached while sitting in the cockpit.

With the depth sounder mounted on the front deck it is difficult to make accurate casts. When fishing bass in lakes I have typically used a sounder to locate and mark with buoys; the channels, drop offs and submerged trees. Or if I am targeting baitfish I start at points and then move into coves. Once structure or bait is found I turn the sounder off, wrap it in a towel and put in on the cockpit floor to give be an unobstructed front deck for casting; it seems that’s the only way to make it useable. When trolling or when side drifting with a drogue the sounder stays on the deck and the fish is fought off the side.
You have to get creative to make a crossover boat work.

Both the Predator and the Axis have their place with me. I couldn’t turn the Predator into the white water boat I wanted and the Axis is far from the perfect lake boat; but I’m pretty happy with how they perform for the reasons each was purchased.

Next summer will see me in Oregon’s Dorena Lake for Bass and Crane Prairie for trophy Bass and Trout with the Predator 13 and I can’t wait to splash the Axis 12.0 in the Santiam and McKenzie Rivers for some summer run steelhead fun.

Be sure to test paddle the boats you think may be your next perfect craft; better to waste a few hours than to throw away the money when you sell the boat you wished you had not bought.

P.s. The last Photo: Bought a cockpit cover and during the first rain it caved in got the cockpit very wet. Rigged a 1" x 1/16" aluminum slat to create a tent affair to make the water run off the cover. The blue bungee cord keeps the seat tilted forward to allow the slat plenty of room; thought I'd throw it in just in case someone has experienced a similar problem.

Thanks for posting up the review.

Did you ever paddle the XP-10? I was very interested in that boat and now I want to take a look at the Axis...

Yes; paddled the XP-10, Rogue and Katana; all excellent boats. Probably much better at white water than the Axis. However; I believe the Axis outshines them in flat-water tracking. One of my biggest gripes about running rivers is the afternoon upstream blast of wind that frequently comes on pretty hard on rivers like the lower Deschutes. All three of those river boats have the correct wide and fat bow to raise them out of the white-water which also acts like a big sail when the wind comes on, pushing them off course.
I did not mention this in the review; this is one of the first kayaks I've paddled that I can run in reverse in a true course. The skeg down works very well to keep the boat true; not to sure that matters to most, but it seems like a great feature to me; maybe I'll try pulling Hot Shots for summer run Steelhead.

The Axis 12.0 bow is not as wide nor as fat and possibly will dig in more in a big haystack or rollers. Not certain on any of this as I've not paddled any of these in any real white-water yet, these are just suppositions for now, but I'm guessing I'll need a spray-skirt on rapids the other three would lift over and keep you dry.

I began my love affair with white-water in the 70's. Started out in wood drift-boats that I helped make when Don Hill and I were room-mates out on Clearwater Lane in Springfield. We ran the McKenzie several times a week from Finn Rock to Helfrich landing, just below Martin's rapids. If you goof in a hard boat it makes a whole lot of noise (though not as loud as aluminum boats) and I've goofed many times learning the ropes. Also spent a good deal of time in a Drift-boat, baggage raft and Aire inflatable kayaks on the Deschutes through white-horse, buckskin Mary, the Wapanitas, Oak Creek and the like. Those were fun times but I think that kind of white-water is not for me any more; I'm sticking to the stuff that comes up to class III and does not exceed it or my old age abilities; that's still a whole lot of fun.

The Axis may be traded or sold if the new Dagger Roam SOT, with drop down skeg, lives up to the hype coming from their advertising team. The larger version comes in 11' 6" and 30" wide. I've contacted a couple of dealers to see when the suspect they'll get them in; one says next March and the other says one is coming as soon as it comes out of the mold in January. Pmmpete is absolutely correct to want thigh straps on a white-water SOT and the Roam has them as standard equipment! can't wait to paddle that one, even if it's snowing out. You can see it on the front page of Daggers site... it sure looks good, we'll see. http://www.dagger.com/.

It's just me probably, but the first thing I did when I got the Axis was to get rid of that cute, stretchy nylon deck cover and replace the bungee hold-down with those from a sea kayak. I suppose a designer at Dagger thinks we need that fufu stuff on our yaks as the new Roam also has some over the tank well, and would be ripped off and replaced with proper hold downs, pad eyes, etc. as soon as it comes home if I get one of those boats.