First time kayak fisherman looking for a yak

Hi, I am hoping to get into the sport soon, I do most of my salmon fishing off the shore on whidbey, looking at the pro explorer in P.A., heard that is a good yak.

Any suggestions???

Welcome whidbeyfisher!!!

The Pro Explorer is an all right boat.  Nothing special about it ... mid size, mid stability, mid speed.  floating cowboys has on, perhaps he can comment more as I've only test driven one a couple times.

Let us know a little more about what you find important in a kayak and I'm sure you'll get lots of suggestions here.  Also your height and weight.

-Allen

I agree with Allen; however, I'm a newbe too and I got bogged down with all the info. available on the net.

Pretty much any Ocean Kayak, Malibu, Wilderness Systems, Cobra kayak, etc. that is built to go fishing will be a good choice. Take into consideration how you will transport your yak and dont forget about hidden costs like purchasing a pfd, wetsuit, seat, etc. The manufacturer's website has specs, like weight, length and weight capacity.

Longer = better tracking, more room, added weight, etc. 
Shorter = easy transport, light weight, not as much glide, more tempormental paddle stroke, etc.

But dont let a whole year go by like I did trying to make the "perfect" choice. Get a Yak (lots of good used yaks out there too) and GO FISHING!!!

I could have fun fishing on a turd if I could fit a crate and a rod holder on it.

Hope this helps? -wetwhopper

Any Kayak is better then no kayak.

Pro Explorer is indeed a decent Yak.  Depends on what you are looking for.  If you plan to fish bad weather, you may want to go with the X-Factor, as it's more sea-worthy then the others from Malibu.  Try a couple out if you can.  Check out the Ocean Kayak Prowler, and a Wilderness Systems Tarpon.  Figure out which works best.

As Pole said, give us more info and we can see about recommending something that may suit you.  Height/Weight, fishing are preference, and the like.

Well, thanks for the advice

I am only 13, 14 soon so I am 5'5 139 pounds and I am hoping not to have to spend a truck load of money. I have talked to Tammi from AT kayaking in Port Angeles and she has a pro ex for $799, sounds reasonable. Would the Prowler be better, where would I buy?? taking all suggestions

If you're fishing off the west side of Whidbey, I get the most boat you can.  The Prowler lineup fits this bill ... I'd recommend checking out the Prowler 13 as it will most likely fit you best.

Ocean Kayak has a dealer locator here ... http://www.oceankayak.com/dealer_locator/index.asp?Group=Ocean+Kayak

-Allen

Whidbeyfisher,

You're best bet would be to try as many kayaks as possible before buying.  Unfortunately, sit-on-tops aren't as popular in the Northwest as they are in the rest of the country and they might be hard to come by to test.   

One option good option this time of year is to look for kayak rental companies selling off their rental fleet.  Usually in this case you can pay for a day's rental and try a few different models.  They will often credit you your rental fee towards the purchase of one of their used kayaks which they should be selling at a pretty good discount.

Another option is to attend some sort of "paddle fest" in your area. However it's kind of late in the season and these might not happen again until next spring though.  There are often lots of demo boats to try out at these sorts of events.

I don't know who on this board possibly lives near you, but you might luck out and find someone willing to take you out on their spare kayak.

If you manage to try a bunch of kayaks, take some notes.. How did it paddle?  Was it comfortable?  Did it feel slow or fast?  Was it easy to paddle straight?  Was it easy to turn?  Did it feel stable? Can you lift it by yourself? etc..  Every model has it's pros and cons, the trick is to find the kayak with the most "pros" for you.

Finally, Phynix's adivce that "any kayak is better then no kayak" is probably pretty good if finding kayaks to demo isn't possible.  This sport is growing, if you can get a good deal on a kayak that will work for now, do it, you can probably sell it later and upgrade to something better once you know what you really want.

Brian

P.S. I just saw Allen (polepole)'s last post and he's probably right about the Prowler 13 being a good fit.  I'd definitely put it near the top of your list of boats to check out.

Is it easy to rig a Prowler??? I was thinking when i get my boat, i want to install a Scotty Triple rod holder, about how much does the Prowler cost??

Prowler indeed rigs up fine.

There is a Prowler 15 still on sale at Seattle Raft and Kayak for $599 ... http://www.seattleraftandkayak.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.display&page_id=166

Give them a call (and please let them know you heard about it here).

Base model Prowler 13's run $829 MSRP.

There are not many (any?) rental fleets up here in the NW.  There are a lot of end of season sales going on although many of them are picked over already.  Get on the phone and call around to the dealers in your area and check what they might have.

-Allen

There is a Prowler 15 still on sale at Seattle Raft and Kayak for $599 ... http://www.seattleraftandkayak.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.display&page_id=166

Wow, that's a pretty good deal.

As for rigging, the prowler 13 and 15's are two of the more popular models among the NorCal Kayak Anglers so they must have the rigging figured out by now.  You might want to check out the NorCal site and take a look at some of their posts.  You'll probably find a few well rigged kayaks there for ideas.  In particular I'd check out FisHunter's Prowler 13.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=8903.0;topicseen



Brian

I like that FF mount! 
I all ways put my water bottle there. I can find another place for the water.
Did he use Marine Goop to affix the mounting platform to the boat?

boxofrain,

I'm not 100% sure of how Fishunter did everything, but you can always PM Adam over at the NCKA board.  He's a real nice guy despite being a member of "Raider Nation".

Brian

Thanks B, I have not been over to that site much since Allen started here.
Many a GREAT archive stored on that site for sure. Got most of my riggin' ideas from them thar southies.
I'll go back and look around for it before PM'ng.